Page 93 of Long Live the King

She rolled her eyes as she called for a servant tae take the hair tae be tested. We all settled on settees and chairs, the kids tucked into arms held on laps as they recovered from the ordeal.

Lady Mairead, tae make nice said, “Kaitlyn, remind me, I will give ye another thread so Prince Archibald winna hae tae go without.”

“Thank you, Lady Mairead, that would be appreciated.”

Colonel Quentin and Lochinvar rushed in and Lochinvar said, “What happened tae Ash?”

Fraoch said, “She called Kaitlyn and said she was being followed, she was frightened, then she screamed and?—”

Lochinvar said, “Och nae!”

Kaitlyn said, “It was very hard to hear her, she didn’t have me on speaker phone, so I don’t really know what happened. Fraoch and I went to her house to check on?—”

Lochinvar said, “What did ye find, is she alright?”

Fraoch looked uncomfortable, he shook his head.

Kaitlyn said, “Ash is missing, Lochie, I’m so sorry. She was pulled from her car. It looks like there was a struggle. And it was wet from a storm. The bartender from the Palace, Don, drove up to check on her, he was worried because a man had come by earlier, looking for her. He said the man mentioned you andMagnus. I don’t know who it was, but it was definitely a time traveler who took her.”

“Why would someone take her? What is happening? Och nae, tis just like Magnus’s aunt, ye ken, Lady Mairead? Tis like the story ye told.”

Lady Mairead shook her head, “Och nae, this is dire.”

Colonel Quentin said, “I really really don’t understand how we’re just now hearing this. We have all this tech. We’re in the future, how did we not know?”

I said, “Tis difficult tae see a disappearance, there was nae police report, our program dinna pick up on it.”

I asked the room tae turn on the projection and tae put it on information about Ashley McNeil. It was the same photos and information from the night before.

Lochinvar walked up to the projection and stood looking at her face. “There’s nae mention of her disappearance? What good is this?”

I said, “Lady Mairead, can ye remove the guardrail on the information?”

She sighed, and asked the room, “Please turn off the guardrail I placed upon the records of the person, Ashley McNeill.”

The voice in the room asked for Lady Mairead’s security word.

She glanced around then said, “Fionn.” She said tae me, “Daena remember it, Magnus, I will change it by the end of the day.”

I nodded, “Ye say that every time, yet ye never do.”

She raised her chin.

I said, “Daena worry on it, I winna remember it.”

“Good.”

The projection came up with no results for Ashley McNeil after the date she went missing.

Colonel Quentin stood near the results asking for addresses, phone numbers, and the names of Ash’s family members. I said, “What are ye checkin’ now?”

He said, “I’m seeing her military records and health reports, even pulled up her school grades.”

Kaitlyn stood beside him, asking the computer to show Ash’s Facebook, Instagram, and X accounts. She scrolled through her Instagram profile, then said, “They all stop the night she was taken.”

Quentin said, “Yep, she disappeared.”

Lochinvar looked from Kaitlyn tae Quentin and back at the projection. Shaking his head, “She canna be gone! Did she die?”

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