Page 178 of Long Live the King

She squinted her eyes. “You could mess with your age, cheat death.”

“Ye canna cheat death, ye canna fix it. Tis looping, and we canna loop on ourselves. We can live longer than most, ye see Magnus calls himself thirty years auld but he has lived many years beyond it, some he remembers, some he daena. I call him auld because it bothers him, but tis also true.”

The storm had grown violently, but now was folding in on itself, collapsing, and the winds were calming.

I said, “Ye are saying that ye will travel with me when tis time tae go?”

She nodded. “Even though I am afraid.”

“Ye daena hae tae be afraid, I will take care of ye.”

“Good, I just... I’m not sure what I’m offering to do. Not exactly.” Her eyes swept the landscape. “Usually the way I talk myself into doing something is by, asking, ‘Am I necessary?’”

I squeezed her hand, “Ye are verra necessary tae me, and I ought tae go, verra soon.”

“You need me?”

“Aye.”

“What if I said no, would you stay with me? Would you move back to Florida and live in my tiny apartment with me?”

I thought for a moment. “Aye, if I had tae, I would. Twould be at a cost, but I would, I need higher ceilings though.”

She smiled. “Then I will go with you, Lochie. Let’s do this thing.” She exhaled. “As soon as I let Don and my family know, we will go live in the thirteenth century, something I thought was impossible only last week is now a decision I’ve made, but the strange thing is that I feel like I made the decision the night you spent the night.”

I said, “Aye, we hae been decided since that night. I told ye the thumb oath was important.”

CHAPTER 78 - MAGNUS

STIRLING CASTLE

Twas after dinner, the third night. Cailean was in m’chamber, sitting with me, enjoyin’ a whisky near the hearth.

“I ken ye are thrilled, Mag Mòr, that yer family will come on the morrow.”

“Aye, I look forward tae showing them the castle and grounds. Stirling will reverberate with their high spirits, I canna wait.”

“Ye hae been verra lonely without them.”

“I hae, I daena like tae be too far away. As the wheel of time rolls, it seems we ought tae be ridin’ alongside our family.”

He chuckled. “Och nae, Mag Mòr, this again? Will ye once again argue the merits of a timeline?”

“Nae, ye hae won the argument, Cailean. I lay down m’weapon, I hae lost. The line of time was a laughable idea. I hae been convinced of the notion that tis a wheel. All ye must do is see the sun comin’ up on the day, descending in the West, and comin’ around again on the next. Time canna march, it must roll. Dawn tae dusk.”

He sipped his whisky. And stared at his glass. “Unless...”

I said, “Och nae, ye hae changed yer mind?”

“Tis less that I changed m’mind, more that I am not so settled in it that I will crow at having won. Who am I tae tell the mighty Mag Mòr, who uses time travel tae rule the world, how it works?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Ye ken about the time travel?”

“Ye told me of it months ago!”

“Och, tis right, I had forgotten. The rolling confused me.”

I watched him as the light flickered on his face.

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