Page 13 of The Empire and the Wolf King

How did he guess?

I smiled.

Yes.

He nodded.Aye.

We were alone, but spoke in hushed voices, not wanting to be overheard. “Will they feed us soon? I’m so hungry.”

He said, “Aye, I am verra close tae stalkin’ out ontae the farm and takin’ what I want, they canna stop me.”

I said, “You look very hot by the way.”

He chuckled. “I ken, tis why yer cheeks are pink and ye are undressin’ me with yer eyes, because ye hae always been weak for the fancy clothes of the American Founding Fathers. If only I had a white wig ye would be in bed already.”

I said, “So true. I am a sucker for the hot rebelliousness of a man about to overthrow a king.”

“Ye will hae tae accept a kingpretendin’ tae be a man who wants tae join the army tae overthrow an English king.”

“Oh right, it’s complicated.”

“Tis not.” He tapped his temple. “I am a king, I am a man, and if I can overthrow the English king, even if he is the great great grandson of the king who did this tae us, I find the terms acceptable. I will do it first then do my own English king later.”

I said, “...but, you know, let’s not. Let’s keep you from the front lines of the revolutionary war and get home somehow.”

“Tis my plan.”

“Besides, what would I do while you’re off at war?”

“Och nae,” he joked, “it does seem as if ye would hae the hardest time of it.”

I laughed.

And then, finally,finally,the evening meal was called.

They had a large family and we all sat down the sides of a very long table on a long bench, packed tightly together. Some of the women passed plates with food already served over our shoulders. There was a type of roasted meat, some boiled greens, and potatoes. A hunk of bread.

I wanted to eat, oh how I wanted to eat, but we all bowed our heads for a very long prayer.

I considered passing out with hunger but stayed conscious because it was the only way to get fed. I was driven by spite. It had been hours of getting ready. I was a queen, I should have been fed the minute I told them I was hungry, as soon as my husband, the king, passed them the jewel.

I felt guilty for thinking these thoughts during the prayer, but wow was I hungry, and then finally, I heard the ‘Amen.’

Everyone picked up their forks and began to eat. I was ravenous.

I glanced at Magnus, he looked ravenous too. He muttered, “Och, I need tae pace m’self.”

I nodded as I shoveled in some potatoes, chewing greedily, hungrily, the way someone would eat who had been kidnapped and human trafficked and their last meal had been sharing squirrel meat. I needed to pace myself, too. If I threw this up I wouldn’t get a second meal. This did not look like the kind of place that approved of a midnight kitchen run.

No Taco Bell drive-thru for centuries.

I tried to slow my chewing and then swallowed. The conversation was low and quiet. The women ate silently, the men said only what needed to be said, and then the matriarch and patriarch asked questions and responded curtly. It wasn’t conversational, there wasn’t camaraderie, it was all rather dull.

Imagine telling them a joke, I wondered, thenuh oh.I got a little tickled.

It was that kind of laughter you might get in church, where it comes on suddenly and you can’t stop it though you must... this was totally inappropriate. The first guffaw almost sprayed potatoes. I pretended to cough, then clamped tight and held on, trying to keep the laughs from erupting — what in the world was going on? Magnus and I had been a king and queen and now we were beggars in a long-ago time. Where evenwerewe — America, more specifically Virginia, in 1775? All costumed up like we were Colonials!

Magnus’s eyes went wide, the corner of his mouth went up, he chuckled and passed me his napkin. I put it over my mouth, hiding it, as my face contorted. We were at the mercy of these farmers! Magnus gave them a jewel to feed us and theystillacted like we were beneath them. I guffawed again and covered my whole face with the napkin. Trying to hide inside the brim of my bonnet.

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