Page 15 of The Empire and the Wolf King

My eyes went wide. “Really?”

“Aye.”

I joked, “Is that because of the graceful way I climbed down the ladder?”

“Ye dinna climb, ye slid, and tis more about the wolves and zombies.”

“Oh right, the colonial zombies.”

We left the barn and strolled down the path toward the outhouse at the edge of the yard. We passed one of the brothers, with a simple nod, and pointed at the outhouse. He nodded back and kept walking.

The outhouse was putrid and there was, of course, no toilet paper. I relieved myself and then stood watch while Magnus went in, sort of ruining the whole point of him being my guard.

I watched lightning bugs dancing around at the edges of the field while Magnus pissed and then when he emerged from the outhouse we both watched them flicker and flit. He put his arm around me and I put my head on his shoulder. “It’s a beautiful night in a strange world.”

“Aye, sleepin’ on someone else’s land.”

I kissed him and we strolled back to the barn.

CHAPTER 7 - KAITLYN

NIGHT ON SIDDALL’S FARM - 1775

Up in the loft it took a few minutes of shifting to get the straw settled comfortably underneath our blanket. I took off my bonnet, my shawl, and my apron, but said, “I’m not taking anything else off, it’s too much work and I can’t evenimaginewhat time they get up in the morning, probably the butt-crack of dawn.”

He chuckled, shifting back and forth, trying to make a divot. “I ken... ye ought tae believe I will hae m’way with ye... now that we are finally alone and—” He yawned. “I am so verra tired, mo reul-iuil.”

I put my head on his chest, curled up alongside his body. “I know, me too, how about this: if we wake up in the middle of the night, I promise I will sex you up.Promise.”

He muttered, “I will hold ye tae it…”

And we both fell asleep.

I woke up hours later, peering into the darkness, trying to see our surroundings, anxious about what was out there. The world felt oppressive and also empty, we were surrounded by woods and completely lost and there was no direction we could hike to get home. We might never be found again.Where were my children?

I clasped my hands together, pressed to my forehead, and said a prayer, under my breath in Farmer Siddall’s loft.

Then Magnus’s voice, “Mo reul-iuil, are ye prayin’?”

“Yes. For the kids, so they’re okay. It just…” I burst into tears. “We’re so alone, Magnus, how will we ever get back?”

He put his arm out. “We will get back.”

I lay on his chest again. “How do you know?”

“Because we always get back, it has never gone wrong before, it canna start now.”

I nodded. “I guess you’re right, we usually win… why wouldn’t we win this?”

“And I am furious, so if fury leads me I winna stop until I hae beaten him. He must ken I am coming and I will take him down.”

“Good, I want you to smite our enemy, that sounds good.”

“Tis my job, and once I smite him we will celebrate our win taegether.”

I nodded. “It’s a deal.” I wiped my eyes.

“But I need ye tae be strong, ye ken, Kaitlyn? I feel… I feel as if I hae lost. I hae been knocked from m’throne, and m’brother was murdered in front of me. Och nae, I caused his death and I canna get it from m’mind. I feel weighed down by it, and I am second guessin’ m’decisions. I was wrong, on every count, and we are payin’ for m’wrongness.”

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