Page 76 of The Empire and the Wolf King

“Aye, tis a hard thing tae do, but tis for the best. We arna getting rescued, we arna rescuin’ the bairns — Lady Mairead will rewrite over it all. Tis fraught, but we hae been talkin’ about it for days. We are decided, mo reul-iuil, daena fret.”

“It’s one thing to be decided, another to put it into action.” She sighed. “It’s wild how we always want a do-over, it’s a dream come true, but faced with it, actually deciding to do a portion of one life over — it’s socomplicated. What if we screw something up?”

“We winna.”

“I suppose only the people truly matter, as long as they’re all safe and together it will be good…”

I said, “I daena ken if ye remember, Archibald, but in the months leading up tae Asgall’s villainy, we had peace. We dinna hae much happen at all.”

“I remember goin’ down the gator river.”

I smiled, “Ye remember that? Och, twas a fine day, the water was freezin’ and full of monsters, but the endless rain kept our spirits up.”

We all laughed.

“Dost ye remember Isla wouldna get in the water?”

Archibald nodded. “She really regrets not having a chance tae try again.”

Kaitlyn sighed. “I miss her and Jack and… you so much.”

I slapped my hands down on my thighs again. “So what next?”

Archibald said, “Thank ye, Da, for figurin’ out how I get tae keep the book.” He tucked it carefully intae his bag, then began placing the rest of his stuff on top of it. He said, “So ye are goin’ tae stay here?—”

Kaitlyn interrupted, “But… it dawns on me, we could all go somewhere together, right? We could be a little bit happy while we wait for the… you know the do-over shenanigans.”

I shook my head. “Nae, mo reul-iuil, if there is goin’ tae be a do-over, we need tae all stay where we are, we daena want tae be off the timeline?—”

“Oh, like Auld Magnus.”

“Aye, he lived for too long as a man out of time, like an echo?—”

Archibald said, “Like me, I will be the one out of time.”

I nodded, “I am verra sorry for it, Archibald.”

He looked tae be blinkin’ back his grief. “Tis fine, I chose tae do it, and I am proud tae make the sacrifice. I had a mission and I finished it.” He wiped his sleeve against this cheek. “The good news is I was successful, I killed Arse-gall. And it dinna take that long. Grandmother was right, the poison was effective. Now I can return home, twill be m’last time jump.”

Kaitlyn said, “But you could goanywhere.”

“Anywhere, aye, but it needs tae be away from all of ye, of course. I wondered about picking a place with all the comforts of the modern world, but I would be alone, so I hae made my decision. I will return tae Innis Chonnel castle in 1301 — will I see Ben and Isla, Jack and Zoe? Or will they be gone?”

I said, “I daena ken.”

Kaitlyn shook her head. “Once the do-over shenanigans happen, I think… I think you will be out of time and they won’t be around.”

Archibald said, “Aye, that is what I think as well.” He rubbed his knuckles. “Dost ye think the do-over shenanigans will affect Uncle Sean? I think it will. I hope twill.”

I said, “I daena ken, I hae never brought anyone back, tis…” I wanted tae say ‘unlikely’, but I couldna bring myself tae.

Archibald said, “We never recovered his body, we erected a stone but he inna laid tae rest in the earth under it. I believe Edward carted his remains away, twas heartless.”

I scowled. “The English king deserves tae be ground intae the earth for doin’ it.”

“Uncle Wallace and I are planning it… aye, we hae verra big plans. But I can still do them, I will return tae Innis Chonnel and live there with Uncle Cailean.”

Kaitlyn asked, “Is that how it works?”

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