Page 81 of The Empire and the Wolf King

“I daena ken what we could do — we canna walk along Main Street, our clothes are filthy and yer leg is injured, we must sit and wait.”

“Also it’s the middle of the night.”

“Aye, perhaps I will get the sleep I hae been needing.” We both lay quietly and he said, “Tomorrow is another day and we will try tae solve some of these problems.”

“If we’re still here.”

I felt him shrug. Then silence fell between us.

Finally he said, his voice very low and sad, “Dost ye think the shannie-cans will bring back Sean?”

“I don’t know, my love, I really don’t. It’s hard to believe it would because we know that’s problematic...”

“And we arna God, we hae tae accept that there is finality tae death, there just is.”

I said, “But also… he was out of his time, you know, and if we intervene a few days before and he’s there, and we are there and the bridge has fixed all of this and we are all together… thenmaybe?”

He kissed my hair. “Tis good enough, I hae a wee bit of hope.”

“Me too.”

I finished with, “I love you, Master Magnus, in all our forms, in every timeline. I miss our bairns and am relieved that we will see them soon, that this will be resolved, but I do feel a small bit of regret, that this time we spent with each other will be forgotten. I want every minute of all of it, and I don’t want to lose it.”

“Aye, I feel the same way. We will hae the bairns returned tae our home, but we will hae tae remember tae sit alone on the bed like this and talk things through, it means a great deal tae me, mo reul-iuil.”

“Me too, my love.”

I wept a little on his shirt, with his arms tight around me, holding me close.

When I got past my grief, I said, “Help me sleep, tell me about your favorite day, the one that you would have, if you could pick anything.”

He chuckled. “Tis easy. Twould begin in the dark, before dawn.”

“So early?”

“Aye, I will be up on the walls and Chef Zach will hae given me a cup of hot coffee with whipped cream tae keep me warm.”

I asked, “Where are you, Scotland or Florida?”

“Tis a combination of both. In this moment, tis Scotland. The dawn comes. Tis a glorious day, a sunrise that will make ye believe in Heaven on earth, green grass wavin’ and the air carryin’ the promise of a good day.”

“That’s lovely, and the day has barely begun.”

“I say goodbye tae...” His voice caught. “Sean. And I go down the flight of stairs tae our master bedroom. There ye are, with all the bairns, they hae come tae keep ye company.”

I said, “That’s nice. Is it a comfortable bed?”

“Aye, verra, soft pillows and beddin’ that feels like a cloud. Then we go downstairs tae the kitchen for a large pancake breakfast.”

“We’re in Florida now.”

“Aye, we eat a great deal of food. After that we can do many different things, the day is ours. We ride our horses, first, then go tae the beach, or play in the pool, perhaps we go out on the boat, or... it daena matter but I daena hae tae carry a sword, because we arna worried about anything. Our enemy is vanquished, mo reul-iuil. Tis a perfect day. Oh and it ends with a proper beddin’ of m’wife, if it dinna happen earlier in the day as I was verra excited by the sight of her in the saddle on her horse.”

I said, “I love everything about that day, it’s my perfect day too.”

“Aye, we will hae it again, I promise.”

He wrapped his arms around me and held me as the night crept along and we bided our time.

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