Page 94 of The Empire and the Wolf King

“Mairead, this sounds treasonous toward your king.”

I waved a hand. “It could be, but he is used tae it. I am his mother, I am allowed.But,I will do something differently this time, because I am in a high mood.”

“Because of your Wilfrey?”

“Aye, because of my Wilfrey, I will see tae the comfort and safety of m’family first,thenI will go get the monitor.” I smiled. “I daena ken what has gotten intae me.”

“You are feeling better because of my devotion.”

I raised my glass.

He said, “Then let us go see tae your family in… somehow… I have no idea how it works. Just trying to offer assistance.”

“Ye will travel with me? I hae a great deal tae do, first I must go tae Scotland in the year 2025 tae deliver a vessel tae the caretaker of Balloch so he can replace it in the lockbox under the tree... I daena like the idea that the box is sitting empty. While I am there I need tae see tae the caretaker’s peerage, and I need tae visit the bank. I will do that all over a weekend. Then, I will visit Magnus’s favorite boring beach town in Florida. Afterthat,likely a trip tae Balloch tae see my daughter, tae tell her about the loss of Sean — if need be. Possibly a trip tae colonial Charlottesville, unless I can find someone tae do it for me.”

“In as much as I believe time travel does not happen, and this all sounds farcical, yes, Mairead, I would like to go with you.”

“This means meeting King Magnus at his home in Florida, and telling him that we are tae be married.”

He gulped, drank the rest of his drink, and very deliberately positioned the flute on the desk. “If that is the worst of it, let us do it.”

I decided not tae tell him of the pain of time travel, better not tae frighten him.

CHAPTER 43 - LOCHINVAR

STILL LEFT BEHIND NEAR CROFT MORAIG STONE CIRCLE - OCTOBER 9, 1683

Ash said, “Waiting is hard.”

“I ken...” Then I added, “There is another issue we need tae discuss, Ash. I hae been thinking on this, the lack of rescue, the quiet. Tis becoming clear tae me that another plan is afoot.”

She drew her focus tae me. “What kind of plan?”

“There is always a chance that someone starts us all over.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I hae been thinking, we are all of us out of time, ye ken, and stuck in places, and Magnus’s children are in dire straits. They hae been living without their parents for ten years, tis unfathomable. It canna stand. So we will need tae rescue them earlier. But when? After they hae suffered the trauma of Asgall kidnapping Magnus and Kaitlin in front of them? After they hae witnessed the death of Sean? It might be easier tae kill Asgall and then intervene earlier and stop all of recent history afore it starts.”

“Oh, so they could intervene before something happened, then Sean would survive it?”

I shrugged. “It seems like it would work.”

“Then they should do that, intervene earlier. Definitely. How does it work?”

“I think ye just go tae a different point in time and ask everyone tae do something differently. If Magnus was preparin’ tae go see the English king in the field we could tell Magnus not tae do it.”

“That would work, that sounds easy.”

“Except Magnus might not want tae do that close a do-over, he wouldna want tae argue with the English king about whether tae meet him or not… anything could happen. Tis like a do-over near the end of a fight, ye might still lose the fight if yer opponent swings well. Ye could do the do-over at the start of a fight, but ye might still lose. If ye back up tae longbeforethe fight ye might hae a chance of the fight never happening. We daena arrange do-overs verra often because they can be unwieldy and dangerous.”

“How dangerous?”

“Ye might write over important things ye wanted tae happen. Especially if ye go verra far back. Tis more likely tae give ye a chance tae stop the problem but ye are more likely tae write over important things…”

We sat there quietly then I said, “The trouble with do-overs is they arna precise. They disrupt the timeline, write over history, for better or for worse. If ye did something important in that time yer accomplishment will be written over as well. If ye remember, in those days, between all the things that my Campbell family might want tae do-over, there was a wedding, ye ken?”

“Right, we got married.”

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