The Empire and the Wolf King (Kaitlyn and the Highlander #21)

3. Chapter 3 - Kaitlyn

CHAPTER 3 - KAITLYN

A VILLAGE OUTSIDE OF STAUNTON - 1775

T he village was small, too small for a proper inn. We skirted it in the woods and Magnus peered through a bush across a lane to the small village. “Och nae, we are dressed in a verra different fashion.”

“Yep, the women are wearing full skirts, the men are wearing pants. You, sir, are wearing a tunic. You do not look… right.”

He looked down at his clothes. “And I am filthy. Nae one will serve me food. I would give all m’worldly possessions for a cloak.”

I said, “But they’re not even wearing cloaks, the men are wearing coats.”

“Aye, we are not respectable, the larger town is that way and tae get there we will hae tae pass through this whole village or go around the long way.”

“We have money though, right?”

He pulled up the side of his tunic to display a leather bag tied around his waist.

I joked, “Why don’t designers ever put pockets in their dresses?”

He chuckled. “Kings arna supposed tae need pockets, but I am a time travelin’ king, I like tae keep some coins and jewels on me in case of emergencies. Ye must always be prepared. Without pockets or a purse I hae tae keep a small bag tucked under m’king clothes.”

He drew the top of the drawstring bag open and looked in. “We hae a few jewels and a great many silver and gold coins that are not from this time, but they ought tae be negotiable.”

“So we need clothes, food, a place to sleep…”

Magnus looked up and down the lane. “We need food, a place tae sleep, clothes, in that order…”

He yawned and smacked his face again. “Dost ye see that farmer there, across that field? We will discuss it with him.”

“Both of us?”

“Aye, ye make me respectable. I might be a wayfaring scoundrel but with m’wife I winna be as… big a scoundrel.”

I stood in front of him and wiped a smudge from his cheek.

I looked down, my dress was a deep maroon, with intricate embroidery down the front and on the edges of the long wide sleeves. It had been beautiful but now was a mess — dingy and stained. But at least my face had been washed when we drank from the creek. “Do I have any squirrel dribble around my mouth?”

He smoothed my hair back behind my ear, and gently wiped the edge of my mouth with his thumb.

“Nae, ye look good, except for yer bruises.”

“And even with bruises I make you respectable… somehow? Okay, I suppose in these clothes they won’t mistake me for a whore.” I stepped behind a bush to piss and kept talking. “Maybe an actress.”

He rubbed his hands up and down on his face, then joked, “Ye canna pass for an actress or a whore, I hae too much gold upon me. Any actress or whore traveling with me would be much better dressed.”

“Ugh, I suppose I’m just the lowly wife then.” I wiggled dry and huffed, because that was never fun.

Then I dropped my skirt, “Fine, but it makes me a little furious that even in your tunic dress the pocketful of coins makes you an important guy, not a scoundrel, but no matter what I’m going to be the wife, not a fancy beloved actress.”

He said, “I daena make the rules on ladies’ fashions, I am just trying tae get us tae food. But ye would want tae be an actress instead of m’wife? Daena even keep talkin’ about wantin’ tae be my whore, it gives me the…” He shivered. “Och nae, tis distressing. Ye are m’wife, and the mother tae m’bairns. I think if I hae a pocket full of gold tis much better for ye tae be m’fine wife, we are just dressed outlandishly. I will tell the farmer we are from foreign lands, tis why we are dressed oddly.”

“But how did we land at port and make it all the way here, west of the town? None of it makes sense.”

“We might as well begin. I will wave treasure at him until he forgets tae worry about it. Let us go strike a deal with the farmer.”