17. Chapter 17 - Archibald
CHAPTER 17 - ARCHIBALD
THE KINGDOM OF RIAGHALBANE - 2391
L ady Mairead gestured tae a comfortable chair in front of a hearth with a fire going, but then grasped my arm. “Nae, Prince Archibald, ye look filthy — are ye clean enough tae sit upon the damask?”
I winced. “Once again, Grandmother, I daena ken how tae answer ye. I imagine I am not as dirty as I hae ever been, but likely I am filthy compared tae others ye invite tae sit upon the damask.”
She waved a hand and her servants spread towels over the chair while I stood awkwardly. “They are antiques, I daena want tae see yer arse-print upon them.” Then she waved for me tae sit.
A drink was brought. She gave me an ale, and a glass of water with ice in it. I picked it up, relishin’ the cold against the palm of m’hand, and drank it down with three gulps. I wiped my mouth on m’sleeve. “More please.”
She snapped her fingers and a moment later a pitcher was brought and more ice water was poured intae my glass.
I drained that one with three gulps and then held the glass up tae the light. “Och I hae forgotten much of the glory of the world.”
“If ice water seems tae be a glory then ye hae been in the past for much too long.”
I put down the glass. “I am famished, can we hae something tae eat as well, Grandmother?”
“Canna ye call me Lady Mairead? The other makes me feel aged. I hae barely grown used tae being called it by the young princes and princesses, and I am not quite ready tae allow the grown man in front of me tae use it.”
“I will try, but ye feel like m’grandmother tae me, and tis fine tae see ye. It has been a long time. I missed ye.”
“Fine, ye may call me whatever ye want.” She looked down on her hands. “First I must ask, I hae just heard that my… um… my dear son Sean is dead?” Her voice cracked on the final word.
I shook my head sadly. “Och nae, ye hae only just heard?” I looked around the room. “How much time has passed since ye heard?”
“It has been twenty-nine sleepless hours.” There was a tremble tae her hand as she raised the glass tae her lips.
“I wish I dinna hae tae be the one tae tell ye about it.”
“Life is full of uncomfortable duties.” She took a deep staggering breath as she placed the glass on the table. “Tell me, I will brace myself.”
She looked down at her hands once more.
“Uncle Sean was murdered on the field of Kippen. I was but eight years old. I believe, possibly, the years hae made it murky… but I remember the act of it as if it were yesterday, ye ken, the sight of it — we met in a tent in the rain, and the King of England was an arse. I daena remember, but Uncle Fraoch tells me, he was an arse?—”
“Yer father ought tae hae killed him for the insult.”
“Aye…”
She said, “Go on.”
“There was a commotion outside. Uncle Sean went tae see what it was, a few men followed him. I was watching Da’s back as he looked around the tent, he was calculating, but it all happened verra fast. Then men came into the tent, they were um… draggin’ Uncle Sean between them, they…” My voice trailed off, twas hard tae recount it.
Lady Mairead rolled her hand. “How?”
“They cut his throat in front of us.”
Lady Mairead said, “Och nae.”
She and I both lifted our glasses tae drink.
She asked, “How did it come that yer father dinna kill everyone there for murdering Sean?”
“We had tae run.”
She grimaced.
“I daena remember much, why Da couldna fight, but Uncle Fraoch daena hold it against him. The attack was a surprise, we couldna mount a good battle. Twas frightening, I was holdin’ ontae Ben, and our horse was goin’ fast and I was tryin’ tae be strong, but then Da brought me ontae his horse and we rode… I tried not tae be frightened, but twas altogether terrifyin’, and I regret that I dinna say something tae Da then. I dinna ken twould be the last time we would be…” I gulped. “I wish Ben and I hadna gone tae the meeting. Da might hae been able tae solve the problem, if he hadna been worried about me.”
Lady Mairead said, quietly, “Well, while that is true, and I hae questioned yer father before on this verra thing, he always erred — I mean errs in keeping his family close. Though I argue, he will not reconsider. And he ought tae hae reconsidered in this instance, in hindsight, but I think, for your father, he has lived through enough times in which he lost his family and that is a fate he canna accept. He means tae hold everyone close. Tis a failing, his affections, but I hae had tae learn tae live with them.”
She smoothed her skirts. “I suppose there are worse failings in a man…” She asked, “Then, my record shows, your father was kidnapped, aye?”
“First the castle was almost destroyed and then he and Ma were taken away in a helicopter. He surrendered.”
She brushed her hair from her face and smoothed it down. “ I daena understand this, his men allowed him tae surrender? As if he were weak? How could they be so ineffectual?—”
Archie said, “Uncle Fraoch was there, Uncle Wallace, Uncle Cailean, Uncle Zach, they couldna stop it. They dinna hae enough weapons. The enemy’s weapons were from the future, and our vessels dinna work. We needed weapons and supplies and we had nothin’. Da believed we were all goin’ tae die, we were . He had tae surrender.”
She asked, “Who is Uncle Wallace?”
“William Wallace.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Has he been fighting in battles?”
“We hae been waging war against the English king, aye.”
“Ye hae been waging war alongside William Wallace? Tis yer throne, ye are willing tae lay down yer life for yer ‘uncle’ Wallace’s petty squabbles?”
“They arna petty, he?—”
“Perhaps I misspoke, petty is not the correct word, more insignificant tae ye, and yer timeline, yer throne, yer kingdom. Dost ye ken how his life ends?”
I shook my head.
“Well, I winna tell ye, and daena look it up, I daena want ye tae ken as it will determine how ye behave?—”
“I overheard Uncle Zach say he dies a hero.”
“That is all ye need tae ken, Archie.”
“We are plannin’ our next battle, he’s goin’ tae fight for my crown, my throne. As soon as I return.”
“Good, ye hae made allies, this is wise…. And now ye hae been living in the past for a decade? Who else is with you?”
I used my fingers as I listed, “Zach and Emma with Ben and Zoe, Fraoch and Hayley, and Haggis, and Isla and Jack… and me…”
“All are well?”
“Barely, we often dinna hae enough food, we had nae medicine for Madame Emma?—”
“What has happened tae her?”
“There was a wagon accident, she broke her foot and it haena healed. She canna walk and is not well… not at all. I fear for her.” I scowled. “Ye ought tae hae sent the vessel tae us earlier.”
“I sent—” she snapped her fingers, as if she was searching for their names. “Liam and Blakely tae that year, specifically , so that if the vessel worked it would appear on the timeline where it would not be noticed, and I needed ye tae be the age of someone who would be useful. I think I chose well enough, ye are battle ready?—”
“Haggis is verra auld, if he dies…”
Her brow raised. “The dog?”
“Da will never forgive ye if Haggis dies of old age afore ye rescue him, if ye had the chance tae do it earlier.”
She waved her hand. “Tis ridiculous, but I understand it, the gravity of it. When we return tae rescue them, we will go much earlier. I winna stand for my grandchildren tae live in such privation. This is not an issue.”
“Then I will be nae more.”
She barely nodded. “In your current form.”
My eyes drew tae the window, wonderin’ what that entailed. The sky was blue, the land looked and smelled of Scotland, of home. Yet we were centuries away. I looked at my hand wrapped around my drink, it was made up of sinew and bone, veins, muscle, I was living, alive, I had a battle tae wage, a life I was livin’ family and friends, and yet…
I noticed she was trembling. “Grandmother, tis my turn tae ask, are ye well?”
“Nae, child, I am not well. There are not many times in my life in which I feel this weakened, but as I hae aged, the times are coming verra regularly. Magnus and Lochinvar and Fraoch and the rest left weeks ago and I hae been here taking care of the business of the kingdom. I used tae hae a partner in the task, Colonel Hammond, I do miss him… But instead, now, I am tasked with running the kingdom alone. The halls of the palace ring with silence. My voice echoes in the dining room. The help are not helpful.”
She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. “This is a lot tae lay at the feet of m’grandson. My apologies.”
“Nae problem,” I reached out and placed my hand on hers.
She froze, looking down at our hands.
Then she raised her chin. “Just when I was going tae seek out the comfortable camaraderie of my family, I found myself stranded by the vessels. It seems a mere moment later I found out that my Sean has passed. I hae been wracked by the news, unfortunately. Now I am receiving ransom notes from Asgall — a video! It has been difficult tae ken where and what tae do next. The only thing I could think of tae do was get Liam, the caretaker of Balloch, tae deliver a vessel tae ye.”
“The first vessel got me tae Uncle Lochie, but then it stopped working.” I patted the back of her hand. “Twas a good thing I remembered the one under the oak tree from m’childhood.”
“Aye, thank heavens. Now we must rescue everyone and find a way tae battle this evil man. And I ought tae give Sean a proper burial. Has anyone told Lizbeth, dost ye think?”
I said, “I daena think so, I daena ken how they could… and we never found his body, Grandmother. Though we did put up a marker.”
Her hand went to her throat. “Never found his body!”
“Aye, Edward either ordered a mass burial of the men who died on that field and we daena ken where?—”
“Ye looked? Dear God, tell me ye looked!”
“Aye, we looked. Ultimately we suspect his body was taken by the English king.”
“This is an insult that we canna bear, Magnus was… is the king of Scotland. Sean was his brother, how dare he!”
The anger seemed to build her strength so I took my hand off hers and leaned back in my seat.
She said, “Ye said Wallace was involved.”
“He has sworn he would avenge Uncle Sean, we are?—”
“Ye see, Archibald, avenging a slight is not nearly as satisfying as having so much power that evil would never dare touch ye. Magnus is a king at both ends of time. His power should have been such that nae one dared tae try this.”
“Ye daena hae tae tell me this, I ken it. ‘How dare they’ is right, this is infuriatin’.”
“As Hammond would hae said, ‘I daena like that we hae been caught on our back foot.’”
I had my eyes down on my clasped hands between my knees. “We are well beyond ‘on our back foot’. The king has been kidnapped, his brother murdered, his children livin’ in exile for a decade?—”
She said, “Aye, I see it, tis grim. I daena ken how ye kept going… how did ye?”
“I daena ken.” I shook my head and then said, “Da told me a story, the day before all of this happened. About the wolves on the cliffs of Stirling. Hae ye heard it?”
“I daena think so…? But I am not much for stories, they take us from the important happenings around us, they are often a distraction.”
“Well, this one is a good one: the royals lived in Stirling castle and there were wolves in dens in the cliff walls.”
“The wolves arna there any longer…” She said vaguely, “I wonder what happened tae them?”
I shrugged. “The Vikings planned an attack on Stirling Castle and when they crept close, in the night, they were usin’ the cover of darkness tae surprise attack.”
“The Vikings are devious, ye canna trust them.”
“Aye, and all would hae perished except, as the story goes, a Viking warrior tread upon the foot of a young wolf, and that wolf pup began tae howl. All the wolves joined in, and the howl woke the royal family. They fought the Vikings and the castle was saved.”
I added, “The story gives me solace.”
“Ye fancy yerself the wolf?”
“Aye, I consider m’self the Wolf King.”
A smile tugged at the edge of her lips, “Well now, Grandson, this is a verra good story. I hae finally been told a story that is not a distraction. Now we must plan what ye do next, I ken where Asgall is with Magnus and Kaitlyn, he has been bothering me with ransom videos filmed in a brothel on June 15, 1775?—”
I slapped my hands down on my thighs. “Good, I am glad ye dragged me here then, this is enough, I need tae go get them?—”
Her brow drew down, “Ye will run foolhardy intae war? Ye winna care that ye are putting all lives at risk? As soon as Asgall sees ye coming, he will turn off yer vessel.”
I chewed my lip, considerin’, when a big tray of food was brought in and placed on the table. A lid was lifted and inside was a steak and mashed potatoes with roasted root vegetables. “Och, ye might be right, Grandmother, but I canna think on it, I am famished.”