Chapter 5 Maximillian
MAXIMILLIAN
Iguessed I was lyin’ in the dirt, but I dinna ken because I was frozen, my mind unable tae move my body.
M’eyes wouldna work. I tried tae see and winced, twas too bright.
I had dirt in my mouth, I spit, some mud dribbling down my cheek.
Och nae, I couldna move, everything ached, pain pressing in on me.
I would need tae recover from this hellish journey afore I did anything…
when there was a stern voice. “Who are you?”
I startled, twisting to see who was beside me — a lean, sun-hardened man of about thirty-five, with short-cropped dark hair streaked with premature silver, sharp hazel eyes, and a gun pointed at me.
Behind him my horse, Apollo, and the saddlebags where most of my weapons were.
I had my dirk, but the stranger was above me and I couldna draw m’weapon and survive.
I pulled my arms up over my head and gasped out, “Not armed!”
“I don’t care, I’ll shoot you, armed or not, what are you doing here?”
It dawned on me that I needed a back story that was not, I am the rightful king.
“…tae visit m’family.”
“You travel by storm, boy?”
Och nae. “Twas by chance, um… sire, ye ken. I was knocked out by the storm, I daena ken—”
The man growled, “I repeat, who are you — where are you from?”
I scanned my mind. Where was I from? I had nae idea what tae say. All I could think of was Muckhart.
“In Clackmannanshire.”
His eyes narrowed. “Clackmannanshire — Scotland?”
“Aye.”
The man exhaled sharply. “That’s a weird way to put it, you’re not from here... clearly. What are you doing here, that’s what I want to...”
His voice broke off as he noticed something under me. He crouched, shoved me aside, and grasped my vessel. “What’s this?”
He turned it around and then held it above my face. “This belongs to the Black King — you’ve stolen it from him?”
“Nae, I dinna…”
He stood and put my vessel in his pocket. “You’re working for the king? Again, why are you here? Answer fast, because I really ought to shoot you.”
“Ye would shoot me for stealing from the king, or for working for the king?”
He chuckled.
I said, “I canna answer fast as I am tryin’ tae ascertain if ye are friend or foe.”
“Boy, we are at a standoff then, because I will shoot you before I will tell you anything.”
I said, “The current king is the Black King? What happened tae the last?”
He asked, “Did you know the last king?”
I nodded. “Aye.”
He crouched down and peered in my face. “You look like — are you family?”
I said, “Ye must understand I canna answer it without—”
He asked, “Is Clackmannanshire where Castle Glume stands?”
I nodded.
“What’s your birthday?”
I told him and he put down his gun. “Maximillian? I’m your uncle!”