Chapter 12 Alexandria
ALEXANDRIA
Torin asked, “If ye haena fought yet, then what is this uniform?”
Max looked down, running a hand through his hair. “I daena ken, really, tis from m’kingdom.” He brushed a hand across the medals. “I daena ken what these are for. I expect tis tae be decorative. Aunt Claray gave it tae me tae put on.”
I said, “Are you hungry, Max, you want pizza?”
He scrubbed his hands up and down on his face, then ran his hands through his shoulder-length brown hair. His face was clean shaven, his jawline chiseled. There was a dark sadness to his eyes. “Nae, I am too tormented tae eat.”
Torin sank into a chair. “Too tormented — what happened?”
“I hae a great deal tae tell ye about, I need yer counsel.”
“Ye said it, outside.”
Max said, “I dinna think ye heard it over yer bellyachin’.”
I chuckled and passed around some beers.
I started to move the box, but Torin opened it. “Look Max, tis delicious and I want ye tae hae it. From the moment I tasted it, I thought, I canna wait tae share this with Max. And as ye ken, if ye are offered food ye ought tae eat—”
Max finished, “—ye never ken when yer next meal will be... Aye, I suppose I ought tae.”
Torin picked up the slice and passed it to Max, pantomiming how to hold it and eat. Max chewed and swallowed. “Och aye, tis delicious, ye said Visigoths made it?”
“Aye, a fearsome lot, they pattern their clothes after demons, ye ken, but they make it, and then they bring it tae yer house.”
Max said, “Tis safe tae eat it?”
“Aye. Somehow.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
Max finished a piece and started on the second before Torin asked the first question. “So ye went tae yer kingdom? What did ye find?”
“A great deal.” He chewed and put the remaining piece back in the box. He wiped his fingers on a napkin. Then he directed the next question to me, “Alexandria, I met our uncles, dost ye remember our uncles?”
I shook my head.
He said, “Uncle Ryan and Charlie are there, they are the brothers tae our mother. Aunt Claray is there and Uncle Aenghus, brother and sister tae our father. We hae so many cousins, I met most of them.”
I blinked. The names weren’t familiar.
He continued, “They’ve been fighting Rannald for almost a decade.”
I blinked some more.
Torin’s brow drew down. “Why dinna they come for ye?”
“They dinna hae a vessel, the one I had was the first they had seen in years.”
Torin exhaled.
I said, “We have another one too, I found it in my hope chest in the attic.”
Max nodded and ran his hand through his hair again. “This is good, having two will help.” He looked upset.
I put my hand on his arm. “What happened?”
With the medals on his chest and the epaulets on his broad shoulders — his clothes matched his bearing.
He actually looked like a prince, but he also looked like the weight of it was weighing him down.
“I daena ken how tae explain it, the uncles took me tae an encampment. They proudly showed me their military, introduced me tae the soldiers, showed off their weapons and artillery, tanks and drones, they hae been fighting Rannald—”
Torin said, “Ye said for a decade? Och nae, that is a long war.”
“Aye, twas difficult tae see it.” He chewed his lip.
“They look defeated, though they wouldna admit it.” He drank from his beer.
“They were enthusiastic tae see me, told me how much I looked like Da, and kept clapping me on m’back and talking about their plans…
twas difficult. They hae been worried about us, but they couldna get tae us, so they lived their own lives, ye ken?
They invited me tae dinner at the safe house.
Twas verra grand, a feast. I met most of the family, heard about everyone who passed in the war, and got told over and over how sad everyone was because our parents are gone. ”
I said, “That sounds really hard to show up in the middle of all that. Life goes on, I suppose, but... it’s not fair.”
He nodded. “Aye, years hae passed of them raisin’ families, and war will draw brothers taegether.
They hae strong bonds... och nae, I am glad ye understand, Alexandria, none of it was meant tae be cruel.
It wasna directed at me at all, but I was sitting at their hearth, hearin’ them tell stories about the battles they’ve waged — twas verra hard tae hear.
I recognized them a little, they were familiar, but I barely know them.
They hae been together fightin’ while I was alone raised in Castle Glume, with nae one. ”
Torin said, “Ye had me.”
“Aye, true. And ye are my brother, one of the best of men, but ye arna a whole clan, I lost my family.”
I squeezed his hand. “That really sucks. I don’t know what that would be like to hear people you barely know talking about your life while you hadn’t been there living it.”
He nodded, putting a hand on mine and patting it.
I added, “And I wouldn’t have remembered them at all.”
“I wish ye had been there so ye could commiserate with me. They were talking about m’cause, m’throne, the kingdom, our parents, and how they were plannin’ tae fight for us, and I hae never felt so alone.”
We all drank from our beers.
Max put down his bottle and his jaw clenched. “I ken tis nae fair, but I hae been angry for years. I was left there, while they hae been living taegether; I hae been living with the loss of everyone my whole life, tis nae fair.”
Torin said, “They should have come for ye much earlier.”
“I daena ken why anything turned out like it has, why has so much time passed? Why did I get a vessel now instead of years ago?” He exhaled.
I said, “It sounds like they didn’t have a vessel though.”
“They did, for a while, they told me they attacked Rannald before he usurped the kingdom, trying to get a different outcome. But Rannald still won, and our kingdom was overthrown. The king and queen,” he gulped, “still died. The uncles told me that our father said there are rules, that it is nae possible tae bring someone back from the dead, usually, and tae never loop, but the uncles still tried.”
He concentrated on his bottle as he spun it on the table.
“Each time they attacked Rannald they went a little bit further back, it shifted time, and the outcome got worse. The kingdom was still lost. I got the impression they were desperate, and they would have kept going, breaking the whole history of the world, but because ye were verra young, Alexandria, they were afraid tae keep chipping away at the dates around Rannald’s first attack, they dinna want tae lose ye—”
“I might have ceased to exist?”
He nodded. “And there had been too much loss already — then their vessel was stolen.”
Torin said, “Twas almost as if someone intervened.”
“Aye, what they were doing was dangerous.”
Torin asked, “Dost ye remember the timeline changing?”
“I daena think it’s something we can remember, the time is overwritten. That is how twas explained, but,” Max gestured toward me. “On reflection, I feel certain that when Alexandria was moved, twas the timeline changing.”
I said, “Oh,” then said, “yeah probably.”
“The uncles dinna ken ye had been moved, or dinna remember. They dinna ken anything about where ye ended up, twas like they had lost track of what they had done.”
Torin asked, “How many times dost ye think they hae overwritten yer past?”
Max shook his head. “I daena ken, but I think verra many times. The uncles say there is nae way tae save our parents. They say tis decided, it canna be undone.” He scrubbed his hands up and down on his face.
I said, “Oh, that really sucks.”
“Aye.”
Torin leaned forward. “Dost ye think that they might hae overwritten our lives? Alexandria and I were speaking on things that seem tae be memories, but we daena truly remember them.”
I nodded. “Like a scar I have and my hope chest changing.”
Max said, “I canna say, but tis likely. They were desperate, twas easy tae make mistakes. But then they lost the vessel and ten years later they hae settled intae their lives. In a way it was like they had moved on. They fight, but they daena win.”
He looked around. “Alexandria, may I hae another beer?”
I jumped up to get another round. “Ye truly daena hae any help tae serve ye?”
“Nope, it’s fine, I can get it myself, the fridge is right here.”
He ran his hands through his hair. “The cousins hae many servants in their household.” He exhaled and leaned forward. “And also, did ye ken, Torin, that my kingdom, Riaghalbane, is falling intae ruin?”
“Nae!”
“Aye. Rannald is not allowed tae occupy that throne, he murdered tae gain it, and now he has allowed it tae fall intae ruin! Och, when I win it back I will hae him drawn and quartered. I will declare it a holiday, so all can come, watch, and rejoice.”
Torin said, “I like the sound of that, m’laird.”
“The uncles want tae take the fight tae Rannald. They ken where and when he will be in his castle, Dunstaffnage—”
Torin said, “Dunstaffnage? That is a Campbell castle!”
“In the early fourteenth century it belongs tae Rannald. Tis not enough that the power hungry bawbag has usurped my kingdom, and seized my castle, he must hae more. The uncles ken where Rannald is, they believe he is vulnerable, they plan tae send an elite force tae attack Dunstaffnage Castle in the year 1308. They say he has security, but not enough. He trusts his guard, but the uncles have informants on the inside. He thinks he has allies, but they’ve turned some of his guard against him. ”
Torin rubbed his hands together. “Och, tis verra good.”
“Aye. The uncles set the plan in motion years ago, but since they lost the vessel they hae just been thinkin’ on it.”
Torin glanced at me. “They hae been mutterin’.”
Max nodded. “Aye, and hae grown weary from it. I hae just joined the fight, and they are already tired.”
Torin said, “Ye need me tae raise m’sword alongside ye in the coming battle, but…”
“Aye, there is a but…”
“Ye arrived and said ye were tormented.”
Max nodded, but didn’t speak.