Page 84 of Only a Breath Away

“Och, I think tis a barbarous way tae decide a succession.”

Magnus nodded. “Tis. Now I hae a young son, I plan for him tae take the throne and for the succession tae be less barbaric. I want tae do away with the challenges. I am telling ye this because I want ye tae ken, I winna allow ye tae challenge me for the throne. Dost ye understand?”

“Aye.”

“Ye will hae land and a title and all I will ask is that ye offer yer blade in my defense, when necessary. But ye must take an oath that ye winna raise arms against me or my son.”

He knelt down on one knee. “I swear, Yer Majesty, I winna challenge yer rule.”

Magnus watched his bowed head for a moment, then said, “Thank ye, ye can rise.”

He stood.

“Ye pledged yerself without considering it first?”

“Tis an easy decision, Yer Majesty, ye hae fought many battles and ye are still standing. I take that tae mean ye can be fierce. I hae heard ye speak and ye seem tae be a fair man. Tis a simple calculation that I would rather be on yer fair side than yer fierce side.”

“Good, Lochinvar, thank ye. And ye still look verra young, how auld are ye?”

He shrugged. “I think I am young enough tae nae be married, too auld tae be alone at night, dost ye ken where I can find a woman for m’bed?”

I had been listening quietly, but that was too much, I jumped in, “No, that… holy moley,no. I do not know where you can find a woman, you will have to wait until you meet someone who is willing to date you…”

“Tae date?”

Magnus said, “What m’dear wife is saying is ye will have tae take a woman tae dinner, to get her tae fall for yer charms, andthenye can marry her and then ye can take her tae bed, tis the order of it.” His eyes twinkled. “Unless she is a widow.”

Lochinvar said, “Aye like Lady Mairead — where is she anyway?”

Magnus groaned. “Ye leave m’mother alone. Ye will need tae hold yer appetites in if ye are tae live in civilized company. We are goin’ tae take ye home with us, there winna be any unmarried women there, but we will find someone tae introduce ye tae.”

I joked, “There’s always Tinder.”

They both blinked at me. This was not the right crowd for dumb jokes. I said, “We will do our best to find someone.”

He grinned, “In the meantime I get tae live with yer family — there will be plenty tae eat? Will there be horses?”

“Aye, ye will hae plenty tae eat, and there will be horses... at our home in Florida, once we are back there.”

“Good, thank ye, Yer Majesty, when do we go?”

CHAPTER 61 - KAITLYN

The following day, after being shadowed constantly by Lochinvar, who, on the whole, was trying to be good. He would be quiet and respectful, then out of the blue something would intrigue him and he would hound me with a relentless number of questions.

“What’s that?” He pointed at a video playing on the wall.

“The video? That’s the same as the audience in the stadium, and the wall of the waiting room in the infirmary. I told you then, ‘A video.’ And the wall of the kitchen, I said when you asked, ‘A video.’ And the wall on the hallway, ‘Still a video.’ It’s been everywhere, you’ve seen it now lots, it’s a video.”

His eyes narrowed. “Whatis it, though? Really what is it?”

“Like um… a light, making an image, telling you a story… right? Does that make sense? It’s not real, it’s… it’s a recording of something that happened… you know what, it’s a recording that is telling you a story, that’s the best explanation.”

“But how is it?”

“How is it telling you a story, or how is it recorded?”

“I daena ken.”

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