34. Chapter 34 - Asgall

Iwas sitting in my medieval office, thinkin', when Bernard knocked on the door. "Come in!"

I nodded toward m'chamberlain, askin' him tae send the chamber boy in tae build up the fire while Bernard took the leather chair across from me. I wished the chairs were more comfortable, but I had tae keep the comforts of one time away from the comforts of another. This was the curse of time travel. Some might think the issue would be the relationships ye lost as ye jumped through time, living twice as long as another man, but people were replaceable. I could find a beautiful woman in the eighteenth century and bring her with me tae the thirteenth century, and wearing appropriate clothes for the time period, she could blend in enough. Nae, the curse was the inanimate objects that wouldna blend — a proper pair of boots, a water filter, a lightbulb, a cigarette. Och nae, how I missed cigarettes. I tapped my finger on the desk, irritated. I wanted tae smoke, but couldna until this meeting was done.

Bernard opened a leather folder and spread out some pale white sheets of paper. They were from the future, out of place, but he was cautious enough. "As your real estate agent."

We both laughed.

I said, "What hae ye found?"

"A parcel of land in what will become Los Angeles, for a good price."

"I am not verra liquid…"

"If you sell the Winterborne Estate in 2050, you'd have more than enough."

"Make it happen then. I did like Winterborne, but it is full of terrible memories ever since the debacle with Ariana."

He didn't look up from the binder of pages. "May she Rest In Peace."

"Aye. With that sale will there be enough left for the cobalt mine in Africa?"

"Yes, your lawyers will have those contracts ready by the end of the month." He added, "Speaking of, Your Highness, I think I came up with a solution for the other issue."

I raised my brow and steadied my gaze. "My other issue?"

"You know… the fertility issue, we discussed it last year." He squirmed under my gaze.

"I ken. Ye pried into my private business."

"I asked, with so many wives, why you had not had any, you know… issue."

I raised my brow. "My wives haena performed their duties." I chuckled, "Do I sound like an ancient king?"

"Yes, it was quite impressive how stern you sounded."

"Of the six wives not one has become pregnant, they haena performed their wifely duties, though at least two of them had performed some duties spectacularly, just not the crucial ones."

"That was Raquel and Tiffany?"

"Aye," I smiled, "ye remember Raquel and Tiffany? Were ye coveting m'wives, Bernard? Dreamin' of bedding the wives of Asgall?"

"No sire, not at all, they just seemed, um… prone to being um…" He shifted and squirmed, while I considered the ways I might kill him.

"…prone tae being, um… seductive, desirable? Ye looked with temptation at m'wives?"

I would need tae kill him soon as he had been useful way too long. He knew details about my business, enough for me tae be counting his days, and now he had just admitted tae thinking about how I hadna sired sons, and also had been coveting my wives. "Do ye hae any more thoughts on m'wives or my cock?"

"No, sire!" He looked horrified, heat reddening his cheeks. This used tae thrill me, but he was too easy. He perhaps knew his days were numbered. "Of course not. Never. May they Rest in Peace. I would never."

I chuckled.

"So what did ye discover when ye were thinkin' on m'royal cock, my sexy wives, and my lack of sons?"

"That a way to have a son would be to um… acquire one."

I nodded. "Go on."

"I found one. I mean, a son, a boy, who you can easily…. um, acquire."

"That's why you're the best in the business."

He flipped through his pages and spread a hand across one. Then turned the book and pointed. It was a photo of a very pretty young woman.

"That is not a son."

"She is the mother. I know when the son is born so I calculated when the child was conceived. The mother is not married at the time of conception."

"Why would this matter tae me? The history of the world is full of young pretty women having their lives ruined by spreading their legs for a man. Who is the father?"

"Lochinvar Campbell, son of Donnan."

"Verra interesting! I begin tae see yer point." I picked up the photo tae admire it again. "She has a fine look, and she is coveted by Lochinvar — verra verra interesting."

I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling and mulled it over out loud. "I could wait until the son is born — but that is more complicated — ye say they are unmarried?"

"Yes."

"Verra interesting, if I married her… when the son is born he would be mine… Ye say she is fine stock?"

"She comes from a fine family. She was a soldier."

"Ha!" I looked at the photo shaking my head. "The sons of Donnan are so predictable, everything is about battle and strength. While they are fortressing their lands, thinking about their bloodline, they daena even see me coming."

"Yes, you're growing in power."

"What does that mean? Growing in power? I am all-powerful. I own all the land. And I already am a king."

"I only meant from when you started to now."

"You speak of me as if I am not the largest landowner in the history of the world. ‘Growing'? Do ye think I am a child?"

He shifted in his seat. "That's not what I said, I?—"

"So my son would be a descendant of Donnan?—"

"Step-son."

I raised my brow. "If I disappear everyone who knows, then…who would know?"

He gulped.

"I claim him as my son, and then we take over the future, he is installed. Nae one can complain because he's a descendant of Donnan, but he is my son, he ushers in my Empire. Verra interesting idea, Bernard, ye hae come verra close tae makin' yerself useful. Ye hae a plan for acquiring her?"

"I'll hire the same security we used for the Dubai vault."

"Good, they were precise and kept it verra quiet." I looked out the window at the sky and asked, "Do you think he has noticed — I am not ready tor him tae notice yet."

"Who?"

"Magnus. I am so close. I plan tae take his crown, then he can notice when it is too late tae stop me."

"I can not tell if he's noticed or not... we have been very cautious, I don't see how he could..." He was squirming again. He added, "I think if you decide to take Ash McNeil, you would have a son, your power would..."

"There ye go again — ye want tae say grow, daena ye, Bernard?"

"I simply mean, with caution, he will notice you once you have all the power."

"Good, good. I agree. Just not too soon. Bring her here, I'll set her up at the brewery in Fortingall."

"Excellent plan, hidden away in the thirteenth century, he would never find her even if he started to look. Will you meet her there?"

"I will visit, make her acquaintance, but I canna imagine why I would live there. I hate that century... but I will make certain she has what she needs while we will wait for the bairn tae be born."