56. Chapter 56 - Kaitlyn

CHAPTER 56 - KAITLYN

STAUNTON, VIRGINIA - SOMETIME IN 1775

T he helicopter was swooping over the landscape, it was soul-shakingly loud, and freezing with the air rushing in through the open sides. I tucked my head against Magnus’s chest and clamped down, trying to keep myself from shaking apart with cold and fear.

I felt him tense as he raised his head to look around, then put his head back down and was quiet for a while. We couldn’t talk, it was way too loud for talking.

Then he raised his head up again and watched. “Och nae!” He yelled, “Hold on! They are twistin’ a vessel!”

“While we’re in flight? In a helicopter?”

Magnus shoved his back against the wall and jammed his feet against another wall. I was pulled partly under a seat, gripping the legs. I held my feet clamped around a bar, as I felt the wind grab and buffet the helicopter, swinging back and forth in the air.

I screamed as the pain shot up my arm and I held on for my life.

We weren’t flying anymore.

Everything was still.

The helicopter rested at an angle.

I opened my eyes to see Magnus’s face, still and...

way too still.

I tummy crawled across the floor of the helicopter and grabbed his face in both hands. “Magnus! Magnus are you okay?”

He nodded without opening his eyes. Then they fluttered open. He groaned. “Och nae, twas a horror.”

Behind me a man was laughing, loudly. “Hot damn ! I always wanted tae fly a helicopter through time. That was awesome.”

He was wearing breeches and a blue coat, with a high ruffled shirt collar, looking like a Founding Father. “Wasna it awesome, Mag Mòr?”

Magnus said, “Ye are a monster. Who are ye?”

The man’s face fell. “Ye will call me Emperor Asgall, and ye dinna like it, Mag Mòr? Ye dinna think twas fun?”

“Nae, twas criminal and if I address ye at all, twill be as ‘Arsegall’.”

He chuckled. “Ye just had tae put on yer seatbelt and — but I see ye dinna hae a seatbelt. Oh well, tis fine, ye lived through it.” He lifted the head of the pilot from the control panel. “This guy though, he dinna survive it. But twas an experiment, we learned something.”

Magnus asked, “Where are we?”

“We are at one of my residences, ye are tae be my guests while I wait for yer ransom.”

He ordered men to grab us and force us through the woods at dusk, the light was growing dim. We came to the lawn of a large colonial-style home.

I was walking behind Magnus. He was craning around, looking at everything. I was too, trying to figure out where we were. Any clue. Or else it would be near impossible to find us.

It was humid but cool, and felt like there was a river nearby. The forest hadn’t seemed like the south. It was sunset, and I could hear noisy bugs.

It didn’t seem like the southeast. Something told me it was a Mid-Atlantic state, possibly the North.

Did it seem like Maine?

Unfortunately there were a lot of states I hadn’t traveled to… I didn’t really know. But I had seen houses like this in Virginia and Pennsylvania when Emma and I had been scanning Zillow looking to buy more safe houses.

Our feet thudded across the porch, and we were shoved through the front door to a foyer. The floors were wood, there was a fancy wooden stair that went up to the second floor. There was wallpaper. I looked for light switches, but there were just oil lamps on the wall. There was a grandfather clock in the entry…

A s we passed through the kitchen. I took a quick scan, there was no… I looked over my other shoulder: no refrigerator.

Definitely Colonial. Eighteenth century, probably. But where?

Magnus raced for the kitchen counter, but was grabbed and shoved, hard against the doorframe. Groaning with the jolt of pain.

I could see Magnus’s back ahead of me stretched in his shirt. His arms were bound, he was surrounded by mercenaries: he looked tight and ready to fight. Angry. Deeply angry.

I was angry too. It was very hard to get the sound of my children’s screams out of my mind.

The mercenaries pushed us out the back door and into a backyard, thick air and bugs buzzing. There were fireflies flashing over the grass. Then a hatch door was opened and Magnus and I were shoved down the steps into a cellar under the house.

It was dark, grungy, musty and damp, and frigidly cold.

Magnus hit the wall, stumbled, then righted himself.

A soldier stepped aside and Asgall sat down on the top step. It was difficult to make out his expression because he was lit from behind by the ambient light of the moon. We looked up as if we were down in a cave.

He lit a cigarette, dragged from it, exhaled smoke, then said, “Magnus, the reason I hae asked ye here today?—”

Magnus grumbled. “Ye hae seized me, the rightful King of Scotland, against m’will.”

“Och, ye hae done worse tae me. I was the rightful King of Scotland. Ye usurped m’throne with yer time traveling and stole m’queen and the son she was carrying. These are the acts of a usurper and a fiend. Did ye ken, Magnus, I had tae rebuild m’compound? And now I hae been lookin’ for m’queen through time.”

“Och, these are the reasonings of a lunatic. I was crowned king at Scone in?—”

He drew in a long drag of cigarette and blew smoke out, making rings against the sky. “Daena be ridiculous, Magnus, it is all as I said it was. But now I hae set this all tae rights. Ye hae been overthrown. Edward has intervened and will be appointin’ his own man tae the throne, probably John Balliol.” He shrugged. “Whoever, the important thing is that Edward will be beholden tae me... he will do whatever I want?—”

“How long hae ye been advisin’ the English King?”

“He has been workin’ for me for a verra long time.” He grinned. “As will yer mother.” He jabbed out his cigarette on the step.

Magnus said, “That is not possible. Lady Mairead would never .”

“Well, not yet, mind ye, but she will work for me, once she finds ye hae been captured. Once asked...she will be highly persuadable, she just has tae learn what I am capable of. Case in point, I easily gained control of Scotland, England, the Colonies, and then the European continent. When I think on all that I own or rule over… even I am shocked by how easy twas.” He jabbed out his cigarette on the steps above and with tobacco-stained fingers lit another.

“I rule all of it, Magnus.” He drew in a long puff of the cigarette and exhaled smoke in puffs around his head. “Tis an empire.”

Magnus groaned.

“What, ye daena like what I am tellin’ ye?”

Magnus said, “Nae, I think tis stupid. I think ye need friends tae run these soliloquies past, so they can tell ye that ye sound like an idiot. A friend would say, ‘Och nae, Arsegall, daena say such stupid things tae Magnus, ye are goin’ tae give him even more reasons tae kill ye, just tae shut ye up?—’”

He watched the burning end of his cigarette and spoke lazily, “Ye forget, Magnus, I am holdin’ yer wife as well. Dost ye want me tae teach her a lesson for yer insolence?”

I shrank back behind Magnus.

Magnus said, “Ye daena hae a lot of listenin’ comprehension, Arsegall. Ye see, twas not me sayin’ it, twas yer friends that ought tae hae said it. I canna help it that ye dinna get very good advice. Perhaps ye daena hae any friends, maybe.”

I said, softly. “Likely.”

Asgall said, “What did ye say, bitch?”

Magnus’s breathing was heavy. “Ye take?—”

I said, “Only my friends can call me ‘bitch’. You and I are barely acquainted.”

He laughed, a menacing, overly loud laugh. “Ye are both in a great deal of trouble. I truly hope yer mother trades well for ye, and fast.”

From behind Magnus’s shoulder, I asked, “Curious… what are you asking for in trade?”

“Riaghalbane. That kingdom will complete m’collection.” He drew in another long puff of the cigarette.

I asked, “Where are we?”

He stood and chuckled. “Och, ye wouldna think as highly of me if I were that dumb — right, bitch? Why would I tell ye that?” He jabbed the second cigarette out on the steps.

I said, “Because what does it matter? There’s nothing we can do about it.”

He humphed and stood on the top step, leveling his eyes on Magnus. “Emperor Asgall... say it.”

“Say what?”

“ Say ‘Emperor Asgall.’”

“Umpire Arsegall is an arse of epic proportions.”

“Ah yes, hopefully yer mother will trade for ye soon, every minute that she waits will become more uncomfortable for ye.”

Magnus stiffened.

Asgall stepped fully out through the door and closed the hatch over us, blocking the last of the light with a finality that was terrifying.