Return to Me - By Morgan O'Neill Page 0,62
his children. And do you know where we might find the queen? I fear she may yet be harmed.”
Wringing his hands, his brow furrowed, the bishop said, “She is gone. She and her servants left with Magnus and his wife. They spoke of a secret hiding place, where they would all be safe.”
Sergeric stared at him for a moment, then turned, slammed his fist into the wall, and left the chapel.
PART THREE
Chapter 18
Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain
Exhausted and overcome with grief, Gigi stood in a cave on the flanks of Montserrat. Even with the help of Wallia’s men and fast horses, it had still taken them all afternoon and most of the night to arrive at this hidden spot.
They had just buried King Athaulf in a ravine not far away, in a place where he could rest in peace until the day Wallia returned to retrieve the body.
The queen sat mute, rocking herself, her eyes vacant and teary. Leontius and Elpidia waited nearby, watching her with great concern. Magnus, Wallia and the other Visigoths were still at the grave, erasing all traces of their presence, so that no one would be able to find clues which would lead them to Athaulf’s remains.
There was nothing Gigi could do to take away Placidia’s heartbreak, so she simply sat next to her friend and held her hand. She gazed into the distance, past faraway Barcelona, and saw several sailing ships in the waters beyond. She wondered which one, if any, belonged to Lucius.
Placidia stirred beside her, then withdrew her hand, and Gigi realized she was being scrutinized.
“What is it, Placidia?” she gently asked.
“Yesterday, when you got back to the chapel, you said something to Magnus about changing history. What did you mean?”
Gigi froze. She could not lie. It was time she told Placidia what they knew.
“Let me get Magnus,” Gigi replied, scrambling to her feet. “We need to explain ourselves, but it can be for your ears only.” She looked at Leontius and Elpidia. “Please, when my husband arrives, give us this moment to speak to the queen.”
They complied, and Gigi hurried to find Magnus. She quickly told him the situation, and soon they were standing with the queen at the mouth of the cave.
“Do you remember that day in the baptistery when Horace vanished and I was suddenly there?” Gigi asked.
A faint nod from Placidia was all that told Gigi she was listening. Her dull expression told Gigi she didn’t care in the least.
Gigi exchanged a nervous glance with Magnus.
“Go on, tell her everything,” he urged.
She took a deep breath and dove in. “As strange as it sounds, Horace and I switched places in time. You see, I was born in the late twentieth century, almost sixteen hundred years from now. I was playing my flute for some people in the baptistery, when all of a sudden everything changed. I could hear Horace playing, trying to mimic my music, and somehow we changed places. He went to twenty-first century Ravenna, and I came here, to your time.”
Placidia frowned in confusion.
“I know this sounds insane, Placidia, I know that, but hear me out. The time travel might have been caused by the flute playing, or it might have been Magnus’s ring.” Gigi touched her husband’s hand. “My grandfather found the ring in 1947, in southern Italy, very near where Randegund ripped it from my finger the night Magnus was kidnapped. It was not found at the battle site where he’d lost it, because I’d altered history by traveling back in time with it.”
Placidia muttered, “A wonderful story, Gigi. A great tale for children, but it is beyond me why you should think it comforting for me to hear such … such a ridiculous fantasy.”
“Placidia,” Magnus took up the thread, “it is the truth. I swear on my love for you it is true. After I was kidnapped and tortured by Honorius, Gigi saved me by getting me to the baptistery, playing her flute, and taking us both to her time. The medical knowledge there is very advanced, far beyond anything I could ever have imagined, and they were able to save me. We enjoyed our time there, happy to finally be free of your brother, but when the ring was mysteriously returned to Gigi, we knew we were called to return. When we checked the historical records, we realized what had happened … and what we had to try and stop from happening.”
Magnus glanced at Gigi and she knew why he hesitated. This was the