the purpose of tactical operations. I hae been watching that point to see if I can make out the comings and goings.”
I nudged myself up against his shoulder. It was calming to have my husband point out things in the distance, describing them to me in a way, explaining how the world, his world, worked. I just wished there wasn’t so much menace to what he was describing.
“And so you are watching out there trying to see what’s going to happen next?”
“Aye.”
“So like, if you were going to describe how you see time, like the future — you would say you face it? You walk toward it? Like, is it blank, the future, and you’re walking toward it, the blankness, as the story of what you accomplish happens behind you?”
“Aye, daena ye?”
“Not really. I mean I used to until I heard of a different way to see it.”
He said, “How else besides walking tae meet yer future?”
“Grandma Barb told me that in Hebrew tradition they see time unfolding behind them. And the more I think of it... I love it. It’s like this — maybe you are walking backwards, and so you are blind to the future, but since there is nothing there, you might as well be blind, right? You can’t see it, so why look for it?”
I looked up at him. “Instead, you face the other way. You see the story as it lays out behind you, not as it comes, but as it goes. That’s where your focus is. You walk backward towards the future, of course, you aren’t hiding from it, but your focus is behind you on what is important.”
I added, “Ever since I heard about it I’ve been thinking, maybe my focus shouldn’t be on anticipating what’s coming, but on watching our story unfold: you, me, the kids, our family. So I’ve switched my focus.”
He nodded. “Did ye ken I admire ye a great deal?”
“No, really?”
“I do, I think ye are verra wise.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that. I’m not sure if it will help, but I hope so.”
Just then the radio squeaked and Quentin’s voice came through, “Boss!”
Magnus tapped the button. “Aye?” as he turned away to concentrate.
I stood nearby to listen, because his whole life depended on it.
Eighteen - Magnus
Quentin’s voice through the phone, said, “They want you to surrender.”
“Twas expected. Who is they?”
“Philip, total douchebag, trying to act as if he’s a malevolent dictator. He tried to pretend like he was the boss but then he let it slide, Roderick is a part of it.”
“Och, I kent it, but tis another thing altaegether tae ken tis true.”
I glanced at Kaitlyn, then asked, “Was Bella a part of it? Did ye see her?”
“They didn’t say and I didn’t see her. When I pressed them about Lady Mairead, Philip asked if I knew where she was.”
“So he daena ken?”
“Yeah, it didn’t sound like she was working with them.”
“That is good. Are ye headed back?”
“No, just like we suspected, they’re going to keep us here until you show up. Our lives for yours.”
“We kent that was how it would happen.”
He loudly said, “Yep, these assholes are nothing if not totally predictable.”
“Tell Philip I said I appreciate the compliment, that I am worth three men — what is their purpose?”
“Roderick wants your kingdom, of course. Philip is going to help him.” His voice went low. “Pretty sure Philip is not going to live to see any real power. He is a weaselly fuck, not at all the kind of man I would want running my kingdom.”
“I hae met him, I ken he is a peevish brat—”
“And Magnus, he wants Archie as well. He told me to tell you that.”
“He canna hae him. He is a bairn. I will kill him for suggestin’ it. I will come alone.”
Quentin’s voice said, “Mag—” but then it sounded like a struggle.
A gruff voice came on the radio. “You have two hours to get your affairs in order. You and young Archie, both.”
“How dost I ken ye will let m’son live? Or my men? What are your assurances ye winna attack the castle?”
There was silence on the radio and then way out in the distance, a drone rose intae the air. Tae Kaitlyn I said, “Go tae the stairs!” We watched as it came closer and closer, swooping down low over the fields and then ascending the walls. As it came up over the edge and hovered just above us, Fraoch and I, and a line of guards trained our guns