nae all of them, my youngest is there, my daughter is over there in the corner, and my boy is off causing mischief, I suspect. He is the one tae keep me from having more — so many trials. I am grateful ye brought me the medicinals.”
She looked back down at Isla and sighed again. “Why did ye come?”
I said, “First Lady Mairead paid a visit and then Archie’s mother paid a visit. I had to leave in a hurry.”
“I am sorry my mother has been vexing for ye.”
“Such a vexing, so much vexing,” I joked. “Trouble is, I can’t decide if she’s a friend or foe.”
Lizbeth shrugged, “I would say she is truly a woman, ye canna judge her as the one or the other. Ye can only ask, do her plans include ye or nae?”
I sighed. “That’s the whole problem, her plans. Before, she only wanted to be Queen Mother. She wanted Magnus to take the throne. If I helped her she was a wee bit nicer to me, by degrees.” While I spoke, Hayley pulled chocolate from her satchel and passed it to Lizbeth who took it gratefully.
Lizbeth said, “She has been a steward for Magnus in his absence?”
“Yes.”
“Aye, she might be ready tae have more, she has had a taste of power.”
“Or she might just be a steward for him.”
Emma said, “There’s a rare time in history that a kingdom’s steward didn’t want their own power.”
Lizbeth said, “But also, tis rarer for a woman tae wield power alone. There has been Queen Elizabeth, but I believe my mother prefers having a man on the throne. She likes tae lead with her influence. I believe she has not changed her mind in this.”
“So she wants Magnus as king — yeah, so she has that, right? Maybe she is on my side now...”
Lizbeth said, “Aye, perhaps, though ye hae brought forth a daughter, nae an heir tae Magnus’s throne. Ye may need tae worry she sees ye as unimportant. I would suspect she has aligned herself with Archie’s mother, as he will be the heir.”
My eyes went wide. “You think so?”
“I daena ken, Kaitlyn, but I would keep that in mind and judge her motivations with your suspicions.”
“This is good advice, thank you. I will talk to Magnus about it.”
She said, “I already hae, he came tae me for guidance this morn after he spoke tae ye. I told him this about our mother, but I did nae tell him what I am about tae tell ye. I believe he is too verra worried and is nae thinkin’ on this well enough, as men will do. But I will tell ye this, as long as Archie’s mother is living, your life is worth much less. Isla’s life is worth nothing tae the throne. Thrones hae a way of taking the lives of women, upending them, and discarding them. Bear this in mind, Kaitlyn, ye are tae think of this as nae ye against Archie’s mother, but your bloodline against her bloodline. Ye are mothering her son, keeping him in line. Tis her bloodline, it makes her verra powerful.”
“Oh.” I watched Archie pretend to die on one of the rugs. Ben hugged him and then they ran in circles. “And your mother loves power.”
I looked around at Emma and Hayley. “Any thoughts?”
Emma said, “I got nothing to say, I watched The Crown though, that’s... I don’t know what to say.”
Hayley said, “Shit girl. I never thought about it that way. That’s whack — Archie isn’t a little boy, he’s a bloodline?”
“Aye, and the power of the throne daena care that he is a little boy, or that ye hae adopted him as yer own, or that Isla is a bairn, or that ye are Magnus’s wife, the throne just wants power.”
Our eyes followed Archie. As if he could tell we were thinking about him, he ran over. His eyes red-rimmed, on the verge of a tantrum. Poor baby, he couldn’t have a temper tantrum now, that would be terrible timing. Awful timing.
“Come here sweetness.” I opened my arms. “Are you my sweet boy?” He climbed onto my lap, fingers in his mouth.
He nodded, looking up at me with big glazed eyes. I hugged him close with a squeeze. “I love you little man.”
“Wub oo too.”
Beaty bustled in with Mookie on his leash. “Och, tis drudgery down in the kitchens.”