She pulled her clothes off and quickly changed, while saying, “Torin, you’ve rescued me like fifteen times. If I take a true accounting, most of the time I’m just panicking while you do it. Thisonetime I had to rescue myself. I’m not holding it against you,at all.Apparently, as a princess, danger is going to follow me. I ought to know how to fight. That was the first time I shot a gun, it was wild.”
I looked down my nose. “Think of how many times ye threatened me with that gun! Ye haena even shot it afore?”
She smiled. “I figured it out when I needed to.”
She shoved the clothes from her battle intae the washin’ machine and turned it on.
Dude jumped onto the table and sat licking his paws.
She asked, “You ready to go, Dude?”
I said, “I gave him some meat.”
She gave me a sweet frown. “You fed Dude?”
“Aye, we were tryin’ tae figure out what tae do, how tae save ye, so we discussed it while he had a meal.”
“That is awesome. I love you so much, please don’t sweat the ‘not turning on the lamps’ business, there are many things about your world that I don’t know how to do. We’re figuring this out. And when we’re in the kingdom we’re both out of time.”
“I am more out of time than ye, but I see what ye mean.”
She asked, “You look injured, are you going to be able to fight? How’s your shoulder?”
I rolled it around in the socket. “Twill be fine, I will rise tae the battle when called.”
“We are time travelers, you could rest up, go to the battle later, we can do that, I think?”
“Nae, there is a battle tae be fought, it must be fought, I will be ready. And we should go, I think.”
She locked up the doors, we gathered our bags and went out tae the paddock. The horses, still skittish, were millin’ at the far fence. I began looping ropes around their necks while Alexandria held the flashlight beam steady, her bags on her shoulders ready tae go.
As I cinched the first saddle, she said, “And now that I’ve proven myself, you know I can take care of myself, so when I go with you to the battle...”
My brow drew down.
Her eyes grew fierce. “You told me you weren’t going to leave me again.”
I yanked a strap tight. “Nae, ye will stay with yer Aunt Claray as ye did before. Tis the safest.”
She pouted.
I added, “Tis nae place for ye.”
“But youpromisedyou wouldn’t leave me behind.”
I scoffed. “I meant after the battle.”
“So ‘I’m not going to leave you alone anymore’ means except for the very next day when I’m going to leave you to go…” She counted on her fingers. “Eight hundred years! You want to go eight hundred years without me!”
“If ye think ye will talk me intae takin’ ye tae a battlefield where near everyone I ken has already almost been killed, ye are sadly mistaken. What kind of husband dost ye take me for?”
“I can handle myself, I just proved it.”
“Nae, I am nae arguing with ye on it.”
She huffed. “But we’re stronger together!”
I shook my head, heaving a saddle ontae Lambo’s back. “Stronger? Nae, we canna be taegether every moment, Alexandria. Ye are goin’ tae be at m’side as I fight? Ye will get us both killed.”
