Here I was again, in a completely different century, reliant on him.
I was deep in an unknown future.
The man who had killed my parents, who wanted to kill me and Max was near here somewhere. It felt menacing and wrong.
And unlike going into the past, the light here in the future was really bright, and my head hurt from it all.
I grew quiet.
And got all up in my head with fear.
Torin tightened his arm around my shoulders and asked, “Ye frightened?”
“How can you tell?”
He whispered, “Ye are tremblin’.”
“I’m tired and spent. I think. I don’t think we’ve slept, not enough. Will we be able to sleep? Where are we going?”
“We are goin’ tae the uncles’ military encampment. I daena ken what this camp will be like as it’s modern and I am nae, but I hae been in a battle encampment, and tis usually a bleak place: mud and rain on the side of the tent, puddles near yer bed. We will likely be in the royal tent though, and ye are a princess, I am certain they will hae made it comfortable for ye.”
I nodded my head and then listened quietly as Max, Uncle Charlie, and Torin spoke about boring things and spaced out until Torin nudged me. “We hae a view of the camp.”
The plateau teemed with life— a sprawling town made of matte-black stiff tactical tents, arched ribbed structures, and in the middle stood the large, metal, command center. It had a gable roof and looked big enough to park a plane. Over the scene drifted about thirty drones, with triangular wings and soft red under-lights. The whole encampment had a mechanical hum. I said, “Wow,” my mouth open, looking at the helicopter and the lot full of dark-graphite colored ATVs and armored cars. Armed men were everywhere — it looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.
I glanced at Torin’s face. He was wide-eyed and shocked by the scene. His first question though, he asked, “Tis yer banner, Max?”
“Aye, blue of sky, and the green of the hillside.”
Torin nodded, as if this was important.
Aenghus drove us past the guard gate, into the camp and up to the front door of the metal-sided warehouse, telling us it was called the Barn.
A pair of sentries spoke to Charlie and Max. I saw them bow deeply to Max. And I thought,oh.
And then Charlie told them that I was the princess Alexandria of Riaghalbane.
And they bowed deeper still.
Whoa.
All around us men paused mid-task and bowed their heads, murmuring, “Your Highness,” under their breath as Max and I passed.
Heat climbed up my neck. I wasn’t dressed like a princess. I was dressed like a North Carolina woman headed to a coffee shop for a breakfast date.
Charlie asked, “Are you hungry? Let me get you kids fed, then we’ll talk over plans.”
My boots crunched across the gravel. The sounds around us were jarring, there were hundreds of people here, maybe over a thousand — engines rumbling, men calling, a loudspeaker. It was a cacophony.
Torin asked, “Ye hear it, Max, the thrum of war?”
“Aye, tis coming.”
I gulped, my eyes sweeping the sprawling sea of men and tents, the armor and weapons.Oh no, we were going to war.
The sentries bowed and Torin stepped to the side and gestured for me and Max to enter.
The confusionof light and motion hit me as we walked in. The entire far wall was one seamless holographic display, the news and weather glowing with overlapping feeds. Live satellite maps floated beside drone footage from training grounds. A news channel scrolled silent headlines. And a weather overlay pulsed red over a distant heat wave. The sound was muted, but the images constantly flickered and shifted.
