She fastened the belt around my waist. Then slipped the dirk into place.
Aunt Claray’s hands settled on my shoulders. “Look at ye,” she whispered, her voice thick. “Justlook. Ye are a princess, tistrue, the men will ride under yer banner, yer husband will fall tae his knees.”
I smiled. “Thank you, I am so glad you told me those things.”
“If I dress ye every morning I will tell ye all the stories — I have many. I lived with Nor and Livvy in the castle for years. I will tell ye all about it.”
There were pockets in the dress. I dug in my suitcase for the carved lamb and tucked it into one. For luck.
I smoothed down the front of my dress. I was ready. I was a princess. I needed to be somber, strong, andmeantto stand at the heart of an army.
I left the bedroom to find Torin.
18
ALEXANDRIA
SEPTEMBER 16, 2185 - THE ENCAMPMENT PREPARING FOR BATTLE
The men were all conferring over the touchscreen map and turned when I entered. Torin said, “Och, look at ye, ye are a beauty!”
I smiled and blushed, “Thank you,” noting that everyone looked clean, handsome, and ready to command a war. Torin was wearing a new navy blue uniform, with a sword at his hip. Max was dressed like a prince in the same uniform, but with embroidery on the lapels, and a short cloak that matched. He also had a sword. Ryan, Charlie, and Aenghus were wearing fatigues, like they were headed to battle.
I asked, “What’s the conversation about?” Dude jumped up on the table and sat in the middle of the map.
Ryan laughed, “This damn cat has had his butt on my map all day.”
Torin put his arm around me and kissed my forehead.
I said, “You’re wearing a fancy uniform.”
“Aye, I hae tae since I hae married intae yer family.”
Oh.
“Well, we match a bit.”
“Uncle Ryan has been tellin’ us the plan.”
I looked at the large touchscreen map. “I know it’s irritating to have someone come in and ask for it to be explained again, but can you give me the short version?”
Ryan playfully batted at Dude, drawing him to the side of the table.
Dude meowed and sat down as if he were very irritated.
Ryan said, “At least now you’re sitting on the opposite coastline, cat.” He pointed at the model and drew his finger along a route. “We are sending three successive strike lines to this castle. We leave at once, but arrive at different times, to be safe. This will be a surprise attack. Sun Tzu said…” He pulled an open book closer and pointed down on a page with a quote underlined in pencil. “‘Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.’ This is what we’re going to do.”
I said, “Okay, that sounds good. We time jump to the past.”
He leveled his eyes. “Not ‘we’, niece, you will remain here on the base. The five of us are going, and twenty other soldiers.”
I said, “Oh, yes, of course.” I glanced around, I would be in this command post alone, waiting for the battle to happen,great.Somehow in all the excitement I hadn’t realized that.
But of course, why would I also go to battle?
I asked, “Do you know anything about the castle?”
Uncle Ryan said, “Yeah, a decade ago we were working toward this plan, we sent spies, we know the area, we have allies, and we have, most importantly, men on the inside.”
