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“Aye, I hae a vessel, I am tae take ye tae Riaghalbane. But first, food and drink, I am worn from the jump, twas a verra long jump. They are taxing, ye ken?” He snapped his fingers for more ale and some food.

I said, “Why didn’t we meet you when we were there and what happened to Max if you’re the prince?”

“Och nae, I am not explainin’ it well. I am from a different time, ye ken, not yer time, about a century later, if I do the math.” He counted on his fingers. “Och, I daena ken, my wife, Gwynedd is better at the maths than I am, but if we count generations twill be easier, ye are my ancestors… I think⁠—”

“Your ancestors, what… what do you mean?”

He shrugged, “Ye are m’great great something, an uncle and aunt, perhaps m’cousins two times removed. I ought tae hae paid better attention when twas explained tae me, but they might hae lied. Tis not good tae ken how ye are related, ye ken? Ye might be m’grandparents, twould mess with our minds, would it nae?”

More food was placed in front of all of us, I was beginning for the first time to feel actually full.

The maiden filled our cups with her pitcher again and Artair winked at her. She blushed.

Torin said, “Who told you this, who asked you to help us?”

I said, “Yes, where are my uncles and especially Max?”

He took a large bite of food and chewed, holding up a finger for us to wait. Then he swallowed and grimaced. “Och, how dost ye get used tae this?”

Torin said, “Ye daena.”

“I just got here and I miss the palace food already. The kingdom inna always easy, but at least the food is better.” He almost looked like he would take another bite.

Torin shook his head. “On with it, please.”

“Of course, where were we…? I was approached by four men, Fraoch, Lochinvar, James, and Quentin. They told me we needed tae rescue ye, and that we were goin’ tae do something called ‘ride the Trailblazer,’ och nae, tis a horror. Ye haena experienced the worst thing in the world if ye haena used it.” His eyes went far away.

“What is the Trailblazer?”

“Tis the way that we open the path for the time travel vessels. King Magnus and his family had closed the path tae keep history more orderly, they dinna ken ye were trapped here when they did it.”

I leaned forward, “So they closed the path… is that what happened to our vessel? What did they use?”

“Ye daena ken any of this?”

Torin and I both shook our heads.

“The vessels go intae the future and the past but only back tae 1557, unless the Trailblazer is used tae go farther back⁠—”

“What do you mean you can’t go past 1557?”

The night had grown dark, the hearth was glowing, candles on the tables were flickering. We all leaned forward, a huddle about issues of time travel. It was the most Torin and I had ever heard; up to now we had just ridden the vessel having no real idea how it worked.

“If ye do jump past 1557, November 1, 1557 tae be exact, ye are flung tae the past without the vessel, it remains in 1557 and ye are trapped without one.”

“It disappears?”

“Aye.”

Torin gulped. “So if I had ever gone too far back I would hae been stuck?”

He nodded. “Hae ye ever been in a jeep? The way I think on it, the vessels are like the jeep, and ye are goin’ down the road, but at November 1, 1557 ye hit a gate across the road and beyond tis an overgrown forest. The jeep slams intae the gate and ye are flung forward intae the past. Ye land, shake yer head because ye are dazed and confused from being flung and there ye are, ye canna get back tae yer jeep, tis way back there in 1557, still.”

He put a bite of bread in his mouth and chewed.

Then with his mouth full a bit, he continued, “Unless someone has used the Trailblazer tae cut the road through the forest. As we just did — tis awful tae use, if ye hae ever seen a bulldozer and paver working on a road just imagine it slowly pavin’ yer face until tis flat. That is what it feels like.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands. The handkerchief was clean, he had obviously come from a place with laundry detergent. “Flat face, that was how I felt, and that was last week.”

Torin said, “I wish someone had told us this.”