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ALEXANDRIA

1308 - WE ARE RESCUED

Torin was latching the bags onto the saddle of Cathbarr, and murmuring to Dude as he put him in one of the saddlebags. Then he said, “Och nae, I almost forgot.”

Artair had his foot in the stirrup and stopped mid-mount into the saddle of his horse. “What?”

“Did ye get the casket along with our message?”

“What casket?” Artair pulled his foot from the stirrup and stood holding his horse’s reins. “I hadna heard of a casket.”

“We left it in the kirk,” Torin looked up the road in that direction. “Ye dinna get it? Twas for a time traveler named… Mag Mòr.”

I could barely make Artair out except a dim glow from the moon where I saw him shake his head. “I haena heard of him, dost ye mean the king of Scotland from the thirteenth century? He was a time traveler? Och nae, but I guess twould explain a great deal. What was in it?”

“The last vestiges of a time traveler named Archibald, who went by the name the Wolf King, and fought alongside William Wallace. He claimed tae be the son of Mag Mòr.”

Artair stared down at his boots. “Och nae.”

“Dost ye ken Mag Mòr? I could deliver it tae him.”

Artair was quiet, shaking his head. Then he said, “Ye might mean Magnus, I daena ken, but ye might. I hae only met him a couple of times, we do our best tae stay separate, as he is a King of Riaghalbane, and I will be, someday. We daena want tae interfere with each other, ever, but I ken he has a son named Archibald.”

I said, “Well then that’s him, let’s take him the casket.”

“Nae, we canna, the last I heard his son is not even ten-years-auld, he haena gone tae fight alongside William Wallace. He canna even pick up a sword yet. He is still wee. He inna known as a Wolf King, nae, we canna deliver his heart tae his father.”

Torin was frozen staring off. Then he agreed. “Aye, ye are right, it canna go tae Magnus, twould break his heart tae ken what becomes of his son. Och this is difficult.”

“Tis somewhere safe?”

“Aye, tis in the kirk up the lane, and has been recorded that it belongs tae the family of Mag Mòr.”

Artair nodded. “And we daena even ken if Mag Mòr and Magnus are the same man, it might be a coincidence.”

Torin said, “I was told he was a time traveler, tis likely if they are both time travelers…”

Artair climbed on his horse. “It still daena mean they are the same man.”

I said, “So you think we should leave it at the kirk?”

“Aye, but I defer tae yer judgment. I will warn ye though, if ye take it tae the future and then it inna king Magnus’s, ye would hae tae bring it back.”

I said, “Archibald asked that the casket be stored in a secure place for his family to have later⁠—”

“He asked for Stirling though.”

“But Stirling is held by the English, the country is in turmoil. I think leaving it in the kirk is the best plan, it’s secure, and what he wanted. He didn’t ask for it to be delivered, he wanted it to be found.”

Torin nodded. “Aye, ye are right. And I wouldna want tae be the one tae deliver a son’s heart tae a man who has a young son. I daena even ken how I would tell him. Twould be in shame. I would bring a grief tae him that may not be his.” He mounted his horse. “We did the best thing. Ye agree, Alexandria?”

“Yes, I agree.”

“Then we go.” And we began the ride down the road in the darkness towards a field where we could jump away from the medieval world. Finally.

As we rode, Artair wore a headlamp on his forehead, pointed up to protect our eyes.

I was having trouble adjusting to the light after a week of deep darkness. I was so grateful for the first artificial light in days, and couldn’t keep from staring directly at it, and then being half-blinded everywhere else I looked.