“There are other tools, I ken there are, and ye hae had access tae them or ye ken of them. What else is there? Tis the time tae be forthcoming.”
Her lips pursed, she shifted in her seat.
I said, “Once ye almost killed me with a small ring, an addition that grounded my vessel. Where is that ring?”
“I am nae sure where it ended up.”
I watched her face, a barely perceptible lie in her expression, holding back information. “All right, ye daena ken where that is, how about this? Donnan could retrieve vessels remotely, where isthattech?”
“The last I saw of the ring and the remote retrieval, they were held in our vault, but there was also a locked metal chest.”
My eyes narrowed and I held my hands about a foot and a half apart. “Twas a metal chest, locked, about this big?”
“Aye, ye stole it from the origination moment.”
I exhaled. “So I was guarding it in the cave at Kilchurn?”
“Aye.”
Quentin said, “This was the chest we couldn’t open, right? I tried everything.”
Lady Mairead asked, “Did Magnus try?”
Quentin and I looked at each other.
He said, “I don’t remember, we tried everything, I thought, but... Did you try, Magnus?”
“Nae, why? I thought twas enough tae hae my colonel attempt it.”
Lady Mairead said, “Twas nae enough, Donnan had the chest coded so that his male descendants could open it. Ye ought tae hae tried, Magnus.”
I exhaled, long. “These are the things ye ought tae tell me. Where is it now? Last I kent of it the chest was in m’vault in Riaghalbane.”
She glanced at General Hammond. “I hae passed all of it tae m’great-granddaughter, Rebecca. I asked her tae guard the chest. Tae keep it away from the males of the family, so twould be safer.”
“Safer with a great-granddaughter?”
“Aye,” she added, “I dinna think weneededit — tis verra dangerous, Magnus. Donnan was serious about keeping it hidden. We dinna want it laying around for any descendant tae find and use, so I hid it away from the males of the family. Tis safe with her. Donnan called it the Bridge, I daena how it works but it changes the—”
She clamped her mouth closed, her eyes widened.
I said, “What does it do?”
Her eyes shifted as if she was calculating. “I daena ken, exactly, but Donnan said it would control the timeline.” Her hand shook.
I said, “Weneedtae control the timeline! Let me get this straight, we need the chest containin’ the Bridgenow, but ye hae hidden it away? I am a descendant of Donnan, I took the chest from the origination moment, tis mine, tis my son Archie’s, and ye hae hidden it from us?”
She said, “Donnan had too many sons, tis ridiculous. I had tae hide it, or they would all come around, accessingyourbirthright, simply because they are born of his sexual antics.”
Chef Zach laughed.
Fraoch leaned forward. “Sophie was yer great-great-granddaughter, could she hae been kidnapped in order tae gain access tae the items her mother was guardin’?”
Lady Mairead smoothed back her hair. “I suppose that might be—”
I looked around at the room. “Aye, ye daena just ‘suppose’... Ormr and Domnall could hae applied pressure tae Sophie tae find all of it.”
Fraoch said, “And they could hae opened the chest.”
