Zach said, “How...?”
Fraoch said, “Ormr is a son of Donnan I, Domnall is a son of Donnan II, they are brothers of ours.” He waved his finger between us. “If they found the items, they could open them.”
Zach said, “Fuck, I forgot they were brothers, but one is also an uncle...? This is Game of Thrones level crazy.”
Fraoch said, “I daena think of them as brothers, Magnus and I agreed tae either nae talk about it, or tae call them distant cousins, at best.”
Zach said, “Yeah, I get you, distant cousins, I’m more comfortable with that, and we’re fucking grateful they didn’t get their hands on the chest.”
I turned tae Lady Mairead. “Ye used Isla in a deal for the Trailblazer, now ye use Rebecca tae hide the Bridge.” My voice turned steely. “Ye ought nae tae use your granddaughters tae protect the tech. Tis too dangerous. This is a weakness.”
Lady Mairead huffed. “There isnothingweak about my granddaughters.”
Quentin said, “We need to arm to the teeth and go fight Ormr and Domnall before they come for anything, oranyoneelse.”
I said, “It would be a suicide mission, we are losin’ our place in history and losin’ our minds in the meantime. I daena think we can find both Ormr and Domnallandthe chest and surprise themandkill them… nae while time is unraveling.”
Zach said, “Maybe it’s a moot point anyway, we don’t know if we need to battle for the Bridge in the box because it might not be the bridge or box we need, it’s baffling.”
Emma said, “Nice alliteration, babe.”
“Yeah, I get weird when I’m stressed.”
Quentin said, “I suspect it is what we need. I think if there is a possibility of the timeline being corrupted, the people who invented time travel tech probably also had tech to fix it.”
General Hammond said, “I agree with Colonel Quentin: the vessels have a ring, like a leash, that keeps them close. We have a Trailblazer to build new time roads. There is a way to set the vessel to call it home. We can assume that the inventors planned for complications. I believe they would worry about the unintended consequences of unmitigated time travel power. We can assume they had an antidote to time-unraveling.”
Beaty said, “Wouldn’t they have more than one Bridge then?”
We all looked at Beaty for a moment.
She said, “If ye think on it, they had verra many vessels. They had more than one Trailblazer, and we hae multiple golden strands. Do we hae more than one of the rings?”
Lady Mairead said, “Aye, there are at least six.”
Madame Beaty said, “Then I think there ought tae be more of the Bridges, where would they be?”
Hayley waved a hand excitedly. “Emma! Start a new list! Where are all our hiding places?”
Lady Mairead said, “We arna sure where our chest is hiddenorwhere m’great-granddaughter is.”
Hammond said, “The question would be, did Donnan give any tech tae his other sons or nephews?”
I exhaled. “We ken he did. He often gave them vessels for when they were of age, then he would send for them. I hae already fought—”
Chef Zach said, “I mean, holy crap, Mags, haven’t you killed them all yet?”
Lady Mairead said, “There were many sons, but nae all of Donnan’s sons or nephewswantthe throne. General Hammond is a cousin, he has a claim tae the throne, but he inna interested in it. It takes having the mindset of a king tae want tae fight for a kingdom. Hammond is too soft for it.” She patted the back of his hand. “I daena mean any offense by it, ye are a wonderful protector. Ye are courageous in guarding us, but ye daena want taestarta fight. There is a difference.”
Hammie chuckled. “I am glad you finished that thought more in my favor, Mairead.”
CHAPTER 29 - MAGNUS
Lady Mairead pulled her book from her pocket. “I daena kenallof Donnan’s sons and grandsons and nephews, but there are a few I keep tabs on. There is one who has connections here, in Maine, in this time period.” Her finger scrolled down a page, she read then flipped a few pages. “Here he is, Finch Mac, he’s a singer—”
Beaty said, “Finch Mac, the rock star,Finch Mac?”
Lady Mairead said, “Aye, ye hae heard of him?”
