Haggis perked his head up and cocked his ears, tryin’ tae understand what I said. I scratched his head as I watched the flames dance in the hearth, the heat of them shimmerin’ much like the air that morn in the clearing. What had caused it? Why had my horse been so interested in it?
I leaned forward with m’elbows on m’knees and my hands clasped against m’mouth. This had always been our biggest fear, that somehow we would lose track. Nae, twas nae right, our biggest fear was that we would lose track and nae remember the having lost it. So this was the second biggest fear.
I turned tae look at the seat beside me and caught a glimpse of a shimmer there. My brow drew down as I tried tae focus, my heart raced. I reached out tae touch it, but there was naethin’ there, nae movement or heat or…
But I felt a presence, as if someone were there.
I concentrated on that spot.
And then I whispered, “Kaitlyn?”
There was nae answer, but then… twas difficult tae understand, the sound dinna come from m’ears, but from inside m’head. It felt like I heard,Magnus? Magnus, where are you?
CHAPTER 7 - KAITLYN
Iclimbed from the uncomfortable bed, dragged the gross blanket across the room, and sank down on the bench in front of the cold hearth. It was full of ash, no fire, no heat. I wrapped myself in the blanket and huddled, staring at the space as if there was a fire anyway. I pretended like I was warm.
Even I didn’t have that good an imagination, it was as cold as day-old soup in Alaska.
I turned my head to look at the seat beside me, there was…
It seemed like someone was there.
I listened and beyond my own heart beat, louder than usual, my breathing, there was another breathing — a deeper, heavier breath. I couldn’t hear it so much as feel it inside. Was it a weird echo? I paced it with my own, drawing in and drawing out. It had a different rhythm.
Was it a memory of Magnus?
The room was so cold, devoid of life, lonely and quiet. I concentrated on the spot, matching its beat. “Magnus?” It felt like he might be here, sitting beside me, and I could swear there was an indent in the seat where his form would be, as if the molecules of the space were moved aside for him. And there seemed to be a warmth emanating from this spot beside me, yet he wasn’t there. “Magnus, where are you?”
CHAPTER 8 - MAGNUS
My room was warm but this spot beside me held a chill. Was it an apparition? A ghost on the seat beside me? Haggis leaned against m’leg looking up at m’face then lookin’ at the seat. “Dost ye feel it, cù math?”
He whimpered.
“What is there, do ye think?”
I scratched him behind his ear, both of us focused on the space. “It feels as if Kaitlyn is beside me.”
Haggis’s tail went back and forth happily.
I leaned back and took a deep breath. Haggis rested his head on my thigh. I put my hand ontae the pillow beside me and I could hae sworn there was a hand enclosed in mine.
CHAPTER 9 - KAITLYN
Ireached out toward the seat beside me, and then pulled away, it felt as if it was touched by… I tentatively placed my hand on the pillow beside me. There came the faintest feeling of warmth and a slight pressure as if it was enclosed in… what? I pulled my hand back and rested it in my lap.
I had an overactive imagination, always had, it was one of the worst things about me. I looked down at my hand and felt, with certainty, as if there was a hand clasping mine. A feeling of calm settled over me. I just didn’t understand what was happening, what if…
What if Magnus was here as a ghost? What if he had died?
Despair threatened to drag me under. I was alone, captive, was I lost forever? Tears welled up in my eyes…
But wait! If Magnus was dead, the king of this land, it would have happened in the past week. Wouldn’t there be signs of a battle, a war, the death of a king?
I thought back to crossing the courtyard, the people milling about… they had looked like normal castle dwellers, going about their day’s work. There was no despair, beyond the despair of living in the dark ages.
Most significantly, Domnall hadn’t mentioned… oh! I remembered… he was using me as bait. He assumed Magnus was alive.
