James shook his head. “Don’t remember.”
I repped the weight three times.
Fraoch said, “Nice, that was 275, wanna go higher?”
“Aye, let’s go tae 315.”
He slid more plates on the bar, then said, “I vaguely remember when ye were crowned.”
“Because ye were there, ye helped me acquire the throne. There is a shadow of it, a vagueness, but last night Irememberedit, and this morn, by the light of day, I recognize it. I battled for the throne, and won it. I was a king of Scotland.”
Quentin scowled. “Damn it. When I mentioned it felt like the Trailblazer had been in use, I really hoped you would tell me I was crazy.”
I shook my head. “Nae, ye arna crazy, someone is usin’ a Trailblazer tae go further back in time than 1557.”
James said, “Remind me, how many Trailblazers are there?”
Magnus said, “I hae one in the vault, m’mother has one hidden in secret — we ken of two.”
James said, “Dammit, I wanted you to know for certain, there might be more?”
“Aye.”
Fraoch said, “We checked the timeline — the trail ended at 1557. What happens if the Trailblazer is used tae open up the trailagain— will it dredge up the memories and all that we did?”
I shrugged. “Anything is possible.”
Quentin said, “It’sallpossible, but also, note,wearen’t using a Trailblazer.”
Lochinvar said, “Och, I daena like the sound of that. Then who is?”
I said, “I will go tae Riaghalbane and see if we can figure it out.”
Quentin said, “Who do you want tae come with?”
I said, “Lochinvar and Fraoch will come, ye and James will stay. James has a bairn close, and I took ye last time. Beaty has been givin’ me grief for it.”
Quentin said, “You afraid of Beaty?”
“Och aye, she is a Scottish lass, tis best not tae upset them.”
Our trip tae Riaghalbane was fruitful in many ways, I accomplished much, but there was naething tae discover about the Trailblazer. Lady Mairead and I both had possession of ours — they werna bein’ used. If one was in use, twas a mystery: who or how or why?
According tae the history of the world, I had never been king of Scotland.
At least not yet.
Twas a relief, as I dinna care tae be the king, but how else tae explain the dreams? They were comin’ verra often now, in the deep night, a thunderin’Long live the king!Causing me tae shudder at the thought of all that would mean.
CHAPTER 4 - KAITLYN
MAY 15, 2025 - FLORIDA
One Spring night, we celebrated Zach and Emma’s not-quite-wedding anniversary after a full day of celebrating Ben’s birthday. They had chosen to celebrate a Fakiversary near the date when Ben was born, because, as Zach pointed out, that was when they felt like they got hitched. But also, as he pointed out, “There is too much going on in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we’llneverget a proper celebration!”
Ben was seven years old, give or take a bit of time because of time travel. Emma and Zach were celebrating their seventh Fakiversary.
Zach had said, when he was telling us the plan, “It’s the itchy one!”
