I dabbed at my tears with a tissue. “Where is he buried?”
A pause, then the computer said:
That record does not exist, Your Highness. His body was not recovered from the battleground.
I gulped down my tears. “That is outrageous.”
The computer said:
It is common with historical records from medieval times.
I scowled. “Daena back-talk the Queen Mother.”
I thought of Sean’s wife, Maggie, and his bairns.
And how he had wanted tae time travel with his brother, Magnus, and now he was gone.
I had kept Fionn in my heart by looking upon our son… he had resembled his father and the alikeness had given me solace. His voice had taken the same cadence, his personality had been so similar, it had given me comfort through the years. Looking on Sean, I felt that somehow Fionn was still in the world.
Tae lose him was tae be reminded of how much I had lost.
Maggie would be inconsolable. His sons were tae grow up without a father…och nae.
But I couldna mourn. I couldna collapse intae a heap and bemoan the loss.
I dried my eyes. I was alone receiving news that my first born son was dead and I had nae time tae cry. There was nae one tae console me. I had tae straighten my back and raise my chin. I couldna lament that our family had yetmorefatherless sons — twas a curse upon us, brought upon us by my brother, the Earl.
I blamed him.
Forallof it.
Why was I alone? Because my brother had widowed me, imprisoned me, married me off against my will,andbroughtupon our family a curse that meant my sons would be fatherless. My grandsons too?—
Och nae. I dinna want tae ask, but I had tae — I clamped my eyes shut and asked, “What is the discrepancy involving Magnus?”
The computer spoke:
On the same day, after the death of Sean Campbell, Mag Mòr and his son, Prince Archibald, fled the meeting with the English King. They were?—
“How old was the Prince at this time?”
The computer answered:
Eight years old.
I huffed, irritated that Archibald’s life had been risked in that way.
I rolled my hand. “Go on.”
The computer reported:
The record shows that Mag Mòr and his son, Prince Archibald, fled to Stirling Castle?—
“They arrived safely?”
The computer said:
Yes, but the King of England attacked in what is now called the Siege of Stirling Castle, 1291?—
