“The King of England, Edward the First, has been threatenin’ us, he is at our border.”
“Oh? That sounds dire.”
“Tis, he has a mighty army. Cailean and I sent word tae the French king, Philipe le Bel, askin’ for his assistance. But I daenalike askin’ for it, Philipe le Bel’s name stands for ‘Philip the Fair’. He is verra young and I daena wish him tae think I am weak.”
“But you’re new to this, you only learned it, when... yesterday?”
“I think I hae known it for months, but also, I just learned it — time shifts, spins and rolls, and I must try tae stay atop of the wheel. Even though I am hearin’ something for the first time, I must pretend tae hae known it already.” He directed Dràgon around a boulder and back tae the path, and turned to make sure my horse was following well.
He shifted back in his seat and said, “But ye ken, I hae had tae do this most of m’life. I am practiced at the art of pretendin’ tae ken what is goin’ on. I was masterful with ye, ye had nae idea I was a time traveler?—”
I teased, “I barely noticed you had no idea how to work the light switches or turn on the hot water.”
“Ye saw me as competent, capable, and not needin’ of yer help at all. Tis why ye kept offerin’ tae drive me places.”
“That’s because you were so hot,literally— remember when you were sweltering in the house with no idea how to turn on the AC?”
He chuckled. “Tis not yer usual meanin’ of the word ‘hot’ tae describe me.”
“You were hot and you were also so veryhot.”
The climb grew steep, I went back to concentrating on my horse’s path, but then I said, “But all kidding aside, so the English King is threatening?”
“Aye, he would like us tae bend the knee tae him. I winna, so there is likely tae be trouble.”
“By trouble you mean, battles?”
He nodded.
I said, “What are we talking about: in a few years we might have to deal with him, or...?”
“He is amassin’ troops on our border, tis likely tae be a pressin’ problem.” He turned to see my face. “Our messenger should return this evening, bringing us news. I will tell ye as soon as we ken.”
“I’ll be grateful when we have everyone under the same roof — when will Lochie and Quentin get here?”
“In the next few days they will arrive with the weapons. Then I will gather m’men and make some decisions?—”
We both looked up at the sound of a hawk, cawing in the wind. I watched it swoop and turn on the breeze, then we continued the climb to the highpoint for the view.
As we came upon the rise, two of the guards checked the area was safe. They gave us the all clear and Magnus and I climbed down from our horses and stood side by side on a large boulder for the view. It wasn’t the widest view, the mountains behind us blocked the south, but we could see the north, a valley before us, the river snaking through, and to the right, the castle up on its high promontory.
He smiled appreciatively as his eyes scanned the landscape, then a flash of a scowl at the castle.
I said, “What?”
He said, “M’castle looks weak and defenseless, dost ye see the part of the wall that is built with timber? Twas built tae hold archers and defend against arrows, but armaments hae grown more powerful. We need the walls of Stirling tae be built of heavy granite, strong enough tae take blows by cannonballs.”
“Sean is organizing that though.”
“Aye he is meeting with the men of the quarry — the stone will come. The artisans will be hired, but until then I will scowl whenever I look in that direction.”
I said, “I think we ought to turn this way then.” I pushed his shoulders around so that we were facing southwest, with the castle behind us. Woods and mountains, stretching all the way to the?—
Magnus cocked his head.
I asked, “Do you see something?”
“Aye, there is a group on horseback.” Haggis, either seeing them, or sensing Magnus’s interest, began to bark.
