“No, it all seemed really old, way too old for me to have been there, but I hear and smell and feel it like it’s real. It feels more like a memory than a dream, you know?” I added, “I just had no idea it couldbea memory.”
“Twas when ye were stolen from the household near Castle Glume, I think.”
“Yeah, maybe…”
“Did ye recognize the man who carried ye away?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t really see his face, he was wearing a cloak — fur trimmed, kind of like yours. He didn’t use my name, he just seemed like someone who was trying to get me to safety. I never saw him again. He sounded like you though, his voice. But it can’t have been you.”
“Nae, it wasna me.”
I freed the knot with a last tug and the bindings fell away from his wrists.
He rubbed his hands. “And in yer dream, Princess, what did the strange man put in yer hand?”
I quietly said, “A vessel. I know it now, that’s what it was.”
He reached out and pushed the hair back from my face. “Twas nae me... unless twas from m’future.”
I looked into his eyes. “…oh, would that be something that could happen? You think you might do that…?”
He pulled the cloak around my shoulders and fastened it in the front at my breast with the brooch. “I daena ken, but ye are important tae me, and if I needed tae get ye somewhere protected, and I could travel through time, I ken I would do anythin’ in m’power tae keep ye safe. My heart gives thanks tae whosoever saved yer life.”
I was petting Dude, but then Torin petted Dude too, and our hands brushed together, a spark of warmth
Then Torin took my hand.
It startled me, watching his hand enclose mine, his was big and warm and rough. And comfortable.
I didn’t pull away.
I wondered if I would ever pull away.
He was quiet as his thumb rubbed back and forth across my knuckles. “This is all m’fault, Princess, I am sorry for it.”
“What’s next?”
He said, “We are goin’ tae rest for a bit, afore I break us free.”
I said, “Okay. They won’t come in?”
“Nae, they are goin’ tae sleep, they hae been drinkin’ a great deal, and it has gone quiet out there, even the guard is fallin’ asleep.”
He gently pulled my hand so that I moved to his side and then he let go. Even with all my fear and anger, when he let go of my hand I felt a little untethered. He was the only person in the world who knew me, who knew where I was, in the whole history of time.
Oh.
That was scary.
“Do you mind if I put my head on your shoulder?”
“Nae, tis welcome. Dost ye mind if I put m’arm around ye?”
“No, I could use the warmth. We’re in this together, you know?”
I got comfortable with my head against his chest and his arm around me. Dude sat at my hip, licking his paw, cleaning himself.
Torin put his cheek on my head.
