Everyone convened in the courtyard. There were people in all states of dress. The Earl and his immediate circle wore wigs and makeup. The servants of the castle wore simple clothes. My green and brown tartan dress was the same one I borrowed three days before. Lizbeth was wearing a lovely tartan dress in deep blue. Everyone looked fresh and scrubbed. Many of the women carried baskets with round loaves of bread nestled in linen.

En masse we walked the main path toward the high white steeple of the parish church. Inside, the church was laid out like a square, the pews were dark wood, but the walls were white with a sweeping ceiling above. There was a beautiful stained glass at one end. Magnus led me to a pew near the front and we sat and sat and sat. I used Lizbeth as my model and kept my hands in my lap and my head bowed. The service was very long and very very boring and oh so long. Until finally the baskets were carried by a procession to the front and were blessed one by one.

I whispered to Magnus, “Is that it, we’re done?”

“Nae, there will be a wedding too.”

“Oh.”

A young couple walked toward the front of the chapel and a service began that was familiar from my own wedding, but also foreign, older, ancient-sounding. All our heads were bowed, we were quiet all around. The monotone voice of the minister sounded through the air.

My mind began to wander but then Magnus’s hand shifted against my skirts. I looked up to see the couple’s hands were bound together. Magnus smiled and gave me a little nod. Then he put his wrist just beside mine. Pressed. After that I listened to the prayer and let the words flow through me, handfasting us again. Magnus and I, bound.

Soon enough we were ushered back outdoors. The sun was heading high, warm on my skin. Families were milling around, talking, and children were playing.

Lizbeth came to me with a basket of flowers. “Flowers tae adorn ye, Kaitlyn.” She put two in the front of my bodice and one in the back of my pinned up hair. “Beautiful!” She declared it but I noticed she glanced sadly at the cut on my cheek.

I asked Magnus, “So this is it? Now we feast?”

“Aye. Now we—”

His eyes drew up to the sky.

I followed them.

Across the path and fields, beyond the castle, past the stables and then above the woods — a giant storm, perhaps the biggest storm I’d ever seen: spreading for miles, building, roiling, rolling, climbing. The storm was black as night against the blue sky overhead. Under the cloud bank, in five separate places, funneling, sweeping, tornados touched down. A line of twisting winds across the trees under the clouds like an impenetrable wall. Lightening arced down from point after point after point. Trees were snapping and falling, fire and smoke rose from the woods.

“Holy shit, Magnus.”

“Aye, Kaitlyn. Lizbeth? Get the children, go tae the castle.” Magnus turned to the assembled crowds, “Take your families, get to the castle!”

I picked up Lizbeth’s son, Jamie, while she grabbed her daughter, and we began to run. Magnus was just behind us yelling directions to Sean and Lizbeth’s husband, Liam, as they raced toward the castle. No one really understood why Magnus was commanding them inside but the threat of the storm was enough. They were driven into the castle in fear.

Magnus said, “Take the children to the nursery, I will get Quentin from the walls—”

“No, I don’t want to lose you, please.” I passed Jamie to the next available arms running by. “Please Magnus.”

“Lizbeth, ye get all the women and children tae the nursery.” Sean and Liam ran up the steps to the top of the walls. “Follow me close, Kaitlyn.”

We raced up the spiraling stone stairs through the east tower to the top of the highest walls. Quentin was already there with Sean, Liam, and more men.

Magnus directed everyone to watch the woods. The storm was dissipating. Smoke billowed from the farthest area, burning trees.

I had my back pressed to the wall, facing the opposite direction, Magnus between me and the view of the woods. I didn’t need to see, I just needed to be near Magnus.

Magnus and Quentin were in a quiet discussion. They were checking Quentin’s pistols and the gun Magnus brought with him from the future.

“Are we escaping?” I asked.

Quentin and Magnus continued to confer.

I asked, “Are they coming, what’s our plan?”

More discussion and then Magnus finally included me. “We believe we will be safe here, Kaitlyn, tis a castle, fortified, and we have arms. When I was there, I saw on the news a great many terrible weapons, but we daena ken what they have brought.”

“Okay. Okay, so we’ll just hunker down. That makes sense.” I said, like saying it actually made it so.

And then there was a buzzing noise, loud, like engines, motorized, coming through the silence of the ancient forest. A forest in the eighteenth century, a forest that wasn’t supposed to have engines inside of it. And from the edge of the woods, flying up from the trees, five drones.

Their noise was loud. Sean and Liam clapped their hands to their ears. The drones sped toward us, low across the fields. Magnus asked, “What are they Master Quentin?”

“Drones, a kind of weapon, we need to get off the—”

The drones swept up the castle walls in unison and then leveled at the top.

And that’s when they began shooting.

Magnus grabbed my hand and pulled me fast to the stairwell of the castle tower. Men were diving and scrambling into the stairwells for cover. Quentin was yelling, “Off the walls, off the walls!”

The gunfire was all around us. The stone of the castle was cracking and chunks of rock crumbled to the ground.

Quentin ducked behind the parapet wall and shot at the drones with his pistols.

The tower stairs were packed with men: yelling, panicked, confused.

The buzzing sound traveled away down the castle walls and then more shooting sounded below — glass shattering. The nice windows, the ones the Earl was incredibly proud of, were being destroyed by the drones. Quentin met us in the stairwell. “I shot one down, but at least one entered the castle. And they aren’t flying on their own.”

“What dost ye mean?”

“There are men in the woods.”

Magnus asked Sean, “How many guns do we have?”

Sean asked, “Are they birds?”

“I haena time tae explain. They are weapons. We need men tae go down and protect the women and children.”

Sean gave a command and men above us and below us on the stairs descended with their flintlock pistols drawn.

I asked, “You have the vessels?”

“Aye, both are in my sporran. But we have tae protect—”

From outside the stairwell the buzzing of the drones amplified. So loud it confused my senses. Quentin, Sean, Liam, Magnus and I raced to the edge of the wall.

Coming from the trees raced five vehicles. Much like all-terrain vehicles, they were each driven by one man. The two drones circled them overhead. The vehicles split into two groups. Three raced around the castle one direction. Two raced around the castle in the other and they roared and sped around for long minutes.

The circling terrified me.

The drones swerved and dipped overhead. One drone split from the vehicles and climbed the wall towards us shooting at the stone of the castle. Magnus stood and shot multiple times until the drone fell crashing to the field below.

Quentin yelled over the insane level of noise outside. “Anyone without a gun can throw rocks at the drones, anything heavy. Knock it from the sky.”

Sean began passing those instructions to the men around them.

Quentin said, “There’s only one drone left out there, the other two are inside the castle. I’ll go in!”

Magnus said, “When ye finish it, meet me at the doors tae the Great Hall.”

Quentin ran down the steps.

Sean, Liam, Magnus and I watched the action below. The vehicles were circling, revving engines, roaring and terrifying. Magnus shot at the drone and it dove closer. He ducked behind the wall.

Sean stuck his head up and looked over. “Young Magnus, what are they doin’ now?”

One of the vehicles was stopped. “I daena ken.”

Magnus crouched and raced to a position with a better view. I crouched and followed. Magnus looked over the wall. “What are they doin’, Kaitlyn?”

I leaned over to see, trying to make sense of it. The man was attaching a bundle of something to the gate at the front of the—

“It’s a bomb, Magnus, we need everyone away from the front of the castle now. Off these walls.”

Magnus began urgently waving his arms to get the attention of the other men up and down the parapet. “Get off the walls!” He yelled over the racket of the insane machines below, “Get away from the front gate!”

We crouched and ran along the wall to the far opposite corner when the drone emerged again to shoot from above. Magnus ducked, pulled me to a stop, and stood and shot at the drone until it fell and crashed against the bricks below. “Run, run, run,” he yelled.

We escaped into the tower stairwell, and fled down toward the ground floor below. I was tripping and sliding behind Magnus.

As we emerged from the stairwell a deafening explosion knocked me back against the bricks. My ears were ringing. Magnus threw his arms across me protectively. “Are ye okay, Kaitlyn?”

I clutched his shoulder. “I think so.”

Then the vehicle that set the bomb drove over the rubble through the dust and mayhem and right into the middle of the castle. Magnus shoved me into an alcove. “Stay here!”

He rushed toward the edges of the courtyard where the other men were stationed. I covered my ears and watched as a drone dipped and flew around inside the courtyard shooting indiscriminately.

Magnus from one side, Sean from another, Liam in a far corner, and more men fired and threw rocks until finally the first vehicle driver was slumped over in his seat. But a second vehicle drove over the ruins of the gate, entered the courtyard, and began spinning wildly, its machine guns shooting at anything that moved or didn’t. Hunks of brick crumbled from the walls. A wooden eave fell to the ground in splinters.

I escaped into the stairwell and a moment later Magnus was behind me. “Go up, go up!” At the top of the stairs Magnus yelled, “Go tae the Great Hall, Kaitlyn, get Master Quentin, tell him we need him in the courtyard.” He flung the door open and I raced.

I was running with all my might terrified — what were we going to do? Quentin rushed to meet me. I was panting and could barely speak. “Magnus, he needs — down—” I pointed at the stairwell. “Courtyard.”

Quentin said, “You stay here.”

“No. Not. I’m with Magnus.” I followed him stumbling down the steps. “Careful—” I warned as he stuck his head around the wall to scope the action.

“Shit, that’s some fucked up shit, Katie.” The noise was deafening — shooting, yelling, the engines, bricks crashing. Quentin held a pistol. “We are seriously outgunned.” He looked back around the wall for a second. “Of course this is cool as fuck. A science fiction battle in a medieval castle. Awesome.”

Magnus raced over to us from across the courtyard. “There is a weapon ye could use, Master Quentin — would ye ken how tae?” The courtyard was full of rubble. A vehicle was spinning and shooting but another one sat idle in the middle of the havoc.

“I can figure it out.”

The noise was so loud I was sure it was destroying my eardrums.

Magnus yelled, “Ye will have tae figure it quickly, three more ridin’ machines are outside. They are circlin’ and will come inside in a moment. Can ye get tae the weapon?”

Quentin looked around the wall and pulled back. “I can get to it while the other is turned away.”

Sean raced into the stairwell with us. “What is happening, Magnus?”

“Tis a war from my kingdom, Sean. I canna explain more. Quentin says he can ride one of the weapons. Twill help tae have a—”

I clutched his arm. “We have to go, Magnus. They’re after you.”

“I canna leave my family—”

Quentin said, “You can, you have to. They’re following the vessels. It’s what you said, they track the vessels.”

I said, “You know you can’t stay. We have to go.”

Magnus looked uncertain. “The walls have been breached — more men might be comin’.“

Quentin said, “Yeah, and they’re going to take apart this castle until they have you. You have to hide better than this. It’s unsafe to have you here.”

Sean was looking from face to face. “If this is true, Brother, ye have tae take the battle from our walls. The weapons are takin’ a deadly toll, we have lost two men already.”

“We have to go, Magnus.”

The machine gun sprayed bullets across the wall near us. It was loud and terrifying. My skin crawled. I clutched Magnus’s arm and kept my head ducked. “The other vehicles are coming. We have to hurry.”

Magnus nodded. “Quentin, ye have a plan tae get us away?”

“I have a plan to get you and Katie away. Katie, you think you can drive one of those vehicles?”

“What? Yes, maybe. I drove an ATV once. I mean probably. Where will you be?”

“I’m going to help protect the castle. I’m the only one with modern tactical experience. So I’ll stay. You’re going to drive out of the castle to the west while I cover you. Then you’ll time jump.”

“Okay, we’ll leave you one of the vessels—”

“Nope, you’ll take all of them. They’re tracking them, you’ll take them away.”

“Quentin!”

He smiled, “Hey, it is what it is. I’m the only one here who knows how to work any of these machines, except you and you need to get to safety. It’s what you pay me for.” He leaned out from behind the wall to check on the chaos. “Besides, you’ll come back and get me when you get the chance. You have to visit your family.” He checked his ammunition clip and slammed it back. “When I get to the vehicle, Boss, I’ll distract the other guy, you shoot him from here. Then we’ll have two.” He grinned, his fingers counted down, three, two, one — and he was gone.

I couldn’t watch. Magnus looked around the wall and I hid behind his arm. The shooting was crazy and continuous and loud and scary.

Magnus said, “He has it.”

And then another gun was firing, doubling the noise.

I closed my eyes as Magnus, from just outside the confines of our stairwell, fired his future pistol and Sean fired a flintlock pistol aiming for the man driving the second vehicle until finally Quentin’s voice, “Boss! Come get on this one. I’ll teach you how to shoot it before the next vehicle comes in!”

Magnus said, “Sean, watch over Kaitlyn.” He raced away across the courtyard for the newly vacated vehicle. My heart followed him. Oh god oh god please keep him safe. Quentin drove his vehicle up beside Magnus’s and they discussed the controls for a moment while Magnus pushed buttons on the dashboard.

The love of my life didn’t know how to work a microwave and he was going to defend a castle with future tech none of us had ever seen before.

A second later he and Quentin had their weapons aimed at the big gaping hole of the front gate as the next vehicle came through and the next and then the next. I kept my head down between my knees. The battle was loud and long and terrifying. Sean with his flintlock kept reloading and shooting. I took a peek at his face — stoic, focused.

When he ran out of bullets he picked up stones and heavy rocks from the rubble around us, hurling them at the attackers while their backs were turned.

Finally, the shooting subsided and the courtyard fell quiet. Magnus and Quentin rushed from man to man, checking their pockets and clothes and tossing them off the vehicles.

Quentin yelled, “I can’t find it. None of these men are carrying it.”

Magnus said, “There’s someone else then.”

Quentin said, “The men controlling the drones are out there too.”

The two ran to the front gate and stood scanning the woods.

Then Magnus rushed to my side, “Kaitlyn, we must away. Whoever carried the vessel isn’t here in the castle — there may be more coming.” He said to Sean, “I am terribly sorry tae leave ye when the walls have been breached, but Quentin will stand guard, treat him well.”

“Aye, go and if your destination is yet undecided, I recommend takin’ the fight tae them. Your kingdom is at stake.”

Magnus shook his head. “Maybe ye haena heard, Sean, I daena want the throne.”

“I have heard it, and next I see of ye, I will need a full accounting of the magic here.”

“You’ll have it when I return. Keep Lizbeth and your Maggie and the bairn safe. I will see ye soon. Take care of Master Quentin, he is a good man.”

Magnus grasped my hand. “Ready Kaitlyn?”

“Ready.”

We left the safety of the stairwell to race across the ruined courtyard, full of stone rubble, debris, and smoke, to one of the vehicles. I climbed onto the seat.

Quentin drove his vehicle forward with jerks beside me. “It’s straightforward. Gas here, brake here.” I revved it. Magnus climbed on behind me. Quentin said, “Hold on tight, Boss, Katie is wild on a motorcycle.”

“That was a dirt bike, ten years ago.” I sped forward and just about crashed us into a pile of stone. “No worries I got this!”

Quentin pulled up beside me again. “See this button? It makes it go bang bang bang at the bad guys.”

“Awesome, but hopefully they’re all dead. I’ll leave this at the trees to the west. And you might want to clean up this mess. All this tech is going to freak out the Campbells.”

“I’ll figure something out. But in the meantime I’ll teach a Campbell or two to use them to protect the walls in case there’s a bad guy lurking in the woods. Or more coming because they don’t know you’re gone. Or whatever the fuck these assholes are up to. I’ll see you guys in a couple of centuries. Oh and Boss, can I take your room?”

Magnus said, “We will see ye soon, thank you for your protection.” He passed him his gun. Over his shoulder he yelled, “Sean, give Master Quentin my room.”

I revved the machine and we shot forward over piles of rubble toward what used to be the main gate. This castle wouldn’t hold against more attacks. Even with Quentin protecting the walls. We had to leave to draw them away.

Magnus’s arms around me, I drove the vehicle around the back of the castle. Then I sped us across the fields bouncing over rocks and ditches toward the forest on the west side.

Magnus adjusted in his seat, looking behind us, checking the sky. “No one is comin’.”

“Good,” but I still drove like a maniac.

“Kaitlyn, ye could go a wee bit slower.”

I joked, “This is plenty slow enough!” And pulled it into a turn, spraying up dirt, skidding to a stop near the trees. We both hit the ground and ran to the woods.

Magnus had one of the vessels in his hand — “What date, Kaitlyn?”

Magnus twisted the vessel, reciting the numbers, and suddenly I was lifted and slammed and went crashing through pain into another century.