Kaitlyn was at the end of Barb and Jack’s dock. “One, two, three!” She held her nose and jumped with a squeal of laughter. As the water splashed and covered her over, my heart sank. “Kaitlyn!” I thundered down the boards tae the end. She was under the water, swimmin’ up, but nae swimmin’ up, strugglin’, as if something held her fast under the water.

I dropped tae my knees and reached down splashin’, trying tae grasp her flailing arms. “Grab my arm! Grab it, I’ll pull you up!” She continued strugglin’ just below my reach. “Grab it Kaitlyn, grab my arm.” She slowly stopped struggling and sank away—

“Kaitlyn!”

I woke with a start sitting up in bed. The act of it distressed my injured ribs knockin’ my air out again. “Och nae.”

Bella’s voice in the darkness, “My Magnus, are you okay?”

It took a moment for my voice to travel from inside the pain of my body to outside in the air. “Nae.”

She dramatically sighed.

“I am nae good enough tae overthrow the crown. I need more time.”

“You can’t have more time. It’s now. You’ll have to find the strength. Donnan looks weak compared to you. People like you. You’ve won battles and it’s time. The Autumnal Equinox Gala is the place to do it.”

I scowled.

She rose up on her knees and rubbed my forehead, pushing away the wrinkles there. “I know you’re worried. But everything is in place. You just have to kill him and get back here. We’ll take care of the rest of it.”

“And by we, you mean?”

“The resistance. All of us, we will—”

“And when I return here, how long before I am free tae take the throne?”

“I don’t know how long, Magnus. I would think a few days? It depends on who is here to contest your ascension.”

A pile of clothes was delivered tae me while I was in the infirmary. I had been feelin’ verra hot and the pain on breathin’ was terrible. I spent a time with an air mask feedin’ my lungs until I felt a little better. The doctor told me nae tae go tae the Gala, but I had tae go. Twas my duty as the prince.

The other stuff I was plannin’ that was the extra I wasna sure I could do.

I stared down at the clothes. They were in the fabric of the time, soft and flimsy, stretching, and form fitting but in the style of my own. A kilt, just in something resemblin’ silk. Bella walked intae the room as I was investigatin’ it.

“Tis nae enough fabric tae cover m’pikestaff.”

“That’s why you wear the undergarments, for layers.” She admired me and ran a hand down my back.

“Undergarments with a kilt? Twould be an embarrassment. What would I do at the Gala when I want tae relieve myself?”

“You plan to relieve yourself at Donnan the Second’s Autumnal Equinox Gala Dinner? Do we need to go over your manners again?”

“Och, nae more lessons. I will behave like a — “

Are you a barbarian Magnus, is that what you are?

“—I’ll behave.”

“Good. Just until your murderous rampage and then you can do whatever you want. And after, you can have me all you want.”

I stepped intae the kilt and pulled it up. And then, because the fabric was so flimsy, I pulled on the undergarments. Twas a tiny pair of wee tight shorts. I was reminded of that night, long ago, plannin’ with Kaitlyn to travel to the past together. Gatherin’ with our friends tae organize our supplies and laughing about the shorts, teasin’ Michael about his new hobby.

How long had it been?

Time had gone so much faster in Kaitlyn’s present. The days slipped by as I was experiencing hours in my own time, but this was nae my time nor Kaitlyn’s. I had a vague sense of dread that many many years had passed. That the truth of Kaitlyn’s life, the baby with another man, the aging of her, had happened already.

And it had.

She had lived it through.

Once I killed Donnan, Bella wanted tae have me locked up here, tae wait until I was called upon. But I wouldna wait anymore. Killing Donnan would give me the right tae own the vessels. I would take all of them and disappear intae the past. I would go tae Kaitlyn. I would try verra hard tae get there before she decided tae live without me. I buckled on my sporran. It was as empty as my life now.