Page 55 of Entangled With You

Quentin shook his head. “He said some shit though, made it sound like he had gone to the dark side. He said you should have fought for your kingdom, and now he would ally with Samuel since you weren’t capable of ruling.”

Magnus scowled.

Liam said, “Lizbeth is devastated that Sean has left us, she dinna want tae leave his side. We had tae drag her away. I think ye may be the only member of the family he will listen tae about it.”

“I will talk tae him.” Magnus’s face was pensive. He took a deep breath and then patted Quentin on the shoulder. “How did it go with ye then?”

Quentin shrugged. “Twas life and death for a bit there but I have managed it⁠—”

Magnus laughed. “Ye sound Scottish in your tongue, ye are truly a part of the family?”

Quentin grinned. “They dropped the Magnus from my name and now I’m just Black Mac. Still not sure how I feel about that.”

Baldie threw an arm around Quentin boisterously. “He is a Campbell now, he has shared the whisky, the brawls, and the foul winds of the⁠—”

Quentin joked, “Campbell men.”

Baldie laughed, “I was goin’ tae say the Scottish winter, but that will do tae answer Young Magnus.”

I said, “So all we have to do is secure the weapons, retake the castle, kill the commander, and change Sean’s mind?”

The corner of Magnus’s mouth turned up in a smile. “That’s all we have tae do, mo reul-iuil.”

I swigged from my whisky glass and grimaced from it. Feeling quite tipsy I said, “Easy,” and snapped my fingers.

Through all of this Tyler drank. He slammed another long draught of whisky, banged the glass on the table and said, “I don’t know what kind of crazy-ass Jumanji-bullshit role-playing D&D thing this is, but whatever you just decided to do, I’m game. But how about another round first, I’m finally feeling warm.”

27 - KAITLYN

Ibundled up and hugged in under Magnus’s arm. We left Tyler and Quentin to sleep in the bunkhouse at the tavern and walked through the dark down a village path to the McClelland house where Lizbeth was bed-resting. We would stay there with her. Liam walked a bit ahead of us showing us the way. I was a bit tipsy. I had let down my guard because this had been an insane few days and it looked like insane days stretched into the future. And whisky had been put in front of me. Plus it was cold outside.

It was a frosty, cold night, our breaths puffed. I clung to Magnus for warmth but I was weaving a bit from the drink and when I bumped him I giggled. He said, “Ye arna walking well, Madame Campbell.”

I said, “Me thinks, hiccup, Madame Campbell has had too much of the whisky.” I stumbled against him again. “Ugh, why do I do this? What if Lizbeth goes into labor tonight?”

“Sleep on it. If somethin’ happens ye will be fresh enough.”

“God, you would say that. You can drink and it doesn’t affect you. Except that one time...” I wrapped my arm around him, our feet crunching on the frosty ground. “You like me a lot, don’t you, Master Campbell?”

“I adore ye, ye art the beat of my heart, mo ghradh.”

Liam pushed a door open and slipped into the house.

“I have to pee.” I wobbled to the edge of the path, hiked up all my skirts, pulled down my long warm pants exposing my bare bottom to the elements, and peed on the frosty ground. Magnus stood beside me and peed in a graceful arc into a ditch. “How come mine takes every thigh muscle I have and you can just do it like it’s the easiest thing in the world?”

“My parts are made tae be simple because I have one purpose. Ye have been cursed with the weight of womanhood, mo reul-iuil. You have many purposes.”

I sighed dramatically. “What are my purposes?”

He adjusted his kilt. “Bairns and...” He stopped. “Taking care of everyone.” He straightened my tartan on my shoulders, kissed my nose, “We are here.” He led me into the house. I only tripped on the stoop a little bit, but it wasn’t really my fault, it was an uneven stoop.

Lizbeth was asleep and wasn’t in labor. So with quiet whispers Liam led us into a very small room, with a wooden bed and a straw mattress. I said, “This is going to be uncomfortable. I call tops.”

He said, “I canna sleep with ye tonight, I must join the guard at the door.”

“Oh. It’s like that?”

“Tis like that.”