Under the Same Sky (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 7) Read online

  Under the Same Sky

  Diana Knightley

  For mom, I think you would have loved this story, I wish I had told it to you before you had to go…

  Contents

  1. One - Magnus

  2. Two - Magnus

  3. Three - Magnus

  4. Four - Kaitlyn

  5. Five - Kaitlyn

  6. Six - Kaitlyn

  7. Seven - Kaitlyn

  8. Eight - Magnus

  9. Nine - Kaitlyn

  10. Ten - Magnus

  11. Eleven - Kaitlyn

  12. Twelve - Magnus

  13. Thirteen - Kaitlyn

  14. Fourteen - Magnus

  15. Fifteen - Kaitlyn

  16. Sixteen - Magnus

  17. Seventeen - Kaitlyn

  18. Eighteen - Magnus

  19. Nineteen - Kaitlyn

  20. Twenty - Magnus

  21. Twenty-one - Kaitlyn

  22. Twenty-two - Magnus

  23. Twenty- three - Kaitlyn

  24. Twenty-four - Magnus

  25. Twenty-five - Kaitlyn

  26. Twenty-six - Magnus

  27. Twenty-seven - Magnus

  28. Twenty-eight - Magnus

  29. Twenty-nine - Magnus

  30. Thirty - Kaitlyn

  31. Thirty-one - Kaitlyn

  32. Thirty-two - Magnus

  33. Thirty-three - Kaitlyn

  34. Thirty-four - Magnus

  35. Thirty-five - Magnus

  36. Thirty-six - Kaitlyn

  37. Thirty-seven - Kaitlyn

  38. Thirty-eight - Magnus

  39. Thirty-nine - Kaitlyn

  40. Forty - Magnus

  41. Forty-one - Kaitlyn

  42. Forty-two - Kaitlyn

  43. Forty-three - Kaitlyn

  44. Forty-four - Kaitlyn

  45. Forty-five - Magnus

  46. Forty-six - Kaitlyn

  47. Forty-seven - Kaitlyn

  48. Forty-eight - Kaitlyn

  49. Forty-nine - Kaitlyn

  50. Fifty - Kaitlyn

  51. Fifty-one - Kaitlyn

  52. Fifty-two - Kaitlyn

  53. Fifty-three - Kaitlyn

  54. Fifty-four - Kaitlyn

  55. Fifty-five - Kaitlyn

  56. Fifty-six - Kaitlyn

  57. Fifty-seven - Kaitlyn

  58. Fifty-eight - Kaitlyn

  59. Fifty-nine - Kaitlyn

  60. Sixty - Magnus

  61. Sixty-one - Magnus

  62. Sixty-two - Magnus

  63. Sixty-three - Kaitlyn

  64. Sixty-four - Kaitlyn

  65. Sixty-five - Kaitlyn

  66. Sixty-six - Kaitlyn

  67. Sixty-seven - Magnus

  68. Sixty-eight - Kaitlyn

  69. Sixty-nine - Magnus

  Series Order

  Also by Diana Knightley

  Some thoughts and research…

  Acknowledgments

  About me, Diana Knightley

  Also by H. D. Knightley (My YA pen name)

  One - Magnus

  My wrists were bound in front of me as I was shoved stumblin’ forward. Twas dark, wherever I was, humid and verra hot. The heat made it hard tae breathe. I dinna remember where I was at first, or how I arrived, but then it came tae me: I had been captured.

  General Reyes had me. A firm hand shoved my back propellin’ me staggerin’ forward. The mosquitoes buzzed thick around my face. My head hung heavy but I managed tae look behind, through the darkness, tae see I was surrounded by soldiers. They looked overly heated, exhausted, and enraged.

  I kent Kaitlyn escaped, though Reyes had shot toward her as she jumped, so I dinna ken if she survived, if any of them survived.

  I tripped over a root in ankle-deep water and thick mud that made walkin’ difficult.

  I forced the words out, “Where are we goin’?”

  Nae one answered my question.

  Ahead of us stood a fortress with high, sharp-angled walls, topped with cannons, standing in dark relief against the moonlit sky.

  The sound of waves crashed nearby. I smelled the familiar scent of the sea. I guessed that I was in Florida from the air’s humidity, but this wasna Fort Clinch. The walls of Fort Clinch had been straight and tall, nae angled like this.

  Archie, when grown, had warned me that General Reyes spent a great deal of time in St Augustine and Kaitlyn had said twas south of Amelia Island. This was a guess, but it felt true.

  I was led through the front gate and across an open courtyard down a hallway tae a hole with a pile of bricks beside it.

  “I want tae speak tae general Reyes.”

  The soldier beside me grunted and shoved me tae my knees. “Crawl.”

  I dinna want tae go intae the hole. I dropped and kicked the closest soldier as hard as I could. Three men descended on me kicking and pummeling as I struggled until I couldna fight anymore. My ribs ached as I lay on the ground afraid of the injuries that might have been inflicted.

  One man crawled through the opening, grabbed the rope bindin’ my hands and dragged me through.

  He crawled out and left me inside a tight cave. The ceiling lay verra close. Then the soldiers piled bricks at the opening makin’ my prison dark and quiet as a tomb. My breaths echoed within.

  A shufflin’ sounded a bit away.

  “Who are ye?” I asked.

  Twas nae answer, just another shuffle.

  I was fearfully hungry. I lay on the stone floor, in total darkness, listenin’ tae the crash and rumble of the waves outside, trying tae figure out what tae do.

  Two - Magnus

  Many hours later I heard clatterin’ as the bricks buryin’ me inside were removed.

  A voice called through, “Campbell. Out.”

  I crawled tae the opening where a soldier brusquely grabbed the rope around my wrists and dragged me from the hole.

  “Where are ye takin’ me?”

  The soldier dinna answer.

  The day was hot and wet, rain ran down the stone walls. I was dragged along the ground, down a hallway, tae the outer courtyard. The sky was overcast and stormy.

  I struggled tae see every direction of the building’s construction: a castle, high fortified walls. The men wore uniforms of blue coats with wide red cuffs. They spoke tae each other in Spanish and ignored me as I was dragged, my skin raking across the stone and sand of the courtyard.

  I was tossed in through a door tae the feet of General Reyes.

  He spoke in Spanish tae the men and they left us alone.

  I was prostrate. He walked around me slowly, drew his sword, and swung it in an arc from both directions above me, menacin’ me with it. Then he kicked me, hard. I groaned and curled around my knees tae protect my sides.

  He said, “Do not worry yourself, Mags the First, I would not dream of hurting your precious ribs. I need you in fighting shape.” He slumped into a chair, his legs splayed out as if he was relaxed. He was wearing the same uniform as the other soldiers, a blue coat with red cuffs. Beads of sweat rolled down his face. I found a comfort in the fact that he was suffering in this sweltering heat.

  I raised my head tae find the doors: there was one behind me, the only exit.

  Reyes asked, “Are you looking for the closest escape route, Mags the First? I will tell you where it is: through me.”

  “Twas what I was hopin’ ye would say. I do plan tae go through ye.”

  Reyes chuckled. “Maybe you have not realized the dire situation you find yourself in, but let me—”

  “Where am I?”

  “Your beloved Florida, Lady Mairead tells me it is your favorite place.
I rather like it as well.”

  I scowled. “How dost ye ken Lady Mairead?”

  “We have been in business together for a while now.”

  When I tried tae rise he shoved my shoulder with his boot.

  I asked, “I am tae remain on the dirt floor for our conversation?”

  “Yes.” His eyes traveled over me. “You have grown to be a strapping young man, Mags the First.”

  “My name is Magnus.”

  “I know who you are.”

  “There, I am at a disadvantage, I have only just met ye and I haena any idea why ye have me bound on a dirt floor.”

  “Your mother hired me.”

  My stomach sank. “Why would she…?”

  “She hired me to kill Donnan so you could ascend to the throne. Your wife accomplished the killing before I could complete the—”

  “So ye failed. You should be the one bound on the floor. What did Lady Mairead give ye tae murder the king?” As soon as I asked it I kent the answer. “She gave ye a vessel.”

  “Yes, she willingly gave me a vessel. Then I tricked her into giving me a vessel tracker. The vessel tracker is, perhaps, the only one of its kind. She quickly realized how dangerous I had become: unstoppable. She has given me some powerful machines, wondrous really… she was very forthcoming.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “Because she wanted to protect you. She wanted you to sit on the throne. Her judgement was horribly clouded.”

  I scowled. “Tis nae her usual style tae be taken advantage of.”

  He shrugged. “She had not met me.”

  “So why am I nae dead?”

  “I have a task for you. I have been thinking on it, Mags the First. We are all fighting over this throne, in the year 23-something, but why did we pick that time to conquer the world out of every other time?” He waited.

  I answered, “I daena ken.”

  “We didn’t choose it. It was chosen for us by a barbarian highlander in the 1500s, a Johnne Cambell. He got the vessels, he killed and stole and conquered and built an empire where he decided to. The rest of us, you, his great-great, on-and-on, grandchild, and your dear mother, are just the descendants, taking your throne wherever it is. His nephews and sons and cousins are all fighting over the throne, and it exists where he put it.”

  “His name was Normond. He was from the year 1686.”

  “I thought you were smarter than this, Mags the First. No, his name was Johnne Cambell. I met him in the year 1557 a couple of days before he found the vessels. I was there. I fought alongside him.”

  I closed my eyes, this was too much tae think on, and it meant that Reyes kent the original date of the vessels. He was even more dangerous than I had believed. “You haena explained why I am a captive.”

  “It came to me as I have been hopping from place to place with the vessel gift from your mother, that I would make an excellent king. It also came to me, why should I fight the sons of Donnan for the throne? I would be a better king than any of them, my apologies, Mags the First, I am quite sure you tried, but you do have limitations. But me, I am not a barbarian anymore; I am well-read, highly educated, and I have seen the world. I have studied history; I know where things went wrong. I could prune back this branch of the tree and start it all anew. All I would need to do is go back there, to that battlefield, and kill Johnne Cambell before he gets the vessels. It is simple really. All of history relived a second time, just with a better outcome.”

  “A better outcome for whom?”

  “Why me, of course, have you been listening?” His smile slithered across his face, reminding me of the sickening charm of Lord Delapointe and causin’ me tae wonder why the hell my mother wasna a better judge of character.

  “If you were there and ye have a vessel, why daena ye go back there? Why am I involved at all?”

  “Well, see, there is a problem. You have probably discovered, I would assume, on the banks of the spring in Florida, that traveling back to relive your own life causes time-irregularities?”

  “I daena ken, but Kaitlyn has told me it did.”

  “Ah yes, you are the less wizened version of yourself. You have not lived through all that you could have done. You have to rely on your lovely wife to tell you what to do, how to think, how the world works. How is she, by the way? I imagine she is as feisty under your hands as she is in the video with that other man. Who was he, the man who had her before you? He seemed apt at giving her pleasure. I have watched it, she is quite something to behold—”

  My bound hands were in the dirt within my line of vision. I concentrated on the point between my fingernail and the dirt and scratched a line tae the stone. “Ye should begin tae beg your maker for forgiveness because ye will be speakin’ tae him in person verra soon.”

  “Says the man in the dirt in front of me.”

  “My situation looks dire but ye are givin’ me strength, daena fool yourself.”

  “Fine, I will not discuss how well your wife would move under me. You do not need to know about it. You will be nothing but a distant memory by then.”

  “And where will I be?”

  “I am not sure, but I assume that when your great-great grandfather is dead you will be nothing. Not Mags the First, not Mags, just a pile of dusty molecules within a pile of dust within a pile of dust going back... what is it, five generations or so of piles of dust? That’s why from now on I am calling you Mags the Dust.”

  “If I am nothin’ but dust, ye daena need the ropes on me. You just had tae kill my forefather and I would nae exist…”

  “That is the complicated part, Mags the Dust. I was there, on the battlefield of Inchaiden, at the origin of the Tempus Omegas. I had been to meet with the king and I was traveling through Campbell lands when I met up with your great-great-whatever-grandfather, Johnne.”

  His slithery smile widened. “If you want to talk about barbarians, your great-grandfather Johnne could do more barbaric things before breakfast than most men would do in a lifetime.” He waved his hand as if this accusation was a mere nothin’. “He was gracious, though. He allowed me to rest at Balloch. I found him to be good company. Then in the dawn hours, after Samhain, there was a storm and a commotion. My men and I rode with the Campbells to see what was happening in the woods. That was when we found the men, lying on the ground. Johnne was afraid. He ordered his men to massacre the time-jumpers, down to one man. That man Johnne imprisoned in the castle.”

  I quieted, listening. His tale fit the one Kaitlyn discovered in the book.

  “I lived at the castle while Johnne learned how to use the Tempus Omegas, but I soon figured he would not want any witnesses, so I left. I returned to Spain and lived peacefully until Donnan arrived. He questioned me about that day with the Tempus Omegas and was terribly persuasive, he is where you get your propensity for violence, I think. I told him what he wanted to know. Then Lady Mairead found out about me and she was very persuasive as well, just in different ways. That was when I was given my first Tempus Omega, yet I believe the case could be made that it should have been mine all along.”

  He continued, “I have since used it to collect wealth, houses, antiques, art. I have had many adventures, but through the years the realization came to me,” he punctuated the thought with his palm on the arm of his chair, “I should go back in time to that moment on the fields of Inchaiden and I should take all the vessels now that I know how to use them.”

  I took a deep breath.

  He finished quickly, “I cannot travel back into my own life and make changes. I’ve tried four times and each time the battle scene was worse, the deaths more horrible. Numerous times I barely escaped. I thought I needed more of the Tempus Omegas so I forced Lady Mairead to bring me them, but they didn’t help. I cannot be the one to do it. That is where you come in.”

  “What am I to do?”

  “You will travel to the year 1557, the night of Samhain, and you will find the younger version of myself and ask him to help you. You will
tell the young Nick Reyes all about the Tempus Omegas and how to use them. You and I will wait in the woods for the Campbell men to arrive. After the Campbell men massacre the time-jumpers, you and I will kill the last remaining Campbell men. That way I will have all the vessels and the knowledge to use them.”

  “And I will be dust.”

  “Yes, I figure about halfway through the battle you will just fly away on a night breeze, Mags the Dust. Do not let it bother you though, you will die a hero: save the world and all of that. It is one of those things that the people of your chosen time love, a good superhero. Selfless acts in the name of rescue.”

  “How have ye learned of this?”

  “I studied. I watched and listened and asked questions. I lost my accent and my barbarity and my ignorance and now I am a gentleman officer and soon I will be a benevolent king. I have lived for a time in every century. I know what needs to be done and I am prepared to do it.”

  “You could ask anyone tae do this for ye, for me it is tae die. Why dost ye want me tae do it? How will ye make me?”