The Guardian by Diana Knightley
Forty - Kaitlyn
The hotel was lavish, chandeliers in the lobby, bellhops bustling around, Lady Mairead waltzing through, telling the concierge to, “Send for Rodolfo, I need something fitted.”
She ushered me up the grand stair and then down a long hallway to our rooms, a suite with two bedrooms. It was an odd decor, vintage, by my point of reference, modern by the standards of the day, everything covered in fancy fabrics.
She said, I am sure ye are ready for a bath, ye may do that now.”
“I am very hungry actually.” My mouth was watering at the idea of eating modern cuisine, restaurant food.
“I will have room service brought up while ye bathe, ye are a frightful stench.”
“Oh, great.” I went through to the bathroom and took the most delightful bath in a claw foot tub. There was a small table with a pitcher of water for drinking. I was light headed with hunger but as soon as I got finished with the luxurious soak I put on the robe and room service had arrived with food. I ate ravenously in my own room.
I felt content and happy, but also guilty as hell, like a mom who took a vacation from her family, except this wasn’t a vacation, it was a business trip, a necessary job with my mother-in-law. But also — that bath had been really decadent after so much time without big tubs and ample sweet smelling soaps. I had gotten towels for Magnus but one washing at Kilchurn castle and they had sucked. I was deeply conflicted about enjoying this luxury.
* * *
Rodolfo arrived in Lady Mairead’s room to fit me for an outfit. The dress Lady Mairead picked out for me was a sequined, crepe-romaine, black dress, knee-length, in a flapper style. “It’s beautiful!” I said as it was brought down over my arms. It was at once weightless compared to the dress I had just removed, but also a bit heavy from the beading and sequins that draped at my waist.
Lady Mairead said, “It ought tae be beautiful, tis a Chanel. Coco has given it tae me herself.” She walked around me appraising the back. “Ye will fill the actresses with jealousy that ye hae one already, tis only now in the magazines, but ye will also gain their respect.”
I was given silk stockings to cover my legs, thankfully, because my leg hair was ‘wild-hippie-love-child-long,’ as Hayley would say. My shoes were silver with a little heel. To top the dress off I had a wrap of fur, and a diamond necklace. Lady Mairead said, “Ye will be dining with Clara, daena listen tae her, she is an insipid little girl. She drives me tae distraction, but she is on the verge of stardom so ye must spend time nodding and smiling in her direction. Then there is Marion, she has gone through an ordeal. She does not have the standing she once did, so she will nod and smile at Clara the most. The men are vastly unimportant.”
Pins were placed up the side of my dress and one stuck me in the side. “Ouch.”
Lady Mairead sneered. “Daena be a bairn.”
“So what exactly am I doing?”
“Ye are going tae go tae dinner with some of m’dearest friends. I will introduce ye, then I will be called away, because someone I canna see is going to arrive.” She shifted her eyes toward Rodolfo to show me she couldn’t speak freely in front of him. He didn’t seem to speak English, but one could never tell.
“Ugh, I feel like a lot could go wrong.”
“Aye, it already has.”
“Sir Padraig will be at this dinner?”
“Aye, he will arrive next, and will be sitting at the end of the table beside Marion, ye must keep yer eye on him. But daena let him guess who ye are. This is an important dinner, I hae the Trailblazer tae return tae him, the contract is between us. He has the upper hand. After we eat, he will take me tae a back room and this is the moment where I have lost the game. He will take the Trailblazer and I will hae lost the kingdom for Magnus. Tis the moment I hae been trying tae undo.”
“Sounds easy,” I joked. I took a big bite of a pastry.
She said, “Daena get crumbs on the dress, tis verra expensive.”
“What do you care, seriously, you can just get another one?”
She spoke in fluent Italian, mockingly towards me, to the tailor, who laughed.
I rolled my eyes and frankly felt petulant.
I asked, “So you’re going to leave, but then the other Lady Mairead is going to arrive? Will the other Lady M have the gold band around her neck?”
She nodded. “Yes, tis how he has gotten me tae sign the contract in exchange for the Trailblazer, and how he has assured that I will return it. I will hae the band around my neck. I am effectively under his control.”
My fingers went to my throat instinctively.
I said, “ I hated you so much for that.”
“I ken.”
She appraised me, “Ye look verra beautiful, Kaitlyn, what can we do with your hair?”
“I can do a French Twist?”
“Good, that would work, I believe ye will blend in verra nicely.” She told Rodolfo that I was done and sent him from the room.
Then she said to me, “Sir Padraig kens he has the band around my throat so he believes I am under his control. He gets up, before the meal is ordered, tae go tae the kitchen and speak tae the chef about the meal. In that moment, I want ye tae undo the band from the other Lady Mairead’s neck, verra quickly, and then ye tell her tae go tae Elmwood. The other Lady Mairead will ken what ye mean—”
“What do I mean? What is Elmwood?”
“Elmwood Mansion is m’house, ye ken, in the Upper East Side.”
“I have never heard you mention it.”
“I am sure ye hae, we have a safe in the closet for keeping our effects and sending messages. I plan tae pass it down tae my granddaughter... Elmwood.”
She searched my face while I shook my head, then she shrugged.
“Well, now ye ken, tell the other Lady Mairead tae go tae Elmwood.” She stood in front of me and adjusted my wrap. “What did I just tell ye tae say?”
“I’m to take the band off the other Lady Mairead’s neck and tell her she’s to go to Elmwood.”
“Aye. Now, it has happened before that Sir Padraig has already taken the Trailblazer from me. But it will happen at the table and ye will notice it if it happens. Tis why ye must pay attention. Either way, once the other Lady Mairead runs away, and before Sir Padraig returns, I will sit down at the table, wearing the exact same dress.” She waved her hand down to show off her clothes. “So that he winna expect, and I will deal with him.”
“I will have weapons though, I could just kill him.”
“I will kill him, I hae been wanting tae for years. He has caused me a great deal of grief.”
She dropped a gun intae her bag. “But if I miss... ye will kill him. He is nae allowed tae leave the restaurant alive. Once he is dead ye will scrounge through his pockets. If ye find anymore vessels or Trailblazers ye must take them.”
She looked at her gold watch. “We hae three hours, twill be just enough time for ye tae get yer makeup done so ye will be presentable.”
“Was that a complaint about my looks?”
“Ye will need tae do something about yer eyebrows Kaitlyn, ye canna go out like an eighteenth century barbarian. And yer nails, ye must apply yerself, these are actresses!”
* * *
I did apply myself. I put on makeup, painted my nails, put my hair up, paced, and felt ill from worry. I nervously took off makeup and reapplied it. I was ready really early, but still somehow, full of apprehension, had to rush at the end.
As soon as I saw her next I asked, “We won’t get separated though, right? If we shoot someone in the middle of a restaurant there’s sure to be police involved.”
She waved her hand. “This is practically the Wild West and as soon as we shoot him we will leave.”
“But you won’t be able to return, you’ll be...okay, please explain it to me again.”
“Ye will enter the restaurant. I will introduce ye tae the actresses. Then I will step away and the other Lady Mairead will arrive a few minutes later. Offer her the empty chair. She will be confused by your presence, but I think it winna be that difficult tae figure out. Ye will sit halfway down the left side, nearest the door. Make sure there is an empty seat beside ye. Ye will make lively conversation with the actresses as if ye hae kent them yer whole life. Dost ye ken anything about film?”
“1920s film? No, not really. Black and white, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “How dost I ken more than ye do on the time period?”
“I have never visited this time before. Give me a break. So I will be there before Sir Paddy?”
“Aye. Your only job is tae enjoy the dinner and convince me tae run from the restaurant as soon as there is a moment. I will be waiting outside and will—”
“This sounds an awful lot like looping... I looped over and over on myself when I was trying to get to my grandmother before she passed and every time I tried her life got shorter and shorter. You have to make sure you aren’t looping or it could—”
“I hae looped before, I ken what happens.”
“When?”
“I tried tae intervene in a death from my youth.” Her eyes went faraway. “My Fionn passed away many years in the past, but I was lonely, and I wondered if I could intervene in it. I tried tae loop tae save him. I was nae thinking of the implications, the possible dangers, I simply wanted tae keep him alive.”
“Did it work?”
“Nae, of course not, I tried, then I grew desperate, and with each loop I lost days — twas devastatin’. I lost the time when I told him he was tae become a father and he died without knowing. Twas a heartbreak I will never wish tae live again.”
“I heard about Fionn a few months ago actually, I’m really sorry.”
She shrugged. “Well, tongues will wag. Twas centuries ago. I was tae be a farmer’s wife and hae many bairns and live a life of drudgery and hardship and now see what I hae gained instead?”
“A lot of freaking hardship. A constant need to carry a weapon.”
“True, but also a son who is a king. Tis nae something tae be dismissive of — in the history of the world how many women have had their sons elevated tae kings? And of those women how many had sons who deserved the honor? As ye ken, Magnus is a good king, one tae be proud of, and I consider it an honor.” She brushed some lint off my shoulder and appraised me. “We are nae tae interfere with the normal life and death of our world, only tae ride along as lives unfold. I ken it is sometimes melancholic but it can also be wonderful tae be the most powerful women in the world.”
I chuckled. “I have never been included in your power before.”
She scoffed. “What am I, the mother? Ye are the Queen. Ye hae murdered the former king and then murdered the king’s mistress. Ye have adopted the heir tae the throne, and birthed a princess, and the king listens tae ye in everything. Ye hae much more power than me.”
I felt shocked by her statement.
Then she added, “Tis why I hae decided ye are worth keeping around. I haena liked ye much, but I was proud of ye when ye killed Bella, twas the first time I saw strength in ye.”
“You know, I have saved Magnus’s life more than once. I have raised two beautiful children. I have made Magnus very happy...”
“Och, all those things are for yer own benefit. Killing Bella was the first thing ye did that was for Archie, tae put Magnus’s son on the throne. I consider that something ye hae done directly for my own bloodline.”
“Oh.”
“And ye arna tae tell anyone of the truth about Sean’s father. I ken many people suspect, but I daena want tae admit tae it.”
“You’re right, people do suspect it, but I will keep it quiet.”
“So do ye hae anymore questions?” She took a perfume atomizer from her dressing table and sprayed a cloud of Shalimar all around me.
“Yes, you never finished after ‘waiting outside and...’”
“I will come in, I will kill Sir Padraig, you and I will leave the restaurant and reconvene here at the hotel where the vessel will be in the safe. We will jump back to Scotland, 1707, two days after we left. Now repeat the plan back to me.”
“I’m just supposed to get along with everyone at the table. As soon as the other Lady M arrives, I’m to convince her I’m there for legitimate reasons. As soon as Padraig arrives, I’m to convince him I’m not there for nefarious reasons. As soon as he goes to the kitchen, I release Lady Mairead from the neckband and tell her to run. Then I continue in my seat as you arrive. You’re sure one of us shouldn’t have a vessel?”
“Nae, it might be taken from us, then I would hae tae get the other.”
“You have another? Maybe I should know where, just in case.”
“I hae a vessel hidden at Elmwood, but ye would hae tae get from here tae there, we ought tae make sure we daena lose the vessel here. I will leave it in the safe.”
I gulped. “Then, in a crowded restaurant we...”
“Nae we, I — I will kill the man.”
We gathered up our bags and filled them with cosmetics. I placed my wooden carved heart into mine. I had a knife sheathed on my thigh and a gun hidden on my other thigh.
It wasn’t easy to keep them hidden in the flow of my little black dress. I loved this dress so much. It swished when I moved. My legs looked delightful in the hose. I wore a bejeweled silk ribbon tied around my hair and my makeup was excellent.
I would have enjoyed going to dinner with actresses in Hollywood if it were not for my mother-in-law, and the impending shoot out at a restaurant in 1920s California.
One of my worries, a simple one: I had just gotten here, I didn’t really know the lay of the land.
Note to self, pay attention as you go to the restaurant — no getting lost.
Also, Probably don’t drink, you need to have your wits.
Lastly, don’t die, Kaitlyn, your whole family needs you.
The panic attack settled in my chest causing me to feel breathless. I had run away. What if something happened to me? What if I was lost or killed a million miles and years from my family and hadn’t said goodbye? What had been the last thing I said to Magnus?
Had I told him I loved him?
Would Isla know I didn’t mean to leave a second time — I had to, to protect her. Would she understand?
The truth was, I had to survive.
No dying.
Lady Mairead gathered a handkerchief, stuffed it intae her handbag, and said, “Are ye ready tae go Kaitlyn?”
I nodded, finding it hard to speak.