In the Time of Kings by N. Gemini Sasson Read Free Book Online Page B

Edinburgh. I left a message on your phone.”
    “Oh, that explains it.” He flips a switch as he enters an office and the overhead light clicks on, emitting a low hum as it warms up. In the middle of the room sits a very old mahogany desk piled with papers and behind it is a bookcase crammed full that spans the length of the wall. The room smells of old leather and moldy parchment. “That was my home phone number. I should have given you the number for here. I don’t have a mobile phone. Never felt the need for one. At any rate, I made use of the time. Have you been to the battle site yet? Seen the castle?”
    “Neither. I scheduled that for tomorrow afternoon. Then we have just enough time to visit Edinburgh before leaving.”
    “We, you say? Is your wife with you? I’ll go invite her in.”
    “Don’t worry about it. She’s probably asleep in the car by now. I’ve been wearing her out on this trip.” I readjust my glasses. The frame seems twisted. Distracting, but not anything I can’t live with until we get home. “Did you find the information you were looking for?”
    “Curious thing about that. I did come across some documents that might help. Then again they might be full of useless information.” He rifles through one stack of papers, then another, finally shoving them both aside. “You mentioned there were some discrepancies?”
    I spread the paper on his desk and smooth out the wrinkles.
    He pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and traces a finger over the names, pausing at each one to impart bits of history. Most of it is irrelevant to the real reason I’ve come, but I absorb every word like a sponge. His knowledge of the complexities of Scottish history is nothing short of amazing: the unification of the thrones of Scotland and England, the tragic death of Mary, Queen of Scots, John Knox and the Protestant Reformation, James IV and the Battle of Flodden Field ... Two hours later, I realize we still haven’t gotten back past 1400.
    “Most people remember him for his end, but James IV was quite a forward-thinking man. In fact, alchemy was one of —”
    “Excuse me, Reverend Murray, but we got such a late start and I really need to take my wife out for a bite to eat.”
    “I’ve been babbling. I do apologize.”
    “Not at all. I’ve found it all very fascinating. I’d love to hear more. Would you join us for dinner?”
    He checks his watch. “Dear heavens, I hadn’t realized the time. I have a ... an appointment. My neighbor is recently widowed and he invited me over this evening to watch some telly. He very much needs the company. Do you have time tomorrow to stop by? Is 10 a.m. all right?”
    “I’ll be here. Not to press you, but you did find something, right?”
    “I believe so, yes. The father of this William Sinclair, here, born in 1334,” — he taps on the paper — “I’m quite certain he died at Halidon Hill.”
    “Then he was born after his father’s death.”
    “That must be.”
    “But what was his father’s name? There was another William Sinclair, but he died in 1330.”
    “That William may have been a brother, then. There have been a lot of men by the name William Sinclair.” He tilts his head in thought. “Now I remember where I left those papers — in plain sight on my hallway bookcase. It’s been a hectic day. I’ll bring everything tomorrow, I promise. See you then?”
    We walk out together and say goodbye. It’s almost dusk and the sky is lightening to a pale silvery-purple. The first stars wink faintly in the east. Since the summer days here are so long, I have no idea what time it is. I flip open my phone and upon seeing the time realize the only place we’ll be able to grab any food at this hour is at a pub. Reverend Murray is already pulling away in his car when I slide into the driver’s side of ours and poke Claire in the ribs.
    Her eyelids flap open. “Has it been half an hour already?”
    “About that. Let’s go find our bed