King Henry's Choice by Emily-Jane Hills Orford

Author:Emily-Jane Hills Orford
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781621358428
Publisher: Clean Reads
Published: 2019-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Three

Malmohus Castle, Denmark, April, Year of Our Lord 1577

“Ah! Another Scottish king. And you are?” The dusty heap of blankets was tossed aside and a scarred, emaciated figure of a man pushed himself into a sitting position on the rickety cot on which he had been, presumably, sleeping.

“King Henry, my Lord Bothwell.”

“James. Call me James. I am no longer lord of anything.” The man cleared his throat. “This retched place will be the death of me. So, what era do you call your own?”

“The late 1800s.”

James raised an eyebrow which was marked by a slash just barely healing. How could anything heal in this dank place? In this filth? Henry doubted the man had been allowed clean water to bathe. At least, not recently. “And what brings you back in time to see the likes of me?”

“You are my ancestor. You were also a great battle commander. I come seeking advice on how to defeat the English once and for all.”

The decrepit figure tried to laugh, but it quickly transformed into a fit of coughing. When the fit subsided, he gave the young king an intense look. “You can’t defeat the English, lad. We’ve tried for centuries, long before I was born. All you can do is try to keep them at bay.”

“You’ve fought enough battles with the English to be able to spare me some words of advice, James.” Henry was not about to give up. Lord Bothwell had been an astute battle commander in his day. Long before he was imprisoned for kidnapping Mary Queen of Scots and forcing her to marry him. At least, it’s the way the opposing political powers of the day painted the picture. Mary Elizabeth was his daughter and she told a completely different story about counterespionage which would make the spies as far forward in time as the twenty-first century and perhaps even beyond look like amateurs.

“Aye. Marie de Guise suggested you might come to me for advice. It’s all I can give you, lad. Advice. Don’t fight on principal. Fight to win at all cost. The best defence is the offence. A good offence. You start the battle. Don’t wait for the English to strike first. They’re trespassing, if I’m understanding correctly.” Henry nodded in response. “Then you have every right to ambush them and take them prisoner. And, if you have this wonderful ability to jump through time, as Marie de Guise and my daughter, Mary Elizabeth, do, then make a visit to the English monarch and put the fear of the Scottish clans in his or her heart. He or she’ll think twice before trying to invade Scotland a second time.”

“She. Queen Victoria.” Henry took a minute to explain. “She’s a power force of her own. She rules a good portion of the world and dares to call herself Empress of the English Empire overseas. Scotland rules a greater portion of the world. Kindlier and more civil than the English, I might add. She wants what we have. She wants it all.

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