by Joe Corso
He looked at her, his eyes a bit stern and said, “Thinking time. There is a decision, Krystina that I . . . you . . . I mean . . . we need to make. It troubles me. It is one that is grave.”
“Oh dear wizard,” she said, “shall my words or thoughts contribute? What might be so troublesome that my love’s smile is replaced?”
“Fair enough,” he answered. “I shall be honored for you to contribute your ‘words’ or ‘thoughts’. I fear, however, that you may be even more troubled when I have explained. Okay, I begin. I think our son will have a wonderful education should he live and grow in my time. A son belongs to the mother that bore him and to the father, but a mother is special. It is never fair to remove a child from the mother.”
Krystina clasped her hand over her heart – her face clearly in pain. She gasped at even the thought of this. “Why, Lucky,” she said. “Indeed not. Never should a mother lose her child, lest the mother is unworthy and pains the child.”
“I know,” he answered. “That is why my heart is heavy. My dear Princess, my time is so vastly different from your time. In my time, things are modern. We have many things, many luxuries, but . . . things are not as simple. In your time, things are simple. Sometimes less is greater. My fear, Krystina, is that you may not truly like ‘my time’ and find it difficult to adapt.”
At this point, Krystina took Lucky’s face in her hands and tilted his chin up slightly
so that he could see her. “Lucky,” she said, staring lovingly into his eyes, “you once asked might I live in your time. Your mind switched. You had fear. Now, we have been granted a beautiful baby boy. One must not separate family. Lucky, we are family.
Lucky thought about what she said. They were family. But they weren’t. And they wouldn’t be family – not in the truest sense – until they married. Yes, it was time, whether in his time or in twelfth century England, it was time to make Krystina his wife.
“This is my abode,” Krystina continued. “My wish is for you to remain in the kingdom with me, with our son. Should you decide to depart and carry forth in your time, we must journey with you.”
“Would you want to live in the future with me?” Lucky asked.
“Lucky, we can always come back to the palace and the kingdom to visit. Our son will know both worlds. How very exciting.”
“Of course,” Lucky said. “Of course. It is all really simple. And if you cannot adjust to living in the future, we can talk about. I can bring you back here. However, there is something else, Krystina. At home, I have enemies. I will always need eyes on you and on our son and yes, I can always bring you here to safety.”
“Of course you can,” she said as she smiled.
“But Krystina, there is yet something else. As time passes, I do not know if the wizard will lose his powers. I may, at some time, become stuck in my time. If that happens, you may be stuck in my time or I may be stuck in your time. There’s always a chance. Do you still want to come with me to the future?”
“Lucky, I love our son, but complete happiness is you and our son. I will journey with you to your time.”
For the next few days Lucky spent all his time explaining cars, airplanes, TV’s, skyscrapers and everything else he could think of to Krystina. And as he talked, he sketched on a pad what he described. On the third day, he decided it was time to leave. He instructed the Princess to bring nothing with her, nothing but their son. Everything would be purchased anew – twenty-first century clothing, twenty-first century cribs, food, everything. They said their goodbyes to King Robert and Queen Alexandra and to the men-at-arms and the remainder of the staff at the castle. Lucky held his son close in one arm. Krystina, fearing she would somehow lose him, clung onto Lucky with both of her hands as they stepped into . . . the time portal.
©Black Horse Publishing
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All of Joe Corso’s books are available on Amazon.
The Time Portal Series
The Old Man and the King
The Starlight Club Series
The Revenge of John W
The Adventures of the Lone Jack Kid
The Comeback
Fire Stories
