Refuge in Time Read online

  Refuge in Time

  The After Cilmeri Series, Volume 14

  Sarah Woodbury

  Published by The Morgan-Stanwood Publishing Group, 2019.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  REFUGE IN TIME

  First edition. March 19, 2019.

  Copyright © 2019 Sarah Woodbury.

  ISBN: 978-1386756514

  Written by Sarah Woodbury.

  Table of Contents

  Dear Reader

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Sample: The Viking Prince

  A novel from the After Cilmeri series

  Refuge in Time

  by

  Sarah Woodbury

  Copyright © 2019 by Sarah Woodbury

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  April 2022. When an unknown gunman sends David and William back to Earth Two, Michael and Livia are left gasping along with the rest of their universe. Accepting that their respective employers are possible suspects, not to mention untrustworthy, the pair band together in the shooting’s immediate aftermath, in an attempt to put the first few pieces of the puzzle together. But when an unexpected bout of time travel upends everyone yet again, Michael and Livia realize they are on their own, and this particular puzzle is one that they—and only they—can solve.

  Refuge in Time takes place concurrently with and immediately following the events of Champions of Time, the previous book in the After Cilmeri series.

  Complete Series reading order: Daughter of Time, Footsteps in Time, Winds of Time, Prince of Time, Crossroads in Time, Children of Time, Exiles in Time, Castaways in Time, Ashes of Time, Warden of Time, Guardians of Time, Masters of Time, Outpost in Time, Shades of Time, Champions of Time, Refuge in Time. Also This Small Corner of Time: The After Cilmeri Series Companion.

  To my parents

  Dearest Reader:

  The events in Refuge in Time take place concurrently with and immediately after those related in Champions of Time, the previous book in the After Cilmeri series. To recap, David and William are forced to time travel to Avalon and end up at an archery tournament outside Beaumaris Castle. William has been injured by a crossbow bolt, fired by Thomas de Clare, who is captured trying to escape. The last remaining conspirator, Aymer de Valence, remains at large.

  After Anna returned to Earth Two (in Shades of Time), along with twenty-firsters Sophie, Andre, and George, and her aunt’s family, David develops a plan to take Beeston Castle from the rebel forces led by Roger Mortimer and John Balliol, King of Scots. The new twenty-firsters are crucial to this endeavor, as they have the expertise to scale the cliff face and infiltrate the castle. This they do, rescuing Henry Percy, who was imprisoned in the keep, and the other prisoners. Callum and Math, who take charge of David’s army in his absence, destroy Beeston’s front gate with a rocket launcher brought on Chad Treadman’s plane.

  Back in Avalon, Michael Dawar, a medic with an army background, tends to William in the field and then drives David to the hospital. Because the last thing David knew, MI-5 had ordered fighter jets to chase after Anna in Chad Treadman’s airplane, David phones Chad to ask for help.

  One thing leads to another (or as my son says, shenanigans ensue), and Chad hires Michael as David’s bodyguard. Livia Cross, an MI-5 agent and Mark Jones’s co-worker, arrives at the hospital in an attempt to liaise with David and prove that MI-5 has his best interests at heart. David is willing to include her in his plans and invites her to Chad Treadman’s newly rented compound outside of Bangor.

  Chad Treadman arranges for David to be interviewed by Owain Williams, a Welsh chat show host. At the end of the interview, a gunman fires upon the stage from the catwalk above it, and David and William are again forced to time travel, this time back to Earth Two, where they arrive at Skipton Castle.

  At Skipton, David and William discover that John Balliol and Roger Mortimer have allied with Hakkon of Norway and have assembled a large army. They intend to march south and win the English crown for Balliol. David also reunites with Christopher, who was sent with Huw to scout the north, and Thomas Hartley, whom he befriended years earlier at Carlisle Castle and who is now a Templar knight.

  Meanwhile, Callum and Math have ridden north in hopes of cutting off Balliol’s advance. Ultimately, their cavalry, Welsh archers, and James Stewart’s army, marching down from Scotland, surround Skipton. After a great battle, Balliol’s forces are defeated and surrender to David.

  Refuge in Time tells the rest of the story ...

  Cast of Characters

  Livia Cross—MI-5 officer

  Michael Dawar—David’s bodyguard in Avalon

  Sophie—Time traveler, Chad Treadman’s employee

  Andre—Time traveler, Chad Treadman’s employee

  George—Time traveler, Chad Treadman’s employee

  Grant Dempsey—Head of Internal Security, MI-5

  Amanda Crichton—Head of Internal Affairs, MI-5

  Harold Philips—Director-General, MI-5

  Chad Treadman—Avalonian mogul

  Amelia—Chad’s head of media relations

  Mark Jones—Time traveler, MI-5 officer

  David—Time traveler, King of England

  Lili—David’s wife, Queen of England

  Anna—Time traveler, Princess of Wales

  Math (Mathonwy)—Lord of Dinas Bran, Anna’s husband

  Llywelyn—David and Anna’s father, King of Wales

  Meg—Time traveler, David and Anna’s mother, Queen of Wales

  Bronwen—Time traveler, Ieuan’s wife

  Ieuan—Lili’s brother, Bronwen’s husband

  Christopher Shepherd–Time traveler, David and Anna’s cousin

  Elisa Shepherd—Time traveler, Meg’s sister

  Ted Shepherd—Time traveler, Elisa’s husband

  Callum—Time traveler, Earl of Shrewsbury

  Cassie—Time traveler, Callum’s wife

  William de Bohun—Lord of the March

  The Children

  Elen—Time traveler, Elisa and Ted’s daughter

  Gwenllian–Llywelyn’s daughter by Elinor de Montfort

  Elisa and Padrig–Twin children of Meg and Llywelyn

  Cadell and Bran–Sons of Anna and Math

  Arthur and Alexander–Sons of David and Lili

  Catrin and Cadwaladr–Children of Bronwen and Ieuan

  Gareth–Son of Cassie and Callum

  Chapter One

  2 April 12
94

  Sophie

  “I think it’s time to go home.”

  Andre and George had been packing their gear, and they looked up with questioning expressions on their faces.

  Sophie shook herself, deciding she should be more assertive than that. “You can do what you like, but I can’t do this anymore. It’s time for me to go home.”

  Now the two men exchanged a glance, one indicative of their concern for her—with just a touch of condescension. They knew, as she did, that going home wasn’t up to her.

  “What exactly do you mean by that?” Andre handed a black case to George, who was standing in the bed of the cart, and came closer to where she stood in the center of the almost empty pavilion. They could put away their twenty-first-century gear because the Battle of Beeston Castle had been won.

  Yay for us.

  “You can follow the army north if you like, all the way to Scotland if necessary, but I’m not going. You don’t have to tell me Avalon may be out of reach.” She shook her head. “I know that. It doesn’t matter. I’m going back to Chester.”

  “I support your right to do that,” Andre said, “and I’m sure we can find someone to escort you, since George and I are going north, but are you sure? What’s in Chester?”

  “I’ve just come from the great hall. Everyone is praising what we did. What I did.” Sophie raised a hand and dropped it, feeling helpless in a way that belied the accolades she’d spent all morning receiving.

  “You did do well,” George said, still from the back of the cart. “We all did. Except for Andre.” He shot Andre a grin.

  “I do actually believe that,” she said, ignoring George’s jibe at Andre. The two men had settled into a steady policy of continual ribbing, to the amusement of both. They knew each other well enough by now not to take offense. “And I’m not fundamentally sorry I helped, but this—” she gestured to her surroundings, “—isn’t me. It’s playing a role I don’t want to play anymore.”

  George scoffed and hefted another case into the cart. “You’d rather be a medieval woman, sitting at home having babies and sewing?”

  “Wow. Tell me what you really think.” She looked him up and down. “I’m sorry you don’t think those things are worthwhile or as important as winning battles, but I also don’t see them as my only options.”

  He shrugged. “Better to be a soldier than a peasant.”

  Before coming to Earth Two, Sophie hadn’t thought much about George one way or the other. When he’d joined Chad’s staff, there’d been an immediate flurry among the other members, from vice presidents on down, because he was handsome and unattached. He’d come in as Chad’s personal bodyguard and jack-of-all-trades, and evolved to invoke such trust that at times Chad had deputized George to act for him in a variety of matters.

  But Sophie was liking him less in this moment. “You’re right about one thing. We don’t need to pretend here, and maybe that’s the point. We’ve all been stripped down to the core of who we are.”

  “And you’re not a fighter,” Andre said, not as a question. He was ignoring George, who’d scoffed and gone back to what he’d been doing.

  “No.” She took in a breath. “I could have died. We all could have died.”

  Andre lowered his voice. “What’s your plan, then? When—if—David gets back, are you going to ask him to turn around and take you home?”

  Sophie let out a breath. “I can’t do that.”

  “He’d take you.”

  “Which is why I can’t.”

  Andre nodded. “Just checking.”

  “I mean, I’d go if he offered. In a way, coming here is like I died already. My parents must be grieving. I’m grieving. I need to see them.”

  “I’m sorry you feel this way. I hope you won’t think I’m condescending if I tell you what you’re feeling is temporary. Everyone gets depressed after a fortnight in-country.” He pulled a notebook and pen from his back pocket and started ticking items off a list. It could have been dismissive, but she’d been around him long enough to realize he was merely multi-tasking. “If you do make it home, I’m also not sure you’ll be happy with what you’ll be coming home to.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Just saying.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “He means,” George said loudly, indicating he’d been listening closely all the while, “that Andre and I are questioning our boss’s role in all this.” Then, at her startled look, he gave another snort. “It didn’t occur to you that Chad had something to do with us time traveling?”

  “No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  George dusted off his hands and picked up another box, this one full of Mark’s equipment he hadn’t been able to take with him on his ride north. He’d taken plenty as it was. “How about this for starters: how did MI-5 know Anna was a passenger on our airplane?”

  Sophie blinked, surprised at the question. “How should I know?”

  “Sure, it was a plane taking off from Chad’s house, but he had clearance for that. What were the grounds for taking us down? For even hailing us?”

  “We were a legal flight,” Andre said with more patience than George was exhibiting. “How did they know where Anna was? How did they know she’d gone to Chad’s castle in Chalfont St. Giles in the first place?”

  “You think Chad gave her away? Why would he do that?”

  “So she would time travel and prove this whole thing was real,” George said, in a tone that implied it should have been obvious. “He just bought that media company, remember? What could be better than being first on the scene to a takedown by MI-5 and/or witnessing our disappearance?”

  “Andre was the pilot! He flew the plane into Snowdon!” Sophie was starting to lose patience herself. “That was our decision. Chad couldn’t have known what we’d choose to do.”

  “Couldn’t he?” George said. “It isn’t outside the realm of possibility, especially from where we’re sitting, that this feud with MI-5 was a fraud. You told Anna that I agreed to come to Earth Two, but that’s stretching my agreement quite a bit. Did Chad ask you if you wanted come here?”

  “We knew what we signed up for,” Sophie said staunchly.

  “Did we?” Andre said. “Are you telling me you signed up to time travel? For real?”

  “Actually, I kind of did. I would have jumped at the chance if it had been offered.”

  “Would have,” George said. “None of us should even have been on that plane.”

  Andre made a motion in George’s direction, apparently telling him to desist, and George obeyed, though he continued to grumble under his breath. Andre put away his notebook and gave Sophie his full attention. “Let’s assume the worst. Say Chad tipped off MI-5 that Anna was on our flight. If that’s the case, don’t a great many pieces fall into place?”

  Sophie was silent for a long moment, looking down at the compressed grass of the field. It had yellowed in the few days the pavilion had been standing. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

  “What good would it have done?” George was moving equipment around in the back of the cart in quick, jerky movements. “We needed to get acclimated. You don’t ruin the morale of one of your best soldiers to no purpose, not when there wasn’t anything you could do about it.”

  Sophie still had her eyes on the ground. She’d heard George’s compliment, and appreciated it, but she didn’t want to admit what they were saying could be true. She could admit to herself, however, that she was far less certain than she had been a moment ago.

  But then her resolve solidified, and she looked up. “All the more reason to go back and straighten things out.” She tipped her head as she looked at Andre. “You could come with me.”

  He scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

  “Really?” She was genuinely surprised. “I thought you hated it here?”

  Andre laughed. “Did you? I’m a grumpy old man, that’s all. I’m having the time of my life!” He genu
inely seemed to mean it.

  “You thought he hated it here because you hate it here.” George had progressed to tightening down the ropes that held the equipment in the bed of the cart.

  “I thought you just told me how angry you are at Chad for setting us up to come here,” Sophie said, speaking to George. “Now you say you want to stay?”

  “Oh, I’m pissed off at Chad, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do me a favor. Remember what I said about how good it is to be a soldier? Andre and I are heroes. Hard to have a better life anywhere in any universe than to be a hero in the Middle Ages.” George finally jumped off the bed of the cart and came closer, coming to a halt beside Andre. “I get that this isn’t the life for you. Nothing wrong with that. But if you do get a chance to go back, stay away from Chad.”

  Andre nodded. “I know you don’t want to believe it, but he’s trouble.”

  Chapter Two

  3 April 2022

  Michael

  “Are you nervous?” Amelia had moved on to Michael, since Mr. Treadman—Chad—had gained David’s attention, giving him some last minute, probably unwanted, advice. Amelia was Chad’s media relations coordinator. Dressed in an emerald green pantsuit with black heels, she exuded confidence and competence, both of which Michael assumed she genuinely felt.

  Somehow he couldn’t feel the same. “I’m not the one going on stage.”

  While the debate about what everyone was going to wear tonight had exceeded all reason, Michael appreciated that, even if theoretically it shouldn’t matter what anyone wore, it genuinely did. As a person with Pakistani ancestry, Michael understood how easy it was for people to misconstrue or dismiss a man based upon what he looked like.

  Michael himself was dressed in a navy blue suit and tie, befitting the bodyguard he had become. The suit was even bespoke—tailored exactly for him—which was what Amelia had concluded was necessary once she realized no off-the-rack suit would fit Michael’s torso. It wasn’t that Michael was fat—quite the opposite—but any suit jacket wide enough for his shoulders hung too loosely and bulkily around his waist.