King of Trees

“What if the world we’re on is only one thread out of millions of threads in the rope of time?”

The question the Outsider woman posed to him left Bardolph as confused as ever. He knew the Outsiders had appeared as if by magic many years before, during his great-grandfather’s reign, but he had never understood where they came from. He only knew they had changed Albion forever.

Melissa York might have been grateful to her rescuer, who called himself King of Albion, but she saw no reason to let her gratitude influence her opinion of antiquated notions like monarchy and pagan religions. Let the Druids go back to their forests. She and her people were the best defense Albion had against the invaders.

Bardolph knew better. All the people of Albion would need to work together or they would find themselves conquered again. Only this time instead of a Roman emperor, their tribute would be paid to one in faraway China. He only hoped the Outsiders were as clever and as powerful as rumor said they were, because Albion needed all the help it could get.