Heart of Ice
Prologue Scone, 1306
Robert the Bruce, oldest son of a Norman family and second Earl of Carrick, sat atop the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny. The ritual had begun. Kings and Queens of Ireland and both Scotland and England had been crowned here for generations, yet still it amazed Robert that England and Scotland could share such an exalted gift as brothers would and be at war with one another. It was bad enough that the English had threatened the borderlands repeatedly without mercy, and there was a full-scale war as there had been for years.
It had all started with the rebellion of William Wallace. Wallace had inspired Robert to fight back, and he had talked sense into him. Their short conferences before Wallace's execution a year earlier had made Robert think of the plan he knew he'd accomplish. He would take back Scotland one castle at a time and regain control whether anyone else thought he'd do so or not.
Robert sighed in desperation, but quickly livened his mood when the Countess of Buchan approached him. She nodded silently, smiling jovially, and crowned him. The coronation was complete!
He looked around at his friends and loyalties, a sense of power building within him; these men were no longer just his associations, they were his subjects.
He raised his voice, "As great-great-grandson of David the first, I claim myself, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland."
A cheer rang through the crowd, echoing off the magnificent stone. Robert smiled gaily, that power rushing through his veins once again.
Carrleigh, April 1307
It had been a superb evening thus far, Eric thought, but exhausting. Today had been the day news had been delivered to his fortress, Carrleigh, that Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, had gone into hiding in a cave on some island of the coast of Ireland. The messenger had told that he had also killed Red Comyn after receiving pardon from Edward, and in a church! The news alone had made Eric tired. Yet when he looked up from his goblet of ale, he saw something that lifted his spirits a little and made his belly grumble delightedly.
The mouth-watering food that was now being brought to the long wooden table steamed merrily, emitting wondrous aromas. Bowls of hot potatoes were set alongside mounds of fresh rolls slopped in creamy butter, and finally a giant boar was carried in on a silver platter and cut and served to the people of Carrleigh's household. Its slightly charred skin and delectable stuffing made the Great Hall's occupants shudder with anticipation. Tonight was a night of feasting, a night of joy and happiness. Even the kitchen workers and servants dined among the Lady and Lord of the house, livening the aura of the room a great deal.
Eric de Vahn, Lord of Carrleigh, was celebrating the coming birth of his unborn babe. Jennie of Brittany Hall, daughter of the famous Scotsman James Drake, was now pregnant with Eric's third child. Yet this joyous merriment was to be short lived.
Even as the boar was set upon the large table, orders could be heard being given by Kenning, head guard of Carrleigh, and directed to the men manning the inner and outer walls of the fortification. Eric immediately ordered all to the lower sections of the structure where hidden escape routes were concealed. He then set to work rounding up his family, but before he could get them to safety, they came.
Audrey sat in wait along the thin forest lines ahead of Carrleigh. It was said to be a strong work of stone and wood masonry. First there was a doubly thick layer of wood flanked by a thin layer of stone. Two walls of stone a good twenty feet in width followed this. The only flaw of the design was the unnecessary cost and the position of the fortress. It stood partially on a hill which used to be a good distance away, yet nature's forces had eroded dirt and soil closer to the walls, making the pathway easier for men like Audrey who looked for land to conquer by force while money was not free enough to be donated to the removal of whatever problem had befallen the target.
"Shall I give the order, Sir?" Audrey's second in command, Lamuel, asked, signaling for the men to ready themselves. Audrey nodded with an oily grin. He was a powerful man, but a soiled one at that. "We conquer!"
The company rode with fire in their eyes toward Carrleigh's walls. Archers aimed their flaming arrows in threat to the watching guards as Audrey's men bore down on the sentries who quickly surrendered.
"Have five men follow me to the master chamber, and order the coming archers to bring Eric de Vahn and his family there," Audrey spoke to Lamuel, then turned in the direction of the descending staircase, followed by a hurrying mass of men sent to pursue him.
Eric and Jennie were dragged together toward the bedroom they shared, their struggling children carried over the shoulders of a burly man clad in leather armor and a dark cloak. When they reached the room, they were thrust to the feet of Audrey Macvigh, a power hungry man determined to conquer all property belonging to neighboring allies of Scotland's current King, Robert the Bruce, Eric being one of those allies. But even though a man in his prime, Eric refused to fight and continued to support Robert the Bruce in his fight against Britain and King Edward I and raise his family. Yet now Robert had yet to show his reign and power over Scotland.
"Ah, the powerful Eric and his beautiful wife Jennie. I was afraid you might be late, but, alas, my men have never let me down, unlike yours, Sir Eric. Surrendered before we had even started fighting. You did hear.didn't you?" Audrey bent close to where Eric was being made to kneel. "From below you must have heard! Or maybe you didn't hear the commotion because of the wondrous festivities. Is your wife expecting? And again no doubt. You must keep her busy, eh Eric." Audrey laughed as Eric struggled against his man, sheer loathing in his brilliantly blue eyes.
Audrey smirked at him, moved over to Jennie, and yanked her up roughly. He threw her to the bed and pinned her down, straddling her at the upper thigh. Jennie tried fighting, but when she found it futile, gave up. She cringed and pushed her self deeper into the bedspreads as Audrey held her arms above her head with one hand, and fondled with her breasts with the other.
"Momma!" Eric and Jennie's three-year old twin sons, Christian and Matthew, cried out in unison while they sensed danger in seeing their mother's look of fear and their father's air of helplessness.
Audrey slapped Jennie across her cream cheeks for the screams of her children, turning white flesh to a burning red. Jennie never uttered a sound, although her cloudy grey eyes were filled with tears and red with pain. Eric struggled harder, but only succeeded in tearing his tunic through the middle and getting himself punched to the hard floor for his impertinence. He was readily hoisted back up in time to see Audrey unbutton his breeches and begin undressing the mortified Jennie. Eric was completely helpless, unable to fight against this giant of a man holding him, even though he was huge himself.
Audrey fondled and played a bit longer as he almost tore the dress Jennie wore from her. Already she had bruises around her hips and stomach and red teeth marks upon her full breasts. Her silky flesh glistened with the sweat of that of agony. Then, with a power filled thrust, Audrey drove into Jennie's womb and violently raped her. When he came to a shuddering halt, Jennie was pale, ashen, bleeding, and mortified. The men holding Eric only let him near his wife when they were sure that the dying Jennie could receive no help.
That night, a woman and her unborn child had been murdered, children taken from their father and killed, and a man's heart turned to ice.
A heart of ice.
Prologue Scone, 1306
Robert the Bruce, oldest son of a Norman family and second Earl of Carrick, sat atop the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny. The ritual had begun. Kings and Queens of Ireland and both Scotland and England had been crowned here for generations, yet still it amazed Robert that England and Scotland could share such an exalted gift as brothers would and be at war with one another. It was bad enough that the English had threatened the borderlands repeatedly without mercy, and there was a full-scale war as there had been for years.
It had all started with the rebellion of William Wallace. Wallace had inspired Robert to fight back, and he had talked sense into him. Their short conferences before Wallace's execution a year earlier had made Robert think of the plan he knew he'd accomplish. He would take back Scotland one castle at a time and regain control whether anyone else thought he'd do so or not.
Robert sighed in desperation, but quickly livened his mood when the Countess of Buchan approached him. She nodded silently, smiling jovially, and crowned him. The coronation was complete!
He looked around at his friends and loyalties, a sense of power building within him; these men were no longer just his associations, they were his subjects.
He raised his voice, "As great-great-grandson of David the first, I claim myself, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland."
A cheer rang through the crowd, echoing off the magnificent stone. Robert smiled gaily, that power rushing through his veins once again.
Carrleigh, April 1307
It had been a superb evening thus far, Eric thought, but exhausting. Today had been the day news had been delivered to his fortress, Carrleigh, that Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, had gone into hiding in a cave on some island of the coast of Ireland. The messenger had told that he had also killed Red Comyn after receiving pardon from Edward, and in a church! The news alone had made Eric tired. Yet when he looked up from his goblet of ale, he saw something that lifted his spirits a little and made his belly grumble delightedly.
The mouth-watering food that was now being brought to the long wooden table steamed merrily, emitting wondrous aromas. Bowls of hot potatoes were set alongside mounds of fresh rolls slopped in creamy butter, and finally a giant boar was carried in on a silver platter and cut and served to the people of Carrleigh's household. Its slightly charred skin and delectable stuffing made the Great Hall's occupants shudder with anticipation. Tonight was a night of feasting, a night of joy and happiness. Even the kitchen workers and servants dined among the Lady and Lord of the house, livening the aura of the room a great deal.
Eric de Vahn, Lord of Carrleigh, was celebrating the coming birth of his unborn babe. Jennie of Brittany Hall, daughter of the famous Scotsman James Drake, was now pregnant with Eric's third child. Yet this joyous merriment was to be short lived.
Even as the boar was set upon the large table, orders could be heard being given by Kenning, head guard of Carrleigh, and directed to the men manning the inner and outer walls of the fortification. Eric immediately ordered all to the lower sections of the structure where hidden escape routes were concealed. He then set to work rounding up his family, but before he could get them to safety, they came.
Audrey sat in wait along the thin forest lines ahead of Carrleigh. It was said to be a strong work of stone and wood masonry. First there was a doubly thick layer of wood flanked by a thin layer of stone. Two walls of stone a good twenty feet in width followed this. The only flaw of the design was the unnecessary cost and the position of the fortress. It stood partially on a hill which used to be a good distance away, yet nature's forces had eroded dirt and soil closer to the walls, making the pathway easier for men like Audrey who looked for land to conquer by force while money was not free enough to be donated to the removal of whatever problem had befallen the target.
"Shall I give the order, Sir?" Audrey's second in command, Lamuel, asked, signaling for the men to ready themselves. Audrey nodded with an oily grin. He was a powerful man, but a soiled one at that. "We conquer!"
The company rode with fire in their eyes toward Carrleigh's walls. Archers aimed their flaming arrows in threat to the watching guards as Audrey's men bore down on the sentries who quickly surrendered.
"Have five men follow me to the master chamber, and order the coming archers to bring Eric de Vahn and his family there," Audrey spoke to Lamuel, then turned in the direction of the descending staircase, followed by a hurrying mass of men sent to pursue him.
Eric and Jennie were dragged together toward the bedroom they shared, their struggling children carried over the shoulders of a burly man clad in leather armor and a dark cloak. When they reached the room, they were thrust to the feet of Audrey Macvigh, a power hungry man determined to conquer all property belonging to neighboring allies of Scotland's current King, Robert the Bruce, Eric being one of those allies. But even though a man in his prime, Eric refused to fight and continued to support Robert the Bruce in his fight against Britain and King Edward I and raise his family. Yet now Robert had yet to show his reign and power over Scotland.
"Ah, the powerful Eric and his beautiful wife Jennie. I was afraid you might be late, but, alas, my men have never let me down, unlike yours, Sir Eric. Surrendered before we had even started fighting. You did hear.didn't you?" Audrey bent close to where Eric was being made to kneel. "From below you must have heard! Or maybe you didn't hear the commotion because of the wondrous festivities. Is your wife expecting? And again no doubt. You must keep her busy, eh Eric." Audrey laughed as Eric struggled against his man, sheer loathing in his brilliantly blue eyes.
Audrey smirked at him, moved over to Jennie, and yanked her up roughly. He threw her to the bed and pinned her down, straddling her at the upper thigh. Jennie tried fighting, but when she found it futile, gave up. She cringed and pushed her self deeper into the bedspreads as Audrey held her arms above her head with one hand, and fondled with her breasts with the other.
"Momma!" Eric and Jennie's three-year old twin sons, Christian and Matthew, cried out in unison while they sensed danger in seeing their mother's look of fear and their father's air of helplessness.
Audrey slapped Jennie across her cream cheeks for the screams of her children, turning white flesh to a burning red. Jennie never uttered a sound, although her cloudy grey eyes were filled with tears and red with pain. Eric struggled harder, but only succeeded in tearing his tunic through the middle and getting himself punched to the hard floor for his impertinence. He was readily hoisted back up in time to see Audrey unbutton his breeches and begin undressing the mortified Jennie. Eric was completely helpless, unable to fight against this giant of a man holding him, even though he was huge himself.
Audrey fondled and played a bit longer as he almost tore the dress Jennie wore from her. Already she had bruises around her hips and stomach and red teeth marks upon her full breasts. Her silky flesh glistened with the sweat of that of agony. Then, with a power filled thrust, Audrey drove into Jennie's womb and violently raped her. When he came to a shuddering halt, Jennie was pale, ashen, bleeding, and mortified. The men holding Eric only let him near his wife when they were sure that the dying Jennie could receive no help.
That night, a woman and her unborn child had been murdered, children taken from their father and killed, and a man's heart turned to ice.
A heart of ice.