Early winter 1174 - somewhere in Scotland

The young noble steered his horse right between the attackers and dealt strikes right and left with his sword, experiencing every contact of the blade with a body as a short pain in his wrist and forearm. However, this was nothing that could stop him from continuing to fight, as he had learned years ago how to deal with it when he struck another person with his weapon. This did not only concern the slight pain, but also the realization of having hurt or even killed another person. He had to learn that there were situations in which he had no choice if he did not want to go down himself. As in this moment, for here something very important was at stake. And this was not his own life - although that was of course important to him - but first and foremost that of his wife and his little son.

Since he had not expected to be in danger so close to the family residence, they were accompanied only by a small escort of soldiers and therefore he now had to realize, to his great chagrin, that they were outnumbered by the attackers. For this reason, he could not leave the fight exclusively to his men. He had no choice but to throw himself into the fight as well, although this meant leaving Maud and the boy in the care of the few servants who accompanied them. But he knew that he could not afford to wait for the attackers to find their way to him, for this would have further endangered the two people who were the part of his life most important to him.

Now he blamed himself for having taken a ride with his family, but who would have thought that someone would dare to attack them? Until now, his status had always protected him from such a situation, so it hadn't occurred to him that it might be dangerous to take advantage of the fine weather that day to get out of the castle for once. Winter had hit the country very early that year and people, including his family, were forced to stay inside the castle. This was not a big problem for himself, but his son was very lively and only a few days had already been enough to drive his nanny - and also the other servants - to despair. Everyone was therefore greatly relieved when he suggested going for a trip on horseback. This was always the appropriate way to make the little one happy, which then directly made him much calmer. This was mainly due to the fact that the boy was simply infatuated with horses. But at this moment, the young man would rather deal with a whining child if it meant that his son was not in danger. Unfortunately, he could not reverse his decision.

He had managed to take out two more of the attackers, but fighting the strangers turned out to be much harder than he had expected. He had to take note that the men were well trained and this showed him that they were not common bandits. They must have been sent by someone with enough money to hire this small mercenary army and such people were not so many. But it also proved that he and his family had not been accidental victims of a raid. This realization had sent a cold shiver down his spine, since it meant that their mission was most likely to kill them. Realizing now that under no circumstances could he fail in his defense, he struck even harder than before. Now the fear that rose in him gave him additional strength.

"It was a failure to support Henry!" It was not the first time that David reproached his brother with this and it would, in all probability, not be the last, however, he was no longer of the opinion that William alone was to blame for the disaster. In the meantime, he had already realized that no one had forced him to participate in the rebellion against the old king. But although he was not really convinced of the whole scheme, he had felt obliged to his brother. William, unlike himself, had believed they had a good chance of standing up to the old fox. But that had turned out to be a colossal mistake, and after his brother had been taken prisoner, David had immediately stopped the fight. However, by then it was too late.

The king had quickly forgiven his remorseful son, but it was a different story with his Scottish allies. Getting William released again had cost them a lot, including their father's title, which David had taken over only a short time before. William was still allowed to call himself King of Scotland, but he had had to swear an oath of fealty to Henry. And one of the first things Henry had ordered his new vassal to do was to renounce his marriage to the wealthy heiress Isbeil, probably because this would have increased his personal wealth immensely. And thus, his power beyond that which he had as king anyway. At that moment, David was glad to be already married. He would have found it hard to do without Maud.

"You're right", his brother admitted. At the beginning he had not been able to acknowledge that he had chosen the wrong side, but David had already assumed at that point that this was nothing more than a reflex. Who likes to admit he was wrong when his younger brother was right, especially considering how serious the whole affair was. And what it had cost them. But it hadn't taken William long to realize that refusing to admit his error wouldn't help him. For that would mean he would not be able to learn from that mistake. But that was not what the King of Scotland had in mind.

David laughed. "Since we can't undo our mistake, we'd better figure out how to avoid turning the old fox against us even more. But I should probably stop pointing out the obvious."

Now it was his brother's turn to laugh, because he just knew him too well. But his laughter didn't last long. "We have to assume the old man isn't done with us yet. But I have no fucking idea what we have to prepare for. My instincts tell me we have to be careful, though. Very careful. You should take Maud and the little one to the family residence. It's safer for them there. But other than that, we can only wait and hope Henry soon realizes he needs us after all. But that could take a few years.

When David heard Maud's scream, he knew immediately that she had been hurt, for she was not the kind of woman who was easily frightened. Therefore, he knew that someone must have gotten to her. The young man cursed profusely as he was unable to break away from his opponents at that moment. But the fear for his family gave him the strength to strike even harder and move even faster. With a sense of immense relief, he finally managed to overcome this obstacle and could now make his way to his family.

But even before he had a chance to turn around, he already had a bad feeling, for after he had disposed of his opponents, he noticed that after the one scream, he had heard nothing from his consort. This was something he did not like at all. But something else was even less to his liking, for he could not hear anything from the other people who were with Maud.

When he finally turned his horse in the opposite direction, he realized with horror that he had moved so far away from Maud during the fight that he could no longer see her or the servants. He rammed his heels into the animal's flanks, whereupon it made an enormous leap forward and then charged off. It did not take him long to reach the small group that had stayed with his family. This, however, did not bring him a sense of relief, for he could tell at a glance that they were all lying on the ground. Moreover, he could not immediately spot Maud among them either.

Before he had even brought his horse to a complete stop, he had already jumped off and at that moment he caught sight of her lying slumped next to the nanny. He recognized immediately that the latter was no longer alive, but to his great relief he realized just as quickly that Maud was still breathing. He heaved a deep sigh as he knelt beside her.

"It's over now", he whispered to her. "They've fled. We did it." He hugged her to him, noting that she was trembling. But that didn't surprise him. "It's over", he repeated, but she didn't seem to hear him and the trembling had intensified. Carefully he laid her on the ground to quickly ascertain her condition, for now he feared she had suffered a serious injury. Again, he was relieved to discover only a few small cuts and a bruise on her face. It appeared that one of the attackers had knocked her down and then left her lying there. Obviously, it was only fear that made her react so violently.

"It's over, Maud", he assured her again, and this time she showed him that she had heard him, for she shook her head.

"He's gone, David!"

The young man frowned. "Who's gone, Maud?" He did not understand of whom she spoke.

"He's gone!" she yelled at him suddenly. "They've taken him, David!"

At that moment he understood what he had overlooked in the relief of discovering his consort alive. Among the people lying on the ground around Maud, there was no sign of his son.

"They grabbed Cai and then they disappeared with him!" Maud's voice cracked.

David stared at her in horror and then realized he had been mistaken. He had assumed they had put their attackers to rout, but in reality, it was probably quite different. They had disappeared having carried out their mission. He had apparently been mistaken in other respects as well, for they had probably not been attacked with the purpose of being killed. Although all the servants had died and most of the soldiers as well, Maud was only slightly injured and he had even survived the fight completely unharmed. Now he understood that it was intentional that he was still alive, for he and his wife were to witness and understand what had been done to them. Whoever was behind the assault had not wanted it to remain hidden from them.

David felt anger rising within him, but at the same time he knew that it was of no use to him now and that ensured that he now began to tremble as well. Someone had kidnapped his three-year-old son and heir, but even though he knew exactly who was responsible, he couldn't do anything about it since he had no evidence to make an accusation. But what really made him realize his helplessness was the recognition that even with proof, he could not afford to take action against the culprit.

David of Scotland took his consort in his arms and then wept with her for their child, whom they would never see again. In this respect he was quite sure, for by now he had come to know his adversary well. But unfortunately, much too late. And then it occurred to him that it would be better if the boy had died in this action. The alternative would be just too terrible.