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Emmel was vaguely aware of a soft, gentle form crying into him, weeping and trembling and shuddering with sorrow. He blinked as the stars of the night danced before his eyes. The moon was blurry and vague, and sometimes when he looked up, he could see two of them and knew that it wasn’t quite right. Pain thrummed through him, and he could taste blood again. It was a taste he had become too familiar with recently. The grass was soft underneath his body, but everything else hurt. He almost didn’t want to move, and not just because of the pain but also because it was comforting to have Isla beside him like this.

But then he remembered… Andrew.

He groaned as he pushed himself to a sitting position, holding his head. Isla sniffed and followed suit. Her legs were folded under her body, and her hair was splayed across her face like a veil, matted to her tears. Emmel rubbed his head and tried to blink away the pain. He wasn’t entirely successful.

“I’m sorry I could nae save yer boy, Isla. I heard them coming, thought I could take them by surprise. There were just tae many of them,” Emmel said.

Isla sniffed, and when she spoke, she sounded morose. Her words were leaden, and she acted as though all the air had left her body.

“Ye did all ye could. I thought they were gaeing tae beat ye tae death.”

“I’m sure they wanted tae. I suppose we can only thank the gods for small mercies.”

“The gods hae nothing tae dae with taenight. If there are gods, I cannae see how they would let this happen. He’s just a boy, Emmel, a wee boy. I know he’s tall and strong for his age, but he doesnae deserve this. What is he supposed tae dae? Rune Dolph has him now, and I…I dinnae know what he’s gaeing tae dae with him.”

“Dae ye think he’ll hurt the boy? I know he was cruel tae Andrew before, but dae ye think he means the boy harm?”

Isla wiped her nose and shrugged. “I think that man is capable of anything. He said that this had always been about Andrew. I dinnae know what he means by that, but if he wanted Andrew dead, then he could hae killed him here. That’s the only hope I hae,” she said.

It wasn’t really much hope to go on. Emmel arched his head back and exhaled deeply, feeling both the physical pain and the emotional pain of failure.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“Ye dinnae hae tae be sorry. Ye took the beating. They could hae killed ye,” Isla replied.

That wasn’t good enough for Emmel.

“I promised ye that I would keep ye and Andrew safe. I failed.”

He ignored the pain as he staggered to his feet and made his way to the loch. At the edge, he knelt down and cupped his hands, bringing fresh cool water up to his mouth and around his head, letting it wash away the blood that had crusted upon his lips. Moments later, Isla joined him, and it became impossible to tell the difference between her tears and the crystal water that lingered upon her cheeks. The water shimmered, and ripples expanded before disappearing entirely.

“It’s nae yer fault, Emmel,” she said softly. “It’s mine. I should never hae come here in the first place. Ye were right. I should hae brought a guard with me. And I should hae tried harder tae escape Rune when he first captured me. I should hae trained with a sword sae I could defend myself and nae be sae helpless. I should hae been alert tae the danger like ye were. I should hae ridden off at the first sign of trouble.

“But I didnae dae any of these things, and now Andrew is gone. My son…” She choked on a sob. “I made a promise tae him when I was born that I would keep him from harm. All my life, I’ve tried tae shield him from the world, but all of that doesnae matter. He’s gone now. He’s gone…”

She collapsed into sobs again and fell against Emmel. He draped his arm around her shoulder and held her trembling body close beside him. He wished there was something he could say that would fix everything, or something he could do. He wondered if his father or Uncle Ragnar had been in this place, there would have been a different outcome. They were heroes. They had fought against villains time and time again, while Emmel hadn’t. He gazed out across the loch and felt as though he was letting the Hoffstad name down.

“We’ll get him back,” he said softly.

Isla sniffed. “How?” she asked.

Emmel waited a few moments before he spoke, trying to think of a plan that might work. They could rush back to the settlement and try to kidnap Andrew again, but Rune would already be guarding against such a possibility. Any assault on the settlement seemed doomed to fail because Emmel was only one man, and there was only so much he could do. He thought and he thought, but as far as he could see, there was only one way they could hope to rescue Andrew.

“We hae tae gae back home. Tell our fathers what happened, gather forces, and return. Rune Dolph haes tae many men. I can ask my cousins on the mainland for aid as well. I doubt they would refuse my request for help. We can return with a demand for Andrew, and Rune will hae tae give him back unless he wants war,” Emmel said.

“But that could take tae long,” Isla said. She wriggled away from Emmel’s embrace and rose to her feet. “He’s in danger now. We hae tae save him now. I dinnae know what Rune haes planned for him, but I cannae live without my son. We need tae get back tae the settlement. We can sneak in again and steal him away.”

Emmel reluctantly told her all the reasons why that wouldn’t work, and it only served to aggravate her. She spun around and stomped her feet on the ground while throwing her hands into the air. She cried out loudly. If they hadn’t already been tracked, Emmel would have been afraid that she was giving away their position, but he sat by the loch numbly, allowing her to express her anguish.

“I cannae just gae back home while Andrew is with Rune! I dinnae know what that man is planning tae dae with him. He’s my son. I cannae just let him gae.”

“I’m nae saying ye should let him gae. I’m just saying that we cannae dae much with just the two of us. I’m only one man, and I’m nae in a good state tae fight. I can feel myself falling apart as it is. If we gae in now, we might be able tae get Andrew, but where are we gaeing tae take him? Rune would just track us down again, and he’ll be watching for us.”

“Well, I cannae just stay here and let him gae. Ye dinnae understand. Ye dinnae hae a child!” she cried, and began to walk back to the horses. She struggled with the knot again.

Emmel pushed himself up to his feet with a groan and limped toward her slowly. When he reached her, she had just about given up with the knot and succumbed to tears. She kicked the tree and beat it with her fists, cursing and condemning the damn knot for being too difficult to untie.

Emmel placed a hand on her back. He could feel the tension and the sorrow held within her. It was like a storm. He turned her around gently, and she fell into him, holding him tightly as though he was the only thing keeping her upright. He leaned down and felt errant strands of her hair brushing against his mouth. When he breathed in, he was intoxicated by the sweetness of her scent, and her body seemed to fit naturally against his. If the night hadn’t been marked by tragedy, it might have proven to be the beginnings of a romance. Instead, he stepped back a little and dipped his head, looking directly into her eyes.

“I promise we will get Andrew back. He’s yer son. I’m nae gaeing tae give up on him. And I may nae hae a child of my own, but ye know I hae always haed affection for Andrew. I wish this haed nae happened, but I want tae make sure that when I meet Rune again, it’s more of an even battle. We hae tae gae back if we stand any chance of getting Andrew. I know it hurts, and I wish that it could be different, but this is our best chance of getting yer son back.”

To his relief, Isla nodded, even though he could tell it pained her to do so. Since there was nothing they could do for the rest of the night, including travel because the depths of night were treacherous for those who did not know the terrain intimately, they sank back into the moss and tried to sleep. In truth, neither of them was in the mood to fall into slumber. They were both in too much pain. But neither did they want to speak.

They lay beside the loch with the silence of the night deafening, waiting for dawn to arrive. All the while Emmel kept wondering if there was something he was missing, if there was something that someone else might have been able to see. All he wanted was to keep Isla and Andrew safe, but he kept failing, and he wondered if they would have been better off if he had just stayed on the island and left them alone. Life with Rune wouldn’t have been easy for them, but at least Isla would have been with her son. Now they were estranged, and there was no guarantee that they would be reunited. Emmel hated to think of such a fate, but it was a distinct possibility, no matter how much he tried to reassure Isla. He might not have any say in the matter. Sadly, Rune had all the control now, all the power.