“Lord of the manor?Nay me,” Ailith said with a knowing smile.
“Nay,” Eoghan said, his eyes drifting to the buxom blonde.“If in name only.I see how he looks at ye.‘Tis he who serves ye.Ye hold his heart and therefore the reins.”
A deep pink blush colored Ailith’s cheeks.
While his words should have seemed honest to William, there was a hard edge to his tone, despite the mooning woman next to him.
William barked out a hearty laugh.“True enough, cousin.”
He led Ailith away from the crowd to the backside of the tents near the palisade wall.Two young, lean brothers were sword-fighting with sticks.They looked to be about eight and ten years old and were too engrossed with their own battle to take notice of William and Ailith.
“What concerns ye,mo ruaidh?”William asked in a troubled tone, his smile replaced by worry.He brushed his finger across her cheek.“Has something happened?”
“Naught of concern, William.Rest easy,” she answered.Her odd smile lingered on her lips as she rose on her toes to kiss him.“I dinna mean to worry ye.”
“Och.”William blew out a lung full of air.God knew anytime she had that strange smile, it gave him something to worry about.“What then?”
“I want ye to teach me to fight,” Ailith answered in a level tone.“Fight like ye fought Eoghan.”
William stilled.She was wicked with her staff and had held her own in a fight against a lone man who underestimated her, but to fight like a Highland warrior?With a shield and sword as a Viking shieldmaiden?He might tease her about it and be impressed by her skills, but that didn’t mean he liked it or necessarily wanted her to continue.
“Fight?”William asked as his brow furrowed.“While ye have uncanny skills for a lass, ye have no need to fight.As my wife, that duty now falls to me.”
“Aye, William.And I’ll gladly allow that.But as we agreed, unless I must protect ye, or when we canna be together, I must have skills that will aid me here.Ye may have noticed trouble has a way of finding me.”
William held her shoulders but pulled back slightly to look into her vibrant, dark green eyes.She wasn’t accepting no for an answer – he saw it on her face.“Trouble finds ye?Or ye find trouble?”
Her lips pursed in a rosebud moue of discontent, and he wanted to kiss those lips and drop this entire conversation.
“Does it matter who does the finding?”she asked as she dropped her gaze and bit her bottom lip.Och, lass.The move was distracting!“My da always said I needed to know how to defend myself.But I’m from a time when people didn’t walk around with swords and spears.My staff and kicks will only do so much.
William nodded slowly, hating to agree with her.“Your da was right.Ye should no’ need to defend yourself, but that does no’ mean ye’ll no’ find yourself in such a position.No’ all men are honorable, as we have seen.”
He shifted his gaze towards the tents and exhaled hard as he considered his next words.He wouldn’t be able to stop her from defending herself or him if the occasion arose.
Mayhap ‘twould be more prudent if shewerebetter prepared.God knew his life would be destroyed if anything happened to her.Why not give her the upper hand to ensure that never happened?Mayhap have her continue training with her staff.But to learn sword fighting?That took years to master.
And I dinna want her fighting sword-carrying warriors anyhow …
“Stick to your fighting style,” William finally advised, turning his gaze back to her.“’Tis second nature to ye, and ye are skilled with the pole.Unless ye want to start training two hours a day, every day with the sword, ye should avoid using them.Strength can be everything in a sword fight.Steel is heavier than wood, and that means strength is also speed when it comes to attacking and blocking with a heavy blade.Speed and skill can overtake strength alone, but as I said, ye would need to practice more than we have time for.Years.”
William pointed to the two boys fighting.The older, bigger brother had the advantage over his little brother, with the bigger brother stepping forward with every swing and shoving his smaller brother back with his might and longer reach.
Ailith studied them for a few moments, then flicked her mantle of wavy hair over her shoulder and faced him again.
“Fine,’ she replied.“No swords.Then what else should I do?”
“Stick to your pole,” William repeated himself as he brushed his knuckle over her tender jaw.“Ye’ve proven that ye can use it well enough against a sword.Lean into ye strengths,mo ruaidh.Remember these three words: distance, speed, and surprise.You’re a lass, and that means every man will dismiss and underestimate ye as merely a lass.Use that, your brain, the skills ye already have, and your pole to survive.”
She jutted her chin out at him.Her insolence was as sexy as it was irritating.
“What’s the point of that game ye and Eoghan just played?”Ailith asked, peering at him as if it were a real question and not one she already knew the answer to.
His jaw worked.“’Tis to teach us to fight with other weapons, other than the sword.A warrior might not have a sword in his time of need, and ‘tis a benefit to know how to use other items as weapons.”
Ailith stared him down until he caught her meaning.She might not have a pole in her time of need.Especially as a lass, she wasn’t walking around with a fighting staff everywhere she went.In the woods with the Morays, she had to fight with her bare hands until the fool dropped his sword, then she carried it with no knowledge of how to use it.
Evidently, if she was truly from a future time, they didn’t use swords enough for her to be familiar with the length of steel.
