She'd been lucky so far, poles, banners, and branches were easy enough to find, but what if she couldn’t find one when she needed one most?The idea of her fighting alone clenched his stomach.The added prospect that she might have to fend off a man unarmed–‘twas enough to drive him to the brink of madness – mad enough to agree to her request.
Feck me,he thought.
“Aye,” he responded with a curt nod.“’Tis a fair point.”
“Thank ye,” Ailith said as she rose on her toes and kissed his tight lips again.
The kiss was not only for agreeing to help her, which she had been betting he wasn’t going to do, but also for being the kind of man who admitted when she was right.
A familiar rush coursed through her body at his acquiescence, one she knew from her Ju-Jitsu training.She could be back in her dojo, training again.
Only this time, she’d learn how to move around thesefreakin’skirts.
William tipped his head as if evaluating her.“If it comes to a fight, the first thing ye’ll do is run.I'll no’ have my wife fighting if she could have run to safety.”
Och, he’d made that abundantly clear already.She nodded.
“Aye, William, I understand.”
“If running is no option, then stand your ground,” William continued.“Backing away can cause ye to trip on something you don’t see, like a rock or branch.Then ye’ll be dead for certain.”
Ailith already knew that – her sensei had taught her the importance of standing with her feet apart in a ready stance – but she just nodded her head in understanding, not wanting to interrupt William now that he had agreed to her request.
Her da hadn’t raised a fool, after all.
“Ye have a knife on ye?”William asked.
Other than a cutting knife for meals in the hall or in their chambers, she did not.Ailith shook her head.
His jaw shifted again.“If ye need to, ye can use anything around ye to fight,” William explained.“Ye saw what I did with the bucket, aye?”
“Aye,” Ailith answered.
“Throw dirt at your opponent’s eyes, pick up a rock, or swing a bucket,” William told her..“Anything can be used as a weapon.Anything near your grasp.But let’s start with a knife since ‘tis small.”
He reached into his belt and drew his large Seox knife, then reached behind his back and pulled out another smaller knife – his smallersgian-dubh– and handed it to her.Ailith palmed the antler handle.
“There are three main ways to hold the knife,” William explained, showing her with his own large Seox.“Blade up,” he said as he held the knife tight in his fist, finger and thumb wrapped around the handle.
Ailith copied his grip on her knife.Thankfully, the smaller knife fit well enough in her hand to mimic his movements.
“’Tis no’ a good method, unless ye're up close and jamming the knife in a man’s ribs and need a lot of power to shove the blade in deep.”
In a sudden movement, William stepped in close to her and thrust his knife, with the intent of stopping the blade mere inches from Ailith's side.Ailith jumped at the violent movement, shoving her wrist against his arm and lifting the knife up and away as she ducked.William’s knife made a swooshing sound as it went by, but never touched her.
With a quick flick of her wrist and a swipe of her arm, she lightly swept her knife across his belly.Her blade brushed against his tunic, dangerously close to his stomach, but she made sure not to cut the fabric or the skin underneath.
She knew she only got away with this move because he had not expected it.The surprised look on his face quickly disappeared as he regained his composure.Then he leaped forward with his knife springing out, followed by his hand and arm, and he allowed his body to follow, closing the distance on her.
Almost without thinking, her left hand shot out, colliding with his right wrist and knocking his hand and blade down and away.Instead of jumping back, this time she stepped into him and spun in a tight circle as her elbow came up, her forearm parallel with the ground.The snapping impact was louder and harder than she intended when the hard bone of her elbow impacted against the side of his head.
She gasped and yanked her arm back.The move had been so automatic, and she’d hurt William in the execution of it.Her heart thudded in a rapid staccato in her chest.
William staggered back three steps before he stopped himself and shook his head, regaining his balance.Shock and surprise didn’t leave his face so quickly this time as he stepped close to her again.
“That was ...effective,” William said.His hand holding the knife rose in the air with two of his fingers extending to rub the spot she had struck.“Can you show me what you just did?”
Ailith repeated the movement but slower, sweeping her left hand in an arc, spinning outward and around, as her elbow came up in a mock attack.William’s eyes locked on her, following her every move, drinking in her form and frame.
