Page 44 of Defy the Highlander

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It was a bleak, frosted winter morning that Brody found himself fighting in.

If one could call it fighting. It was fighting like he’d never done in his life.

Repetitive exercises took the instinct out of a battle. Being expected to take a blow and not defend oneself had him frustrated. For the fighting Brody had done his entire life, he’d depended on an innate sense of self-preservation coupled with moves his father had taught him. He could use a short sword and a mace better than most, but all he was given for training at the Ludus Caledonia was a rudis, or a small but sturdy wooden sword.

He hated the damned thing.

His forty-three days at “The Cal” had been nothing as he’d expected. He was back to the bearded, unhappy man he’d been during his days in Edinburgh. For the first week, the novicius did nothing but run up and down the hills surrounding the Ludus Caledonia. That had transitioned into running with the rudis and a heavy wooden shield before they were finally taken into the arena to begin training with other training groups.

Brody was in Cam’s troop, and Cam was assisted by a big Englishman named Galan. One of the first exercises Cam and Galan had them do was fighting against a palus, or a post. Brody thought it was all ridiculously stupid, but he went along with it, much to Cam’s amusement. Cam seemed to know exactly what he was thinking but he never chastised him. He encouraged him and spoke to him of tactics and blind spots, things Brody already knew about. At least, he knew most of it. There were a few things Cam taught him that he’d never heard of before. Cam may not have chastised him for his know-it-all attitude, but a big brute with piercing blue eyes did.

Axel was his name.

Axel von Rossau was from Saxony and he’d been Clegg’s Ianista, or manager, for many years. Axel was tough but fair, at least when he was feeling particularly benevolent, but Brody’s frustration at the slow pace of the training had him paying more attention to Brody than most of the other recruits.

As Brody found out, that wasn’t a good thing.

On this icy morning, the four novicius troops were in the arena and Brody was coming to wonder why. There weren’t normally more than two troops in the arena at any one time and, as he soon found out, they’d all been gathered for a purpose.

They were going to use what they had learned – against each other.

It was an exercise of sorts, to pit men from different troops against one another to see what they’d learned. Each troop was standing in a corner of the arena, watching the bouts that were going on in the middle. Four, six men at a time went at it. All men were eager fighters, but some were better than others. Rumor had it that there were fights that night and the trainers were looking to see if there were any novicius who might be ready to fight in a preliminary bout.

Then, it became Brody’s turn.

But he wasn’t pitted against any novicius. For him, Axel brought out a warrior that had been with the Ludus Caledonia for a few years. The man was a tertiarius, a fighter at the top of the proverbial food chain. These were men who fought for money and prestige, hoping a great lord would offer them a position.

They were ruthless.

Brody didn’t know the man, but he’d seen him around the complex. As Axel called forth the fighters, including Brody, Cam quickly took him aside.

“The man ye’re tae fight against is the one the call The Eagle,” he said. “He’s been part of the fight guild for years, but he’s been at one of Clegg’s other guilds, the Ludus Hadrian. We havena seen him at The Cal until recently.”

Brody glanced at his opponent. “He’s short.”

Cam shook his head. “Dunna let his stature fool ye,” he said. “He’s shorter than ye are, but he packs a punch. Axel is pairing the two of ye because he thinks yer pride will prevent ye from making a truly great fighter.”

Brody looked at him curiously. “What do ye mean?”

“Because ye believe training is beneath ye,” Cam said. “We’ve all seen it. That’s why Axel wants tae pair ye with The Eagle so he can cut ye down tae size. Underestimating him is the worst thing ye can do. They call him The Eagle for a reason; he’ll come at ye like a bird of prey and it’ll be over before ye realize what happened. He likes tae use leverage against his opponents, so watch out for him getting too close tae ye. He’ll destroy ye if he can.”

Brody shook his head confidently. “He’ll not destroy me.”

Cam could hear the man’s pride and he wanted to shake him. “Listen tae me,” he said, hazard in his tone. “I had pride when I came tae The Cal, too, and it nearly got me killed. Know when a man is trying tae help ye, Brody – there’s a reason why they call Titus Stewart ’The Eagle’.”

Brody simply nodded to appease Cam, but he had no intention of showing any caution in the face of a man who was shorter than him by a few inches. Brody was quite tall, about four inches over six feet, and this man was probably three or four inches shorter.

Enough that Brody considered him inferior.

Axel was motioning to him and he moved away from Cam, taking his wooden rudis with him and his shield.

He was going to clip The Eagle’s wings and be done with it.

As Brody approached, he looked over his opponent from head to toe. The man was wearing leather breeches, boots, and nothing more. Absolutely nothing more and given the icy winter conditions, it was ludicrous. He was quite muscular, however, a fine specimen of male form, but Brody didn’t give that any consideration. So what if he had muscles; Brody had them, too.

And he intended to use them.