Chapter 24
Archer stood in the courtyard, the smell of hay invading his nostrils.
A large pile of it sat in the corner, to be used to fix the dummies and targets as needed.
Some of the dummies swung close to him, moving in the very slight breeze that filtered through the smithy to the secondary courtyard of the castle, a smaller courtyard than the main one where swordsmen could train.
The gray stone walls, however, were above, with a few windows to look down upon them. He didn’t need people gossiping about him training his betrothed to defend herself, and if an attack was coming from inside the castle, he didn’t want them to know that Eileen could use her dirk so well.
He had dressed in tan trousers, loose at the knees, and a white tunic that allowed a good range of movement. His dirk was attached to his belt, and the dirk he had gifted Eileen was clutched in his hand. He swung it lazily around as if swatting flies.
When he heard footsteps, he expected to see Eileen. Instead, Calum stepped through the archway.
“Good morn, Me Laird,” Calum greeted, sounding gruffer than usual.
“Good morn,” Archer replied. “What troubles ye this morn?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Aye. But somethin’ often troubles ye, so it wasnae a difficult guess.”
“It’s too quiet, Me Laird,” Calum remarked. “It’s been hard to hear any whispers in the castle about plots and schemes, but there was nothin’ yesterday. They’ll ken that somethin’ happened to Mack, and they’ll most likely lie low for a while.”
“Nae yet,” Archer countered. “Nae until they see the end of me. I’ve outgrown me usefulness, and I’m only a danger to them. If they can take me down, they can instate whoever they like.”
“Ye need an heir, Me Laird. That would surely deter them.”
“Nay, it willnae. I cannae conjure a bairn from thin air, and even if one was on the way, he wouldnae come of age for years, and they’d have that time to consolidate power.”
“Then what?” Calum asked.
“The order will have to come from O’Gunn.
He willnae make the decision to kill me lightly.
He’ll be the one to offer support to our clan if I’m killed.
I can see schemes upon schemes here. I believe me faither’s death was ordered from within the castle, but since O’Gunn abducted a McFair, then he has his hand in this pie now.
Whoever started the smugglin’ operation years ago is losin’ control.
This isnae just about people within the castle betrayin’ us all, but about O’Gunn wrestlin’ control from us. ”
“What of him?” Calum asked. “We’ve still nae responded to his letter. Ye willnae give up Lady Eileen to him, but we need to send an answer soon.”
“Aye, we do. Send a messenger. We can play it smart by playin’ it dumb.
Tell him that we found Reid Kilmartin in our lands, bruised and beaten, and he spoke of killin’ O’Gunn men.
Dinnae mention the escape just yet. Let’s see what O’Gunn comes back with.
At the very least, it will buy us some time. ”
“I’ll send a messenger now,” Calum said.
“Good man.” Archer nodded.
Calum turned to leave, and when he reached the darkened archway, he stepped to the side to let Eileen pass. They greeted each other before he disappeared, and then she stepped onto the training field.
She wore a pair of cream trousers and a brown blouse. Archer was impressed with her attire—it would give her freedom of movement.
“Ye made it,” he teased.
“I did.” Eileen smirked. “Did ye nae think I would come?”
“I dinnae ken,” Archer shot back. “I’ve spent time searchin’ for this dirk”—he held it up—“and thought I might have to spend more time searchin’ for ye, too.”
“All ye have to do is look for two guards wanderin’ around as if they’re lookin’ for a lost kitten.” Eileen looked over her shoulder.
The two guards were somewhere in the darkness, unseen.
“Well, ye’re here now, so let’s get down to business. Here.” Archer handed her the dirk.
She took it but held it limply, pointing it at the ground.
He sighed. “We have a lot of work to do.”
“Och, ye dinnae even ken what I can do,” Eileen complained. “I havenae started yet.”
She began swinging the dirk around wildly.
Archer ducked as she whirled around. As far as fighting styles went, it might surprise her opponent enough to buy her a few seconds, but it didn’t come close to what he needed from her.
“All right, all right,” he said, holding his hands up. “Let’s just start with the basics.”
He approached her, wary in case she started swinging her dirk again. He stopped before her as he worked out the best way to approach the situation. Then, he swept behind her and stepped closer, pressing his chest to her back.
“Dinnae get the wrong idea,” he murmured. “I have to get close to ye to do this properly.”
“Aye, I bet ye say that to all the women.”
Archer snickered. “When I want to take ye, ye’ll ken about it.”
“I hope I do,” Eileen quipped.
The constant back and forth had been annoying when they had first met, but he was growing to enjoy it. She was very different from the women he usually had in his bed. She spoke back to him, met him head-on, while the others were submissive. She was submissive when tamed, but he had to work at it.
He ran a hand down her arm, curling it over hers on the handle of the dirk. “Like this. Ye need to hold it tight while keeping yer wrist flexible.”
“Aye, and I bet ye say that to all yer women, too,” Eileen joked.
Archer let go of her hand as he laughed heartily, the sound echoing between the castle walls.
“Well, if ye cannae stop an attacker with a dirk, ye’ll be able to disarm them with yer filthy jests,” he teased. “Come on, let’s try this again.”
He pressed his body against hers and covered the hand holding the dirk with his own.
“That’s it, nice and tight. Now, when ye use the dirk, ye’re usually usin’ it as a last resort. In yer case, it’ll be yer first resort. If ye find yerself facin’ a bandit, ye need to stick them before they can do anythin’ to ye. Like this.”
Archer guided her hand gently and slowly to her waist, then lifted it in an arc toward her chest.
“Ye’re aimin’ for anywhere on the torso,” he explained. “That’s a large target, and if ye drive yer knife somewhere in their chest or stomach, then ye’ll manage to slow them down at least.”
He moved her arm back and forth a few times to show her how to swing the dirk.
She smelled of wildflowers. There was a cleanness to her, a freshness, something she normally wore, but it felt different this time. It was as if she’d bathed and applied perfume for him. She was there to learn fighting, but she’d presented herself as well as she could.
The previous evening came rushing back to him, and with that came the anger. He’d embraced her for a while in his study, and she’d smelled good, but not as good as she did now. He held onto her wrist as he continued to move her hand back and forth, eager to drink in her sweet scent.
The anger bubbled up in his chest, but he pushed it down.
When he was with her, he could hold back his anger and not let it ruin him. He still didn’t understand what had come over him the previous night in the study, but she had a way of reaching inside him and stirring his emotions.
He’d never wanted to relive the day his father died, even after what he’d heard from Mack, but he found it spilling out of him, teased from his heart and mind by a few words from Eileen.
And now, her proximity was teasing something else from him. The castle and clan were under threat, but for a moment in time, encapsulated by the walls around the courtyard, he could pretend that everything was right in the world. In that small square, he was free from his duties.
“Aye, ye have it,” he said.
He lowered her hand to her waist and held it there for a moment. He wanted to do something other than teach her how to fight, but she had to be ready.
So, he let her go, even though he ached to be close to her, beside her, inside her.
“Try that on one of the dummies,” he instructed.
Eileen turned to him and licked her lips, her face a little flushed. “Aye, I’ll pretend it’s O’Gunn.”
Archer smiled. He moved over to the straw dummy and showed her how to use a dirk, repeating the motions he had shown her previously, driving the blade into the dummy’s gut and chest.
“Now, ye cannae just stand like that,” he noted.
“Like what?”
“Ye have yer legs and feet together.”
Archer made his way back over to her before reaching down and placing his hand on the inside of her thigh. She let out a little moan and then gasped when she realized she had.
His hand lingered on her thigh for a moment, then he pushed her legs apart. He wedged his foot between hers and widened her stance. Then, he got down on one knee and pulled her left foot back so she had one foot in front of the other.
“This stance will give ye more balance,” he explained. “When ye strike, it’s nae like strikin’ a dummy. A man will shift, and he might strike back. Ye have to be ready to block a blow or turn and run. If ye manage to stab him in the gut or chest, ye flee as fast as ye can. Try it with that stance.”
Archer watched her again. She might not be a natural, but she was better than many young men he had watched train in his childhood.
She had a much better figure, too. With her legs spread, the trousers clung tighter to her thighs, and as she twisted her torso to strike, the blouse accentuated her jiggling breasts.
“Keep yer weight on yer front foot,” Archer instructed. “Ye’re nae dancin’—ye’re endin’ a man.”
“Aye, but it kind of is like dancin’,” Eileen pointed out. “Except ye want the dance to end quickly in yer favor.”
“Aye, somethin’ like that,” he relented.
“Now, as ye’re stabbin’, move like flowin’ water.
Ye want to stab and move, stab and move.
Dinnae give yer attacker the chance to strike ye.
One stab, then move, and another quick one.
That’ll be enough to stop any man in his tracks, and ye can get out of there. ”
Eileen did as she was told. She struck, then moved, then struck, then moved.
Archer watched with his hands on his hips, a smile on his face, and pride in his chest. Still, he was a little nervous. He wanted her to be trained up should she need it, but he didn’t want her to ever need it.
If O’Gunn made a move, he would go after him directly, but he might also target Eileen and Reid. If he learned that Reid wasn’t yet awake and speaking, he might give the order to kill him and then claim ignorance of his capture.
“Aye, ye’re gettin’ it,” Archer praised. “Now, I ken ye dinnae want to carry the dirk around, but I’d appreciate it if ye wouldnae keep hidin’ it. There’s nay point in trainin’ with it if ye dinnae have it when the time comes. Will ye promise that ye’ll keep it on ye at all times?”
Eileen paused and turned to him. She pursed her lips and stood with her hip tilted to the side. “Aye, I suppose I could hide it on meself, and maybe ye could find it.”
Archer laughed again. He was about ready to take her, but there was one more thing to do. He went to the wall and picked up a belt and a sheath.
“Here,” he said, walking back to her. “Ye can wear this around yer waist; ye’ll have the blade with ye at all times.”
He moved behind her again—not so close this time—and wrapped his arms around her waist with the belt, grabbing it at the front and bringing the ends around to the back, where he buckled them. Then, he shifted the belt so that the buckle was on one side and the sheath on the other.
“Aye, that looks good,” he murmured.
He leaned down and kissed her neck, relishing how her head lolled back onto his shoulder immediately. He wrapped an arm around her and placed his hand on her midriff.
Eileen let out another low moan.
“Ye should put yer weapon away,” he teased.
“Ye can talk,” Eileen retorted.
Archer laughed before he kissed her neck again. Then, he moved his head to the other side of her neck and kissed her there.
Eileen moaned again, moving her hands to his.
Archer kissed her once more before he wrapped his other arm around her. “I need to tell ye somethin’.”
“Aye?”
“I want to be as honest with ye as I can,” he said. “Ye ken most of what’s happenin’ with Reid and the goings-on in the castle, but recently, we received a letter from O’Gunn.”
Eileen turned around to face him. “What did he want?” she asked.
“He kens about our betrothal, and he doesnae like it. He thinks I’ve stolen ye from under his nose. He wants what he claims is rightfully his.”
“Oh,” Eileen breathed, lowering her head.
“I’m nae lettin’ him take ye,” Archer asserted.
Eileen brightened. She looked up at him, a slight smile on her face.
“When we end our betrothal, it willnae be because of him,” Archer added. “And ye deserve to be with someone better. The longer we are betrothed, the quicker he realizes that has to find someone else.”
“Aye, ‘cause the betrothal will end,” Eileen said.
“Ye’ll want to take yer braither back home when he’s well enough, will ye nae?”
“Aye, aye.” Eileen nodded. “I need to make sure he gets back home safely, and I appreciate that ye’re lookin’ out for me, but ye dinnae need to start a fight over me. Ye should start a fight over somethin’ more important.”
“I’ve started fights for much less,” Archer admitted.
“Aye, but I thought that…”
“What?” Archer prompted.
“Nay, it’s nothin’,” Eileen sighed.
She was hiding something, that much was clear. There was more she wanted to say, but she wouldn’t say it. She’d coaxed his troubles from him, and he wanted to do the same for her.
He wrapped his arms around her waist once more.
“I ken that a lot has happened since ye got here, but that’s how it is sometimes. I promise I’ll protect ye,” he said.
“Aye, I ken ye will.” She’d turned cold out of the blue.
He held her tighter and looked deep into her eyes, trying to work out what the matter was. He wished she would just come out and say it.
“Listen, if—” he started.
“I need to check on Reid,” Eileen cut in. “Thank ye for teachin’ me, and I’ll keep the dirk on me at all times.”
“Ye still need to train more,” Archer protested. “I can help ye.”
“Aye, I’ll train when I can,” she allowed.
He still couldn’t fathom the look in her eyes.
Eileen turned and strode away, and he watched her go. She just needed some time and space, and she would open up to him. Or so he told himself.
He didn’t understand what troubled her, nor did he understand the ache in his heart as he watched her leave.