A Proper Scottish Wife Ch. 30

Only three chapters past this one; they're all written, getting proofed and edited now. Ailene's plan has been adopted and being put in motion, full speed ahead. Except for sexual activity rising in a discussion, there isn't much here except for masturbation. These people are like family now.

*****

"Bonnie, I would like your help with a bath this evening," Teárlag said. "All this travel has left me dirty and tired."

"Yes, Mistress."

"I will arrange with Thorburn to have his servants bring up the water. But I could use your help."

"Of course.

******

The bathtub and hot water was brought into Thorburn's room for Teárlag.

"Lock the door so no one barges in like the last time," Teárlag said.

After it was done, the maid helped her with her dress and Teárlag sank gratefully into the water. She motioned the maid closer.

"Do you have a way to get news out of the Keep so Blackthorne gets it immediately?" Teárlag whispered. "I've got important information that shouldn't wait until our next report."

"I do, Mistress."

"Good, we need to get this information out right away."

"I believe the Camerons are planning an attack of some kind on the Manor, perhaps in the next couple months. I think they're planning to do it before harvest, so food stores are low in the event they must starve him out. Thorburn is beginning to stockpile supplies. He's going back to Dervaig next market day to buy a lot more supplies, more wagons than usual, heavily guarded."

"I heard the same thing. They're going on the secondary road and approaching from the east along the shore of Loch A Chumhainn."

"No, it's merely the story they're passing out. They've either caught or suspect more spies, and they're providing false information so they can't be ambushed. They'll take the main road to Dervaig, the quickest route. We've had a couple different meetings. They haven't gone into lots of details yet, but I know Thorburn's very pleased with the progress of Isobel and Ailene and he's thinking of training more young, fit women rather than try to hire more men. If he's got a couple months to train them, he feels they could be valuable warriors. Did you see what happened this morning?"

"No, mistress, though I heard the women did well."

"Well! It was astonishing. First Bjarkë sends fifteen of his best lads against Isobel and Ailene and they're all killed. Well, not killed, not really, but pretend. They aren't allowed to fight again. Thorburn can't believe it and sends twenty of his own against them, and not only are they killed like the first, they're killed faster. Apparently the women are killing machines and Frang thinks it's due to the new training they started. They're going to start the same thing here. They started setting it up in the courtyard this afternoon as soon as they got back."

"I saw them making changes," Bonnie said.

"I don't know how the new training works, but it certainly seems effective. Thirty five men disposed of by two women. Perhaps you should volunteer for the training. They sound like they're willing to train anyone. Then you could explain to Blackthorne how it's done."

"Why not you, Lady Mackintosh. Surely Thorburn would want his wife able to protect herself."

"Nay," Teárlag said. "Me? Get all hot and sweaty? Nay. They train in pants. You'd never catch me in a pair of pants instead of a dress. It would be unseemly for the Lady of the House."

"Lady Ailene seems fine with it."

"She's young and foolish. Probably doesn't realize what a spectacle she's making of herself. Aye, I think you should do it. No one cares about a maid. You're not a lady like me."

Bonnie thought for a moment. "Don't you think one of the men should take the training instead of me."

"Except for my driver and footman, I don't know who the other spies are, do you? I mean they can't go. They have to deliver our reports to Blackthorne. If they're training, they couldn't leave and deliver our reports. Nay, unless you know of another, I think you should do it."

"I'll ask the others if they know of any man who can take the training."

"Sure, if you like. I think Blackthorne would like to know about it, don't you? So if you can't find someone else by the day after tomorrow, you should sign up for it?"

"Yes, Mistress. I'll find someone else."

"Wonderful. My hair got quite dusty today. Could you wash it for me?"

******

Ailene quickly helped Thorburn and Stuart set up his courtyard to the training standards of the one Frang and Bjarkë set up at Lady Luck and began working with them to quickly train up the men on the new training order. When it was ready, Thorburn asked her to take charge, explain the new training.

"I want you to look where you're going to be training now," Ailene explained. "Don't walk around yet. Just look for a moment. Now, Grant, tell me what you see."

"There's a bunch of new stuff, walls and fences and the like."

"Does it seem more where you'd be likely to fight rather than a big, flat field?" She asked. "When we got ambushed on the road, did it look like your training ground? Tam?"

"No, there were trees and bushes and gorse, some hills to the side and the like."

"This is designed to be similar to where you're most likely to be fighting, outside or in or around buildings. If you're defending the Keep, you might be on the ramparts, or in some of the buildings, or fighting in the woods outside. You should get to used to fighting under those conditions if that's where you're going to be fighting for your life, don't you think? Tam, look harder. Where are you going to be able to use your preferred weapon and where will you not?"

"I don't understand, Lady Ailene," Lachlan said.

"You use a claymore, don't you Lachlan?"

"Aye."

"There's a mock doorway, Lachlan. I want you to take out your claymore, stand just inside the door and try to swing it."

Lachlan did as she requested and could barely swing it, hitting a chunk out of the wood.

"It didn't work very well, did it?"

"Nay, Lady."

"Now, let's say you're fighting me, and you've got me retreating and I go into this doorway. Come on, show me."

She started retreating toward the doorway and Lachlan followed, swinging at Ailene. She easily turned aside his strokes, though she kept backing, right through the door. As soon as he started to step through, Ailene made a quick attack. He tried blocking her but his sword got caught on the door jam and he died.

"Lachlan's dead. In your new training, if you die, you're done for the day. If you really were to die, you can't pick yourself up and try again. Your life is over. I want to reinforce this concept in your minds. If you die, it's over. Think about that. I appreciate bravery as much as anyone, but you just ended your life for no good purpose, Lachlan. You didn't save anyone, you didn't get me. You followed me into a doorway where I had the advantage. I don't need to swing my sword like you do. As soon as you stepped through, I could attack you and you were helpless to defend yourself. What could you have done instead of needlessly throwing your life away?"

Lachlan thought for a while, puzzled. "I'm not sure, Lady."

Everyone laughed. Ailene shushed them all. "It's why we're training, to learn what he should have done. Tam, you were laughing pretty hard; what would you have done?"

"I'd have followed you through the doorway like Lachlan, and likely died just like yesterday, Lady."

"An accurate answer, but the wrong one. I don't want to lose you anymore than I want to lose Lachlan. Anyone?"

No one responded.

"If you see the danger of following an opponent into someplace where they have the advantage, don't follow. Send another rapier trained man into the doorway, or shoot an arrow through, or let them get away, capture or kill them someplace else on another day. If you refuse to go in, maybe they come back out. There are always choices to be made. Grant, I want you come at me now."

Grant raised his sword and Ailene quickly put him on the defensive with a furious attack, backing him up up. He backed up to a new log on the training ground, tripped and went to the ground. Ailene was on him in an instant and he was dead.

"Sorry, Grant, but you're dead too. You should have known there was something behind you. You've looked around enough. But I want to know why none of you warned him he was going to trip over a tree limb?"

"Can we do that, warn him, I mean?" Tam asked.

"If you don't look out for each other, who's going to do it?" Ailene asked. "You're on a battlefield now. You've no one to look after you but each other."

"Even if we're not participating at the moment?" Tam asked.

"Why not. Get into the habit of helping each other out. The life you save today may be the one saves your hide tomorrow. The only time you won't is when you're fighting someone; you don't want to warn the man you're fighting he's about to trip. You want him to trip, but if you see someone else falling into a trap, tell them, unless you're dead. If you're dead, you're dead and you can't speak. Now I want you to walk around, see where you or an opponent might trip, where your weapon may be more or less effective, what you might have to throw or kick or tip in someone's path. You can beat a better opponent out here if you understand the battlefield better than they do. Tam, you died yesterday when I threw some dirt and sand in your eyes, did you not?"

"Aye. I thought it was unfair of you to do so."

"Unfair? You thought it was unfair? Like it was fair for twenty of you big, strapping lads to come at two dainty, defenseless little women. A short mornings work, I think someone said."

Grant snickered and soon several others were as well. Ailene laughed with them too.

"Okay, maybe not so defenseless," she admitted, laughing, "but what's fair is I was alive and twenty of you were dead. That was fair in my book. I took advantage of my battlefield, and you didn't. Isobel and I went through a gate where only one or two could follow and we took advantage. When you split up, we took advantage, by concentrating ourselves on two sides of a smaller group. When we split up, we took advantage, splitting you into smaller groups which were easier to handle.

"I don't know if you've been told, but Bjarkë knocked me unconscious before we started this type of training. I was beating him. I'd killed him five times already. I was about to kill him again with my blade to his heart, and he took the stab wound to his arm and laid me out cold. He sacrificed his arm to a wound so he wouldn't die again. Hopefully, none of you will have to sacrifice a limb to save your life, but hopefully, you'll be able to if you need to protect your life. If we do this training right, you'll start to realize all the ways to defeat a better opponent. Because I'd never been in battle, I didn't realize the lengths you must go to save yourself. Bjarkë did. Frang realized I needed to put myself on a battlefield to find out what I didn't know, which was a lot.

"It's why we created this training, because I want you to find any method to save your life, from throwing dirt in the eyes to sacrificing an arm to save your life. Do you understand. I'm tired of burying my friends in the cold, hard ground. So take a real good look around and figure this out. When you're satisfied you think you know it, pair up with someone of equal skill and go out there, and spar it out. Once you're dead, you can watch the others, hopefully to learn from their deaths today so you don't die tomorrow. The winners will continue against each other until only one stands. I suggest you don't try to memorize the ground, it's going to change tomorrow. Everything that can be moved, will be moved, but learn to recognize the traps and the opportunities to press for your edge. Go on now. When you're done, we'll try to point out anything which might have saved your life. Thorburn and I will be watching."

They started wandering through the new training ground, looking around, trying to figure things out.

"You sounded like a commander out there," Thorburn said. "It was good. You pushed and motivated them, gave them reasons to listen to you, something to strive for, showed you care for them. I couldn't have done better myself."

"Thank you, Thorburn."

They started to drift onto the training ground. After about five minutes in, some of them started fighting.

As soon as someone died, Ailene or Thorburn said something. "You could have kicked that bucket into his path, tripped him up." You tried following him up the slope. You could have circled around, put yourself on the same level." "Did you see where you could have pushed that branch in his face, maybe blinded him. You were there before he was." "If you're going to follow him down that narrow pathway, you have to use your sword to stab, not swing." "You followed him into that doorway. I would have thought you learned that one during my demonstration today." "You're dead, stumbled over a tree limb you should have known was there." "You tried to follow him over the fence instead of going around it." "Tam, you should have told Grant he was going to step into a hole. You saw it, you were alive, he wasn't your opponent. Protect each other."

When the first group was finished, the winners started paring off again. "Keep your eyes on the action," Ailene warned the losers. "Even if you're dead and not competing anymore, you can still learn from the deaths of others. Easier to learn from the mistakes of others than make them all yourself. You only have one life."

It took most of the morning, but soon as the last man was standing, Ailene went up to him. "What's your name, sir."

"Landry, Lady Ailene."

"Have you been in battle before, Landry?"

"Aye, ma'am. I fought in Europe a few times, couple times for Thorburn. Followed him here."

"Are you the best of Thorburn's warriors, Landry?"

"Nay, Lady. I'm about the middle of the pack. Better than some, worse than others."

"You were the best today, Landry. You're the only one still alive. All the rest are dead. Look around; everyone else is gone. Did you think you were going to win today?"

"I didn't expect to, nay, Lady."

"Gentlemen, I'd like you to look at Landry, please. He freely admits he's not the best man out here, yet he's the last one standing. It's been our experience at Lady Luck that those who've fought real battles before, tend to last longer than those who've never been blooded. I imagine he pulled some stuff today the rest of you didn't expect and it's why he's standing now and we're putting the rest of you in the ground tonight. I want you to learn the same things allowing the average warrior among you make it to the end without you having to survive real battles as he did. Think about what you did right and what you did wrong and how to avoid making the same mistakes tomorrow. We're going to be going two on one and three on two. I want you to live even if you're outnumbered. For now, I want you to follow me in the kitchen."

She led everyone into the kitchen and walked them around.

"Are we here to eat lunch?" Landry asked.

"You're the only one left alive to eat lunch, Landry. I suppose you can eat. The rest are here for another purpose."

Landry sat down and started to eat, keeping an eye out, wondering what Lady Ailene was doing. Thorburn was wondering as well. She let them stand around for a few minutes, then told them all to follow her outside again.

"What were we doing in the kitchen?" Lachlan asked.

"I wanted you to look around and see what you had to defend yourself with. You were eating lunch and you just got attacked. Were you going to die again or did you have some way to protect yourself and the cook. What did you see?"

"I was thinking about lunch. I saw the stew on the fire," Lachlan said.

"I saw about thirty things with which to defend myself. I guess I'm the only one to survive lunch."

"You didn't tell us to look around for ways to defend ourselves," Tam said.

"So you're only going to live if someone tells you how to do it, Tam. Someone's going to have to yell, 'Tam, save yourself' or you'll just surrender your life."

"Well, nay. I'd do something."

"I have to admit," Thorburn said, "I didn't know why we were in the kitchen either."

"But you've been in fights before, Thorburn. You'd have thrown a table or something at your attackers."

"True," he laughed, "but I'm not sure I saw thirty things to protect myself."

"Come on, people, surely you saw something in there."

"Well, I could throw a chair at somebody," one said.

"The cook was using some knives."

"We could throw a pot at somebody."

"As long as it didn't have my stew in it," one of them joked.

"Some burning brands from the fire," Grant said.

"Or a shovelful of hot coals," added someone. "Throw those in the face and they'd be hopping."

"Even boiling water or the stew. Be like hot oil."

"Or every piece of crockery in the kitchen," Ailene said. "I can replace the crockery. I can't replace you. Serving trays, lamps, benches, pans, knives, forks, spoons, any food from a loaf of bread to a cow shank. Flour in the face, good as dust, hey, Lachlan. Every place I go now, I take note of it all, because it might become a battleground. I want you to do the same. What will you do when you're out in the open. What will you do in the barn or stables. What will you do in your bedroom. Every place you walk into from now on, look at it like your new battlefield. Things get moved around all the time. Where's the pot now compared to where it was this morning. Where's the pitchfork you used on the hay this morning when you fed the horses. Could you whip someone with reins hanging in the barn, throw horse shit in someone's face, push a wheelbarrow into someone's legs, hit them with a spade or a hammer, stab them with a chisel, hit them with a poker. You practice with swords and knives and bucklers, but if you don't have one to hand, you still have weapon's available. Know where they are all the time.

"The reason Isobel and I could beat twenty of you men wasn't because we're that much better than you. We know we're not, and we're afraid. Afraid to get captured and raped, or tortured, or be cut up. We think about those things. I don't know if you do. We know life isn't very pleasant for women who are taken. We've imagined it in our worst nightmares. The second I got killed by someone who I knew I was better than, I realized how I had to turn every little thing to my advantage, or into your disadvantage. When I go on the battlefield with you, I will use every tool at my disposal to beat you, from my skills, to my smarts, to my knowledge of where I'm fighting, to my teeth and nails if I have to. If you're not prepared to do the same, I'll win almost every time. I ought to make you dig your own graves before you eat, but if you're still hungry, you may get some lunch. While you're eating, look around a little. I might ask you again where the weapons may be found."

Thorburn leaned over Ailene and whispered, "Horse shit or flour in the face?"

"Don't get into a fight with me in the kitchen or the stables or you might find out."

Thorburn laughed and lifted her up in the air and twirled her around. "I ought to make you our battle commander. God, you're beautiful. I didn't know you had all this stuff trapped inside of you."

"I didn't either. I would have been happy to be a wife and mother. Necessity has forced me into it."

"Blackthorne best be careful when he's allowed to capture you lass, or he'll be the one needs rescuing, not you."

"Wouldn't that be nice, finally over and done with," Ailene said.

******

"What is this nonsense," Blackthorne said disgustedly. "It's all conflicting and it's all garbage. They're going by the secondary road, they're going by the main road, they're stocking up. Thorburn would be a fool to attack me and he's no fool."