A Proper Scottish Wife Ch. 30

"What if he's going to train his women?" Ian said. "He wouldn't even need to hire more mercenaries. He could double his troop strength merely by training them."

"You think he can train women to be ready to fight in two months? It's nonsense. No five women is worth one man. The only thing they'd be good for is stabbing you while you've got your cock between their legs."

"They've started some new kind of training, Lord. I hear it started first on Frang's property and now Thorburn is starting it as well. I'm told Ladies Ailene and Isobel have excelled at the new training. They were able to defeat fifteen of Bjarkë's best troops, then twenty of Thorburn's. If the new training works for men as well as women, they may not need more soldiers. Perhaps we need more troops, Lord."

"You'd have me waste my money hiring more troops when you can't do enough with the one's we have have. Sounds like I need a new commander instead of more troops. It's a bunch of lies. Two women beating thirty-five men. They're flooding me with misinformation trying to cause me to panic. It seems to be working. You sound like you're panicking, Ian, I'm not. Why haven't you been able to ambush them again? They go to market almost every week."

"They never take the same route twice, Lord. The only time I know where they are for certain is right beside the two farms and in town. When they're close to the farms, additional soldiers can be rushed to their defense and you told us not to attack them in Dervaig. Plus, they usually travel with at least thirty men, more when they've joined together. When I try to arrange ambushes along all possible paths to Dervaig, we're spread too thin to attack."

"Some of this information has to be right. Someone has to know what the hell they're planning. They can't be planting false information with all my spies."

"We're trying to correlate who's providing the right information now. We keep track of who tells us what, then send out scouts to confirm which report is most accurate. Once we know who's correct most often, we'll plan to use their knowledge instead of trying to decipher which is good and which is bad."

******

Today, Isobel was training four women; yesterday was three. Meghan was helping the newest one with her stance, while Isobel showed the other two the first two positions. All the men and boys had advanced to the point where she no longer had to work constantly with them. One of the most advanced students who'd come with Ailene and Bjarkë from the Keep was working with them, running the many drills. Isobel could concentrate on the women. Meghan heard another woman wished to join as well. They worked hard for two hours, until the new students were aching and could no longer stand. Isobel sent them to the house to apply the liniment balm and to rest for a half hour before they had to resume their duties. Then she worked Meghan for another hour. Already she'd toughened up enough to withstand the extra work.

When Meghan was panting, Isobel sat her down for a brief rest. Lowering her voice, she said, "Tonight, you need to signal for a special meeting. I want you to tell your contact that we're now training four women with a fifth about to join. This is easily confirmed with their other spies. The false information you must provide is twelve soldiers are leaving for the Keep tomorrow along the main road. It is not their route, but we want false information to be spread. I suspect they'd try to ambush them if they knew which route they were going, so they mustn't know."

"Aye, Lady Isobel."

"Do you think you have the energy to practice for another half hour?"

"I'm already getting stronger and need less liniment than before," Meghan said, "so let's continue."

"Good. You're progressing quickly, Meghan. I hope to put you on the battleground soon."

"Thank you, Mistress."

******

"Bonnie, I'd like your help arranging my hair, please attend me in Thorburn's room."

"Yes, mistress."

They both went upstairs and Teárlag locked the door.

"Sshh, I need you to get another message out for me tonight. Come fix my hair while I tell you."

"Is it important?"

"Very important. Thorburn is building up his forces. Twenty fighting men are coming from Lady Luck Farm tomorrow, to start work with his soldiers."

"Do you know their route."

"Nay, no one knows which direction they'll travel until the last minute. Both Frang and Thorburn know there are spies about and don't make a decision on the route until the last second. When one is finally picked, it's a surprise to everyone. When they must use the carts, they have to travel by some road, even if relatively unused and overgrown. It's why so many man travel with the carts, but mounted men can go anywhere. They're as likely to use a deer path as a road. Still, it might give Blackthorne an opportunity to weaken Thorburn."

Bonnie was silent for several minutes, doing Teárlag's hair. "Do you find it funny that we're planning to ruin Thorburn right in his very own bedroom?"

Teárlag smiled into the mirror. "It is rather amusing, isn't it. I like to imagine the look he'll have on his face when he finds I've betrayed him as he's shoving his cock into my mouth. His big, fat cock. I'm so sick of his big cock. My jaw hurts. I'm almost relieved when he fucks my ass."

They laughed.

******

"Twenty men, twelve men, we've no idea of the goddamn route or it's going to be the main road. We're running around like total idiots," Blackthorne stormed.

"It's a fairly small number, I could try to arrange ambushes along a couple of routes and hope for the best," Ian responded.

"Or you could put a fucking man with a scouting glass up on a fucking mountain top and see who's telling the truth."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Morons."

"We've received word they're training more women, Lord."

"Of course they are. Fucking amazons, the lot of them. Are you going to piss your pants, Ian?"

"Nay, Lord."

"Good."

******

"Hopefully," Ailene said, "when we practiced yesterday, you learned it's possible to survive fights even against superior numbers if you're canny. And how do you accomplish it, Lachlan?"

"Draw them into places where they all can't get to you at once, or someplace where they can't surround you where you can stand them off until help arrives, or distracting one while killing the other."

"Or try to maneuver so one is always getting in the way of the other. Opponents can be used to get in one another's way with sudden shifts of position," Ailene reminded them. "Today, those who did best yesterday will be fighting one against three or two against four. The rest of you have a lot of work to do to catch up. Remember when you're working together with someone to pay attention to the way they fight. Do they excel at offense or defense, attack high or low, favor the left or right. Anticipating what they will do will make what you need to do clearer. And don't forget to warn each other. It doesn't make any difference if you're on the side with the most men, or the least, if you see one of your lads being sucked into a trap, warn him. You may have the numbers in some battles, doesn't mean we want you dying needlessly, even if the victory will eventually be ours. I'd rather the enemy lose one hundred of his than lose one of mine. You didn't do enough warning yesterday. Three combats could have ended differently than they did if only you'd warned someone."

"Why do you pit us against more opponents when we did well yesterday? Seems like we should be rewarded if we did better."

"Because you don't learn as much by winning as you do by dying. When you're killed, you're motivated to do more the next time so you won't be. The winner becomes complacent and doesn't work to improve his skills. Do I do you any favors by letting you get by for killing two folks today, when tomorrow you might face three or four? Nay, I do not. If I let you get killed by three opponents when I could have worked you hard enough to need six to kill you, I haven't done a proper job. I took on ten men once before I was killed. Some of it was skill, some of it was luck, but most of it was hard work. You're not afraid of a little work are you?"

"Nay, Lady Ailene."

"I don't anticipate ever being able to survive nine men again because I'm giving you all of my secrets, but if you don't work as hard as me, I'll still get four or five of you before I go down, I promise you. Anyone want to take me on now?"

No one answered.

"Good. You three go against Landry. You three go against, Lachlan. What's your name again, lad?"

"Tom, Lady."

"You three go against Tom here. He looks like he's ready to eat four of you for lunch." Tom laughed. "You four can go against Grant and Tam. Remember what I said about helping each other out on the battlefield. No one dies from too much warning. One group at a time, first one get out there."

******

"For tonight's meeting," Isobel said, "you're to say we're now training six lasses and another two have asked to join. Additionally, the men are training harder and longer, looking like they're getting ready for something big in the near future. You can tell him Frang is concerned about the status of the farm, more and more workers are being asked to increase their training and the farming is suffering. He complains Thorburn wants too much of him. He's taking too much of his strength, the men are being overworked. We'll have a few of the other loyal men complain in the presence of others so your stories will have some weight."

"Aye, Lady."

"Are you ready to go some more. I think you should be able to practice until lunch today, don't you, Meghan?"

"Aye, I'm ready."

******

"We had another meeting last night, Bonnie. You need to pass this information on tonight," Teárlag whispered as they watched the men practicing. The clanging of their swords limited the ability of anyone to listen unless they were standing right there.

"What information is that, Lady Mackintosh?"

"There's now eighteen women taking up martial training between the two farms. Ailene and Isobel are very pleased with their progress. They assured Thorburn they'll be ready when Thorburn's ready to act. While in Dervaig, Thorburn's going to be meeting with the magistrate. He didn't say why, but perhaps it's more about the servant girl. I also understand he's looking for a doctor. I don't believe it's for his health. He's healthy as a horse the way he ruts in bed with me. I believe he's looking for a former army doctor.

"The twenty new men arrived from Lady Luck Farm. I thought sure Blackthorne would try to stop them. Frang complained through them he can't afford to send anymore until he gets more people trained. His farm is suffering as it is. He said it would be another month at least before he could send more. Thorburn wasn't too happy about it. You can see how grumpy he is today. He's completely turned over the new training to Lady Ailene. I don't know why a woman would want to be out there sweating and getting dirty. It's so low class. She forgets she's a lady. She hasn't done needlework in days. Fights all day and fucks her husband all night. Like a pair of animals, they are. I shall be so glad when we're done with this and I can go back to Blackthorne Manor."

"You want me to pass all this on right now, Lady?"

"Certainly, no later than tonight. Don't you see? There seems to be a rift forming between the brothers. Frang has his own property now and doesn't see why he should necessarily support Thorburn's goals. Perhaps there's something to exploit in Frang's or Thorburn's dissatisfaction. I imagine Thorburn will want to fuck tonight to assuage his anger. I hope he's not too brutal."

"I will make arrangements, Lady."

"Good. I'd like to wear my green dress tonight. Please ensure it's ready. Go on now."

"Very well. I shall do as you wish." Bonnie left.

Teárlag sighed. She would have to ensure Thorburn pretended to fuck her tonight. He'd be unhappy to do so. He was always unhappy when he had to feign he cared for her still. It was easier for him when he left her alone and didn't have to act. Meal times were always the worst because he was forced to appear enamored of her, pay her attention, pet and kiss her.

Despite his repugnance, Teárlag always appreciated the times he must pretend. It was the last bit of joy she had left; pretending for a few moments Thorburn could still love her. Always, the sadness crept back in when he left the table abruptly and she didn't see him until he came to bed. It was so hard to keep smiling, keep laughing, like she was preparing to be married. It was even worse seeing the joy and affection Stuart and Ailene had for one another. Stuart was always touching her, kissing her, hugging her, appreciating every moment they had together. Teárlag supposed he was sipping at every drop of honey he could before Ailene surrendered herself to Blackthorne as there were no guarantees she would escape unscathed. Every moment was precious to them and it showed in every particle of their beings when they were together.

There were times, at night, in the depths of his slumber, where Thorburn would put his arms around her and curl against her back, and she would gratefully snuggle against his hard warmth. But whenever he woke up and realized his closeness to her, he'd pull away, turn on his back or to the other side, disgusted he'd touched her. When he hugged her in his sleep were her best moments of the day. When he pulled away in revulsion were the worst moments of her day and she often wept silently when she realized he couldn't stand to touch her. She felt like crying now, thinking of it, but resisted and instead plastered a smile upon her face and waved to Thorburn as he paced up to the house.

"Good afternoon, Thorburn. Are you ready for lunch? Shall I have the cook set a table for you?"

"Not yet. I'll wait until Ailene is done with training and eat with the lads after I speak to her."

"As you wish." It looked like he was unwilling to pretend, even for lunch today. He always sat down to supper, so she'd have to wait for then.

He went into the house to consult with Stuart, probably about the Estate. Stuart was spending more time with the farm and Thorburn less as the pace of training increased, though Stuart was also spending more time with the archers. Nobody escaped from training. Actually, she wouldn't mind training with Ailene. It would give her something to do, but wouldn't align with her image as hopeless, which she tried to maintain with her maid. So much of her day was spent doing nothing but watching other people work. Even her needlework bored her to tears. She would prefer just staying in Thorburn's room reading, but felt she needed to make frequent appearances so people could see how happy she was, when in reality, she'd be happy to die.

******

Isobel was working with only Meghan today. Frang was working with all of the other new women as Meghan was progressing faster and the others were all at beginner levels, plus it gave Isobel time to quietly pass on the next bit of misinformation.

"Meghan, tonight you must tell him that you spent all afternoon rolling bandages, almost as though we plan on going to war and that the day after tomorrow, I will be going with Frang and thirty riders to inspect the progress on his new house."

"Aye, Lady Isobel."

"You're progressing very well, Meghan. I'm very proud of you. You're working so hard to become better and I see how quickly you're advancing. I was not present during the beginning of Ailene's training, but I'm told she improved very quickly. Do you know why she wanted to learn to fight?"

"Thank you for your kind words. I don't know about Lady Ailene. I just assumed it was due to Blackthorne."

"Nay. It's the reason she works hard now, but the impetus was an attack on her person by two thieves or highwayman as she gathered plants for her medicines. They found her alone and were about to rape her. They'd torn her bodice, pushed up her dress and pegged her down to the ground so they could have their way with her. Fortunately, Stuart and Frang found her before they completed their purpose. Stuart killed them both; shot them dead with arrows. It was shortly after, she saw Frang beat Thorburn with his rapier and learned she could learn to fight as well. She never wanted to be so helpless again. I started learned because of my first marriage to McTavish. I will never let another man beat and assault me as he did, nor pass me to other men. Not Frang, not anyone. I'll kill them first. Even if this thing with Blackthorne is resolved, we will continue to work and improve, because we don't want to be helpless anymore. I never want what happened to us to happen to any other woman. It's why I'm so happy to teach you, Meghan. Be strong. Stand up for yourself. Never be helpless." Isobel hugged her. "Now, are you ready to continue."

"Aye, Mistress. I plan to work through to lunch today."

"Good lass. En garde." They took positions and Isobel initiated a series of high and low attacks, all of which Meghan defended.

******

"You and Stuart come to my room around 9:30," Thorburn said. "We have to finalize our plans before I go to Dervaig tomorrow."

"We'll be there," Ailene said.

At the appointed time, Stuart and Ailene came to Thorburn's room. He was still dressed, though Teárlag was in her night clothes. Stuart locked the door behind him.

"Since it's only us four, we can whisper and none should be able to hear," Thorburn said quietly, "and we don't have Bjarke to stand watch on the doorway downstairs."

"What's next?" Stuart asked.

"I'll speak to the magistrate tomorrow and get him to promise to be here two days hence. We'll keep him here and bring him to the tunnel with us that evening. Ailene's to be taken the following day. I've thought about where it should occur and I think the glade where Ailene collects her medicinal herbs is the place for it to occur. You remember which one I'm speaking of, don't you Ailene?"

Ailene rubbed her ass. "Aye, my bottom still remembers full well." Stuart and Thorburn chuckled softly. Teárlag didn't understand the humor of her statement.

"She's been out there alone before and the whole Keep's aware she was. It's fairly close to the Keep, so she has some excuse to be there without her normal protection, especially if we do a full sweep of the woods beforehand, to make Blackthorne believe we think she's safe out there. Teárlag, you have to send your final written report tomorrow. You shall say Ailene's complained her medical supplies are running low and she needs to obtain more. You anticipate she'll be going out with a small party to collect herbs, and you'll send word as soon as you know exactly when. I want you to stress to him Ailene's been given responsibility for training my troops and Blackthorne needs to send at least thirty men to capture you, because I want Ailene to fight like hell to be taken and I don't want her to kill all he sends. They have to legitimately overpower her, or he might suspect a ruse. We need a bit of acting for this. When the men come, Ailene must scream at Teárlag to run to the Keep and get help while she holds them off. Teárlag, you'll do nothing. Smile, tell her to give herself up, do anything to make Ailene and Blackthorne's men believe you've betrayed her. Ailene, you'll have to curse and swear at Teárlag for betraying you; make the men believe it. Then fight like a demon, kill as many as you can because you know what Blackthorne's likely to do with you."

He handed Ailene a small horn. "When you know you're caught fair, blow this horn, alert the Keep you've been taken. It will make the men panic and run off with you instead of taking their time with you in the woods. Blackthorne may give them permission to soften you up by raping you, but they can't do so if they're running for their lives. Bjarkë will lead all the soldiers of the Keep to Blackthorne Manor and commence an attack like they've been forced to attack before we're ready to rescue you. Bjarkë will do all he can to occupy Blackthorne's troops and prevent them from joining him in his dungeon when we break in, including starting as many fires as he can. They'll need lots of men to fight the fires, though there's too much stone work to burn the place down. We'll be waiting in the tunnel with the magistrate when you're taken to the dungeon.