Page 10 of Laird of Steel
Merraid did not. She could actually do quite a bit of damage with a broom and a mop bucket. “If ye like. Ye choose the weapon.”
He smirked.
The men waited to see what he would do.
“Fine,” he finally agreed with smug assurance. “Then I choosenoweapon.”
She lowered her eyes, amused. He thought he was being clever. But she didn’t need a weapon. Shewasa weapon.
“You choose the time and place,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll want a few days to prepare.”And to reconsider and back out of the challengewas his unspoken thought.
But she had no intention of backing out. She smiled. “Here. And now.”
He blinked.
“Ooh,” cooed the men, eagerly scrambling out of the way to make room for the fight to come.
Gellir let out his breath on a whistle. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he warned. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Ye won’t,” she said, widening her stance, bending her knees, raising her arms. “Have ye forgotten the gift ye gave me when ye left?”
“Gift?” He furrowed his brows. Clearly hehadforgotten.
“The promise ye extracted from Lady Feiyan?” she prompted.
“I asked her to look after you.”
It was Merraid’s turn to blink. “Look after me?” She lowered her hands. “Is that what ye said?”
“You were young and vulnerable,” he explained. “’Twas the least I could do, knowing I was returning to Rivenloch and leaving you defenseless.”
Merraid was mildly vexed. So Gellir had never meant to mold her into a warrior maid at all. It had been Lady Feiyan who had decided Merraid should learn how to defend herself.
On the other hand, she had no right to be angry. Lady Feiyan may not have followed Gellir’s wishes exactly. But because of her, Merraid had become strong, stealthy, capable, independent.
“Well, I’m not defenseless now,” she said, making her hands into loose fists before her.
Reluctance twisted his mouth. He obviously thought she was at a serious disadvantage. And it went against his sense of chivalry to wage an uneven battle. So he did the noble thing. Facing her, he stood with his arms at his sides.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll give you the honor of the first blow. But see you take care. I don’t want you to bruise your lovely knuck-”
Before he could even finish the word, she twisted sideways and snapped her foot into his chest, knocking him forcefully backwards.
Gellir hadn’t been caught off guard in a long time.
Unprepared, he staggered back into a group of men, who caught him and levered him upright again.
“Well done,” he said with a cough, rubbing his chest and chiding himself. “I should have seen that coming.”
“Now ye,” she said, lowering her arms.
He scowled. He couldn’t attack a defenseless lass. It wasn’t that he hadn’t fought a woman before. He’d been raised by a warrior maid of Rivenloch, after all. But the womenfolk of his clan were daughters of Vikings. This lass was half his size. How could he bear to scratch that delicate face? Bruise that luscious body?
He came at her with slow, careful, exaggerated movements. He aimed to catch her gently about the waist, giving her time to work up a defense.
She didn’t need time. She immediately struck both of his arms aside with the heels of her hands and clenched his tabard in her fists. Turning, she thrust into him with her right hip, nudging him off-balance. Using momentum, she levered him up. Rolled him over her shoulder. And dropped him onto his back on the flagstones.
The men gasped. But he was more thunderstruck than hurt. He gazed up at her from the armory floor. How had she done that?
