Page 50 of Conquer the Highlander

“That I am the greatest fighter ye’ve ever seen?”

She grinned. “That is true,” she said. “But I realized something else.”

“What?”

“That there is great strategy involved.”

He leaned back in the chair, a lazy smile on his face. “Lass, that’s most of the battle,” he said. “I can be the strongest man in the world, but that’s not going tae win over brains.”

She approached the table, setting the soup bowls down – one in front of him, one in front of her. “I saw that last night,” she said. “That man you were fighting in your last bout was twice your size. He was big and mean and angry. But you used your head and not your brawn when you defeated him.”

Titus dug into the pottage with gusto. “I had no choice,” he said, mouth full. “The man was going tae kill me, so I had tae be smarter – and faster – than he.”

She looked up from her soup, watching him as he shoveled food into his mouth. “You knew he was going to kill you?”

“Aye.”

He didn’t seem concerned about it and she couldn’t understand why. “Didn’t your commanders know?” she asked. “And they still let him fight you?”

Titus shrugged. “Of course they did.”

“But why?”

“Because they knew I could defeat him.”

Esme thought on that, but she realized that she didn’t like any of it. Titus was allowed to fight against a man who wanted to kill him? What if he had succeeded?

What if she had witnessed it?

The thought made her shudder. She had been excited to watch the games again tonight, but now she wasn’t so sure.

“Will he be back tonight?” she asked. “To fight you again, I mean.”

He glanced at her as he tore up a loaf of bread. “Nay,” he said after a moment, handing her the soft, white middle. “He willna be back.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“That is good,” she said, visibly relieved. “But there are more fights tonight, correct?”

He nodded. “Four nights a week,” he said. “After tonight, there will be two days of rest before the next fight night.”

Since Titus wasn’t fighting that beast of a man tonight, Esme felt a little better about it. She settled down to her meal.

“What do you do on the days you are not fighting?” she asked.

“Train.”

“Do you always train?”

He nodded. “I do,” he said. “Tae be the best, you must work at it.”

“There is nothing else you do?”

“Nothing else.”

She took a sip of her soup before replying. “You said you wanted to travel,” she said. “Do you not want to go places and see things when you have time away from fighting?”