Sir Arthur

• Twenty-four

"You look pale," Sir Arthur's deep raspy voice shook her out of her trance and Kim jolted to reality. He placed the back of his hand on her forehead to feel her temperature.

It was oddly normal and so did the rest of her body appear. He frowned at this but before he could even think further, loud clashing came from beyond the wall. He hesitated before rushing to check what was happening.

The young knights tended to get into fights too often. They could be fighting over arrows now, which was exactly what they were arguing over.

Kim fanned her face with her hands and then blinked twice. She had to think straight and not about Sir Arthur's beguiling complexion.

He had hopefully not caught on her ogling because if he did, she would have to sink her face into a rock due to embarrassment.

The loud clashes inside had gone still and Kim peeked through the narrow entrance to see what had happened. She could spot Sir Arthur's large figure as he stood taller than all the knights.

His black almost curly hair rested messily on his head falling to just near his shoulder. Kim watched as he reprimanded the knights for their behavior scolding them intimidatingly.

He sounded a bit harsh and Kim pitied the knights who winced at his sternness. Through the narrowly opened door, Kim's brown eyes found his black ones and she nodded encouragingly at him smiling a bit.

She motioned him to continue his doing and turned to leave not wanting to disrupt any further but then stood still when she heard him say. "You're dismissed, we meet tomorrow."

He sounded dead serious as his eyes connected back to hers. Kim furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as the knights left one by one till he was the only one left in the whole hall.

He stared right at her and Kim nervously asked, "Can I enter?" She wasn't sure whether commoners were allowed there and especially ladies.

Sir Arthur nodded his head immediately and Kim stepped in awed at how large the place was. Several items were laid at the corners and the set of arrows and bows that the knights had been training with.

She walked slowly towards the heap and carefully picked out a bow and flexed it around. It was no ordinary since she could barely hold it. It weighed almost a tonne.

Sir Arthur moved to her left watching as she picked the items hardly lifting them. "Do you want to try?" He suggested noticing her intrigued by everything.

"Can I?" She looked up at him enthusiastically. He could only nod as he continued to watch her. She held the bow well but before she could have the arrow in place, it fell out of her arms.

She tried that one more time failing then narrowed her eyes at him after hearing him laugh. "It's just too heavy." She complained glaring slightly at him. The items were too heavy for her.

Sir Arthur quickly moved to behind her and picked out the bow and arrow and placed them in her hands as he supported her arms. "Aim higher," he encouraged her but the arrow ended up falling together with the bow.

Kim huffed as she picked them up again. She gathered them in her previous position then felt Sir Arthur shift to closely behind her as she could feel the warmth that radiated by him.

He lifted her arms a bit higher holding most of the weight then breathed close to her ear, the hairs on her neck rising and a shiver running down her spine. "Shoot now."

Kim released the arrow at his instruction. It hit closely near the center and she delightedly picked another arrow. She held the bow as he had previously instructed and with his support, it missed by an inch.