"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.
She picked out another arrow more elated. She now raised the bow to the right position with much difficulty and she looked behind her. Sir Arthur was not helping her out.
Kim glowered, her face in a pout looking up at him. His gaze flickered on her face from her eyes then to her puckered lips and back to her eyes.
Sir Arthur jiggled his head then held up her arms and the bow. This time the arrow hit the center and Kim jumped up in ecstasy too far to realize that there was now no space between them as Sir Arthur's chest pressed on her back.
Kim smiled up at him happy that she had aimed well. He returned the smile with a small one of his own though his body had suddenly gone rigid. He was too stunned to speak never having been that close to a lady.
He was too bewildered to even move standing static on the ground. Sir Arthur had only been that close to his mother. Kimberly had been very overjoyed to even notice any change in him.
"I've made it," she unknowingly pressed herself further into his back and though the feeling was foreign to Sir Arthur, he found himself liking and bathing in it. It made him feel gleeful.
He watched how her brown hair framed her small face making her look even more adorable, a twinkle in her eyes as she smiled. She glanced back at him and her smile faltered once she realized how close she'd moved.
Kim took a step back and pinched herself to get herself together. "That was a good hit," Sir Arthur commented seeing her uneasiness.
"Really," her smile returned once again as she continued on stretching her arms to relieve the building pain. She must have overstrained her hand muscles and her elbow still hurt from the previous impact.
"Do your arms hurt?" Sir Arthur asked minutes later once he realized she had been twirling them around uneasily.
He should have firmly held the bow earlier instead of staring at her features and getting entirely distracted. He gently took her arm and began to massage through the thin fabric of her dress agitated at his carelessness.
Kim was glad she had worn a long sleeved one otherwise she would have passed out from how pleasurable it felt to have his warm fingers over her benign skin.
"Here?" He asked lowly brushing over her wrist up to her forearm then to her upper arm. Kim gave a weak snivel and tugged his arm away as he accidentally touched her elbow joint.
Sir Arthur became even more concerned. "I'm so sorry," he looked up at her apprehensively then lifted the sleeves of her dress to check on how injured she was, his face troubled.
He turned her hand around inspecting every inch of it but couldn't spot any bruise. "Where does it hurt?" He tried to ask softly but he looked like he was about to snap. Kimberly pointed at her elbow with her free hand.
Since that didn't seem to relieve the tension in his eyes she mumbled quietly, "I fell earlier." Kim didn't want him to feel as if it was his fault. Maybe her hands were too weak to hold such heavy things. She was a lady after all.
"Did someone hurt you?" Sir Arthur quickly asked hearing her response. If her reply was meant to make him feel better, it brought him on the edge. Her elbow was sprained so it was no ordinary fall.
He looked up at her face then back to her elbow raging. "Who?" His voice rose and his eyes flashed in fury as his chest heaved in rage. He clenched his hands painfully on his sides and his face flared up.
Kim shook her head and held his bicep attempting to calm him down. Sir Arthur looked as if he was about to rip someone apart and the previous softness Kim had always seem portray was suddenly gone.
His shoulders tensed under her feathery touch. Sir Arthur turned to the side reigning back the fury he had. He knew his eyes turned pitch black in his anger so he closed them for a second then turned to face her.
"I'll take you to the infirmary," he suggested pocketing his hands to hide his bawled fists. He was so determined in finding who had hurt her.
Kim shook her head, "It's not that serious," She had actually gotten bruises from the times she played with Gerald when they were younger so it was actually a relief that she didn't get any before.
The two tended to be aggressive at all times so one was bound to get hurt anyway. Sir Arthur didn't like how unbothered she looked, he took her hand again and tenderly brushed around the elbow.
He rubbed the entire area around it his face skimming through the bruise then to her eyes looking for any visible discomfort. She till cringed in pain so he anxiously stated, "I'll get you some pain relievers," He sprinted to the left before she could protest.
Kim stared at her elbow in mild interest. It wasn't even that hurting though his concern had her feeling hazy. She didn't exactly know what it was but it made her feel cherished.
Then her thoughts went back to Faye. Sir Collins could probably by now have told her brother, so she leaned back and waited for Sir Arthur.
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