The Robber Knight's Protege

18 - Weakness

Fye was in the last group of archers to compete. She stood at the edge of the arena and watched her opponents. Sir Reuben, as one of the favored competitors, was in the first group. She had seldom seen him use a bow, but he had taught her how to shoot, and his skills didn't appear to have gotten rusty over the years.

Reuben wasn't the only one who impressed her, though. Whereas the bow did not come as naturally to Reuben as the sword, Lord Arken looked as if he had been born with the weapon in his hands. With speed and accuracy, he hit both the close-range and long-range targets easily. His arrows had been painted blue, making it easier for the judges to differentiate between the arrows. In the amount of time allotted for the stationary targets, there seemed to be more blue arrows than there were of any other color.

Sir Antwerp also made a good showing, though he was in the second group of archers.

Fye resisted the urge to prance around like a little girl who needed to pee. When did she get to show her skills?

After almost everyone else, she answered her own question.

She felt the eyes of those around her, questioning her presence, laughing at her or regarding her with disgust.

They were in for a surprise.

"Will you calm down?" Xander said from beside her while the third group of archers was shooting. "You're making me nervous. If you keep fidgeting like that, you'll have no energy left for the archery course tomorrow."

"I'll have plenty of energy. Maybe. I'm a little crampy. I might be starting my monthly soon."

"I don't know what that means."

"You don't want to know. Five days out of every month are hell for me."

He frowned. "I don't..." He shook his head. "Never mind. So after the competition today, it's dance lessons, right?"

"No."

"Yes."

"No! Dancing is stupid."

"Have you ever tried it?"

"Well... no."

"Then how can you be sure?"

"I'm also sure that torture wouldn't be pleasant, but I've never tried that, either."

Xander chuckled. "So you're saying that dancing with me would be torture?"

"I..." Her cheeks grew warm. "Well... yes. Yes, it would." But the idea of his arms around her... no! Absolutely not! Not in a million years. Not unless God himself ordered her to dance with him, and even then she would only do it if God promised her something good in return.

He laughed, and she suddenly realized that he had come closer to her. Now, instead of standing casually beside her, he was behind her, breathing on her, almost touching her.

"You're in the next group of archers," he said as he took her shoulders and turned her around. He leaned close, his lips scant inches from hers. "I think you might need a kiss for good luck. I would give you a silk scarf as a token, but I'm fresh out."

"There are a lot of people watching," she said as she stole a glance at Lady Ayla, whose sharp sapphire eyes were on them. Sir Reuben sat next to her, but he seemed to be focused on the competitors in front of him—that was where Fye should have been looking, too.

Should I slap Xander or kiss him? Or both?

Before she could decide, a herald's voice cried out, capturing the crowd's attention. "The next group of archers is now called to the field. Fye Millicent Underbush."