Esca went about everything he did with a look of intense concentration on his face, and archery was no different. Still, Marcus had seen a small smile cross the Briton's face whenever he'd got a particularly good shot, and sometimes he could have sworn Esca was showing off for him, when he'd add a particular flourish to his style.

"You're good with that thing," Marcus remarked one day when Esca had taken a wild shot at a boar from horseback, trusting the horse to know him well enough to steer with his knees, and trusting himself enough to know he'd get the kill in one shot. They were enjoying the fruits of Esca's success, roasted over a campfire. They could just have easily taken the meat home to cook it there, with herbs and vegetables, but both had grown fond of their hunting trips in the forest, and eating the meat in this way reminded them both of their adventures beyond the wall, and served as a marker of just how far they'd come.

"Your weapons of choice are the sword and shield, mine are the bow and spear," Esca shrugged. "You far surpass me in any exercise involving a shield." He stood as he spoke and began de-stringing his bow. Marcus watched, captivated, as Esca leveraged the wood against his foot and applied pressure with his arm to make the bow curve as he willed. He easily slipping the string out of its notch and let it slack and slide its way down the wood.

"Yes, but this takes skill," Marcus continued as Esca expertly rotated the bow around in one hand, drawing the slack string snugly against the wood so the bow could be wrapped up in its covering. "Do you think you could teach me?"

"If that's what you want," Esca replied, surprised. "I didn't know you were so keen."

"Oh well," Marcus said carelessly, trying to appear offhand. "I just thought it might be useful if there were two of us keeping the foxes away from the chickens."

"Alright," Esca grinned. "First thing tomorrow."

OOO

"Let's get you set up with a nice target," Esca said, moving some bales into position in the field. Marcus stood awkwardly where Esca had pointed, holding the bow in such a way that made it clear he'd never used one before.

"Take your hand to the leather grip," Esca told him patiently, "and don't hold it so tightly. No-one is going to disarm you like they might with a sword, and your hand will get tired if you grip it like that."

Marcus loosened his grip and moved his hand as Esca sidled around him. "Left foot forward, right back," Esca instructed, resting his hands on Marcus' hips and twisting his body gently sideways to a better position. "Good. You want to have those legs apart, it's more stable."

"I bet you'd love to have my legs apart," Marcus muttered, earning himself a light squeeze on the backside from a smirking Esca.

"Later, if you don't embarrass yourself," he took his hands away from Marcus' hips and reached for the quiver. Until Marcus got the hang of shooting, Esca would wear the quiver on his own belt, as it could be a nuisance for new archers.

"It's easier to load your bow sideways," Esca said as he passed over the first arrow.

"Like this?" Marcus asked hesitantly as he turned the bow so it was parallel to the floor, with the string closest to him.

"That's right," Esca encouraged. "It serves two purposes. You can see better that you're nocking your arrow straight, and make sure your flights are the right way."

"The right way? I wasn't aware there was a way."

"When arrows have three flights, like these, then yes, there is a way."

Marcus took the arrow and placed it across the wood next to the hand gripping the bow. Esca showed him how to rotate it so the nocking point was straight and the third flight pointed up to the sky. "It's part of the design," he explained. "If you shot it with the nocking point on the string the other way around, this third flight might get ripped off by the bow as it passed, see?"

"I see."

"Good. Slip it onto the string, then."

Marcus did as he was told and waited. Esca walked around him making sure he hadn't moved his feet, and then stood on his left, tapping his bow arm. "Keep this one straight always," he said. "Now let's see your finger placement on your drawing hand. I want you to keep your thumb and little finger out of the way, and put the other three on the string with your pointer above the arrow and the other two below."

It sounded complicated, but Marcus followed the instructions as he spoke, and found it felt natural to hold the string in this way, and did it easily.

"You're ready," Esca said proudly. "Keeping your bow arm straight, bring it up as you draw with your other hand, until the top of the bow points upward and your arrow is in line with the target."

Marcus did this slowly; making a noise of surprise at how hard it was to pull the string, aware of Esca's arm around him, guiding his drawing arm and keeping him steady. When he was sure that Marcus wasn't going to let the bowstring go, he stepped back and watched as Marcus tilted the bow upwards, string coming back, until...

...the arrow promptly fell to the floor from where it had been resting against the wood, and Esca fell about laughing at the outraged look on Marcus' face.

"Sorry," he choked, through tears of laughter. "I was waiting for that to happen."

"If you were waiting for it, why didn't you tell me?" The Roman asked indignantly.

"All part of learning," Esca smiled as he picked up the arrow. "Do you know how to correct it?"

"I think so," Marcus replied, pursing his lips.

"Will you try again for me?" Esca lay his head briefly on Marcus' shoulder and gave him his best puppy-dog eyes.

"Alright," Marcus grumbled, "but don't laugh at me this time."

"Promise." Esca pecked a quick kiss on Marcus' cheek and stood back to watch him again.

This time Marcus didn't move the bow straight up, instead tilting it just a little, enough that the arrow wouldn't fall to the earth. Esca nodded. "Better."

Marcus took a deep breath and let the string go. The arrow flew, wavering slightly, right over the top of the bale. His mouth opened a little in surprise. Esca's mouth wavered as he tried to keep his amusement under control, eventually settling on a little smile. "Harder than it looks, isn't it?"

"Yes," Marcus admitted reluctantly. "There's a lot to remember."

"Don't worry, you just need practice. Don't forget to aim this time, I saw you, you barely looked."

Marcus made a face, but held out his hand for another arrow.

OOO

As Esca trudged across the yard with two heavy buckets of water, he glanced over at Marcus in the field. Even at this distance, he could see the furrowed brow of the Roman as he concentrated, and his lips moved a little almost as if Marcus was whispering the instructions to himself so he didn't forget anything. Esca tried to pretend he wasn't openly watching, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the arrow Marcus had shot hit the target bale perfectly.

Marcus looked around in triumph; obviously he'd known Esca had been watching the whole time.

"Good shot!" Esca shouted, "Keep practicing, I want ten more out of that quiver in the same place!" He saw Marcus' face fall and chuckled a little to himself as he carried on with the yard work. If he wasn't hard on Marcus, then the Roman wouldn't try quite so hard to impress him, and Esca loved it when Marcus tried his best to impress.

He didn't need to watch the rest; Esca was content with hearing the satisfying thuds as the arrows found their target. He was just sweeping out the stable when he felt an arm slide around his waist. "Is that ten?" He smiled, without turning around.

"I've come to claim my prize," Marcus murmured into his ear.

"I hope you didn't cheat," Esca smirked, "otherwise I'll send you out for more practice."

"You don't want me getting better than you now, do you?"

"Oh I have no fear of that," Esca replied cheekily, "but I love watching you flex those muscles for me."

"I knew you had a vested interest in teaching me," Marcus replied.

"I don't hear you complaining." Esca put down the broom and circled round in Marcus' arms, resting his hands on his chest.

Marcus just smiled and leaned down for a kiss, but Esca moved his lips away teasingly.

"Alright, you can have your damned prize, but next time I'm making you work harder for it," he murmured, resting his forehead against Marcus', who whispered,

"Sounds like a good deal to me." He tightened his arms around Esca, who this time submitted and sealed their lips together.

The bow rested against the stable door; forgotten.

The idea for this little fic came to me after watching the film again and noticing Esca occasionally uses a bow. I'm an archer myself, but I don't use modern bows, I shoot with a 12th century authentic ash longbow. I don't think the basic designs of longbows changed much from Esca's time to my period, so the details should be correct. Writing this was a reason for doing more archery practice myself!

Hope you enjoyed the story!