Chivalry
Chapter one
Eye on the prize
Thok
Elsa sighed. Already, three of her four shots had landed in the red circle. Her last shot had been too high, so she had overcompensated – as usual – and had been rewarded with another hit in the red, almost exactly as far away from the center.
She drew her fifth arrow, held her breath, and pulled the bow back to her cheek, staring straight at the target. She waited a few moments to determine the wind speed, then let her fifth arrow fly.
Thok
Blue circle. Only getting worse.
Elsa sighed again, walking downrange to collect the arrows.
She looked at the sun. It was still pretty high, but setting. She felt sure she could get away with staying here until supper, which would give her a good hour more. Not that it would do that much good, if she kept firing like she was.
The woman who had taught her to shoot told her that she would improve over time. This was true – she was hitting the target almost every time by now – but it seemed her skills had reached a plateau. Mostly reds and blues, a few yellows, no bullseyes.
It was hard enough finding time to practice – sneaking out of the house, waiting for the days the kind old woman told her the field would be empty, making sure nobody was using the adjacent field for swordfighting practice – without hitting a brick wall like this. She was quite confident she'd be found out eventually, and it'd be quite disappointing if this was all she had to show for it.
She briskly strode over to the target, pulling out the arrows one by one. The men were diligent about retrieving their arrows, so she would have to be, too, in order to remain undetected. Absentmindedly, she brushed some hair out of her eyes, resolving to get a hairband for her next session.
Looking at the board, she noticed the large number of marks in the center of the board. Meanwhile, her own arrows had formed a lopsided star, each one about 8-10 inches away from the middle. Apparently, the knights had no trouble aiming. So why was she?
Thok
Elsa turned, startled. Beside her, an arrow had just landed dead center in the next board over.
For a brief second, fear gripped her entire body. I'm not supposed to be here.
Neither is this person. Mary said there wouldn't be anyone else here today.
She whirled around, looking up range. A woman was standing there, holding a bow.
"Oh, sorry!" she shouted. "Did I scare you?"
Elsa, still very surprised, took a moment to respond. "Just a little," she lied. "Who are you? I was told nobody else was supposed to be here."
"I see," the stranger replied, brushing one of her red pigtails out of her face. "I have permission to use this place whenever I want."
"Really?" Elsa asked, walking back towards her firing spot. "How?"
"Well, I showed up one day while some guys were practicing. They said I could stick around, and I left before they asked me to. Since they never told me to leave, my permission was never revoked. So now I have permission until they tell me otherwise." She stuck out her hand. "My name is Anna."
Elsa shook it. "I'm Elsa, of the house of Dell."
"Well met, Miss Elsa," Anna replied. "Sorry to interrupt your practice."
"Oh, no, you're fine," said Elsa. She turned back to her target, pretending she wasn't insanely curious about this strange new woman.
Nocking a new arrow, she tried to focus only on the target, and let the world melt away. This was one of the few tips Mary had given her, and she still wasn't too good at it. This time, however, it seemed downright impossible, given the woman just ten feet away.
Regardless, she fired again. The arrow flew down range and landed to the right of the target, directly on the line between red and blue.
She heard Anna draw, then fire. The arrow hit, and then Elsa heard her curse under her breath. She looked at the target.
Her second arrow had landed no more than an inch away from the first, in the yellow circle just outside the bull's-eye. It was still closer than any arrow Elsa had ever fired at this range.
She looked at Anna again, who had already drawn another arrow. She examined her posture, hoping to see some secret.
Her left foot was in front, and her feet were about shoulder length apart. She was wearing brown trousers and brown shoes, the trouser legs ending just above the socks.
Elsa felt her eyes move upward, seemingly of their own accord, to Anna's slender chest, which was covered by a tight jerkin and doublet, tucked neatly into her trousers.
Anna looked at her. "Studying my form, are we?"
"Uh – yes," Elsa stammered. "It's just – you're very good."
"Thank you," said Anna brightly. She looked downrange at Elsa's arrow, then at Elsa's hands. "You're not so bad for someone who just started…two, three weeks ago?"
"How do you know that?" asked Elsa, alarmed.
"Callouses on your fingers," explained Anna, holding up her own hand for comparison. "Your hands adapt pretty quick, but it's those first few weeks where it's really noticeable. Another week and I would've had no idea," she admitted.
"Wow, you really know a lot about archery," Elsa said, impressed.
"Well, I suppose."
"How do you learn so much about it?"
"The same way I learn about breathing. I've been doing it for years."
"Don't people try to stop you?" Elsa asked, speaking from bitter memory.
"Oh, sure, they try," Anna said, lapsing into a speech she seemed to have said many times over. "Then we have a brief discussion, and after they finish picking up their teeth, they don't try to stop me anymore."
Elsa, not sure whether to gasp or giggle, just stared.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Anna said, chuckling. "I'm mostly kidding, anyway. People don't try to shut down the house of Arin."
"Oh, so they hold a lot of respect?"
"You could say that." Anna didn't elaborate.
After a few seconds, Anna walked closer to Elsa. "So, are you ready to begin?"
"Begin?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah, begin your archery lesson."
"But, I didn't ask you to-"
"Yes, you did. You wanted to know how I got so good at it, and before that, you were staring at me while I fired. At least," Anna said playfully, "I assume that's why you were staring."
"Oh, yeah," Elsa said, feeling her cheeks turn red. "Of course. Well, if you really wouldn't mind-"
"Trust me, honey, I don't mind," Anna said flatly. "Now let's go. First, I'd like to see your technique. Fire an arrow."
Elsa complied, grabbing an arrow and nocking it while Anna watched, leaning against a post. Elsa drew back the bow, inhaling deeply. She held that breath, aimed down at the target, and fired.
The moment the arrow flew, Anna leaned forward. "Okay, that's a common mistake."
Behind her, the arrow landed in the blue ring. Anna didn't even turn. For a moment, Elsa was sure that she would tell her exactly where it landed.
"You never want to hold your breath while firing. It may seem like a good idea, but you'll just end up with a dead-release," Anna continued.
"A what?"
"It means you make no further movement in your drawing arm, which can cause your fingers to stay on the string longer than you want. It's impossible to stay accurate when that happens. What you should do is, as you're about to fire, take a deep breath in, then fire just as you feel your pectoral muscles moving. Much cleaner release that way."
Elsa just stared, devoting her full attention to Anna. It was amazing how knowledgeable she was.
"Here, watch me." Anna stepped forward, bow at the ready. "Pay close attention to my chest."
"What?" said Elsa, caught off-guard.
Anna sighed. "My chest, Elsa. It's about four feet off the ground, just under my head. Can't miss it." She giggled, the smile illuminating her heavily freckled face.
"Oh, of course," said Elsa, flustered.
Anna drew the bow. For a moment, she stood there, arrow at the ready, the most colorful statue in the world. Then she took a deep breath, inhaling slowly. Her diaphragm expanded, and her shoulder blades started to rise.
The moment this occurred, Anna released the string. The arrow flew straight into the bull's-eye, perhaps half an inch away from the very center.
She turned to Elsa. "See? Now you try it."
Elsa stepped up, trying to emulate Anna. She assumed the stance, drew, inhaled, and fired just as she felt her shoulders rise. Sure enough, the string flew from her fingers cleanly, far more so than usual.
She turned to Anna. "You were right! I definitely felt the difference."
Anna looked down range. "So did that target."
Elsa looked. Her arrow had landed at the innermost part of the red ring, just a hair away from the line separating it from the yellow.
"Good job," Anna said, clapping her on the back. The sudden contact sent shivers down her spine, moreso than she had expected. "Keep this up, and you'll be a pro in no time."
And so, as the time ticked by, Anna continued to teach, providing advice, offering minor tips on posture, grip, and release. Bit by bit, Elsa's arrows spiraled closer and closer to the center. Elsa completely lost track of the time as the world faded to just her, Anna, the bow, and the target.
Then, finally, a snag. Despite her grouping getting tighter than ever, Elsa's shots began to gravitate towards the upper right corner. Even when she tried to correct for it, they would continue to land in about the same area. Anna was stumped, and Elsa was getting upset.
Finally, on perhaps the seventh shot in this area, Anna stepped forward. "Now I see the problem. You started putting too much weight on your back leg a couple of minutes ago. You need to stay balanced."
Elsa drew the bow again, this time making a conscious effort to lean farther forward.
Anna laughed. "Now you look like you're about to tip forwards!" She walked forward. "Here, I'll balance you, then you fire." She reached out with both hands and gently grabbed Elsa's waist.
The effect was instant. Elsa was electrified as Anna's hands gently grabbed her waist, as if each of her fingers held a miniature lightning bolt. Shock and excitement rocked her to her very center, and her pale white skin prickled into gooseflesh.
This rush of emotions surprised and alarmed Elsa. What was she doing? Anna was a woman, and yet here she was, trembling in shock like some Prince Charming figure had rode up and kissed her. It was totally unnatural!
And yet, even as she thought these things, in her mind's eye she saw herself spinning around, kissing Anna, pushing her to the ground…
After a few seconds, Anna spoke up. "I told you not to hold your breath," she said.
Elsa snapped back to reality. She turned to see Anna, smiling. Almost smirking. Had she seen…?
"If you're done daydreaming, do you think you could maybe try to hit that target?"
The smirk was gone, and now Anna was only a teacher once more. Elsa turned back downrange, focusing on the target. It took another few seconds for her to completely phase out her thoughts, but she was finally ready. She took a deep breath, then exhaled, then inhaled again, and on that breath, she fired.
The arrow landed in the bull's-eye, just left of the very center. It was by far her best shot.
"Yes!" she shouted quietly. "I did it!"
"Good job," Anna replied. "Of course, if that had been an actual person you were shooting at, they could've run up and killed you in half that time, but don't sweat over the small stuff, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," said Elsa. She looked at the sun.
"Oh, man, look at the time," she said, voice filled with remorse. "I have to go."
"No problem," Anna said coolly. "Come back tomorrow, around noon, and I'll teach you how to swordfight."
"Swordfight?" Elsa said, confused.
"Of course. If you're going to take that long to fire, you'd better be prepared for some form of close combat."
This sounded silly to Elsa, but she saw the logic behind it. Besides, she'd take any excuse to see Anna again. This past hour had been so much fun. Also…
She stopped her train of thought right there. Starting to run back home, she turned and waved to her amazing new friend. "See you tomorrow, Anna!"
"See you," Anna responded. "Oh, and Elsa?"
"Yes?"
"Tie back your hair for tomorrow. You're going to need your peripheral vision."