25. Lessons

That very evening Keeta and Brin discussed their ideas for modifying the organization of the Ceremony and Youth Camp with their peers and parents, who fully supported their suggestions. After dinner, the Riders sent messengers to the various youth camps to spread word of the changes.

Starting immediately, youth from Dûrgrimst Feldûnost were next in line to have their turns with the dragon egg. And the Youth Camps would be held in phases after that. At the beginning of the following week, all of the hundred and seventy youth who had already met with the egg would participate in the first Camp before being invited to return home.

Then every two weeks, each subsequent group of sixty or so would be in another Youth Camp with the younger Dragon Riders until the egg finally hatched.

This new change of plans kept all of the young Dragon Riders far busier than before, but everyone—especially King Orik—relaxed a little that the large group of dwarven youth would disperse in smaller batches set for home every fortnight.

With a smaller group of young people, the first Camp was easier than the Urgal Camp had been. The question and answer panel didn't take as long, especially since Keeta issued guidelines about what sorts of questions they would and wouldn't answer. They were able to start the fighting demonstration and lessons the same day and finished that evening by dinner.

With so many dragons able to give rides, the flying with the dragons went faster, and that activity also finished in one day. So only a few days later, close to two hundred of the dwarven youth packed up and began their journey home.

-:-:-

Over the following two weeks, when Keeta wasn't fulfilling one of her shifts with the dragon egg, Nefin reminded her of his promise to begin teaching her archery.

So Keeta accompanied him to the shooting range one morning. As they were walking, Nefin shortening his normally long stride to match hers, Keeta asked, "How will we begin? With a demonstration?"

Nefin looked over and down at her and smiled. "I don't think that would be productive, Keeta. You have seen me shoot before. You know what it looks like. I have learned all of the basics and been practicing for years. And my elven instincts and speed allow me to shoot in ways human, dwarven, and Urgal archers would never be able to reproduce. We'll start by finding you the right size bow. That's the most important first step. Mine would be far too big for you. It's good we're having these lessons here in Tronjheim rather than Ellesméra, where it would be more difficult to find the right size for you."

"We would have to look at the children's bows," Keeta said with a laugh, and Nefin laughed too. "And even then, they'd probably still be too big. All right, Nefin. Fit me with the right size bow." They arrived in the section of the armory where all of the archery equipment was stored.

"First we need to determine your draw length," Nefin said. "And it's a simple matter. I just need to measure your arm span from fingertip to fingertip and divide that length in half. Hold your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder height. Just stand normally, shoulders relaxed, chest down, palms forward."

Keeta did as he asked, and Nefin knelt so he wouldn't be towering so high above her. He made a few minor adjustments by pressing lightly on her shoulders and turning her wrists. She tried not to stare at him, but he was right in front of her and there was really nowhere else to look unless she deliberately turned her head to the side, which she worried might alter the measurement. He smiled at her, and Keeta's heart pounded a little faster. Nefin's smile widened, and Keeta was mortified to realize that he probably heard it. Heat flooded her cheeks.

Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea. Keeta was happy Nefin had offered to teach her and that it meant she would get to spend some time with him, but she just liked him too much. And there was no way she would be able to hide that if they were together for a certain length of time every day.

Keeta came back to the present when Nefin held a measuring tape across her body from one fingertip to the other. It passed right over her bosom. He stared at it thoughtfully for a moment then flushed when he realized what he was doing. Keeta blushed too but also laughed at Nefin, which helped diffuse their awkwardness some.

"Maybe I should measure from behind," he quietly suggested. "I'm not sure if those . . . that . . . your chest will affect the length much, but just to be sure."

Keeta nodded silently, not trusting herself to speak. She was sure her voice would break or some other embarrassing thing would happen. Nefin fluidly rose and gracefully moved around her. Keeta tried not to admire it and failed. Once he was behind her, she forced herself to stay still and breathed as deeply as she could without being too obvious.

Don't be a fool, Keeta! Just act normally, like his friend, or he might not want to keep teaching you.

Nefin quickly made the measurement and calculated Keeta's draw length. "Before we can find you the right bow, we need to determine your eye dominance. Are you right or left-handed?"

"Right," Keeta said.

"Then it will be easiest for you if your right eye is also dominant. Let's find out." Nefin backed up about ten paces, instructing Keeta to hold her arms straight up in front of her face and form a triangle by placing the tips of her thumbs and first fingers together at an angle. He demonstrated for her so she knew what he meant. Once she had, Nefin said, "Now look through the triangle and close your left eye. Did the image seem to change?"

"No," Keeta said.

"Close your right eye and look with your left. How about now?"

"Yes," Keeta said. "The image seemed to shift."

"Good," Nefin said, approaching her again. "Your right eye is dominant. And since you're also right-handed, we'll select a right hand bow. To aim, you want your dominant eye closest to the bow string and arrow shaft. If your left eye was dominant, we would chose a left hand bow and I would teach you how to shoot with your left hand. For beginners, it's not that hard to learn either way, though it might feel more awkward at first to be using your less dominant hand. But when beginners have cross dominance and learn to shoot with their dominant hand, relearning in favor of their dominant eye can be more difficult." He paused and apologetically looked at her. "Am I confusing you?"

"Nope," Keeta cheerfully said. "You make it look so effortless when you shoot. I would never have guessed there were so many factors to consider."

"I've been practicing a long time, Keeta," Nefin said. "I also had to go through all this when I started. And there is even more to consider. Like draw weight. If the string is too hard for you to pull, your form will suffer, you will be less effective, and you will tire very quickly. And it's dangerous because it's harder to control the arrow. Many over bowed beginners shoot arrows straight up. But even though you are small, you're also stronger than average for your size, so we will want to be careful about this. We'll probably start off with a lighter weight and add to it as you get more comfortable with the motions. The muscles used for shooting will get stronger with frequent practice, and that's also a good time to adjust your draw weight."

They tried out several bows until Nefin felt confident they had the best fit. Then he told her they would work on her stance next, since that was the first basic step in learning archery. "That's all we'll do the rest of today. If you have a sloppy stance, it affects everything else."

"But you can shoot while running and climbing and somersaulting," Keeta remarked.

Nefin smiled patiently and repeated, "Lots of practice. My first instructor made me stand in one place for my whole first year of lessons. There are so many things to take into consideration when you begin moving. Now even though my lower body might be doing all sorts of different things, whenever an arrow leaves my bow, it's with the same form as if I were standing still."

They arrived at the shooting range. "I'm going down there to move the target closer," Nefin said. He jogged downrange, easily lifted the nearest target, and carried it closer. Then he pulled a dark cloth out of the pack he had brought along and draped it over the target.

When he returned to Keeta, he explained, "I don't want you worrying about where the arrows land on the target. That's not the point of this first exercise. Once you know the proper stance, we'll shoot a few arrows. After every shot, I'll make sure your stance is still correct. We'll probably carry on like that until assuming the proper stance feels second nature to you. Then we'll move on to nocking the arrow."

He showed her the correct square stance, and Keeta once again tried not admire him and failed. He was so tall and strong, his posture was perfect, and he looked regal. He turned back to her and said, "Now your turn. Place your feet on either side of the line, left foot forward, right foot back. Just shoulder width apart. That's right. Now move your feet so they are parallel to the line. Good."

With every new instruction, Keeta tried to adjust herself to follow it and Nefin encouraged her each time. He next suggested she stand up straight and look over her left shoulder in the direction of the target. "You'll be holding your bow in your left hand and drawing with your right."

For the next few elements of the stance, Nefin knelt behind her and gently used his hands to emphasize what he meant. "You want your lower back flat," he said with his hand resting on hers, "so tuck or roll your hips forward. That's the idea, only not quite so much."

Nefin kept his left hand on her lower back and raised his right hand to her upper chest, resting it under her collarbone. "Lower your chest and ribs."

Keeta tried to do as he asked, but her focus was quickly slipping. Nefin was touching her! And he was so gentle. She was sure he could feel her heart hammering under his hand and was glad she was supposed to be looking away from him. He was close enough that his whole torso pressed against her.

"Good. That looks really good. Just relax your shoulders a little." He slid his right hand to her shoulder nearest him and lightly pressed down. "Perfect!" he approved. "Now don't move a muscle and load your bow so you can shoot." He laughed playfully, and Keeta nervously giggled along with him. "Only teasing, Keeta. You'll obviously have to move to nock the arrow. Just try to maintain the stance as you shoot."

Nefin had her shoot five arrows, reminding her of certain aspects of the proper square stance if she forgot them. He stayed kneeling behind her and lightly used his fingers if he seemed to think it would help.

After five more arrows, he asked, "Are your arms getting tired?"

"Nope. Doing fine. I might be a small dwarf girl, but I'm also a Dragon Rider."

So they kept going, but Nefin casually said, "A lot of these dwarf lads seem quite taken with you."

Keeta glanced back over her shoulder at him and was surprised by how close he was. She blinked then quizzically arched one eyebrow. "Maybe," she evasively said. "I can't imagine why you would notice such a thing. Or care."

Nefin smiled. His already impossibly handsome face became so much more so that Keeta stopped breathing. Then she quickly resumed. She faced back downrange before she could do anything even more ridiculous, trying to ensure that her stance was correct.

But apparently she didn't succeed, for Nefin once again placed his hands on the front and back of her waist and murmured, "Back flat."

Keeta stubbornly shot twenty more arrows, though her concentration slipped more every time. "I think that's enough for today," she said with forced calm when her thirtieth arrow flew completely over the target.

"Yes," Nefin agreed with an amused chuckle. "You did really well, Keeta." He used magic to retrieve all of the arrows and returned them to their quiver. "I think I might stay and practice for a while."

"Can I try to draw your bow?" Keeta curiously requested.

"I'm really strong," Nefin reluctantly said. "Elf, Dragon Rider. And I'm so much taller, you might not even be able to hold it properly. I think the bow is as tall as you."

Keeta forced herself to smile through the sting of his words. "No problem. I would just make even more of a fool of myself than I already have today. I'll take these back to the armory. Thanks for the lesson. Until next time, Nefin."

If there even is a next time, she mentally added, lifting the bow and quiver of arrows as she turned to go. Keeta started walking away, blinking back the stupid tears that burned in her eyes.

But Nefin caught her before she had even taken five steps. He stopped in front of her, squatting down so he could look into her face. "Sorry, Keeta. I can tell what I said hurt you."

Keeta stared at the ground. "It's nothing, Nefin," she dismissed, sounding angry only because she was crying. "You're an elf and tall and amazing. And I never will be." She scrubbed her eyes with the back of her arm. "I feel like an idiot. Can I just go, please?"

Nefin gently hugged her. "But you're my friend, Keeta. And I don't want to hurt your feelings. Forgive me?"

Keeta nodded against his shoulder, barely able to appreciate that the boy she loved was giving her an embrace because of how humiliated she felt. The tears flowed harder. "Yes," she whispered. She pulled away and continued toward the armory, leaving Nefin behind and praying he wouldn't follow her again.