The next morning, Kaitie woke up at the crack of dawn as usual. She looked down at her best friend who lay curled up beside her and sighed. All she wanted to do was be alone for a while. So, she got dressed and decided to go for a walk the castle. She didn't really know where she was going until she found herself in the armoury. She picked out a sword and went out to the courtyard. The sun was just begging to rise, and she smiled to herself. It felt as if it had been forever since she had had a morning practice. She swung her sword around her body and lunged, pretending that she was facing an opponent. "Stay focused." She whispered to herself. "He is taller and stronger than you. Use your height and the element of surprise to bring him down. You can win if you focus" she could practically hear her father's voice in her head. She smiled as she lunged a fifth time, nailing her imaginary opponent in the stomach. "Care for a partner?" a voice said behind her. She turned to find Arthur standing behind her wearing his armor. "Only if you're ready to loose" she responded with a smirk. The two started to fight, Arthur trying to be careful not to hit her as she wasn't wearing any armor, and her taunting him about not being as good as he claimed. The two fought for many rounds before deciding that they were equally matched.
They sat down on the castle steps to take a break. Arthur looked at her, trying to figure out how to phrase what he wanted to say. He finally decided on "So, how are you?" Kaitie gave him a questioning look. "I saw you yesterday when we saved Lily. Instead of running over to untie her, you ran to the man the bandit had been holding. Was that your father?" All Kaitie could do was nod. "Do you want to talk about it?" Arthur asked, looking for some sign that she was ok. "No, in fact, we need to get back to practicing" she said standing up. Arthur sighed and followed her. Instead of straight practice this time, however, the two spoke and Arthur gradually broke Kaitie down about her father. Arthur stopped fighting for a minute and looked at his friend. "What's wrong?" she asked. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me? You're obviously upset, why don't you just talk to me?" Kaitie's eyes began to well up with tears. "Don't you see, I can't? I cannot cry. I have to be strong for Lily. She can't be alone right now. In fact, I should really get back to her. I should never have left. This was a stupid, stupid idea." Kaitie started to run up the stairs to the castle. Arthur could not think of anything to say to her outbreak, so he stayed quiet until she reached the top step. "Kaitie?" she turned around "Who's being strong for you?" . "I don't have that luxury." She responded and ran into the castle. "Kaitie, wait!" Arthur exclaimed, chasing her into the castle.
"Arthur had assumed when he had run after her that she would run to her room. However, when he entered, she wasn't there. He turned around, confused as to where she had gone. He walked around for a while before deciding that she may have put her sword away and that he should check the armory. Sure enough, when he entered the armory, he could see that the sword Kaitie had been using was laying on its stand. He was about to walk in when he heard the faint sound of someone crying. He walked around the corner of the room, to find Kaitie curled up in a small ball in the corner. He walked over and sat beside her. Neither said anything, as Kaitie lay her head on his shoulder and cried for what Arthur suspected to be the first time in a long time./p
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