Una sighed. “I’m sorry, I… It’s just been a long day.”
“It’s only noon.”
“Aye, that’s what I’m saying.”
He chuckled at that, shaking his head.
“Now, if ye trust me not to stab ye with an arrow, I can show ye how to aim correctly,” he said, grinning at her and gesturing to her quiver of arrows.
Una bristled. “Icanaim!”
“Aye, ye can. Ye know the technical part of it, but there’s more than that. Can I show ye?”
She sighed, passing a hand over her hair. Her braid was coming undone, tendrils hanging around her face and sticking to her damp skin.
I shouldn’t hand him a bow and arrow, I know that, no more than I should tell him about what Senga told me.
And yet… and yet.
Una slowly handed over the bow, trying not to tighten her grip on it when he took it.
“Here, let me show ye,” Struan said crisply, neatly snatching up an arrow from her quiver and taking aim. “Ye hold yer body exactly as ye should when shooting an arrow. But ye are too tense, lass. I imagine yer last teacher told ye that, too.”
Una bit her lip. “My last teacher was Thomas. Aye, he did tell me I was too tense.”
“It’s not just physical tension. It’s mental tension. To be a truly excellent archer, ye have to relax. Ye have to let go. Ye have to clear yer mind. Don’t think about yer previous shot, and don’t think of yer next one. All that exists is this moment. Just ye, yer bow, the arrow, and the target. Of course, it’s easier to manage on a training field like this and less so on the battlefield, but there’s nothing to be done about that. And don’t forget, once that arrow leaves the bow, it’s no longer part of ye. Yer work is done, and there’s nothing else ye can do.”
He breathed out, slowly and evenly, and released the arrow.
Thunk.
It struck the target smack-bang in the middle. The arrow vibrated there, as if taunting Una.
“That was a good shot,” she said at last, somewhat reluctantly.
“Ye can shoot like that easily,” Struan responded. “Here, try again. Remember what I said. Nothing but ye and the bow.”
Una took the bow somewhat reluctantly. The wood was warm from his palm. She nocked an arrow, breathed in, breathed out.
Nothing,she told herself.Nothing but me and the bow.
Thunk.
She blinked, staring at the arrow. It had thudded in the edge of the target, many inches away from the center.
“That… That’s my worst shot yet!” she yelped.
Struan chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, lass. There’s clearly something on yer mind, and only a truly experienced shot can blank out their thoughts at will. So, come on. Tell me what it is.”
Una glanced up at him, chewing her lower lip.
I shouldn’t tell him. This belongs to somebody else.
“What do ye mean?” she managed.
He shrugged. “Something’s bothering ye. Some overwhelming feeling. So, what is it?”
She breathed out, closing her eyes.
