Sir Arthur

• Ten

Kim balanced her feet nervously as she tried to show indifference at her mother's question.

"What basket?" She asked back pretending to ponder over it. Faye had gone silent and Kim hoped she wouldn't speak a word that would betray them.

Faye's nervousness always had her mumbling things and those who knew this could coax her into their liking. Especially her mother.

"I last spotted it in your room," Lady Heather replied, squarely fixing her eyes on Kim making her squirm a bit.

She could obviously tell that her daughter was lying with how she clasped her hands wringing them and looking anywhere but her.

Lady Heather approached a very nervous Faye who had been toying with the comb in her hands trying to divert her attention from the sharp lady.

"Faye, what about you?" Lady Heather asked once she stood before her. Kim glanced at her over her mother's shoulders shaking her head as if to ask Faye not to breathe a single word.

"Umm- the basket is d-damaged." Faye gritted out gluing her eyes into the patterns on the floor.

"Damaged you say?" Lady Heather enquired as she rested on the seat Kimberly had previously sat on. "Do baskets get damaged while collecting fruits?" She pondered further lifting her eyes to Faye.

"No ma'am." Faye answered feebly as she pried her toes together wanting vanish from all the questioning. Her mouth was going to betray her if Kim didn't intervene.

"Well Kimberly, you still didn't see it even when it was in your room?" She asked now looking at Kim's side who had been trying to come up with a lie but failing.

"Mother, why do you need the basket anyway?" Kim walked towards her with a nervous smile and began adjusting the clips on her hair trying to divert her attention.

"These clips look good, can I get one?" Kim tried again this time patting her back and her shoulders as she rubbed across them tenderly.

"Mmm," her mother sighed as she relaxed into her soothing rubbing. Kim knew her soft spots and she was using them to her advantage. She gestured Faye out of the room as she continued her massage on her shoulders.

There was definitely no way she was going to say that the basket was lost in the mountains while she went to pick herbs after encountering a group of knights. There were too many mistakes there to count. Especially when her mother had just cautioned them not less than two weeks ago.

"Your moves have improved significantly," her mother stated with her eyes closed leaning back into the seat.

"U-uh," Kim muttered unsure of what she was talking about. She hoped her mother had forgotten about the basket she was asking for. It sounded like she wanted it for a certain task and Kim made a mental decision to go back to the mountains as soon as possible and search for it.

"At the ball, you did well." Lady Heather continued a small smile on her face. She couldn't hide her joy once she spotted her daughter last night across the hall dancing so expertly without a single flaw.

Her dance lessons had helped a lot. Or so she thought.

Kim smiled meekly as she continued toying with her mother's hair clips unsure of what to say. True, she had danced well but under the knight's guidance. She had been following his flow the entire time.

Were she asked to dance that way right now, she was sure she wouldn't even get close to that.

Sir Arthur had once again saved her from yet another situation she didn't know how to handle. She was indebted to him yet again.