Sir Arthur

• Thirty-eight

Kimberly retracted her hands from his and ducked her face down from his burning gaze. Her heart beat faster than usual almost getting out of its confines. She folded the dress and put it back in its original wrapping. From the corner of her eye, she could still feel his eyes on her.

"M-matteo," she stumbled on her words but turned to fully face him. She had so many questions in mind right now but he spoke first surprising her, his deep voice filling the silence. "You remind me of someone."

He watched as she raised her right brow and her doe eyes squinted into confusion. She had her attention on him thus he continued, "My father, you remind me of him." He heard her take a sharp intake of breath.

Ever since he got to know her, Matteo always thought of his late father, Lord Arthur- the most renown General as per the records. Her liveliness and determination in every aspect reminded him of how resilient his father had always been. Despite being young at that time, he could tell.

"I'm so sorry," Kim breathed out feeling terribly bad for triggering his memories. She had heard from her mother about Lord Arthur and how he had served their kingdom so well. He had fought for their land when it was about to be sold at the expense of his own life.

She turned to the side as her eyes swelled and a lump formed on her throat. Kim squeaked out when she felt a hand on her right shoulder as Matteo turned her to face him. She looked into his eyes once before dropping them to her lap.

"It's okay, I'm reminded of how happy he used to be." He assured her rubbing his palm against her upper arms. "He always smiled when I talked about mother." It reminded him of the times he'd wait at the palace for his return and tell him endless stories about what he'd been up to with his mother.

Kimberly looked up at his words, a small smile curving on her face and Matteo couldn't help but think of how seeing her, her smile and hearing her voice seemed to make him happy too.

"Could you tell me about him?" Kim asked as quietly as possible not wanting to cross any boundary. She was cautious not to upset him. He smiled at her pulling her closer to his side.

"I remember when I was young, almost five, father arranged a picnic for us." He glanced down at Kim who nestled her hands on his coat as she looked at him to hear better.

"He had just come from war, the longest he'd ever gone was a month, but that time he'd stayed for three months." Matteo could remember the distraught look on his mother's face as the days passed without any report from the palace.

At that time he didn't quite understand what was happening as he played all day long with Wayne. He however always helped in cleaning and taking care of his mother just as Arthur, his father, had instructed him.

"He brought us many things, they were from a foreign land and I was glad to eat them all." He heard Kim laugh beside him and he playfully nudged her side.

"He didn't eat any of those, saying he was content that we were happy. Mother didn't eat much too as she was concerned of his injured shoulder." His mother scolded him for that but father always laughed distracting her from her worries.

"They talked for long, I didn't understand what they were saying so I played with the new toys father had brought and ate some berries too." He couldn't forget how sweet they tasted and how many he'd eaten before his panicked mother moved from father's arms and rushed to his side.

"We were all happy then but I ended up falling sick afterwards." He laughed out the words looking down at Kim who had put on a frown. He didn't realize that he'd slipped some concerning information.

"It was just a memory I had." At times it frustrated him not remembering anything but he seemed to always remember that day. "He must have been a lovely father." Kim said her mind swirling with so many thoughts.