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“Who taught you how to use a bow?” Faendal asked, laughing, now that the three bandits had been taken down.
Miranja’s feelings were stung, but she couldn’t deny that she was a complete newbie and needed proper instruction.
“No one,” she replied with indignation. “Hadvar just handed me this bow when we were trying to escape Helgen. I tried to use it against a couple of frostbite spiders, but I did better with a sword.”
“Well, a bow comes in very handy when you don’t want to get too close to your enemy,” Faendal advised her, his manner and tone changing from mockery to confident instruction. He held up his own bow to demonstrate as he spoke. “Be sure to pull the bowstring all the way back before releasing it. It makes the arrow fly much farther and faster, with more force.”
Miranja tried to copy him, but she was shivering from the cold. They took a few moments to salvage a few pieces of fur armor from the dead bandits, who wouldn’t be needing it anymore.
Dressed more warmly, they resumed the lesson. She held the bow up and, at chest height, tried to pull the string back as far as Faendal had, but it was very strong and taut. The bow wavered in her left hand.
“No, no, no,” Faendal said, shaking his head. He came to stand behind her and started to reach around her to guide her, but stopped. “May I?” he asked over her shoulder.
She could feel his body heat, smell his sweat. His voice so close to her ear gave her goosebumps, and she shivered a little. “Of course,” she managed weakly, already breathless even though he hadn’t touched her. “Please do.”
He covered her hand with his on the grip of the bow, urging her to shift her hold so that it rested more or less on the padding between her thumb and forefinger and her fingers were angled downward. He took her right hand, the thumb of which was still hooked around the bowstring, and showed her the correct way to position her fingers. His arms encircled her and his warm touch was causing her breath to quicken and her heart to pound. She wasn’t entirely sure that Faendal actually needed to touch her to show her these things, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was making excuses to do so. That idea only excited her more. She could hardly focus on what he was trying to show her, and she had to mentally shove herself to pay attention so she could learn well and impress him.
“Your thumb doesn’t need to be involved with the string at all,” he told her gently, placing three of her fingers on the string and folding her thumb and pinkie back toward her palm. He pressed the feather end of the arrow between her first and second fingers and nocked it to the bowstring, then let the business end rest on the guide above her left thumb. “Hold your string right around your first knuckles – not too far out, not too far in. Keep your wrist bent inward a bit, flex these knuckles back, and hold the string as lightly as you can without losing hold of it. That way your fingers don’t have to move so much, and you can release quicker.” Miranja enjoyed the feeling of his strong fingers moving her own fingers, hand, and wrist.
“Now – show me how far back you can pull the string.” He kept his hand over hers but didn’t close his fingers.
Miranja tried again. She had a little better luck this time, now that she had the grip and positioning right. But that string was still so taut, and her arm was so sore… She let fly and the arrow went a decent distance – to the left instead of where she thought she was pointing.
“I’m sorry, Faendal, I spent a good hour yesterday swinging a sword that was a little too big and heavy for me, and I’m not used to sword fighting, and my arm is so sore now, it’s a wonder I can pull this bowstring at all.”
Faendal came around in front of her so she could see him. “Okay, I’ll cut you a little slack. But I still want you to use this opportunity to practice. Your bow will become your best friend, I guarantee it. Try to shoot down the enemies we come across, but don’t worry if you miss. I’ve got your back, and I’ll shoot them before they can get to us.”
Faendal’s kind but cordial smile both warmed Miranja’s heart and broke it. She was very glad to have him with her, and to know that he was looking out for her, but she was already starting to fall for him, and she wanted to see just a glimmer of interest in his gorgeous amber eyes.