A New Acquaintance

The new day for Artemis began with the sun's rays hitting her face through the creak in her window. She slowly opened her eyes, adapting to the sunlight before sitting up and stretching her arms.

"Mm.. Back at this again", she groaned and rolled her eyes slightly before being disturbed by a knock on her door.

"May I come in Ms. Artemis? It is I, Sir Magnus. It is time to begin training", Sir. Magnus stated through the door.

"Uh- yeah one moment please!", she called back before shooting up out of her comfortable bed and washing up in her bathroom, changing into some workout clothes, and opening the door.

Sir Magnus greeted her with a wide smile and some food, which looked like.. biscuits? Of course, what did she expect?

She smiled at him, "I apologize that took a bit of a while. I had just woken up when you knocked on the door."

"Oh it is quite alright Ms. Artemis, do not worry about it", he answered back, all animated.

Artemis nodded and began to reach for the biscuit before he took it and shoved it in his mouth. Her expression dropped and her eyes slightly widened.

He finished chewing on it and chuckled, "Sorry for breaking your hopes and dreams but that was not for you. You have to eat healthily and keep in shape. Me on the other hand..". He grabbed another biscuit from the plate, almost swallowing it whole, leaving Artemis with that same widened yet slightly amused look on her face.

"Damn", she laughed and joked, "Way to uplift my morning."

"Yeah, I apologize for that but how I said, you need to keep in shape. And speaking of keeping in shape. Let's go downstairs to the dining, I requested the cooks to make you a special breakfast."

He began to walk down the hall and the staircase, preaching about healthy eating and the importance of it as well as its effect on a person's health, as Artemis followed behind him.

"The level of irony is enough to make me fall and laugh.", she thought, chuckling to herself, making Sir Magnus stop in his tracks and look back at her with a risen eyebrow.

"May I know what is so funny about this? I am being honest and helpful when explaining this to you", he said in a bit of a defensive way.

Trying to contain her laugh, she snorted accidentally, quickly biting the inside of her cheek to keep her quiet.

"I-It's nothing-", she replied, still trying her hardest not to laugh.

He signed and shook his head before continuing to walk down the different hallways and corridors, each filled with tapestries and old windows with beautiful colored glass.

"I know I know. I do not have the best figure, I could definitely admit that. But it is truly a good way to teach you to behave almost accordingly."

Artemis tilted her head a bit and continued walking after him.

"For example, I ate those two biscuits right in front of you before you had the chance to even pick one of them up. This worked as a restriction so you would not consume them and potentially take in ingredients that would not affect you positively, to say the least. You could look at me and say to yourself, 'I will try to refrain from taking in any products that will not leave me healthy. I do not want to end up like him.' And please, don't be afraid to think that. If it helps or motivates you, then I encourage you to do so."

She shook her head and smiled, "No no no, I apologize. I did not mean to make it seem as if I was fat-shaming you or anything of that kind. I genuinely think all bodies are beautiful. Not all are healthy, but all are beautiful. I just also thought it was funny how you practically swallowed both biscuits whole."

Her comment made Sir Magnus chuckle and rub the back of his neck, "Yes, understandable. I kind of had practice."

"Hm? Practiced? In what way?", she questioned, looking at him with her head slightly titled in confusion.

"Well, I may or may not have participated in multiple biscuit eating contests throughout mine and this kingdom."

Artemis let out another laugh her complexed expression turning into an amused one, "That is so cool! Did you win?"

He smirked and nodded, "Of course I did, why wouldn't have I?"

They both laughed a bit before finally making it into the dining hall. The table was set up with three meals; two of the same and one different.

Artemis sat down in a seat and looked at Sir Magnus who was sitting at the chair with the different meal.

"Who is this one for? Is Lord going to eat with us? He is very kind and empathetic but I feel that he may be a bit offended that he is sitting first of- beside me rather than in front the both of us, and secondly having a blank meal such as this", she stated to which Sir Magnus shook his head.

"I would know that much Ms. Artemis, so no; he is not eating with us. We actually have a special guest that I'd like to introduce you to. He is one of my students and an assassin such as yourself. Of course, not as great but he does have high expectations during missions. Anyways", he looked over at the clock across the dining table, "He should be over in a couple minutes or so."

"He? Why am I always the only girl in every single activity", she groaned, questioning rhetorically and picking at her meal with the fork.

Magnus chuckled a bit at her discomfort, "Don't worry Ms. Artemis, he is a fine young man. Very polite and knowledgeable. I thought it would be great to get you a partner to practice on rather than having me just coach you and point out things to you."

Right after he finished talking, a small knock and movement were heard upon a man entering the dining hall.

"Ah, Ash, my boy. How have you been?", Magnus stood up from his chair, walking over to the tall and skinny--yet muscular-- man hugging him before leading him over to Artemis. "This is the top assassin that I am helping to train for the mission I told you about."

"Ms. Artemis", he said, bowing slightly before taking one of her hands and kissing it, "Pleased to make your acquaintance."