Buffy's resolve is admirable, and Arthur finds himself wanting to match it. "I look forward to seeing it next time we fight," Arthur says, and means it. "Although don't think it'll be such a foregone conclusion. I'll be training too, after all."

She may beat him now, but he knows in his heart he can do better, feels as though a lot of his instincts for the fight have been lost with the years of training and tourneys. Time was he would have assessed someone with Buffy's skill for his own knights. "You've a lot of combat potential — for a woman."

He grins, deliberately baiting her, even though it's not entirely far from his true feelings on the matter. But it's not as though she can knock him out again. ... Right?