His arm freezes in mid-reach at her words, dropping to his side as he immediately stops in his tracks. Despite the feel of the words being more of a demand than a request, it's perhaps just the way they sound since he doesn't feel any compulsion to actually heed them other than the desire not to upset her anymore than she already is. Seeing the dagger abruptly rise though has him in fact taking a step backwards to give her further space.

He thought about her request wondering quietly why it was being asked for a moment before turning his mind to think of some form of answer for it. Something only he alone knew was tricky in a sense. It rather limited the things he could reply with.

"In my castle, you were messing with my curtains, and when you couldn't open them, you asked me if I nailed them down. I told you that yes I had. You persisted in tugging at them and fell. I caught you before you could hit the floor."