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Adrian chuckled, the rest of the enforcers and the children all standing by, waiting in turn.
“You want to spar, Gregory?”
“No, no, no,” Gregory said. “I just think, if I’m going to hit you, maybe you should have the chance to block me.”
She suspected Adrian wanted to argue about the meaning of “sparring,” but instead, he nodded.
“Okay, Gregory,” he said. “Why don’t you hand me that sword, and you pick up yours.”
Without a thought, Gregory handed over his sword and then rushed to pick up his own weapon.
The two took their places, standing across from each other.
“Are you ready, Gregory?”
Gregory nodded.
“Then come at me with all you’ve got!”
Gregory looked sheepishly down at the ground before picking himself up and dashing forward with his training sword in hand.
He swung his sword with some force into Adrian’s right shoulder, but Adrian easily deflected.
“Okay,” Adrian said. “Now I’m going to try swinging my sword at you.”
“But why?”
Adrian thought for a second. “Well, you got to swing your sword at me, and I got to defend. Don’t you think it’s only fair that I get to swing my sword at you?”
“I guess …”
Adrian took a ready stance, his body at full attention. Gregory huddled backward, not hiding his fear.
“Okay, Gregory. I’m coming for you.”
By this point, the other children and the enforcers had all gotten the message that regular training would continue. They took their places, enforcers standing next to Adrian in a line, children next to Gregory.
The wind had started to pick up, howling loudly. She heard the branches struggling against the force.
Adrian ran up to Gregory, and he gently lowered his sword, even intentionally aiming for the other weapon.
Gregory gently raised his own sword, his eyes nearly closed. He deflected Adrian’s effortless stroke by doing nothing at all.
“Hey, good job, kid!”
Gregory opened his eyes, a wide smile on his face. “But you didn’t give me your best, did you?”
“I sure did. You did great.”
Watching the enforcers with the children, it was clear there were varying degrees of restraint. She felt it was rather foolish. There was no way the children would be prepared for anything with this level of withholding.
And yet, she still found it admirable how delicately Adrian handled the child. She wondered if the child would get the message and overcome his fears or if this ran deeper in the child’s psyche. Perhaps he could only spar with Adrian, and Adrian was trying to train him for other enforcers.
Then, she realized she was far too invested in the exploits of these total strangers.
She didn’t know Gregory. She felt bad for him when she saw his fear and felt good as she watched him overcome it.
She didn’t know Adrian, though she found herself deeply wanting to know him better.
