Strings of hope

Chapter four: The first day

Children from all over the village went to the orphanage where a retired knight was teaching them the classic arts of swordsmanship. Kids between the ages of four and eighteen were all welcomed with open arms. The service was free, as the knight had volunteered himself to this, many years ago. Even so, that never stopped the village people from showing their appreciation to him through different services.

However, even if everyone was welcomed, not everyone managed to keep up with the training.

Eugene Levine is such a poetic name. An imperial knight, retired at the age of forty-five, moved to a remote village on the western border to teach the kids swordsmanship. With such a story it was of no surprise that people started gossiping. Why would he come here of all places?

Some say that he needed a break from the 'wealthy' lifestyle and some say he ran away after an unfortunate accident... that at least explains the wide scar on his left cheek and his forever angry attitude. Still, other than that, no one truly knew the knight... or did they?

...

The cold wind blew over the training field, the sun peaching slightly from behind the clouds. Autumn was slowly making its way to the western border.

He stood in the middle of the training ground, his eyes following the running children. Every morning they started by running around the field before they could continue with the standard warm-up. But today was different. The usual even number of 32 was now uneven... 33 to be exact.

Towards the end of the line, Evelyn ran alongside the boys, her ponytail swinging from left to right. She was breathing quite heavily, her cheeks were slightly red and her heart was pounding loudly in her ears, she was happier than ever.

It was not every day that you got the chance to take part in swordsmanship training, moreover, if you were a girl, and due to that, she got some weird looks from the orphanage's staff and even the kids.

After the run followed the strength training, which included push-ups, squads, and light lunges, when they were done with the warm-up, they started the fundamental practice, doing various stance work, footwork drills, and basic cuts and thrusts.

An hour and a half flew by and the knight finally gave them a brake. Evelyn looked around for Cyril and spotted him on the other side of the field, talking to another older kid and the knight. She began jogging towards him, a little out of breath since it was her first time doing so much physical effort.

When she got closer, she wanted to call his name to get his attention, but her words didn't have time to leave month as she suddenly tripped and fell. Cyril turned around at the noise and rushed towards her, crouching down next to her to see if she was ok.

"Lyn! Are you alright?" he helped her get up from laying on the ground to sitting on her knees, checking her upper body for any buries.

"I'm alright... I think I just-" turning around she saw the reason she fell, a rock. "-fell... I wasn't paying attention and tripped." She finished her sentence, trying to laugh it off, even thou she thought otherwise. 'I did pay attention, that rock wasn't there earlier. Usually, they clean the field before the training to ensure that no accidents happen. How did it get here?'

Cyril looked at her skeptically, as if he knew there was more to it. When he wanted to question her more, a strange movement caught his attention, he saw a few boys, not far away, snickering. He could feel himself tense up 'So this is how is gonna be...' he thought, as he prepared to get up and confront the boys, but he didn't.

Eugene, the grumpy knight appeared behind the two and kicked the rock to the side, catching the attention of the laughing boys. He looked towards them with a blank expression.