Roland and the others arrived back at camp in the afternoon. He had learned much over the past hours of Ashley's life, her parents, and the struggles of a family breaking apart. He would have to process all of it at a later time, but he stored all the information away. There was much to consider about the Provider's tectonic shift in character from loving father to tyrannical dictator.
The recruits in the camp were grouped together practicing sparring once again, and Captain Grayson directed the newcomers to set their travel packs to the side and retrieve wooden practice swords to join the exercise.
Instead of the traditional one-on-one matches, the captain had changed the training for the day to emulate multiple opponents from various directions, similar to how a pack of wolves tends to surround prey before attacking.
Roland, Ashley, and Peter were directed to be the next set of attackers, since they were fresh to the game, and the other recruits had been at it long enough to be worn out.
The attitude of the troops was subtly different than the last time Roland was training. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was a low buzz of excitement and anticipation amongst them. At first he thought it was the possibility of real war, but that didn't make sense as their search for the enemy had come up empty. There was something else.
The three formed a loose semicircle and Riley stepped into the ring as the prey. The buzz intensified and Roland realized that the excited glaze in the soldiers' eyes was focused on the newest recruit. What had happened while Roland was away?
Holding his sword in the block that Peter had helped him improve, he stalked slowly sideways towards Riley's blind spot. Sizing the man up as an opponent was uncomfortably familiar and he cringed at that realization. Riley wasn't that much taller than Roland, but he was broad-shouldered and strong from running a farm.
While Roland wasn't small by any standards, his lean form seemed inadequate to the task as he prepared to attack. He remembered how little Peter had beaten him so soundly, and bolstered himself that size wasn't everything. Speed and skill could easily win the day. Though he had almost none of the latter, he admitted to himself.
Ashley attacked first, feinting left and then swinging from the right at Riley's shin. The man easily blocked her blow but made no other counter. He cringed slightly, perhaps at the idea of striking a woman. Peter used the momentary distraction to come at Riley from his left. Roland watched as the boy made four quick strikes in succession at a speed that would daze most men. Head, body, shin, and head again, swinging from alternating directions.
Riley blocked them all, using the last blow's momentum to push back and send Peter sprawling. Roland gaped as he watched the talented fighter fall. Peter quickly regained his feet and mounted another attack, and Roland remembered he should be helping.
He ran quickly around Riley's back, hoping to distract him long enough for Peter to begin landing blows. Ashley had rejoined the fray and was knocked away as easily as a child. She looked offended and a little hurt as she hit the ground.
Roland came at Riley from the back as the man continued to fend off Peter with an effortless... boredom? No, not boredom. He was having fun. Like a cat playing. As Roland raised his practice sword and swung, Riley finally finished toying with Peter, raising his foot after another block to push the younger man to the ground. His foot remained on the indignant Peter's chest, keeping him pinned there as Riley swiftly turned to block Roland's overhead swing.
As the wooden blades clashed, there was a brief moment where Riley and Roland's eyes met. There was a gleam in Riley's gaze that caused Roland to softly curse under his breath.
"Oh--" Before the phrase was even complete, Riley had swung aside the block to attack Roland with force yet unseen. A self-satisfied smile tinged with animosity painted Riley's face as he struck three times in the course of a second.
Roland struggled to block even the first blow. The second, he partially blocked at the cost of a graze to his forehead. The third strike he failed entirely and was slashed across the collarbone on his right shoulder. Though the practice sword was wooden, the blow was swift and hard enough to rip his shirt and draw blood.
Their brief spar was over in a matter of mere seconds as Roland hit the ground, joining his two fellow attackers. Riley looked slightly chagrined, as if a bit ashamed of how much he'd enjoyed easily beating Roland and drawing blood. With a half-apologetic smile, he offered each opponent a hand up in turn. The reactions varied widely.
Peter now stared at Riley with a look approaching idolization. Roland gawked with newfound caution and vigilance. Ashley refused Riley's hand, dusting herself off with a glance of resentment.
"You didn't have to humiliate us." She shot at him.
"That wasn't my intention." Riley paused and spared a glance at Roland, "Well, not entirely, anyway," he added for honesty's sake. "If you're injured, I sincerely apologize." He ducked his head. He hadn't wanted to fight a woman at all.
"I'm fine, thank you," She responded with an air of the spoiled young heiress many might expect the daughter of the Provider to be, though a slight limp belied her statement, "but Roland's hurt." She gestured to her bloody comrade.
"Ah, yes, that. Well... I'm sure he did something to deserve it?" Riley's grin conveyed it as a joking question, but his eyes narrowed at Roland as if accusing him.
Roland did not want to admit how much he did deserve it for his behavior toward Finn, so instead he reached into his jacket and pulled out her letter to Riley.
"I thought I would deserve some thanks for playing delivery boy. I'm sad to say that your mail is now just a little bit bloody." He offered it to Riley, who practically tore it from his hands. A dribble of blood had made its way across Riley's name from the bleeding shoulder wound he'd inflicted on Roland.
Riley grimaced. "I'm sorry," he said, now sincerely regretting his antics. Roland was a good man, he admitted to himself, even if he didn't want to say it out loud. "I'll walk you to the infirmary, if our esteemed commanding officer allows."
Captain Grayson had been monitoring other small groups of fighters practicing, but when everyone had paused to watch Riley dispatch three opponents with ease, he silently allowed it. Riley was unstoppable, and he hoped the other recruits might learn something from the observation.
The officer now nodded at Riley. "You may. Take Ashley as well. She obviously twisted her ankle in that fall and I want it splinted if need be. Perhaps while you're gone the others will CONTINUE THEIR OWN PRACTICE." The remaining soldiers jumped, realizing their neglect of their own sparring had been noticed, and immediately got back to work.
Ashley had been standing as still as she could while favoring one foot and now flushed in embarrassment that the Captain had seen through her ruse. It was enough that she'd been so soundly beaten, but to look the weakling on top of that was even worse.
Roland used his left hand to put pressure on the bleeding wound at his collar bone, leaving Riley to be responsible for Ashley. He reached out as if to pick her up, but the searing glare she leveled at him made him raise his hands in surrender. Studying her for a moment, he offered her his arm instead. After attempting a few painful steps on her own, she reluctantly accepted his arm to lean on.
"I really am sorry I got a little carried away," Riley reiterated.
"It's fine. I probably did deserve it," Roland immediately regretted letting the words slip out. His pride was stinging a little and the jab was all that he had in his arsenal against Riley.
"What do you mean by that?" Riley eyed him with suspicion.
"Nothing at all. Ashley, how are you feeling?"
"Well, I just walked a ton of miles in these boots made for men's feet, and then immediately got knocked to the ground by a raging bear and twisted my ankle," She looked up at Riley with disdain. Next to her slight, petite frame, he did feel a little bit like a large bear. "So I'm having a wonderful day."
"I was hardly 'raging' and I'm not THAT hairy," Riley retorted.
"You're something. Have you learned all that in the couple of days we've been gone?" Roland asked incredulously. He clearly had some serious deficiencies if Riley had surpassed him that quickly and that completely.
"My father taught me." Riley said. "I think I mentioned that before, but I never had the chance to spar with anyone until after you left. I assumed I was average or below average since I was rarely able to beat him, but I suppose my assessment may have been a little... off."
"Don't flatter yourself," Ashley said from his side. "I'm a pampered little girl, Roland's terrible, no offense," Roland nodded in acceptance of the accurate valuation, "and Peter's great but he's half your size and barely 16. It really wasn't all that impressive."
Riley remained quiet, but uncomfortable in a way that made Roland suspicious.
"What aren't you saying, Riley?" He asked.
"I guess since you weren't here I'll have to just say it. My first sparring match when we got back was against Captain Grayson. He said he wanted to assess my abilities."
"And?" Ashley's tone remained a little condescending.
"I didn't think I was that good so I didn't hold back. I knocked him unconscious in less than a minute."