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Sometimes, it is very confusing to watch Grace interact with her children. She treats them with such delicacy. It seems strange to Xullara. They know their own upbringing was not exactly standard, considering the way people react when people bring it up, but this cannot be either. Perhaps it is simply a marker of Grace’s unusual goodness. She has never shouted at Xullara, putting her in a rare category, so it is not unsurprising that she would not shout at her children, either. That doesn’t make it any less strange, though.
See, the way Xullara was raised kept them alive. Maybe Grace’s children will not be in such danger, but what if that changes? Without being taught to kill, without the kind of upbringing that Xullara knows discomfits most people they speak of it to, they would have died young. Younger than Grace’s youngest is now, in fact. More than that, for all that their upbringing makes them stand out in the city, the knowledge of fighting has saved them time and time again. Everyone needs to learn self-defence, and the younger they start to learn the better.
Still, they do not bring this up with Grace. Her kindness should not be marred. They could not bear it if she stopped treating them with gentleness. They have never minded before, when a lover is harsh with them, but they don’t wish for Grace to change. They don’t know why the idea bothers them so much.