When we got back, they began to exercise with the girls. Bonnie was all for it. She wanted them to be good warriors. Having good warriors meant safety, security, power and prestige. Bonnie was not my wife. She was my mistress. Even then, she had twice as many kids with me as Grissell did. Bruiser, Boxer, Brawler and Battler were trained to be ambidextrous. All of my children were. When it came to writing, I had my tutor hand the quill for a writing session to them. One day, they were to write with their right hands. The next day, it was given to their left hands. The same thing with done with weapons or utensils. I want them to be able to fight equally well with both of their hands. That would make things worth it. All of my children could understand Common and Elvish. Everyone except for Ren and Len were fluent. Mighel and Barat were also taught by my tutor. The boys were only starting to exercise and learn flexibility and meditation for mental and emotional control. The girls, especially Johna, were ready to start magic lessons. Lyari Olocan could teach them all the basic spells.
High level spells were not easy to come by. I would have to purchase them. I did not know the first thing about magic tomes. Lyari was able to inform me. I could go to a shop specializing in spells and magecraft. Alternatively, if I had the talent and reputation, I could send a letter to a magic school and ask for some to be sent to me. There was an allure to try my luck at writing the letter. That was unlikely to work out for me though. I did not have the talent nor the reputation for that. They would just have to master the basics. If they did, I would enroll them in a magic academy. Going there would not only boost their chances to have careers as mages, they might also fall in love and get some actual powerful mages in the bloodline. In all honesty, I wanted all of my children to be able to marry for love. Hopefully, there would not be any reason why I would need to force a pairing. Grissell was still very anxious when I took the girls to the field. So much so, that I simply brought her with us to watch. She already liked watching me work out. I was very fit and attractive too. It made her less nervous.
Less nervous was not the same as not nervous. She was concerned that boys would not want to marry them if they were too muscly. I just shook my head. "There are all types of me in the world. I assure you, there are some very secretly submissive men that would have no problems being told what to do by an assertive woman with a pretty face." She frowned at me. "A 'man' like that is not worthy of my daughter." she shot back. I smiled at her. "It is possible. But what if they like telling boys what to do and exactly when to do it?" I teased. She smirked back at me. Grissell said "That's what your marriage is for. You don't need to be a pervert about it." I walked closer to her and cupped her chin in my hand. "Speaking of all that, when we get home, I'm in the mood to listen to you... really closely. You'll tell me what you want me to do for you then, will you?" I said with a sultry voice. She blushed. "Oh don't worry. I'll tell you what I want. And I'll tell you exactly how I want it!" she blustered as she pushed me to regain composure. That was how I spent the evening doing chores. We cuddled after.
I was totally fine with that. I already had 9 amazing kids to take care of. We did not need to be too hasty. Having her watch the training session put her at ease. Not only were they not touching weapons, they were alone learning magic. She was still insecure about Bonnie and the other children in the guesthouse. Having something that special only for her daughters made her feel more confident. She was the wife. She was the one I lived with. She was the one I slept with, even if we were not doing anything sexual at all. Her position in the household was unquestioned. If I was only going to push my daughters into this field of magic and not any of my sons, Grissell could lord that over Bonnie. I doubted that the dogkin mistress would care. She had always wanted them to be knights. That did not matter. What mattered was that my wife thought she was much better off than my mistress was. That, in a stable marriage between nobles at least, was how things should be. I cared for Grissell and all her family. Alard, his wife and Yon were constant guests. They were literate in Common.
