It would be totally fine for Bruiser, Boxer, Brawler, Battler, Ren, Len and Molly to all go down to the capitol and join the tournament circuit. Molly would not be fighting, but she could take part in the archery competitions. I knew a few were going on when I was living there. Archery was just not something I was good at. The hunter thought it was a shame that Molly was not a boy. "I don't think do. She is clever, quick and disciplined. She will make a fine knight regardless of what's between her legs." I said. He looked at me and chuckled as if I was joking. When he realized that I was not, he looked at me like I was insane. "You can't possibly mean that! The life of a knight is not for a woman!" he snapped. I blinked at him. "What is a knight supposed to do that Molly can't do? She was a page and then a squire. She knows the code of conduct by memory. She can maintain and don leather armor. You know that she is gifted with the bow. She can cook and clean after herself. I taught all of my children to do first aid and how to dress and seal an open wound. What else is there?" I asked him calmly.
X-ray vision might have been possible with how deeply he was staring at me. He just said "Can she kill a man with her bare hands, if it came to that?" That was actually a really big problem. The Great Spirits that we venerated as unofficial members of the Brownflank Tribe granted us speed, not strength. If it was a boost in strength, that would not be a problem. Enetes had really grown into his role as shaman. The boost to our speed had only gotten better with time. According to the former tribal warriors like Petras, Jeran and Casone, the buff we had now was 4 times what they had on the plains. Their shaman had only boosted their strength a bit. And that still was not enough to defeat the centauress. While the females were the stronger sex, it seemed a bit ridiculous when she had no tribe at the time. There were strategies for people who relied on speed rather than strength. You had to overwhelm your opponent with a flurry of blows to critical areas to incapacitate them. I taught the SING method to all my children. Targeting the stomach, instep, nose and groin took most men down.
Zipping through those vital spots in sequence could destroy a man's ability to mount a defense. "She's certainly quick enough to do it. I trained her well enough to take a man down. I don't know if she has the temperament to kill a man when he's down though." I admitted. He looked triumphant before I added "To be fair, I would say the exact same thing about my sons. You don't know how you will react in your first fight to the death. And you really don't know if you have what it takes to handle it mentally until months and years after." He just blinked. "Isn't that the whole point of being a knight? Handling that duty for the rest of us?" he asked. I crossed my arms. "Have you killed a man before?" I asked. He balked at the question. "I'm a hunter, not a knight or soldier! Of course I haven't." he spat. "Then you are in the same boat. You have no clue if you could turn your bow of yours on a human and shoot to kill. You don't know if you could ever go back to normal after that." I pressed. "I won't be killed if I don't become a killer. She might." he said. "All my children might. What's the difference?"
Yelling and screaming about it would not change my mind. He saw that and began to walk away. "I can't stop you from being insane. All I can do is warn you. Keep her close if you want her to be a real knight and not a whore or slave by the end of the month." he said bitterly. I was pissed initially, but I calmed down. He was right in a sense. This world was clearly not kind to women that tried to assert their independence. She could be a knight-errant and travel to find a master. But on the open roads, I knew it could be dangerous. I ran into so many bandits. Bandits and other men that were armed would be encountering her. All it took was one loss. All it took was one ambush. If she ever found a real master to serve, he could be the one to sexually exploit her. I never thought of it like that. This was a real eye opener. Keeping Molly in a safe place like Mansfield would not be so bad for her. Grissell clearly wanted to keep her at home for as long as possible too. It was not even a sure thing that Anthony would not accept her service. Or, that her brothers might want to leave the county.
