Betan was very proud of his child. He deserved to be. "He's going to be a great knight. He can read and write much better than me!" he said as he slapped his son on the back. I said "He's going to go far. I can't wait for my kids to get of age. Now that they have a role model to look up to, there's no way they can fail." Betan had a bit of a wry smile on his face. "We-well said." he said nervously. I looked at him. "I think Betan would be a good influence on them. Do you disagree?" I asked. He shook his head. "No! My son is amazing. I just wonder if..." he trailed off before taking a deep drink from his tankard of ale. "Wonder... what?" I pressed. "Well, you have a girl and those half breeds, right?" he started. I nodded my head. "Yes. The children that I love could be described that way. It does annoy me though." I said. Betan scoffed. "You know I don't mean any offense. It is what it is. You had a tough choice and you did what you could for your legacy. Every good knight needs a legacy." he said with a big wave of his hand. "Okay?" "You don't think they'll be knights, right?" he asked me.
Calling him out was not the play here. I already knew he was a racist. Normally I would not be friends with someone like this. He was the only human male that wanted to be friends with me. I was an open thief for one. I was not popular for having a beastkin mistress and 6 bastard children openly. I was not someone that conformed to the standards of masculinity here either. I cooked and supported my wife with her art career. It was seen as feminine. If it was not for the fact I had 9 children, they probably would have thought that I was gay. Training my daughter for knighthood was the last straw. Betan had all the same qualms. He just could set those aside to spar with me and the centaurs. Beating him every so often proved to him that I was a man worthy of some respect. He won most of the time. Being kind to him and actually taking him seriously did not hurt our relationship. It was him that taught me how to use a net and trident in combat. I had no clue why I would go to battle with those weapons, but he had heard of it from me and wanted to test it out. "You want to spar with my sons?"
It was a subtle challenge. One that he could not easily ignore. "It would not be appropriate of me, as a knight, to beat a squire for the sake of breaking their spirit. It is not for me to stop someone who wants to become a noble fighter. That should be your job as their father. Give them something else to do. Your wife does art, right? Let them do that." he said. I smirked. "I see. You seem to be of two minds on this. How can it be that you understand that the drive to be a noble fighter should be protected and still say that I should snuff it out? Especially when you've been training with us enough to know that they are capable fighters." I pointed out. His eyes went wide. "W-well, it is something that they might not understand fully. There is still so much that I don't understand. I was lucky I had a good knight to train under. I had a good woman to keep me at home and off the streets. You've taught me a lot too. They are part beastkin, and Molly will be a woman. Do you really think they can do it all?" he explained. I just looked him in the eyes. "I love all 7! I believe that they can be great knights."
