You wanted knights and warriors to train from a young age. Holly, Molly, Leonardo, Lenard and Lennox were all old and energetic enough to exercise. Lyari Olocan's equipment, purchased by me, tested the magical affinity of the girls. Johna had one for a bit of fire magic. It was nothing big, but that was what the mental and spiritual training was for. Both Holly and Molly had an affinity for dark magic. That was not a good thing. Dark magic was usually used by villains and evil mages. It was a very frowned upon school of magic in the kingdom. Most kingdoms felt the same way about dark magic. I did not care. They would use their powers for good. I was right there at their side to raise them right. Leonardo, Lenard and Lennox were all my pages. Raolin used Cody and Brody as pages too. They were both forbidden from referring to Raolin as their father. He was still ashamed of them. It was not the case for me at all. I told them to tell everyone that they were my proud sons. I was a proud father and nothing could change that now. As pages, it was now their job to help and serve me.
Quietly, Ottie was able to marry a poor man's daughter. Their family had fallen on hard times. He could deal with some coin and less mouths to feed. Raolin really wanted to have legitimate sons to carry his name. That was good for him. In this world, rich people married for property and power. Poor people were able to marry for love. Ottie was born a commoner, but was raised to knighthood based on his great service in protecting his lord. From that point, he traveled the kingdom and made a name for himself as part of the Blood Knights. He would have to learn to get along with his new wife now. Ottie was his fellow guard turned knight. He had been thriving as a bachelor all this time. It was only now that he was in the capitol again that he found a beautiful woman he wanted to bring back with him. She wanted a ring. That was well within her right to ask for. He married her in a quiet ceremony along with Raolin. Petras and Jeran were leading their tribe to the capitol. They were a marvel here. It was unheard of to be an nonhuman knight. I watched along with Anthony and Fabien.
Keeping the peace when rude people wanted to mess with the centaurs or the hybrids was my job. I was not going to let my friends or children get hurt. Most of the time I could diffuse tensions by just standing in between them and telling the humans to get lost politely. If that did not work, I was not afraid to get down in the dirt and beat the shit out of them. It meant a lot to me that Leonardo, Lenard and Lennox could see that I was on their side. I would fight for them. Petras, Jeran, Casone and Enetes could all handle themselves. Even their children were able to handle a human or 2 at their age. I still wanted to let them know they had my full support. Raolin and Ottie now had the honor of establishing a noble family of their own. They were relatively known knights. Apparently, the specter of the Blood Knights still inspired terror in the bandits along the path we travelled. There was also the need for names. Neither had a surname. Both decided to trade on their reputation. Raolin's surname was now an intimidating Bloodletter. Ottie took Spillblood for his family. I helped with coats of arms.
Rhombus Family
