Feeling bad for Cody and Brody, who would not be given their father's name, I made a coat of arms just for them. Raolin did not want them to be his heirs. He had a legal wife now. All he needed was a son from her. More sons were even better. Raolin's hybrid children would go by Treeborne. Raolin was happy enough to give them a different family name. It made it easier to distance himself from them. Anthony and Fabien did not want to be seen with me or Raolin if the hybrids were around. I did not care about that. At the wedding for Simon, they were sitting a pew behind me, my wife and our daughters. Cody and Brody were next to them. People whispered harsh things about their eyes. The spat epithets like "demon child" or "tree fucker" at us. I ignored it. I was not ashamed of my actions. I loved my children. After the wedding was a feast. I was happy to schmooze with the nobles. The Whites were in attendance too. All 4 were invited to watch: Gerald, Marion, Tholy and Bernard. Bernard White was the head of their family. Gerald sought me out on the way to the feast. We spoke.
We had a pleasant chat. Unfortunately, he never found the courage to leave his family home. Marion was living with the archbishop at the episcopal palace. Both were devoted to their duty. Not really expecting too much of it, I said "We have a county, but there is no bishopric within it. Maybe you can ask to be relocated there with your brother. It would be a step sideways, but it might be fun to get fresh air and not have a ton of haters there." His eyes sparkled. "That does sound nice." he said. Marion and Tholy came to get him. It was time for them to be seated. He left with them. The children were meeting and eating in a separate hall. There was something I wanted to say to them before I let them go off. "Keep close. Do not let anyone hurt you, your brothers or your friends. If someone attacks, push them back. I will back you as long as you are not hitting the full humans first." Leonardo, Lenard and Lennox nodded their heads. It was their job to protect Johna, Holly and Molly. I was not expecting anything too bad to happen to them here. That was wrong. The feast was really good.
The children's hall turned into a total bloodbath. Some asshole nobles wanted to yank on their hair because of the color. Leonardo pushed a boy back. Another kid there socked Lennox in the face. Things devolved from there and the triplets fought all of the others too. Johna saw it all. Since my boys were part dryad, they were much stronger than the children their age. Stronger than children thrice their age too. The parents wanted them punished. I would not have it. "There is no reason to punish children simply defending themselves." The father of the most injured boy was a count on the other side of the country. He stormed over to us. "I demand satisfaction for this. The abominations caused a ruckus. They will be whipped for this." he said. I crossed my arms. "Over my dead body. These are my children. If you want to hurt them, you'll have to survive a duel with me." I said. He just looked at me in total shock. "And who, pray tell, are you?" he asked. I just smirked at him. He frowned at me deeply as if it was intimidating. "What's so funny?" he demanded. He didn't know what he did.
