Some muscle behind us would keep our lands secure from vicious pretenders and invaders. We had gotten all the funds we needed for the second settlement from the royal coffers. Something I was not expecting was the announcement that the Church would be building a cathedral in the county as well. I heard that it was to be the southwest of Huntston. The Swifthunts had no real say. What could they say? It was free development of the county. They could also extract taxes from the people that would live there. It would also be very impious to say no. I had a feeling that they would not like the new bishop of Greene. That was the name the king gave to the land given to the Swifthunt Family. Huntston was simply one holding within it. The new barony would be called Mansfield. The bishopric would be the third holding. The county was slowly but surely shaping up to be something very big. My children were safe and sound. At the end of the day, that was all that mattered. They were going to need to learn to defend themselves. I could show the boys some things with some training.
When we got back, they began to exercise with the girls. I wanted them all to be warriors. Having warriors meant safety, security, power and prestige. Leonardo, Lenard and Lennox 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 was fluent. Cody and Brody were also taught by my tutor. This was done free of charge for Raolin so he would agree to it. I did not want them to fall too much behind. Having them grow to be feral or misanthropic was a bad idea. 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.
