I had that power as a knight. All knights in the kingdom could have squires at will and raise them to knighthood at their discretion. While pages and squires were there to serve the knight, it was just reality that a child could not pay their own way. The knight-errant that wandered with no lord needed to make sure the page and squire was fed and protected. A poor knight could not do that very often if at all. That would be largely reserved for the knights serving lords with land and a stable income to fund him. I was technically bound as an attendant knight to Anthony. That meant that I was honor and duty bound to follow and protect him. He was not high in the succession in the family. If Lord Swifthunt were to die, it would be his eldest son all the way back in Hereford that would take the title. Anthony was the third son. When Simon came here to take the new title of Count, Fabien would become the new regent of Hereford Castle if not made a baron in his own right. Where would that leave Anthony? If he was lucky, he could be a mayor of Huntston. Or, the kings could appoint someone new.
Doing so was in their purview. It was royal land that was granted to us by the king for their development project. We could obviously appeal to the king to get Anthony the mayor job. Anthony and I were the ones that introduced him to the power of steam at the sauna. We definitely had the king's favor. Still, if Simon or Fabien were to die before Anthony, he could get a noble title. We made our way back to the house. I placed Leonardo on the ground. It was a great time. "In the morning, we can find some flowers to give to your mother the next time we see her." I told them. I went back to my house and got ready for dinner. Because my children were now squires, they no longer needed to serve me. Because Lenard and Lennox were more submissive and masochistic, they actually were fine with continuing. Leonardo told me explicitly that he did not want to serve Grissell and my daughters anymore. "I don't want to give food to someone who hates me." he said. That made sense. I would be lying if I said that she did not resent him for being born from a dryad. Leonardo did not need to do it.
Even Lenard and Lennox were told that they did not need to come. That was not something I would subject them to. Masochism was a hell of a drug. They liked serving my wife, Grissell, more than serving me. If I was to make a guess as to why, it would be for the scorn or discomforting looks she would get on her face. It was not something I could talk to Grissell about. She was my wife. I was forcing her to accept my bastard children. If I wanted to, I could have been satisfied with my 3 daughters and left it at that. I did not want to do that. I wanted to pass my new family name down to a new generation. I needed a son for that in this world. She allowed it because I was going to make my daughters into knights. That would meant that the lord of the land could make them fight. It was something that she could not accept as a woman of this world and kingdom. A mistress was a compromise. Having her treat the children better would be a rebuke of her that I could not make. They were bastard kids out of wedlock. Her religion said they were demon spawn. It would be extremely cruel now.
