Once they were asleep, I went over to Grissell. "Look at the miracles we brought into the world." I whispered to them. Grissell looked at her 3 daughters. "I love my girls. I do not want to part from them. Are we sure we have to force them to leave us for the Mage Academy?" she asked me. I pulled her close. "I believe in my culture from the other world. You know that I do not look down on my daughters in favor of my 3 sons in any way. Johna is my eldest child, so she will be my heir. The lion share of my wealth and property when I die will go to her. I will not need to leave much to my illegitimate children. That is why Holly and Molly must go. They need to make their own way in life. I believe in them so strongly. They are strong. They are fast. They are capable of anything they set their mind to. They are very clever. All I can do is ask you to believe in them too." I said. Grissell frowned at me. I did say anything. I just waited for her to speak. "It's... hard." she said after a bit. As that was something to think about, it was time to move on. She would come around eventually. I really hoped so.
Looking at my sons, I said "The boys are going to be strong warriors. We are raising them well. I have you to thank for the health and success on the home front. They will protect our people. They will defend the innocent from harm. All of them will stand for what's right and just. I believe in them just as much as the girls. I hope you also believe in them." She smiled at me. "I already knew all of that Collin. I see how much you care." she said. I chuckled nervously. With that, we moved on. Us adults got to gossip and chat about things. Yon and his wife were hoping a son would come. I did not care either way. "Wouldn't you have wanted to have a son with your wife?" Yon had asked. "It really was not worth it. He did not survive. Grissell did survive. I chose right." I said. Just ruminating on it would do nothing about it. I grabbed my wife's hand and gently squeezed it. She smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. Yon winced a little. He did not like the reminder. "You know I don't mean it that. She's my sister! Of course I did not want to see her die." he protested. Grissell sighed loudly.
She did not like talking on it. "I know that you didn't. I've made my peace with the fact I'll never have more children. Collin has respected our vows and we have a strong marriage. I might have... reservations about sending our daughters off like they were sons, but he has shown me he only has their best interests at heart." she said. Yon's wife smiled and said "I think it's a bit weird that women can be good warriors on par with men in his world. Maybe those men might have crumbled if they were born here." I just smirked. "Who knows? It's a whole different world back there." was all I said to that. I left for a better life. They would never go anywhere close to the portal in their lifetimes. After more partying, I called it a night. We went to our own place. Early in the morning, it was time to go. Kicking a can down the road was not something we could afford. They needed to get to Mansfield Castle. When they finally got there, a large house was already ready for them. It was a manor big enough for everyone to live in. The Brownflanks were given some land to themselves in the bailey area.
There were no real buildings on that spot. They would be able to have more jousts and training spaces there. I would try to get some builders to build it for them. They all deserved shelter from the elements. As knights in the service of the Swifthunt, they deserved no less. It was a matter of honor and prestige. This took them about a month, but it got done. In the meantime, they hung out in our big yard. Once their stables and field were built, we went over to practice like we usually did. Everyone was officially moved in. Johna was the eldest. She needed to get ready to go to the mage academy. I had looked into it. I was not going to be able to send them to the royal academy. It was way too pricy and exclusive for us. There was one for the low nobility and commoners. It was very likely that she could get in. You would stay for 4 years once you got in. It was less prestigious and the requirements to get in were much lower. To make up for the major discrepancy, it was affiliated with the royal minister of adventuring. The royal government ran accounting and registry of the adventurers.
