Getting them integrated in the castle town was not very difficult. Cody and Brody were used to keeping a low profile and simply getting on with their work. No problems in the town came from it. The 6 young knights came a month later with the charter and building permits to make the headquarters. The Swifthunts could not argue with a royal charter. The Bronze Hooves had Petras, Jeran, Casone and Enetes join as well. I bought 2 young centaur girls as slaves. This was for the next generations of the tribe. I released them to live with the other centaurs. The members of the order answered directly to the king. This gave them a much higher status than any of the other knights living here. That was fine with me. A suitor sought Molly's hand. It was a mercenary's son from Huntston. He had a crush on her as a kid and have come to win her love. That was romantic. I asked her if she was happy with the match. "As long as I can remain a Rhombus, Father." she said. If she was fine, I saw no problem with it. The boy was fine with matrilineal marriage. Enetes married them. Grissell was happy.
Happiness came from seeing her daughter married. "I would have liked to send my daughters off in order, but having Molly at home and a mother will be the best for her." she said to me. I was not convinced. Then again, being a knight was just a backup plan for her life. If she wanted to focus on being a mother, that was fine. If she wanted to continue being a knight afterwards, I would be her greatest supporter. My 3 daughters were beautiful, educated and fit from their training. They had a charm that other noblewomen did not. Sir Alane Geofridus asked me if he could marry Johna. I told him I would ask her. When I pulled her aside, she said that she would be willing to marry him. That was all I needed. This was not matrilineal. The Geofridus line was more established than ours. When it was announced that the marriage would take place, Gerald White offered to perform it at the cathedral still under construction. That would be a bit of a trip, but the prestige would be so amazing. I accepted. Another noble asked for Holly's hand but she refused. She also wanted a matrilineal marriage.
It was seen as a grave insult, but I did not care. We had gotten 2 marriages down. That meant that there were 4 more to go. My 3 sons needed to find some girls willing to marry them. That would be a challenge. People were all convinced that they were evil demon spawn. Getting past that hurdle was no small matter. Maybe the less devout mercenaries had daughters that they would not mind sparing if I were to give them gold or some gems. That could be done at any time. I wanted to focus on my legitimate daughters. They were my true heirs. With Molly's marriage being matrilineal, her children would also have the Rhombus name. That was what Holly wanted as well. I was not going to deny them that. It was standard that the children belonged to the father's house. As long as I got my sons to fertile young women, they would bring more Rhombuses into the world. Even bastards would be fine at this stage. We were just starting out. We already had 2 successive generations of knights. I could train my grandchildren. Especially those born into my house. Holly's husband was next.
