I was feeling pretty bold here, but I was confident that Molly could do it. She smiled brightly at me. "I will do my best, Father." she said. "That's all that I can ask from my children. I love each and every one of you. The more that you put your best selves out there, I am sure more people will see what I see in you." I said to all 4 of them. It was then that Leonardo smirked. "I know what they see in me already. It's fine the way it is." he said. Both Lenard and Lennox were too focused on the young ladies to pay me much mind. I could only hope that this would lead to them having more interest in getting matched up and married. Nota and Mott were both visibly flustered from the attention. Eudon did not wake up for another half hour. When he did, he looked for his sword at his hip. He drew it as he stomped over to us. "Unhand my sister and cousin, monsters!!" he screamed. I looked at my sons. "Well, I guess you should let them go back to their protector." I said. Lenard let Mott go and she scurried over to him. Lennox pulled Nota closer. "I want to marry her!!" he said. That really surprised us.
Doing this was a great boon for me. The nobleman drew his blade. "There is no way I am letting a demon take my sister from me! Unhand her or die, monster." he said. I could tell that he said it with malice dripping from his mouth. This was the time that a loving father was supposed to save the day. "Are you sure, Lennox? You should get to know someone before you try to marry them. A happy marriage is built on a foundation of trust and affection after all." I asked. He nodded his head. "Molly did not need to know much about Rabbie before she said she would marry him." he argued. That was true. "That may be true, but you have to take her side into account. You have to let her go. We can ask her family to let you court her." Reluctantly, Lennox let Nota go after a bit. She ran to her brother's arms. They scurried off. We knew their family name. We could investigate them later. We stayed for another 10 minutes before we walked back to the inn we were staying. The others had the house. We had to focus on the huge archery competition. Molly got to the final round. She placed third out of 64.
Even though it was a great showing, I was a bit miffed that they gave the tie to the male commoner over her. She was a knight. By all rights, she should have had the big second place prize. Molly was fine with it. Rabbie was in the stands watching. He rushed down to the stands when she was given her prize. We all ran down with him. I lifted her up and we cheered. Molly was a bit embarrassed, but it was important for her to know that she was loved by so many people. I saw that Nota and Mott were there. Eudon was chaperoning them. They had unexpectedly hit it off with Molly at the tavern. Lenard was not interested in getting into it with them. Lennox went up to them. He took Nota by the hand again. "I'm glad that you're here. I wanted to speak to you." he said. She smacked him again. "I have no business with you. I am only her to lend my support to your sister." she said. He only blushed. "Can you... possibly... hit me... again?" he asked. She smirked. "So, that's your aim. Using me for your sick perversions!? I think not!" she spat. Lennox begged her. Eudon looked really disgusted.
Freaky as it was, Lennox was trying his best. I got a letter from Eudon. I decided to read it. The Aales Family was willing to give over Nota to Lennox for a hefty bride price. I had quite a bit on hand after my bets. They must have been in bad financial straits to do this. That was not my problem. I had enough cash to pay for it. We went straight to their home. I gave her father the money. He let us take her with us back to Huntston. I made sure that they were separated at night. It was not appropriate at the moment. They were not married yet. It was also very clear to see that he did not have her consent for sex. That was going to take a lot of time. Lenard looked at me. I just waited for him to speak. "Do you want me to get married soon?" he asked. I nodded my head. "I want you to take your time finding someone that you will be able to love. Beyond that, I also want that person to be a woman that will love you back. Don't worry if it takes you some time." I told him. He left and went about his business. It was good. Betan was ecstatic. His tournament debut went well. Alane returned to Johna.
