Keeping out of sight, I did not want her getting cold feet again. Lenard looked directly towards me and smiled. He was part dryad and my son. All 3 of them were good at sensing where people and animals were. I could not hide from him. Then again, I would not want to on most situations. Lenard and the girl spent the next hour together. I hoped it would stick this time. When the celebration was over, we went to bed. Gerald wanted us to stay for a whole week. Far be it from us to refuse a stay in a palace. I was the only one that wanted to be around him. Betan was no coward. He just thought that albinism was freakish. Gerald was the one that did not like Betan's company surprisingly. Betan was a martial idiot. He honestly did not have much of worth to say when not talking about weapons or fighting. Gerald did not realize that I was not a member of the faith until the preparation for the big wedding. I told him after the wedding that I was part of the centaur pagan religion. He was shocked by that. "You can't be serious, Collin! You are a human. Let's talk about all of this." Gerald worried at me.
Listening was fine. He was a merchant's son that was installed rather corruptly. That did not mean he was not devout personally. He clearly cared about me. "I know it might sound really fun to be a outworlder dabbling with deities, but you should be careful. Our gods do not discriminate when you are in their domain." he warned. "In the world I was born in, the gods did not interfere with the lives of humans. It was so distant from us that millions of people did not believe one ever existed. When I came here, I did not care about religion. The centaur shamans have powers. I am part of their tribe and I have enhanced speed. That is something I can believe in. Due to that fact, I can not just abandon my friends and some of my children." Gerald hung his head low. "Fancy that. The one human I have ever been friends with is a heathen condemned to oblivion." he muttered under his breath. It had to be a sad life to lead as an outcast. After that, I took my leave. He probably needed some space. I went outside and saw Leonardo arguing with a young man. I had to approach to know more.
It was only a second into approaching that the young man turned to me. "You! Sir Collin Rhombus, I presume." he yelled in my direction. I simply nodded my head at him out of distaste. "It's bad enough that you bring your abominations out here. Why is it that you have no leash on them when they are clearly evil?" he spat at me. "I ask you to take that back. I have taught all 6 of my children right from wrong." I said very firmly. I just met him and he was already pissing me off. The young man scoffed and spat on the ground in my direction. "I am a paladin of the God of Wind. I can smell the sickly sweet scent of an evil god on him." he declared. Leonardo was a sadist. He also was part of the druidic religion. I knew that the kingdom's religion considered the dryads demonic, but I did not know that pledging to be a paladin of the forest would mark him as evil. Then again, Enetes was a shaman. If a soft spoken guy like him could also give a reading of evil, I would disregard this religion entirely. There was no way to know for sure. "I am a paladin. Let's have a duel." Leonardo offered with glee.
