Rose: Dad, what were they talking about?
Leon: What do you mean?
Rose: About it not mattering because you're male.
Leon had really hoped Rose would never find out about that, at least not until she was older.
Leon shook his head.
Leon: You will have to talk with your mother about that.
Rose didn't know what to think about that. Her dad had always been able to talk to her about stuff, why not this?
Rose: Oh, okay.
Leon patted Rose on the arm.
Leon: I need to talk to Mu about something, why don't you go spend some time with your mom.
Rose gave a questioning look but did as she was asked. After she was out of sight Leon spoke up.
Leon: Mu, you know that one is going to be trouble, right? That's not just me, is it?
Mu nodded.
Mu: I know for a fact Zenkoh would have informed them that things work differently here, but she still seemed to think that I would just let her do that to you.
Mu gave a small growl.
Mu: She's lucky that she is a child, otherwise I would have done a lot more.
Leon sighed.
Leon: Hopefully they will acclimate to how things work here without too much trouble.
Rose was on her way to the kitchen as that was where her mother tended to be. Once she had made it to the back she opened the door to see Riya cooking what looked to be a meat pie.
Rose: Mom?
This startled Riya for a second as she hadn't noticed Rose come in.
Riya: Yes? Oh, it's you Rose. What is the matter?
Riya could see the confused expression on Rose's face, what could be bothering her?
Rose: Umm...
Rose wasn't sure how to ask about what had just happened at the training yard.
Riya now had a concerned look on her face.
Riya: Is something wrong?
Rose: Some new Gnolls showed up.
Riya relaxed a little bit. Was that all?
Riya: Oh, is that all?
Rose: What did they mean when they said it didn't matter what they did to Dad because he's male?
Riya immediately froze up upon hearing that. What did she say?
Riya: What?
Riya's blood ran cold. Did she just hear that?
Rose: Dad beat one of the new gnolls in a sparring match. When she lost she got mad and tried to attack him when he wasn't looking, Auntie Mu stopped her though. But when asked what she was doing she said that it didn't matter since Dad was male.
Rose's puzzled look only worsened.
Rose: What did she mean by that?
Riya gave an irritated sigh. She had hoped to never have to talk about this with her daughter.
Riya: It is an archaic way of thinking that a lot of Gnolls still use unfortunately. Males are seen as disposable, they don't matter outside of having cubs. Even daughters treat their fathers like they don't mean anything.
Rose had a horrified look on her face at hearing that last part.
Rose: I could never do that to Dad!
Riya smiled at hearing that.
Riya: I know. And I am proud of you for that but there are those that think differently.
After Riya had finished the prep for the meat pie and put it in the stone oven she made her way over to Rose.
Riya: You said that Mu dealt with it?
Rose: Yes, she stopped them before they could do anything.
Riya: Tomorrow I'm going to need to meet them myself.
Rose could tell by the look on her mother's face that she was upset about something.
Later on when Leon and Riya were getting ready for bed.
Riya: Are you sure you're okay?
Leon: I'm going to assume that Rose told you what happened.
Riya nodded.
Leon: Yes, I'm fine. Mu stopped her before she could do anything to me.
Riya crossed her arms and huffed.
Riya: I am going to the training yard with you tomorrow, I need to introduce myself to them anyways.
When morning came it was the same as the last except for the fact that Riya was up this time. When Leon was peeking out of the door to look for someone Riya had a confused look on her face.
Riya: What are you doing?
Leon: hmm, oh just checking.
What was that supposed to mean?
When they stepped out into the hall Riya was able to hear someone running their way before anyone was visible. After a moment Rose appeared from around the corner. Before Leon could react she had already grabbed him and picked him up.
Rose: Got you!
Rose then began rubbing her face against his. Upon seeing this Riya smiled at the cute display. She was glad that Rose bonded so closely with Leon, he had been so worried what would happen when she got bigger.
Riya: Are we about ready to go?
Leon: After Rose puts me down I'll be ready.
Riya got a mischievous smile.
Riya: Why should she need to do that though? You look so cute like that.
Rose got an excited look on her face.
Rose: Really!
Leon gave Riya an annoyed look. Riya mouthed "sorry" to him before Rose took off down the hallway towards the training yard while still carrying him. Once they had arrived at the training yard Zhahz and her daughter were waiting for them. Once they were in the middle of the practice grounds Rose let Leon down.
Leon: Hopefully you weren't waiting too long.
Zhahz shook her head.
Zhahz: No, not long at all.
Riya: So your daughters are the new trainees?
Zhahz: That is correct. May I ask who you are?
Riya gave a small smile.
Riya: Of course. I am Riya Ashmaw and I am the one currently in charge of Fort Stoneholde. And this.
Riya put her arms around Leon and picked him up.
Riya: Is my mate, Leon.
As she was saying this she was nuzzling his neck with her snout.
Leon: Do you really need to do that here?
Riya: You know you like it!
While watching what was happening in front of them Sessa had a mildly curious look on her face while Zhahz had a neutral look. Vuth looked visibly irritated.
Zhahz: I would have to assume then that Rose is your daughter?
Riya: That would be correct.
Zhahz: That would explain yesterday then. I just wanted to avoid saying something...untoward.
Riya: Yes, I heard about that. It was a good thing that my sister was here to deal with your daughter. If she had actually done anything to Leon then there would have been problems.
Zhahz: Of course, I understand. Vuth has always been rowdy, but never like that before.
Leon: Well, if that is handled then let's get the training started.