True to his word, Sir Thomas soon met Gerald and Owen in the woods.

"Let's go, cousins!" Sir Thomas joyfully said.

"Is that why my mom dislikes you so much, since you are so informal?" Owen asked, then stopped. "Wait, cousins?"

Sir Thomas laughed. "What do you think happens to younger sons in this kingdom?"

Owen thought about the fantasy and isekai stories from the odd memories or dreams he had from some other place, then asked "Don't they get their own domains or something?"

"Nope," Sir Thomas replied. "That could happen with the royal family, but we are from a baron family. The baron is a lower ranked noble who receives land and titles from the king in exchange for taxes and military service. See that field over there? That's where the peasants muster on Sundays for archery training."

"Each noble must be able to provide a certain number of soldiers to the king. Here, the peasants did a lot of hunting before our kingdom conquered them, and so they have a strong archery tradition. Other fiefs might have an emphasis on spearmen."

Owen remembered conflicting historical theories from his memories about the composition of medieval armies. However, studies on the bones of medieval English peasants showed that there were peasant farmers who regularly trained with bows from a young age, which was supported by records mentioning compulsory military training for peasant males on Sundays. That is not a denial of different kings or places using mercenaries or small professional armies also, but as options in addition to feudal conscripts that persisted into modern times as first militias and later reservists.

Sir Thomas continued with "So splitting up a fief between children would waste taxes and conscripts too much. This is wasteful because the land for each noble shrinks, but having additional noble families uses up more tax money for supporting each additional family instead of just one noble family ruling over the entire fief. The royal family confirms the titles anyway since the title as a noble comes from him, so even if a lord in this kingdom wanted to split up his estate between heirs it would not be allowed."

"Then what happens to the younger sons?" Owen asked.

"The second son usually becomes a knight as a backup heir, in case something happens to the heir of the title. Other sons can become knights, priests, or use their education."

"Are we actually cousins?" Owen asked.

"My grandfather was a knight who was the younger brother to your grandfather. My dad became a merchant in a city, but lost everything after upsetting the local viscount. That is why he is angry all the time." Gerald added as he joined into the conversation.

"The fitz Raven family prefers to hire others of our blood more than peasants, as long as they don't become rivals. After all, just look at them. It is obvious that we are smarter and bigger than the peasants." Owen said.

That size and intelligence difference is just a matter of better nutrition and getting an education, but this society does not seem to recognize that, Owen thought to himself.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"So to answer your question, I was the elder son of Gerald's grandfather and became a knight. I also grew up with your dad since we were pages, and later squires, to the same knight. I am also Gerald's uncle and I guess your second cousin once removed. Nobody told you any of this?"

"Well, uh, no," Owen replied with embarrassment.

"Well, you don't go out much except to eat or to check on Gerald. You were supposed to become a page years ago since you are the heir and need to receive martial training, but your mother has stepped in and prevented this."

Owen remembered fighting as hard as he could in order to prevent being sent away to be a page. Hmmm. I wonder where this guy is going by bringing up this stuff. I better change the subject fast. He looked around and said "So this is what it looks like outside our manor. It looks like the manor is in a good defensive position over the road towards the border. Our hilltop has a nice view in both directions of the road, with a road from the manor going down the hill to the main road." That should get this musclehead to talk about something else.

Sir Thomas laughed. "You certainly are clever for your age. However, have you heard of the carrot and the stick?"

Owen felt a sudden dread. I wish I didn't feel so bad for Gerald, because it gets me involved with other people, like this guy, who are such a hassle to deal with. But Gerald must be like a proxy for those memories of having my own kids. Although I wasn't nearly as bad as Gerald's father, I did yell at my kids too much for a while. Even though I changed, I died before they were ready to make it on their own. I hope they are ok.

"Oh, do you have allergies?" Sir Thomas said with disapproval.

"What do you mean?" Owen asked.

"Your eyes are starting to water. You can wash your face at the village."

"I guess so," Owen said as he thought now I am getting distracted and showed some emotion to a musclehead. Crap!

"As it stands, your ability to inherit the title is in question, since you have gotten out of your training. That puts your usefulness to the king in doubt, as your father's opponents have been spreading rumors about your weakness and lack of courage. The king might decide to just give the barony to one of his favorites, and your dad's allies have difficulty defending you since you are shirking your martial duties. This has already been made clear to you. However, what do you think will happen to Gerald once another faction gets the barony of Beckthorpe?"

Owen's expression went from annoyance to concern.

"I see you haven't considered what would happen to the servants and village if you lost everything. It could get really bad for them, but it isn't too late. So how about I take both you and Gerald as pages? This would normally start around the age of seven in another house, but I just happen to be a knight who could train you here. Plus it would give Gerald a better chance at life. Not only would you help save Gerald by doing your duties and inheriting your title, but he could be your trusted knight and assistant when you inherit. Heck, you could even make him do all the work!" Sir Thomas was getting into this sales pitch, and starting to look smug.

Even though Owen could see from his expression that the idea of having to do all the work of running a fief gave Gerald pause, becoming a knight was a dream of Gerald's that had previously been unattainable. This Thomas guy is such a pain to deal with, especially since I had dismissed him as a musclehead all this time. Now it looks like he has maneuvered me into a corner.

"Think about the future for you and Gerald while we are out. You need to hurry in your decision because you both have such a late start, and your family's visibility means that the other factions know you have not been training. However, if we can train you both up fast enough to perform competently in larger training exhibitions with other pages and nobles, then we can get away with making you squires at the normal age despite the abnormal situation."

Now Gerald is getting excited. "Okay, we'll do our best!" he spits out.

It doesn't look like I have a choice anymore. I really underestimated this jerk, and now I have to be his page! Owen gloomily thought. I hope this doesn't set off another round of nightmares about being bullied by my section in Iraq again, whatever that crap was.