Gerald and Gerude first. After all, they came first in this batch, and they'll never let anyone else forget it.

The 'first' thing is so very important to both of them, especially when it comes to competitions with each other.  That has died down just a little bit as they've grown older (grown up is not a term I can apply to either boy) but it's still prominent.  Back in the old days, though, the training days... it was hard to separate them for even a moment when those two trained for Armed.  Separating them implied one would do something before the other did.

The competition served me well, though.  What can I say?  I rarely have trainees that eager to trudge through swampland or clean the barracks.  I couldn't keep them away from the most grueling tasks.  One taking the easy road meant that the other twin could claim a harder victory. We can't have that.

Gerald got his Arms first. Oddly, something he doesn't rub in Gerude's nose. Then again, Gerude was only a week behind him. After Gerude got Caerig and Kennit, it would have been a bad idea for Gerald to crow on about first place and second place.  And before Gerude got his Arms, it would have stood to reason that he would get his Arms soon, and any jibes or taunts in that Armless period would be remembered and tucked away, prized for that fateful day...

Not that I'm saying Gerald was really that smart and wary of his brother.  Gerude was always known as the clever one, between the two.  It's just, if Gerude ever did shoot Gerald's nose off around that time, it was without my knowledge.  For all I know, Gerald managed to get himself a replacement nose quick enough that I never found out about it. And, now that I reflect upon it, that's likely what happened.

The two, when together, make an unstoppable team.  That's only when they forget their rivalries, though.  As Armed, I don't tend to pair them up, because the times that those two forget their rivalries are rare.  The results involve far too much collateral damage for the risk to usually be worth it.  To give you an idea of what collateral damage I think is worth it, keep in mind that Katherine and Gerald went out on team assignments with my hearty approval.

On the whole, however, the first two trained quickly and well.  Considering how much scrapping the pair got into while I raised them, they almost had training enough before their official training began.  I hustled them both into Arms training, in fact, just to ensure that one of them didn't manifest Arms early in the middle of one of their increasingly epic fights.  I can't help but say I regret that a little.  It would have been the ultimate one-up in their ongoing series of I-did-it-first arguments.  But then one would have blown the other's head off, and I can't have that in my living room.

It would figure that they would both have a pair of guns as their Arms' primary form, though.  That has never ceased to charm me.

Lute.  Lute has been a rather singular child, which is a bit odd for one who's a twin.  I have to be thankful for that, though.  I'm not sure if I'd like to imagine a world in which Lyric was Lute #2.  On the other hand, maybe I would - for one, I wouldn't have to deal with Ebrellin-i anymore, because he'd be dead.

Lyric is, however, profoundly himself, something I am thankful for.  He is also not Armed, not a bit.  I do not grieve this.  If it's not suited to him, that's a simple fact of life.  Also, it's hard enough with all the other children who are Armed.  They carry a tiny piece of myself with them at all times.  While this sates the part of me that wants to always know what anyone is up to, there's the other part of me that becomes horrified at knowing what my children are always up to.  They have sex, for one, even though they shouldn't be allowed to.  Well, Stevane's mother settled that issue with me, so I suppose Stevane is allowed. For now.  All the others, though, their mothers left or don't care or are Katherine, so they're not allowed to mess about!  (Yes, yes, I know - but they never listen to me.)

All that to say - with the places that Lyric has been, do I really want to have a closer angle to see him? Absolutely not.  Lyric is a special boy.  He can stay a Poet, and write about all of it, and Elete can tell me ahead of time which parts not to read.

Back to Lute. The difficult part about Lute was teaching him when not to be Armed.  I admit I may not have succeeded.  He's been a precocious boy from a young age, but I won't fault him on this: he always brings back his kills.  Sort of like a cat, in that respect. You just have to remind yourself that they think they're giving you a present.  I slipped up once and gave him a kitty treat last time this happened.  He ate it.

Lyric and Lute aren't alike in many regards.  No, they still act like twins.  It comes out in weird ways.  But they don't fight like Gerald and Gerude do.  If Lyric were another Lute, and the two did fight?  I wouldn't have a house anymore and I'd have to call in the Armed to help quash the fighting.

Don't think that I don't have pride in Lute.  I have immense pride in him.  I get questions every now and then, you know, on if it's hard having him as a child.  No, not really.  He cleans up his messes, and by this point he's learned which of them to drag home.  He's also the only one out of the whole lot that will wake up early and cook up breakfast when I want to roll over in bed for the next thirty minutes.  He's the only one who can carry out an entire conversation in the morning without a war breaking out over makeup, manners, clothing or girlfriends.  In a way, he's the most normal out of the bunch, now that he's older.  With my other Armed kids, the Armed came first, and eventually they got their Arms to match.  Lute seemed to be the other way around.  It's as if he was Diyn's kid in the beginning, and then slowly learned to be mine.

He's a good boy.  Don't try to tell me any different.

Ahh, Jennelcia.  Jenny is somewhat of a prodigy among my children.  She knew how to keep herself quiet when she was little (as long as she was properly furnished with toy ponies and was kept well away from Stevane) and very quickly applied herself to the arts of the Armed as she grew older.  She took after her goal with quiet enthusiasm, and never caused a ruckus unless stabbing a fellow trainee in the kneecap (and all of them deserved it).  She's really done, to be honest.  Camden and I have agreed to keep her in training for now for safety's sake (though if it's her safety as a Cruxradia or the public's safety, I can't decide).  She's also quite useful for training others.  There's nothing like having Jenny handy as a standing example of what an Armed can be, and her quiet, perfectly aimed cutting remarks can sometimes reach deeper than Camden's screaming.  (He really does have a gift though.  Those hill people have lungs that could shout Theos down, I sometimes think.  Though I'm quite unsure what they would do once that was accomplished.)

She's so much like her mother that it's frightening, and so much like myself that it just makes me beam.  It's a shame she doesn't quite have a respect for the Law in her, though.  One reason I'm glad I have her on my side.  Jenny's the sort who could spark and fuel a rebellion quite happily, just for the sake of it.  When she'd retooled her play ponies into war horses and set them on a siege against the gingerbread men her sister had made earlier in the day, I wasn't quite sure what to do.  Consider my entire life leading up to her upbringing a success, or start planning defenses in case Jennelcia ever defected to another country.

She has a love of the Arms, though.  All of them, not only her own.  Other Arms, not just her own.  She respects them, reveres them, and talks to them.  They talk back to her as well - the most surprising part.  Armed typically fancy only their weapons, and may admire others a bit, but usually build up rivalries and play games in which they mock (and dodge) each other's Arms.  Arms don't typically care to speak to others besides their Armed, certain other Arms, and myself.  That so many Arms will speak to Jenny quite amiably is impressive.  And that will keep her at our side, no matter what falls to chance.

If you consider me odd for calculating on the possible defection of one of my children, well... that's my own private matter.  I will say that I have my reasons, and there are other children I have that I am not mentioning in this little reverie.  And no, it's not Muriel - I just can't think of him and Arms at all together.  It works even less than musing on Lyric being Armed.

Stevane is a treasure.  But she is very different, and this is where things can go wrong.  All of the others who've been through training have gotten their Arms already.  But I'm not sure how to deal with Stevane.  Elete does it effortlessly.  But he's the Poet King.  Not the Judge.  (There'd need to be help for us all if Elete ever became Judge.)

While growing up, Stevane would often stare into the distance for about a minute, then slowly tilt her head and then go "Huh," before turning around and walking off.  I knew this right away as Poet Potential, and was correct - soon after walking off, she was usually writing or drawing.  Except, now that it's finally time for her to train as an Armed, she'll often stare into the distance at a target, tilt her head, and then go "Huh," right before dead-nailing it with whatever weapon she's aiming with.  That's great, except it seems to be the only time she hits during training sessions.  I'm not sure the skill will be much use to her as an Armed, but it's certainly giving me some thought as to which state of mind brings her closest to communing with her Arms-to-be.

I never thought I'd be asking these questions, really.  Usually Armed are very matter-of-fact.  You can't ask Stevane a question without getting a reply that has riders attached.  I keep talking to Elete about this and he says that she prefers to be precise.  And this is why Myles is training her.  She pays attention to him for some reason, and cuts all the crap.  I mean, not that it's crap, entirely.  It's just, when she's training in the Armed Hall, it's like she never left the Poet Hall.

Elete says I'm just angsting over not having Stevane as a pure Armed.  I'm not, really.  I just don't know what to do with an Armed trainee who woolgathers that much but still isn't caught off-guard.  How can you reprimand for that? It's valid practice of subterfuge!  Then when I suggest to Julia that maybe Stevane's got potential to serve in the Shadow Division, Jhe Wysthaven stares at me as if I've grown a third nose and she's about to stab me in whichever two of them she likes least.

That's similar to her reaction when I proposed the same thing for Raven, though.  And he's in her division now, with her pride backing him.  So I don't know what that means.

Then there is Katherine.  She is not my daughter, of course, but I've had the raising of her, and I know her, and I've seen her grow up (to some degree) several times now.  It's still different, though.  Even beyond the fact that she's not my child, she's the Advocate.  For her, being Armed is different.  It's something she's been since she's born, similar to how it is for me.  I simply am what I am.  The Advocate is not a position that can be bestowed upon a person - she simply is the Advocate, just as I am the Judge.

As she grew, training was not a matter of her learning to be Armed.  It was a matter of watching her learn control, something I can coach on, but can't quite teach.  Especially for her - she's one that controls me, at times.  Even better that she's not my daughter.  I'd hate to have the experience of one of my offspring handing my ass to me the way that Katherine has managed to from time to time.  More often than I'd like, as a matter of fact.

Am I proud of her?  Of course, but it's a different kind of pride.  It's the pride one feels for a partner rather than a student.  It's the kind of pride I can't quite feel for myself at the same time, as I can the other Armed.  In a way, she's similar to Camden - he sort of came to me ready-made.  But the difference is that she doesn't answer to me - she balances me out.  To admit to pride in her is to admit that I myself depend on her.  It's a bit humbling.

But do I feel pride in her?  Of course.  Every day.  Do I want to beat her smug smile out of her every time she notices that pride?  Of course.  She surpasses my children in that regard - I don't think any of them could ever piss me off as much as she does.