“I forgot to tell you,” Gregory said as they walked to the archive, “that during meditation, I was able to get my aether to show me the last Empire’s Gambit game.”
Yukiko looked thoughtful as she considered the implications.
“Every turn?” Clover asked.
“From start to finish,” Gregory said. “I even had it slow down so I could think about each move and what else might have come with each choice.”
“Which should have taken hours,” Ling said.
“Yes, but during meditation, time can compress or extend,” Jenn said. “When you get to the cavern, you’ll understand.”
“Do you think we can do it?” Nessa asked.
“You should try with Magi Squares, first,” Yukiko told her.
“That’s what we’ve been doing,” Jenn nodded.
“That’s all three in one…” Clover whispered with wide eyes.
“It is,” Daciana grinned. “We’ll be the best because of how we train.”
“We didn’t do it until after the solstice,” Gregory said, “but you might be able to. Try it and see. It’s not dangerous. The worst that happens is that you’re pulled from the meditation. All you have to do is just recenter and try again.”
“We will,” Victoria smiled.
“We have to see the cavern first,” Ling exhaled.
“It’ll be soon,” Clover said.
Ling gave her friend a head shake, but she was smiling. “I hope it will be, too.”
Gregory saw a novice standing near the doors of the archive. The others all saw him moments later, their curiosity rising.
Kyle Walun straightened upon seeing them. His surprise was clear as he watched them come closer. “Ah, Aether’s Guard. I didn’t think all of you came to the archive in the morning.”
“Learning is never wasted,” Yukiko said. “Are you waiting for someone?”
Walun’s eyes clearly went to Daciana before darting away. “Ah, I…”
“What?” Daciana asked, having seen him look straight at her. “Did you come to challenge me? Is it because of the tournament?”
“Yes… wait, no…! But…” Walun’s tongue clearly got tied as he tried to answer and failed.
Seeing Walun growing embarrassed, Gregory stepped forward. “Ladies, why don’t you go on ahead? I’ll see if I can’t help him untangle his words.”
Walun’s flushed face was obvious, and now he was looking well away from the group.
“Hmm, yes,” Yukiko said. “We’ll see you shortly, dear one.”
When the others had all gone inside, Gregory gave Walun a shrug. “Take a deep breath and try again when you can.”
Walun turned away, clearly trying to regain his ability to speak without making a mess of it. After several seconds, he turned back to Gregory. “I thought that Lyall came alone.”
Gregory’s eyebrow went up and he squared his shoulders. “So you did come to challenge her?”
“No!” Walun nearly shouted, and his face flushed again.
“Was it because of the tournament?”
“Yes…” Walun exhaled slowly. “I think I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
“Hang on,” Gregory said. “You didn’t fight to hurt people. I remember your fights.”
“I only did what I had to. Hurting the others isn’t what we’re supposed to do… we just need to win.”
“When Shun called out to you before your fight with Daciana—”
“I hate him,” Walun cut Gregory off, the revulsion on his face was clear. “I’m glad that my family distanced itself from his.”
“You’re related?” Gregory asked.
“My great-grandmother is from the Shun family. She didn’t have magic and was married to a merchant to make the family a profitable relationship. I was the first of my family to be a magi, but it obviously comes from her line.”
“Because it’s fire,” Gregory said. “But… I’ve heard,” he quickly hedged what he was about to say, “not all magic comes from the mother’s line. Sometimes, it’s just what your soul yearns for.”
Walun’s lips pursed and he looked thoughtful. “I wanted to burn away all my attachments to… well, that didn’t work, as I’m clearly a fire magi.”
“But you use it differently,” Gregory said. “Fire touch instead of balls of fire. You used that to make people submit. You never went for the worst you could have… never grabbed the head or neck.”
“Shun does that, and worse,” Walun said tightly.
“Not being like them just makes me like you more,” Gregory chuckled. “So tell me, why did you come for my friend?”
Walun swallowed then met Gregory’s eyes. “Is she seeing anyone?”
Gregory blinked slowly for a moment, then grinned. “Not that I know of, but knowing what a woman is doing is something even foresight has trouble with.”
A smile tugged at Walun’s lips. “My father said something similar, about how a woman’s mind is a mystery to even the gods.”
“Wait… you aren’t just interested in her to spite Shun, are you?” Gregory asked suddenly, glaring at Walun when he asked.
“No,” Walun said quickly. He coughed and looked away. “She’s just…” He exhaled a rough breath. “I should go.”
“Or you can join us for today,” Gregory said, mellowing when he understood what Walun couldn’t say. “We’ll see how they feel about you being at the table. Your clan might not approve of your interest. You know that, right?”
Walun rubbed his hands on his kimono. “They might not… I just wanted to find out if I have even the remotest chance.”
“She’s dedicated to the clan,” Gregory cautioned the younger man. “Be aware of that.”
Walun nodded, taking a deep breath and giving Gregory a shaky smile. “Thank you.”
The two men entered the archive and were greeted by Rafiq. “Novice, Apprentice, good morning to you both.”
“Morning, Rafiq,” Gregory said. “I’m fine with the book I’ve been reading.”
Walun took a slow breath. “Archivist, is the book I was reading still available?”
“Yes. I can have it brought to you,” Rafiq told Walun.
“He’ll be with us this morning,” Gregory said.
“Hmm… it’s not often that two clans study together,” Rafiq said.
Walun’s smile became stressed. “We’re not studying as clans…”
Rafiq nodded slowly. “I see. The books will be prepared. Good studying to you both.”
“Thank you,” Gregory smiled, then nudged Walun. “Come on, they’re this way.”
Yukiko was the first one to look up, and her head tilted slightly upon seeing Walun with Gregory. “Dear one, do we have a guest?”
Walun swallowed under the curious gazes of seven women.
“He’ll join us for today, if no one objects,” Gregory said.
“He didn’t come to challenge me?” Daciana asked, giving Walun a piercing stare.
“No,” Walun said quickly.
“Hmm, but you listened to Shun…” Daciana nearly growled.
“No,” Walun said firmly, a hint of anger to his own voice.
“Wait,” Gregory said, stepping in. “Walun doesn’t like Shun.”
“But during the fight, he listened to him,” Daciana said tightly.
Walun exhaled. “No. I almost walked backward just to spite the ass, but we had to fight regardless of what we wanted.” His cheeks heated and he looked away from Daciana. “You fought well.”
“You wanted me to introduce you,” Nessa said suddenly. “That’s what you tried to ask me before our fight.”
“Yeah…” Walun admitted, his face heating again. He snorted softly and looked up. “You both beat me. My clan was disappointed that I lost. You two shook up everyone with how well you did. I knew you two could fight… I watched during training, but I had no idea what you could do with your magics.”
“Sit,” Victoria said softly. “At least stay and talk with us.”
“After Magi Squares,” Yukiko said. “When we break away, you can all chat.”
Gregory took his seat. “Have you done Magi Squares, Walun?”
“Yes, I’ve been using them for…” Walun trailed off when he saw the paper Gregory suddenly had in front of him. “What is that?”
“It’s advanced,” Gregory chuckled. He pointed to the page before Daciana. “That’s what they’re currently doing.”
Walun looked at Daciana’s paper and nodded. “Yes, those.”
“I have an extra,” Nessa said, sliding a blank grid to Walun. “Make one. We pass them to the left today.”
Walun blinked, then looked around the table. The only three that had the advanced puzzles were Gregory, Yukiko, and Jenn. “Okay. Thank you for inviting me to study with you.”
“You’ll be welcomed back, if they invite you,” Gregory told him. “If your clan objects, we’ll ask you to stop. We already have trouble with the Eternal Flame, so we don’t want to anger Swift Wind, too.”
Walun nodded, pulling ink and pen from his belt pouch. “I understand.”
~*~*~
Gregory was surprised that Walun wasn’t with the novices as they left the archive. “Did something happen?”
“No,” Nessa said. “He had to meet his clanmates for breakfast.”
“Was he respectful?” Ling asked.
“Very,” Victoria said, “even if he did constantly sneak looks at Daciana.”
“I don’t like him that way,” Daciana said firmly. “I have my mind made up on who my mate will be.”
“We’ll be finding a way to break the news to him,” Nessa said quickly to change the topic.
“We’d like to keep his clan as allies,” Yukiko said.
“We think we have a way around that,” Victoria said, “though it might get trickier for the long term.”
“We need to head to class,” Daciana said quickly, walking off in haste.
“Later,” Nessa told Yukiko as she jogged after her friend.
“During the bath,” Victoria added before she also followed them.
“I guess that would be girl talk,” Gregory said. “He told me he was interested, but I didn’t know what to say. I had no idea if Daciana had someone she’s interested in or not.”
“She does,” Jenn said. “We should start walking, though. We want the table well away from Nick.”
“We’ll figure it out, dear one,” Yukiko told him.
Clover and Ling watched the others— they stayed quiet, but clearly had been listening. Seeing that the other two wanted to change the subject, Ling asked, “How do you think the game will go?”
“Gin and Egil will have a plan as Krogga. The question will be if Paul can mesh with them or if they’ll have trouble between them,” Yukiko replied.
“Paul will be fine,” Clover interjected. “He’s always studying, right? He’s very knowledgeable, too. He was always ready to help Egil before they separated us into classes. They also had a chance to talk strategy after class yesterday.”
“I think they’ll win,” Jenn nodded. “I wonder how bad they’ll make the Eternal Flame look?”
“Wind, fire, and physical for their magi…” Gregory said. “It’s possible Ashon and the other one combine for a fire storm effect. That’ll hurt even Krogga’s army.”
“But it would take all of their aether and keep them out of it for a long time,” Clover countered.
“We’ll find out,” Ling smiled. “I look forward to this. I’m going to be taking many notes.”
“We can compare them during our morning study session,” Yukiko said. “Comparing what we each saw or suspected will be helpful.”
“Sounds good to me,” Gregory agreed.
“Pettit!” Hayworth called out as the group got closer to the tactics’ hall.
“Hayworth,” Gregory greeted the Swift Wind apprentice.
“A question,” Hayworth said. “I’ve heard they’ll be keeping you from the tournament. Is that true?”
“Yes. There’s thought that if I win, there would be doubt if I used foresight at all.” Gregory shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m not upset, and I understand the reasoning.”
“A pity,” Hayworth sighed. “I’d been hoping to see what you could do.”
“Maybe we’ll have a game in the future,” Gregory said. “I had no idea you wanted to play against me.”
“You’ve made me reevaluate my position on some subjects. I wanted to see if you were skilled with command, as well.”
“He is,” Yukiko said. “He wins and loses equally to us, and you might get to face us.”
Hayworth looked at the women and his lips twitched. “Yes. Strangely, I’ll look forward to it. How different things can be in just two years… If we don’t face each other, I’ll be looking forward to seeing your games during the Buldoun event.”
Jenn laughed. “We’ll be there. Best of luck for your team.”
Hayworth bowed his head. “Shall we?” He motioned to the door.
“Of course.”
As they entered the hall, someone was waiting for them. “Excuse me, Apprentices,” Harrison said. “Hayworth, join your table. I need to speak with them.”
Hayworth hesitated, then walked off.
“How can we help you, Magus?” Ling asked.
Harrison was silent for a handful of seconds before he exhaled. “Will you deliver a message to Bishop for me?”
“Of course,” Yukiko replied. “Verbal or written?”
Harrison pulled out a sealed scroll case. “For her hand alone.”
Seeing his bare hand touching the case and nothing wet on it, Yukiko took it. She touched it to her obi, letting it vanish. “I’ll give it to her when I see her next, Magus.”
Harrison exhaled slowly, then he bowed his head a fraction. “My thanks.”
“Our pleasure, sir,” Gregory said.
Harrison walked toward his clan, and the group went toward the table they’d used before. Gregory wondered what Harrison had written, but sighed, knowing that he’d likely never know.
