Gregory was still boggling over the sheer amount of vela that traded hands at the auction house when he woke the next morning. Yoo-jin had bid on an item or two, but never chased after them like the others seemed to.
Walking toward the archive, Yukiko finally asked a question that had weighed on her mind, “Greg, does it bother you?”
Gregory glanced at her as he was pulled from his thoughts. “It’s going to take me a bit to get used to, and I kind of hope I don’t get used to it. One of those items went for a million vela last night.”
Yukiko looked down, “You didn’t ask for anything.”
“Everything cost more than my village by the time a winning bid was reached,” Gregory replied. “I’m trying Yuki, but… I had thought Hemet’s was bad enough.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t go with them tonight. We can go to the tavern and wait there.”
“No. It’s best if we go. Maybe we can make sure they don’t buy anything we don’t need.”
“Mother knows better, but we’ll go if that’s what you want.”
“Maybe by the end of the week, I’ll be used to it,” Gregory chuckled.
Yukiko gave him a knowing smile, “You won’t be, but I find that charming. Too many others would be champing at the bit to spend as much as they could.”
Gregory shook his head at the idea as they entered the archive. “Good morning, Rafiq.”
“Morning to you both. It is still a surprise to see novices here so early during the tournament. I’ll have the scrolls brought shortly.”
“No need,” Yukiko told him. “We’re going to be doing Magi Squares for an hour only. We need to get our training in, such as we can. Between the tournament and family, we have even less time than normal.”
“Ah, yes, that would be the case. Congratulations to you for your victories yesterday, and good luck today.”
“Thank you,” they said together as they bowed to him.
That jogged Gregory’s memory, “We fought in the main arena yesterday, and one of the archivists was in the box. Is she the chief archivist?”
“Chief Archivist Sarinia,” Rafiq replied.
“I hope she enjoyed her time yesterday.”
“She normally dislikes the tournaments. They take her away from her duties here.”
“Ah, I can understand that,” Yukiko nodded. “Father used to get that way if he was away from the caravan for too long.”
“Let me not delay you,” Rafiq said, hoping to stop the conversation. “Training is important.”
“We’ll see you in an hour,” Gregory said as they headed for their table.
Rafiq exhaled softly as he watched them go. His eyes flickered to the balcony that looked down onto the entryway where a patch of shadow winked at him and vanished. Shaking his head, Rafiq stopped one of the other archivists and made sure they knew to leave the two novices alone for the week unless they asked for help.
~*~*~
When they were packing up their things, Gregory was a little frustrated at how he was struggling with the Magi Squares. Yukiko was able to solve the ones he made easily. He absent-mindedly said goodbye to Rafiq as they left, trying to figure out how he could make his squares more difficult without them being impossible.
“Greg,” Yukiko commented as they walked toward the training hall, “the last one was good.”
“Huh?”
“The last puzzle you gave me to do. It was challenging.”
“Oh. You seemed to breeze through them all pretty easily. I was worried I wasn’t challenging you.”
“Honestly, I was worried that I made yours too hard,” Yukiko said. “I’ve been around them for years so I’ve had chances to work on them before. Father will be getting us his old ones, and Dia has agreed to have her staff prepare blank ones for us both.”
“Is that what you stopped to ask her last night?”
“One of the things.”
“What were the others?”
“Making sure she was aware that we would be receiving packages, valuable packages.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
“Still earlier than anyone else,” Gregory said a few minutes later when they reached the training hall.
“Good. Hopefully, we can train without interruption.”
“That would be nice,” Gregory agreed.
They went to one of the smaller rooms and put their bags to one side. Going to the middle of the room, they exchanged smiles and took the first position of their meditation stretches.
~*~*~
Gregory sighed, the chiming of the bell bringing him out of his aether cavern, where he had been doing the physical exercises to train both paths at once. Yukiko smiled when he looked at her.
“That was good,” Yukiko commented. “Did your fire have green flashes appearing in it?”
“Yeah, I chalked it up to the powder and leaves from the alchemist.”
“That was my thought as well, but I wondered if it was the same for you.”
“Let’s get going. They should be announcing the next set of matches,” Gregory said as he snagged his bag.
“If we give them a few minutes, the initial crowd will clear out some and we might not have to deal with Nick and the others.”
“Fair,” Gregory admitted. “Wonder if we’ll face any of them today?”
“If we do, the rings will come in handy,” Yukiko said. “You have the core to replenish yours?”
“In my bag,” Gregory replied. “I’m going to do my best to avoid using the bracelet, if I can. I’d like to have a surprise for the final eight, since I don’t have a shadow teleport ring.”
Yukiko shook her head, “It’s been hard not to use it. I could end the fights so much more quickly if I used it at the start.”
“Which is why you should save it for the final eight.”
“Yes. If we both make it to the final eight, do you think we’ll end up against each other before the final match?”
“It’s pretty likely, honestly. But it’ll depend on who’s setting up the matches and if they’re trying to rig it for anyone.”
“Hmm, that is a good point.”
“Wait and see,” Gregory said, pausing by the door to the room.
“What is it?” Yukiko asked when he stopped.
“This,” Gregory turned back to her and took her into his arms, kissing her softly.
Yukiko returned the kiss, her arms going around his waist as she snuggled close.
The moment drew out, but Gregory eventually stepped back. “Since we can’t do that in public, I’m going to steal kisses when I can.”
“Steal as many as you want,” Yukiko murmured as she placed her hand over his heart. “My heart may have anything he wishes.”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Because I found my heart with you,” Yukiko replied. “It’s hard to explain. My mother used to tell me a tale from her mother, who heard it from hers, and so on. We each have a heart in the world, the one who helps us live, truly live, instead of merely surviving. They were right. My world has become so much brighter and joyful since I met you. When I saw you the first time, my heart beat a little faster; when you caught me during the testing, I nearly fainted. Not from the strain, but because you cared enough to protect me.”
Gregory stared into her cyan eyes, seeing the depth of her love.
“It gave me the courage to speak to you that night, even though I was sure you would spurn me, as so many who know my heritage have done.” Yukiko’s smile grew, “But you didn’t. You welcomed me, even called me a friend, and suggested we help each other. My heart soared that you would be beside me, if only for a little while. I struggled to accept what I felt for you, trying to tell myself it was just a momentary thing, that I was betrothed. My heart wouldn’t listen, though, for it beat inside of you.”
Gregory felt awkward as he listened to her. His feelings for her now matched hers, but he knew they had not at the start.
“I didn’t say anything to my mother when I wrote her because I wasn’t sure what to do. I was torn between what my family would have of me and what I wished for myself. I was ashamed, yet happy, to live even for a little while longer with the dream that I could have you instead of my betrothed. I was going to tell her that first night… I was going to go and plead with her, beg her if needed, but…” Yukiko trailed off and her ears turned red. “I gave it all away when I reacted to you being injured. The anger I felt in that moment— I’ve never felt anything like it before. When Mother said we had to talk, I felt my world fall apart around me. I was so sure she was going to chastise me for being overly familiar with you.”
Gregory recalled her face when she had left the room. His own heart had been nearly crushed.
“When we went next door, she asked me to tell her the truth. For a moment, I thought about lying, but I didn’t. It was hard, but I told her, as I tell you now, that I had found my heart. She stared at me for what seemed like years, then her smile bloomed and she held me, kissing my head and telling me it was okay, that my heart was free to choose as it would. Then she told me that I had to find out if my heart was true, and we came back into the room.”
Gregory smiled warmly as he recalled her awkwardness then, too.
“I tried to ask you, but I remembered you telling me your dream as a child of being a magi. It was wrong of me to ask like I did, but I wanted to know if I could be as dear to you as your dream.” Her cheeks were flushed as she remembered that moment. “To be told that I was more important than the thing you had been wanting all your life… That was the moment I knew that you were deeply and truly my heart.”
Gregory pulled her to him, gently, his arms around her waist as hers went around his neck. “I’m honored to be your heart, Yuki. I’ll do my best to be the man you can always love.” Leaning forward, he kissed her just as softly as before, but with infinitely more love.
Yukiko trembled in his arms when the kiss ended, resting her head against his chest. “My knees are weak. I know we can’t, but I want to stay here like this forever.”
“Tempting, isn’t it?” Gregory sighed, kissing the top of her head. “We need to go see about our bouts, or we’ll lose by default for not showing up.”
“Yes, and we must show them that together, we are the best among them. They want to use me and they don’t respect you, but by the end of it all, we’ll stand atop them.”
“I love your dual nature, Yuki,” Gregory said when they separated. “Soft and loving, but fierce and aggressive when needed. I feel like I could take on the world with you beside me.”
“If that is what my heart wishes, then I will make sure it is so,” Yukiko replied with a trace of laughter.
Shaking his head, they left the room to find out who they were to fight today.
