Gregory took a slow, deep breath, feeling the butterflies in his gut. Glancing up, he saw that Jenn looked as nervous as he was. “It’ll be okay,” he said.
Jenn jerked slightly, blinking rapidly for a moment. “Yes! Yes, of course.”
“Do you think they won’t approve?” Yukiko asked her.
“I don’t know,” Jenn replied. “Mother was in tears when the proctor took me away, and Father has never been a fan of the magi… They’ve never written to me.”
“Did you write to them?” Gregory asked.
Jenn was silent for a few seconds, then shook her head. “No. I should have, though.”
“Parents will always love their children,” Yukiko said.
Gregory’s eyelid twitched as he recalled some of the beatings his father gave him. Those memories faded, replaced by the one he had of his father begging Bishop to leave Gregory behind, not wanting to lose him.
“Dear one?” Yukiko asked with concern.
Gregory blinked and felt a tear tracking down his cheek. He quickly scrubbed it away. “Sorry. Talk of parents…”
Yukiko took his hands in hers. “I’m here. Jenn’s here. If you need to speak and let the pain go, we’ll help.”
“Maybe later,” Gregory said. “Just before seeing your parents isn’t the time.”
“If that’s what you want,” Yukiko said softly.
“She’s right, Greg. We’re here to support each other,” Jenn added.
Gregory gave her a strained smile. “Thank you. Right now, let’s focus on happiness?”
“Father will be happy, and Mother will be surprised,” Yukiko said.
Gregory’s lips twitched briefly upward. “Maybe a different topic?”
“Father will likely ask about it,” Yukiko said. “Be prepared.”
“He wouldn’t. Not with Jenn’s parents there,” Gregory said.
“No. He’d wait, but the question will come.”
“Do you think they’ll do what they did last time?” Gregory asked.
“Dinner every night?” Yukiko asked, deliberately misunderstanding.
“That’s fine. You know what I’m referring to, Yuki.”
“Yes. They’ll probably do exactly what they did last time,” Yukiko replied.
“And we can’t let him go unsupervised.”
“No,” Yukiko replied. “Mother could, but not Father.”
“What are you talking about?” Jenn asked.
“The auction house,” Yukiko smiled.
Jenn stared at Yukiko. “Wait… You’re being serious?”
“Yes,” Gregory replied. “It was the hardest part to come to grips with during the last tournament.”
“And you’ll be with us,” Yukiko said as the carriage slowed.
Jenn was about to object, but the carriage stopped before she could. Hintle, one of Warlin’s guards, opened the carriage door for them and helped them out, then led them into the taproom of Stabled Hunger.
The room was packed with Warlin’s guards. The only non-guard present was Mumisa, Murium’s mother, who was speaking with Lin about the book that she had on the table. All eyes went to them when they entered the room.
Yukiko gave them a bright smile. “Afternoon. I hope you are all well.”
“We are,” Lin said, before quietly excusing himself from his discussion with Mumisa. “Your parents, and hers, are waiting for you.”
“Surprised you aren’t with them,” Yukiko said.
“I’ve had time to vet them,” Lin said.
“Is that so?” Yukiko smiled.
“If you’ll follow me?” Lin asked.
“We know the way,” Yukiko said gently. “There’s no need to come with us.”
“And have Hao hand me my head? I’ll decline.”
“Very well,” Yukiko said.
Lin led them down the hall to the private dining room. He paused a second after knocking before opening the door. “Your daughters are here, along with Pettit.”
Yukiko was the first one into the room, her smile bright. “It’s good to see you both.”
Hao and Yoo-jin rose to their feet when she entered, smiling widely as they greeted her in return. Two other people stood when Jenn entered the room.
“Mother… Father…” Jenn greeted them with a slight waver to her voice. “It’s good to see you both.”
“Our darling!” Jenn’s mother sniffled as she rushed around the table to hug her.
Her father stayed where he was, looking taciturn. “It’s good to see you.” His voice was firm, and didn’t betray any emotion.
Jenn didn’t try to stop her mother, letting the larger woman hug her. “Mother, please… there are others present.”
“Oh, they love their little girl as much as we love ours.”
Yoo-jin nodded. “It’s true. We do.”
Lin took up a position beside the door after he closed it behind them.
“So, these are your friends?” Jenn’s father asked bluntly.
Jenn slipped free of her mother, giving her father a searching look. “They are. Yukiko Warlin, Gregory Pettit, these are my parents, Umbrose and Adolphus Bean.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Gregory said, bowing formally to them.
“Your daughter has been a bright spot for us,” Yukiko said.
“I’m sure you’ve been the same for her,” Umbrose replied. “She never had many friends.”
“Mother!” Jenn exclaimed pleadingly.
“Don’t feel bad,” Yoo-jin said. “Yu had trouble with that, as well.”
Yukiko nodded. “Until Greg and you, Jenn, I never had real friends. I speak the truth when I say you’ve been a bright spot for me.”
“If you’re done with the maudlin moment,” Adolphus said bluntly, “actions are the only thing that counts. Words are useless if not backed by action.”
“Yes,” Hao said. “That’s very true. Something that some people take years to learn. Shall we go back to our conversation?”
“I was surprised to hear you had come,” Jenn said, taking her seat.
“Normally, I would have to pull him away from the forge, as you know, Jenn,” Umbrose said. “This time, though, he was the one who planned everything.”
Jenn sat up straighter. “Father?”
Adolphus looked away from her. “It’s been nearly a year, and we haven’t heard anything.”
Jenn sat there for a few seconds. “I’m sorry, Father, Mother. I wasn’t sure you wanted to—”
“You blasted fool!” Adolphus cut her off. “We know the magi are vicious even to their novices. We’ve been worried sick.”
“Easy, Husband,” Umbrose said, placing her hand on his thick forearm.
“I… I…” Jenn stammered, not having expected an outburst from her normally stoic father.
“It seems I’m not the only father who has been worried sick for his child,” Hao said. “It must have been difficult, wanting to come for the first tournament, but being unable to.”
“It was difficult,” Adolphus said stiffly.
“We were surprised when you stopped by our shop,” Umbrose said.
“It was something my daughter asked us for,” Yoo-jin said, “that we inquire if you’d like to come. We were gratified that you did indeed want to do so.”
Jenn swallowed and turned to Yukiko. “You asked them?”
“I asked that they check. I know you had been wanting to see them, but didn’t know how to ask,” Yukiko said gently. “If I overstepped—”
Jenn shook her head, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “No. This… this is… Thank you.”
Gregory looked away, his own emotional turmoil spiking again.
“You’d been saying that your daughter was marrying,” Adolphus said, breaking the moment. “This is the man?”
“Gregory Pettit,” Hao nodded. “Once the tournament is over, he’ll be marrying our Yu.”
Adolphus stared at Gregory for a long moment. “You’ve been helping my daughter?”
“Yes, sir. To be fair, she’s been helping us, as well.”
“Oh? What’s she been teaching you?” Adolphus asked.
“Fighting, mostly,” Gregory said. “She was in the final eight during the last tournament. She’s one of the best fighters in our year.”
“Yoo-jin was telling us about the first tournament during the trip here,” Umbrose said, cutting in. “You were the one who knocked her out.”
“Tough fight,” Gregory said with a small wince. “One more second and she would have beat me. I only won because she exhausted her aether.”
“You won because you were better prepared,” Jenn said.
A knock on the door made them all pause. Lin answered it before stepping aside, allowing Vana inside with a cart. She greeted them and told them about the meal as she served them, then withdrew the moment she was done.
“Shall we pause with the conversation until we’re all finished eating?” Hao asked once Vana left. “I promise you the meal will be worth your full attention.”
“Agreed,” Adolphus said.
~*~*~
The atmosphere in the room mellowed with everyone feeling full. Gregory told them about the tournament fight with Jenn, with her interrupting him to provide her own insight.
“She gave you a full run,” Adolphus said with a glint of pride in his eyes.
“I had to be taken care of by the healers,” Gregory said. “It was the second most difficult fight I had.”
“I was sure I’d hate her for how much she hurt him,” Yukiko said. “After speaking with her, though, I knew I could never.”
“I thought I’d crossed a line when I talked to you after the tournament. You proved me wrong,” Jenn replied.
“When you stopped me and Greg?” Yukiko laughed lightly. “That was a moment where things might have gone differently. Then, we ended up in the same weapons class, and the chances for our friendship grew.”
“And Gregory invited me to dinner with Elder Lightshield,” Jenn said. “That was when this really started.”
“Yes,” Yukiko agreed.
“Tell us of the clan, please?” Adolphus asked. “I don’t think I’ve heard of it before.”
“Aether’s Guard was one of the original great clans,” Gregory said. “They’ve faded almost entirely away, but might be making a comeback now.”
“Why did you choose them and not a different clan?”
“Because they don’t care who our ancestors are,” Jenn answered him.
Adolphus’ eyes widened a little. “Jenn, that shouldn’t be talked ab—!”
“It should,” Jenn said firmly. “Yuki and Greg don’t care. I’ve already told them.”
Adolphus shot a look at the other two novices.
“I have eurtik blood from my mother’s line,” Yukiko said. “Owl, to be precise. We aren’t sure how far back it goes, but it’s further back than my grandmother.”
“It was before my grandmother,” Yoo-jin said. “We have no idea why it became so visible with her. She had a hard time because of it.”
“Like our Jenn…” Umbrose nodded. “It’s not as obvious for Adolphus. He could just be a little short for a human, and his thickness is written off because of him being a smith, but his father is a dwarf. Jenn got his lack of height but my slight build, making it obvious she was different.”
Adolphus was clearly uncomfortable. “Maybe we shouldn’t have this conversation…?”
“If that’s what you want,” Hao said. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter to us. We’ve dealt with the same bigotry that you likely have. Maybe being able to talk to another who had similar experiences would be beneficial, but it’s your choice.”
“Father,” Yukiko said, “Jenn is to be treated equally to Greg and myself.”
Hao nodded. “If that’s what you want, but it’ll cut back on what we can do to help you.”
“We don’t need items,” Gregory said. “The clan provided during the solstice.”
“They did?” Hao asked.
Gregory, Yukiko, and Jenn explained the solstice festivities and what they had gained from it. They laughed a few times while they explained how they had to cooperate to get some of the items.
“I see. Well, that does free up a part of the budget, even with the increased cost from Alvis Alchemy. We’ll do the best we can, Yu.”
“Thank you, Father,” Yukiko smiled.
“Speaking of costs,” Yoo-jin said, “we’ve received some aid from the clan to arrange for your troops. Jento has been recruiting them over the last five months. That number was expanded to include enough for Jenn, as well. Elder Lightshield advised us when he gave us the funding. Jento will have the basics and more drilled into them by the time you need them.”
“Troops… because they’ll be posted along the borders?” Adolphus asked. “Have they already decided that?”
“No, Father,” Jenn said. “That’s for our fourth year. During the third year, we’re going to be trained with the troops to manage them. They are then sent with us during our adept year to whatever post we are assigned. Depending on what the empire and clan needs after that, we might be with them for years.”
“I thought the empire provided them?” Umbrose asked. “The magi we had to make weapons for always made it seem like that was the case.”
“We never looked into it until we learned about it,” Yoo-jin said. “The troops will be under contract for five years, unless you release them sooner.”
“The officers for each of you are from our guard,” Hao said. “We wanted to make sure you had quality people for those positions.”
“Thank you for doing this for Jenn,” Adolphus said slowly. “Why did you? You didn’t know us at that point.”
“Yu asked us to,” Hao said. “When the elder gave us money to manage it more easily, we dumped all of it into the project. Jento has all the men in light armor, with weapons, and will be training them for field combat, as well as urban policing.”
Adolphus looked impressed. “That sounds costly. I know what weapons for a group of that size would run. Before the armor and training, it isn’t cheap.”
“It hasn’t been, but they will have some of the best troops,” Yoo-jin said.
“Where are they being trained?” Yukiko asked.
“We converted the third warehouse into a barracks for them,” Hao said. “Once Jento has them in order, they’ll be assisting the city guard to get a feel for how to work in a city.”
“I hadn’t even thought about that,” Gregory said. “Thank you for all of this.”
“Yu has said you are her heart,” Yoo-jin said. “We can’t have her upset because her heart became broken.”
“When do we get to see the clan and the academy grounds?” Adolphus asked.
“Tomorrow is when the academy lets visitors inside. We’ll be having dinner and visiting a few places after their matches have finished.”
“Speaking of…” Yukiko sighed. “We have dinner at the clan hall tonight. It and the feast after the tournament are mandated by the clan.”
“The night after that is when there’s another event,” Hao said with a smile. “Everything has been arranged. We just need to know how many are attending.”
“Dia will have the answer for you,” Yukiko said.
“I’ll confer with her tomorrow,” Yoo-jin said. “I have a couple of questions I wanted to ask her.”
“I have some questions that you can answer for me, Mother,” Yukiko said. “Sometime later this week, when the men aren’t present?”
Hao chuckled. “We’ll make one of the nights a split night. The guys and girls will be separated and, that way, questions can be asked without worry.”
“Thank you, Father,” Yukiko smiled.
“We should get going,” Gregory said. “We don’t want to be late tonight, especially with the curfew still being in effect.”
“That’s a good point,” Yukiko nodded.
“But we barely got to see each other,” Umbrose said.
“There will be two weeks of time to catch up,” Jenn said gently. “I’d like to hear more about home tomorrow.”
“Yes,” Umbrose said, getting to her feet. “I need a hug before you go.”
“Mother…” Jenn said, half-protesting even as she stood up and opened her arms to hug her mother back.
“Since others are doing it,” Yoo-jin smiled.
“Yes, Mother,” Yukiko agreed.
