Soft voices and kisses on his chest woke Gregory. “Good morning, my lovely wives.”
“Good morning, dear one,” Jenn murmured, kissing his chest again.
“Yes… good morning, our heart,” Yukiko agreed, leaning in to kiss his lips.
“We have things to ask Lightshield about today,” Gregory said after tilting Jenn’s head back to give her a proper kiss.
“After we go through our routine. I’m going to ring for Elsa to make sure she’s awake,” Yukiko said as she got up.
“Good idea,” Jenn said. She got out of bed, as well, stretching her small frame. “Greg, about the vision you had last night… which of them felt the most likely?”
“I don’t know. It was a flash of insight. We know she’d be fine with either path. It was odd, but I’d say it could go either way.”
“Which is interesting,” Yukiko said as she dressed. “Shouldn’t a person becoming a magi be something that wouldn’t change?”
“Makes you wonder about how magi came into being,” Jenn said. “Are we born with the potential, or is it wholly dependent on the age day ritual?”
“It’s not the ritual,” Gregory said as he got out of bed. “Other nations have magi or similar, but they don’t have the same ritual as us.”
“Hmm… that makes me wonder when we’ll be taught how to do the ritual,” Yukiko said. “Or do they only teach that to the proctors and magi stationed in cities?”
“Something else we can ask Lightshield about.”
The three got dressed in short order, then made their way into the main part of their multi-room tent. Yukiko went to ring the bell while the other two took seats at the table, getting Magi Squares papers out.
Yukiko came and sat with them once she’d rung the bell. “Now to see if she’s already awake, or if I have to ring again.”
A minute later, the tent flap moved aside and Elsa came into the tent. “You’ve called for me, mistress?” She was dressed for the day and stood there with her hands folded atop her navel.
“Breakfast for all of us, Elsa. You’re starting off wonderfully.”
“Thank you, mistress. I shall see what is available for breakfast.” Elsa curtsied, then left the tent.
“Always dedicated…” Jenn murmured happily.
“She really is,” Gregory smiled.
Faint voices came from outside the tent before the others filed in. “Elsa’s off to get breakfast,” Ling said.
“Yes. We made sure she was awake and sent her,” Yukiko explained. “We might be done with Magi Squares by the time she returns.”
“We wanted to try the larger ones today,” Clover said as she took the seat beside Jenn.
“Oh? Think you’re ready, do you?” Jenn grinned.
“We want to try, but we think we are,” Ling said, sitting beside Yukiko. “The other puzzles have lost their edge.”
“I’m fine with the normal one,” Roshana said, sitting beside Clover.
“As am I,” Mindie nodded.
“Well, you two make them and pass them across,” Gregory chuckled as he slid them blank squares. “The rest of us will make them, then pass to the left.”
“Dear one, it might be best if you made one for Clover and I do one for Ling. We can then swap the others among us,” Yukiko said.
“Ah… ease them into them?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a good idea,” Jenn nodded. “It’ll also be harder for them to make some for us.”
Clover chewed her lip for a moment. “Can we ask you to make them for us for a day or two first before we try making one? I don’t want to make it too easy or too hard.”
“Clover has a good point. We do want to make them, too, but it might help if we do a couple first to get a better understanding,” Ling agreed.
“We can do that,” Yukiko smiled at them. “There’s nothing wrong with taking baby steps. Did you get resonance meditation in before bed?”
“We did,” Roshana said.
“Us, too,” Ling smiled. “I’m sure we won’t find it before we get back to the academy, though.”
“I feel like it’s just out of reach,” Roshana sighed. “But I will be patient and wait for it to come to me. Reaching for it will only delay it.”
“Agreed,” Jenn said. “It has to find you.”
~*~*~
They were working on their Magi Squares when Elsa came back to the tent. She had a cart with her, full of covered platters. Seeing them still working, she pushed the cart to the side, then stood by, waiting for them to finish.
She tried to keep her professional mask in place, but when they smiled her way, her lips twitched into a smile without thought. She didn’t lose her waiting posture, though. Baylyss would’ve been proud of her posture: heels touching, back straight, head up, with hands crossed above her navel.
Yukiko was the first one to finish her Magi Squares. “Elsa, bring it to me, please.”
“Yes, mistress.” Elsa wheeled the cart to Yukiko’s side. “They did have some aether-infused food, but not much. I spoke with the one man who was open this early. He was amenable to getting more bane meat and even some aether-infused seasonings going forward.”
Clover looked up, her brow furrowed. “Who’s paying for it?”
Elsa smiled. “When I asked him about paying, he laughed and explained that anything for the magi in attendance is being paid for by the event. He’ll be reimbursed for his expenses when he stops for the day.”
“Ah, the royals are likely paying for it,” Yukiko nodded. “They should have one of their stewards here to oversee the coin.”
“Won’t that be abused?” Ling asked, still working on her Magi Squares.
“No merchant of Buldoun would,” Yukiko snorted. “If it was found out that one of them tried to cheat the royals, they would be stripped of everything and publicly killed. However, one or two of the people here might try to ask for more than they need.”
“We can all guess who,” Jenn snorted as she finished her work.
“Nick might. He just feels entitled,” Gregory said as he put the last number down. “I’m not sure about the others. Shining Light won’t. I feel like they’re too detached to try that.”
“I’ll agree with that,” Jenn nodded.
“Hayworth might at least look into it, but I’m not sure about him. I could see it either way, and he’ll be keeping his other members in line. Harrison would, too.”
“Klim wouldn’t let the Iron Hand step out of line,” Mindie said, “but if she didn’t know…” She finished her smaller Magi Square with a smile. “These are getting a little easier every day.”
“Good,” Yukiko smiled.
“Yes, they are,” Roshana said, finishing hers.
“These are much harder,” Clover mumbled at the one in front of her.
“Go ahead and serve the table, Elsa,” Yukiko said. “Set Clover’s and Ling’s beside them.”
“Yes, mistress,” Elsa replied. “Breakfast is not what you are used to. It is thinly sliced bane boar soup with a side of rice.” Uncovering the dishes, she let the smell permeate the room. “I did ask him about changing the food up a little every day, and he was agreeable. There’s no lake or river nearby, though, so fish is unlikely.”
“Very well. We’ll have to be ready for different types of foods in the near future, as it is.”
“Smells good,” Gregory said.
“It does,” Jenn agreed, watching Elsa prepare small plates of rice and soup cups for each of them. “You got yourself breakfast, Elsa?”
“Yes, mistress. I have a bowl of regular boar soup.”
“After you serve, sit with us,” Gregory said. “There’ll be small concessions outside of the norm during the tournament that you shouldn’t expect when you’re a maid for others.”
“Yes, sir. I know that I will be waking around this time to get things prepared and have a quick breakfast. I had a couple of days of that with Jenn’s family.”
The smell of the food brought an audible rumble from Clover’s stomach. She blushed but kept working on her puzzle. “This is so difficult…”
“Done,” Ling sighed as she set her charcoal pencil down.
“Almost,” Clover said, filling in the last few spots.
By the time Elsa finished serving, Clover was finished.
“Good timing, Clover,” Jenn chuckled. “Let’s eat.”
~*~*~
Elsa moved around them, cleaning up, as Gregory read the Resonant Mind to the others. It was clear that she was listening as she worked— she was lightly chewing her bottom lip and her brow was furrowed.
When they finished studying, they pushed the table out of the way and did the Peaceful Fist, with Elsa joining them. Gregory watched her for the first few katas, grinning when he realized she hadn’t forgotten the pattern.
When sparring came around, Mindie and Elsa stayed in the tent. It was partly to mitigate embarrassing Mindie, since she was still learning, but also so that no one knew Elsa was learning with them. The others practiced in the open space between the tents, and they caught sight of Klim leading the Iron Hand through their sparring.
That hour led into magic practice— Ling and Clover went into the tent to work while Roshana took Elsa to go fill and heat the tubs. Mindie stood off to the side, ready to heal the others. Gregory exhaled as he worked with both foresight and aether sight while fighting Jenn and Yukiko. It was still early in the morning, so Yukiko had plenty of shadows to work with.
During their magic training spar, Gregory noticed that Klim and the Iron Hand had gathered to watch them. He made sure that he moved to put them behind him so both Jenn and Yukiko would notice them, as well. They gave slight nods and made sure to limit what they could do.
When the next hour bell chimed and they stopped, Klim called out, “Pettit! A moment, please.”
“Of course, Magus,” Gregory replied, going over to the clear divide between the clan areas. “What can I do for you?”
“Do you intend to spar like that in between matches?”
“Unless we need more healing,” Gregory said, seeing no reason to lie to Klim.
“Good. I would like to suggest the magicless spar to be a joint event between our groups. If you’re willing?”
A gust of wind blew over them and a tired chuckle had them both surprised to find Lightshield there, leaning on his cane. “Sorry for that. It seems that my fine control is slipping a little. We will agree to that request, Magus.”
Klim straightened, bowing formally to Lightshield. “Elder, I was going to ask you after I knew if they were willing.”
“Relax,” Lightshield smiled. “My juniors had some questions for me, as it was. I just came at a time I could also answer your question. I am not offended.”
“Thank you, Elder.”
“Gregory, make sure that everyone has a chance to learn. Between Klim and Mindie, I’m sure that there will be no injuries at the end of each spar.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Good. Now, if you will excuse us, Magus, I need to speak with my juniors before speaking with the envoy of the royals and the overseer.”
“Of course,” Klim bowed before heading away.
“Slowly,” Lightshield said as he walked with small steps, using his cane the entire way. “I am not going to your tent, as you will be bathing shortly. Just pass my answers along to the others.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Fighting will be from tenth bell until fifteenth bell. A single fight per half-hour, as it takes time for the arena’s healing to refresh. It will be practice weapons, without armor or enchantments, for individual fights. Practice weapons with armor and a single additional enchantment for group fights. The group fights will be held at midday, thirteenth, and fourteenth bell. The last fight will be at seventeenth bell and allow you to use everything but live weapons. Outside of fighting times, the arena is being used to showcase different goods that Buldoun has for sale. Your time is your own outside of fighting.”
“Thank you, Elder.”
“As for the age day ritual, Hemet will be teaching it to all of you before the tournament ends.”
“Understood, Elder.”
“As for when and how people become magi… well… no one knows. Who can say who Aether will bless and when that blessing might come? One thing is true, though: everyone has their aether sparked through a ritual, even if the other countries have different rituals. Rafiq might have a book or two on the subject.”
“Thank you, Elder.”
“You are welcome,” Lightshield said, pausing a few feet from the tent. “Go bathe and enjoy the rest of your day.”
Gregory bowed formally and, by the time he was finished, Lightshield was gone.
