The group had a relaxing day off with Yukiko’s and Jenn’s families. They stayed at the inn, playing games and chatting. Candace, Jenn’s sister, turned out to be very lucky. She scooped up most of the money when the dice were out.
Candace listened to all their stories of the academy, both the good and the bad. Before dinner was served, she again decided that she’d rather not be a magi. Jenn said she’d pray to Aether that her sister got her wish.
Dinner was just finishing when a knock came on the door, and Lin entered the room a moment after that. “Excuse me. Yukiko, the mages of Buldoun in the other dining room have asked if your clan will join them for a few minutes.”
“Should be Wolf House. They were here last week,” Yukiko said, seeing her father’s expression.
“Yes, it is them,” Lin affirmed.
“They might want to talk about Nick and the fights,” Jenn suggested.
“Likely,” Gregory agreed. “I don’t see the harm in it. They could just be looking for reassurance that no one else is like Nick.”
“They seemed civil when we spoke with them the other night,” Mindie nodded.
“He seemed even more aggressive in that fight than normal,” Roshana said.
“Yes…” Yukiko sighed. “I was thinking about it. I believe it’s because of me.”
“Eurtik and shadow magic,” Ling said. “He might have pushed his anger for you onto her.”
“Oh…” Clover said. “That isn’t good. He wants to kill Yuki?”
“He does,” Yukiko said. “Nick doesn’t handle failure well.”
“‘At all’ are the words you’re looking for, Yuki,” Jenn corrected her.
“Is it safe?” Umbrose asked worriedly.
“It should be,” Gregory said. “Besides, all of us will go. The seven of us can handle the four of them.”
“One of them is at least a magus-level aether user,” Hao said.
“And if trouble starts, I’ll kill him first,” Gregory said. “Nothing will endanger my hearts.”
“If we work together, Father, we can handle them,” Yukiko said, “but having spoken to them before, I feel it will be fine. Cautious, but respectful is what I gleaned last time.”
“We will be ready to assist if needed,” Lin said firmly.
Gregory frowned, then triggered foresight. His aether burned off quickly as he looked nearly an hour into the future. Panting when he stopped, Gregory exhaled slowly. “Relax. It’ll be fine,” he said with a hint of tiredness. “Unless we start a fight, there won’t be one.”
Both Jenn and Yukiko watched him with concern, but seeing that he was okay, they relaxed. “If Gregory says so, it’ll be fine,” Yukiko said. “Foresight, dear one?”
“Yeah. I wanted to see if there was any need to worry,” Gregory said. “They’re concerned about the rest of the tournament. It was Jessica who got her chaperone to ask for us.”
“I can see where she would want to know more,” Yukiko said.
“We’re going?” Roshana asked.
“Yes,” Gregory said, standing up. “It’ll be fine.”
Lin looked at Hao, but Hao snorted. “Lin, if the man who can see the future says it will be fine, who are we to doubt him?”
“Sorry. It is hard to let go of long-ingrained habits,” Lin exhaled.
Gregory turned around and grabbed Lin’s shoulder. “I don’t fault you. You were worried about my heart. Thank you for that. You never have to forget that habit.”
Lin met Gregory’s eyes before he bowed his head. “She chose well.”
“She did,” Jenn chuckled.
“Twice or more,” Yukiko smirked, her eyes darting to Mindie as she rose. “We’re ready, dear one. You lead and we’ll follow.”
Gregory kept his face impassive at the triple entendre Yukiko just used. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Knocking on the door across the hall, Gregory waited for it to open. Mage Otis Fang, the chaperone for the Wolf House student mages, nodded to them when he opened the door. “Thank you for coming. Please, sit.”
Gregory led his clan inside. “Thank you, sir. We were surprised to be invited to speak with you.”
“You were?” Otis asked.
“No magi could keep foresight up all the time,” Gregory said. “Even our elder, who has used it for hundreds of years, couldn’t. Like all magic, it takes aether.”
“Ah, of course,” Otis coughed. “Apologies, but your magic is… different than most others.”
“Yes,” Gregory sighed. “There is no teacher of mine.”
“Your elder doesn’t help you?” Ivan asked in disbelief.
“Physical magics, where things are shaped or moved, can be taught,” Gregory replied. “Foresight is about peeking into the future. There’s nothing to shape, mold, or direct.”
“Fascinating,” Lukas said. “I do not look forward to facing you.”
Gregory gave the fire mage a curious look. “You can’t do what Claudia did?”
“She’s abnormal,” Jessica said bluntly.
Gregory finally looked at the shadow mage. Her arm looked fine; much better than when she’d been burnt in the arena. “Some do seem to do more than others. Most are quite vocal about being able to do so.”
“She’s vocal, but not about her magic,” Ivan snorted.
“We didn’t ask you here to discuss the pampered princess,” Jessica said tightly, glaring at Ivan.
“Princess?” Clover asked with wide eyes. “Is she?”
“No,” Otis said. “She comes from nobility, but is not a princess. She isn’t nobility anymore, either.”
“Because mages are removed from high society,” Yukiko said. “It was thought that they might try to emulate the empire by putting a mage on the throne, so no mage is allowed to be a noble. That’s stayed true to this day.”
All four Buldoun mages stared at Yukiko in surprise.
“We studied a lot on Buldoun, Limaz, and Krogga,” Jenn smiled. “Only those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it.”
Otis sat forward. “A smart observation. What history did you study? History is written by the winners, or by one’s home country, in most cases.”
“The archive at the academy holds many books,” Ling said, “some of which are not… appreciated… elsewhere in the empire.”
“We’ve studied lots of viewpoints,” Clover grinned.
Jessica growled, her eyes darting to Otis. “Sir, if I can ask?”
Otis sat back. “Sorry. You did ask for this meeting, not me.”
Jessica looked at the seven empire magi before focusing on Gregory. “He tried to kill me. Why?”
“Well…” Gregory sighed. “That’s going to be a long story. Do we have time?”
“Let me order some more drinks,” Otis said. When Jessica started to make a noise, he growled loudly, pinning her with his eyes. “Wait.”
Jessica’s lip pulled back in a snarl, but she didn’t speak, even when Otis left the room.
“Reminds me of Daciana,” Clover said to Roshana.
“She gets overly passionate about things at times,” Roshana nodded.
Jessica looked at the pair, clearly unhappy.
“Daciana is a novice of our clan,” Ling explained. “She’s part-wolf eurtik and very forward. When she wants something, she can be aggressive.”
“Not as aggressive as Victoria,” Yukiko chuckled, which had Gregory’s cheeks heat.
Jessica was clearly off-balance by their explanation and last comment.
“Daciana is a dear friend of ours,” Jenn said. “She’s like family, as are her two closest friends, Nessa and Victoria.”
“You freely admit your friendships even though the empire despises eurtiks?” Ivan asked.
“You see our apprentices and myself, and have heard of one of our best novices,” Mindie said. “Do you think our clan holds those same views?”
“It would be hard to accept with how happy you’ve all been,” Lukas said, joining in.
Yukiko sighed. “Jessica, what happened to you is my fault, in part. Nick Shun hates me for beating him time and again during our tournaments. His clan has lost every fight with us, and he has lost every fight to me. When he faced you, a shadow mage with clear eurtik blood, he likely transferred that hatred to you.”
Jessica stared at Yukiko, shocked that the other woman was willing to say it was her fault.
“When you hurt him time and again and never paid for it, his anger would have built and built. He was being embarrassed yet again by a ‘lowly eurtik shadow mage.’ When you finally came out in the open, he lashed out the way he always does.”
“Yukiko beat him in the first novice tournament, and his hatred for her has been high ever since,” Gregory said a little tightly. “And that’s even after he burned half her face and nearly cost her her eye.”
“His hatred has only deepened since then,” Jenn added.
Otis came back into the room with a tray of glasses and two pitchers. “I have some diluted aether wine, enough for us all to have a glass.” Everyone was quiet while Otis handed around the wine, so he eyed them all. “I missed something, didn’t I?”
“My answers…” Jessica said. “They offered answers… but you said it would take a long time to answer.”
“The full story of the Eternal Flame’s hatred for us, as people and as a clan,” Gregory said.
“Aether’s Guard is in conflict with them?” Otis asked.
“Not officially. Not yet, at least,” Jenn said.
“Please, tell me,” Jessica said. “I wish to know more of this magi I need to repay.”
“Nick? He’s not worth your time,” Yukiko said. “The best way to repay him is to ignore him. That will grate against his skin more than you trying to hurt him.”
“She’s right,” Jenn nodded. “Ignoring him damages his ego more than anything else.”
“Besides, he’s likely being chastised by his grandfather right now,” Gregory chuckled.
“He gave the empire a black mark,” Roshana said. “The overseer will see that it’s handled when he returns.”
“Not like he can try covering it up,” Mindie said.
Jessica sat back, nodding. “I see. Please tell me about this conflict.”
“Sure,” Gregory said. “We’d like to have a cordial relationship with Wolf House.”
