The rest of the first day went by without anything else major. Petar consolidated and dug in— he didn’t retreat, nor did he advance. Gregory was surprised when Sasha had the board updated, shifting the map so the village was in the middle. That put the town that the magi had likely fled to on the edge of the map.
When word came that the game was suspended until the next day, Petar exhaled angrily. “Damn them for not making it clear. I thought we were already at war! If I’d known it was just a simple border clash, I wouldn’t have done what I had.”
“What were you told, exactly?” Gregory asked.
Petar stared at him. “What?”
“Were you told that you were at war? Or were you told that the border was insecure and men had died? Because the second sounds like war, but isn’t necessarily true.”
“The Buldoun side was told that the empire had killed men along the border and that they seemed poised to come over in strength at multiple points. Their units were being sent to secure the border against incursions,” Sasha told him.
Petar glared at Sasha. “I’ll be in my room.”
“That’s fine, but one of us has to be with you all the time,” Stef smiled falsely.
“Fine!” Petar snarled. “The crocodile can come with me.”
Gregory’s hackles went up, but before he could react, Stef was in Petar’s face. “What did you say?!” The words were loud, hissed, and filled with menace. “Are you part of the empire?”
Petar rocked back a step, then firmed up his legs. “No, ma’am!”
“Then act with fucking respect or I’ll see you drummed out of the ranks!” Stef snarled. “We have civility to all in Buldoun!”
“I’ll stay with him for now,” Sasha said mildly. “Go ahead and step outside for a bit, Stef.”
Stef glared at Petar for another long moment before she turned on her heel and marched out of the tent. Gregory patted Rafiq on the shoulder, leaving a second after Stef.
Stef hadn’t gone far, just a dozen feet away. She stood still, looking at the fading sunset. Gregory went to stand beside her, remaining quiet. After a minute, Stef exhaled slowly, glancing his way. “Sorry about that.”
“Thank you for standing up for him,” Gregory said softly, not looking directly at her. “I’ve heard things are different here. I’ve seen people like my friends being more accepted, but it’s true that eurtik still aren’t really accepted here. It seems the depth of the hatred is hard to overcome.”
“We are better— no offense— than the empire, but yes, we still have a ways to go.”
“That almost seemed personal to you,” Gregory said softly.
Stef deflated some. “I found love a few years back. He was a good man… Fierce, loyal, loving. He never cared that I was strong enough to lead a mercenary company. Most men pull back from a woman like me or try to tame me. He did neither.”
“Was?” Gregory asked when the silence stretched on after she’d paused.
“Last year… he was killed. There was a border skirmish with the empire. The magi in charge let the men surrender when their leader fell. Before he ransomed them back, he killed Jack. ‘No wild dog deserves to live,’ is what my men told me the magi said. There was no reason for it… he killed him simply because he was eurtik.”
“I hate that,” Gregory said tightly. “It’s so wrong. They’re people. They’re no different from us except for how they look. Love, hate, indifference… they’re the same.”
“I… used to look down on them some… not like others, but I did look down on them… until Jack pulled me out of harm’s way at risk of his own life. I came to know him for him. Oh, the men stayed quiet around me, but Jack had a lot of fights. The worst were because they made jokes about him knotting me.” Her hands clenched and her knuckles popped. “Sick fucks. Why can’t people just…?” She shook her head and sighed.
“Maybe one day, but today isn’t it,” Gregory said sadly. “Let’s spar. You wanted a match, and it’ll help clear both of our heads.”
Stef exhaled, then nodded briskly. “Yes. After that, I’ll relieve my mother and she can spar with you.”
“Deal,” Gregory said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “Later, if you want to tell someone about Jack, I’ll listen.”
Stef looked at him and smiled. “Maybe. Let’s see if I can kick your ass. Two round match, with and without your magic?”
“Sure, but how about a four-match set? I’ll use the naginata for one, and the guandao for the other.”
Stef gave him a questioning look. “Why?”
“I need to work on the guandao,” Gregory admitted.
Laughing, she patted his shoulder. “Yes, that’s fine.”
~*~*~
Stef asked to fight him with the guandao first. He lost that fight, but not as quickly as he thought he would. During the second sparring match, when he was going to use foresight, Rafiq, Petar, and Sasha came out of the tent to watch. He won, but still had to work for it.
“Now, the weapon I really wanted to fight you with,” Stef smiled as the setting sun cast orange light across the heavens.
“We’ll need lanterns soon,” Sasha said. “We’ll have to pause after this to manage that.”
“What are you doing?”
Gregory turned to see Claudia, Adriana, and Pavil standing there.
“Oh, just some sparring. I promised Stef and Sasha I’d give them some matches.”
“I want in on this,” Adriana said.
“No. You already had your chances,” Sasha said firmly. “We don’t want an incident.”
“If you wish, I could spar each of you,” Egil came out of a tent, looking relaxed. “And a match with you, Pettit.”
“Very well, Sensei,” Gregory bowed. “We’ll need lanterns.”
“Wait! I want a match!” Petar said.
~*~*~
It took a few minutes to settle things, but Gregory decided to finish his matches with Stef and Sasha first. After that, Egil would spar with everyone from Buldoun who wanted a single fight. Then, Gregory would fight the Empire’s Gambit players from Buldoun before finishing with Egil.
Gregory won every match with the naginata against the Buldoun natives, but lost his non-foresight guandao fight with Sasha. Petar didn’t take his loss well, and thought Gregory had used foresight, but he was roundly shouted down by Sasha and Stef.
During his fight with Egil, Gregory lost himself in the joy of combat. The two of them flowed across the hard-packed ground. It was nearly as fluid for him as foresight, but he wasn’t using his magic. In the end, he managed to slip past Egil’s guard and score a hit to the arm. Egil dropped his hand off the naginata and, after that, it was over in seconds.
“Well done,” Egil panted. “You are an armsmaster with that weapon. I acknowledge you so.”
Gregory was breathing hard, but his aether was helping him recover quickly. Bowing formally, he replied, “Thank you, Armsmaster.”
“That was all without foresight?” Sasha asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Gregory said, turning to her.
“How many can you take with foresight?” Stef asked.
“A few,” Gregory replied, suddenly cautious.
“Hmm… very well. I wanted to test you, but that’s selfish,” Stef sighed.
“We’re done,” Sasha announced. “There’s a game tomorrow, and some of us need some sleep.”
“Yes, ma’am,” echoed most of the onlookers.
Gregory thanked Egil once more for the fight. As the two men parted, Gregory had to stop, as Claudia was still there, a few feet from him. “Claudia? Something wrong?”
“No. Thank you for sparring with the others,” Claudia said, glancing around them. Seeing Egil not leaving, she moved forward and touched Gregory’s arm. “Can we talk for a few minutes?”
Gregory looked around— it was just him, Claudia, and Egil in the open space. “Sure. Egil, please?”
“I worry about what others might say,” Egil said, “but very well.”
Claudia’s cheeks heated lightly at Egil’s comment, but she was back to normal before Gregory looked at her again. “Thank you.”
“He does have a point,” Gregory said softly. “You’re a young woman and an important mage for your country. If something were to happen to you when you were with just me… I’d be the one to pay the price.”
“I know,” Claudia exhaled. “But…” She took another deep breath. “Greg, I’ve talked with Yuki, Jenn, and Mindie. I’ve spoken with the others. I know what your family will look like in the future.”
Gregory’s face burned. “Oh! Uh… well…” He triggered foresight, wanting to find a way out of this awkwardness. The moment he triggered his magic, his resonance washed out of him so he could feel it easier.
Claudia was the same firm tap he knew as someone who was dependable to him. She looked up at him with an amused smile. The moment resonated more to him, and he was starting to wonder about it when his resonance wrapped around his magic.
Without thinking, flowing with the future that was best for him, he scooped Claudia into his arms, making her eyes go wide. He swung her around so his back was facing the way hers had been, triggering the barrier from his armband.
The crossbow bolt impacted the barrier, and the man who’d fired it fled. Gregory released Claudia and ran after him, summoning his naginata to his hand. As he did, he heard Claudia shout his name, but he was focused on following his foresight.
His barrier flashed into existence twice more as the man pointed the small crossbow behind him, firing again and again. With a curse, the man threw the crossbow aside as he sprinted into the bazaar, hoping to lose himself in the crowd.
Gregory saw what was coming and let his naginata vanish back into his ring before he made it into the crowd. People glanced his way, but he was gone in the next instant. He felt like a river flowing around rocks as he glided around everyone. He realized that he wasn’t going directly after the man who’d fled, but he trusted his resonance to guide him.
He pushed his foresight further into the future so he could see beyond a handful of seconds. Seeing a minute, then two into the future, he inhaled slowly as he continued to move through the crowd with ease.
Breaking out of the edge of the bazaar, he raced around the outside. His naginata came back to his hand as he ran, his aether fueling his legs so he could go faster. Two men were waiting with horses ahead of them, looking the other way as he closed on them. They’d look his way when he got closer, mount their horses, and then flee. Gregory angled out so the horses were between him and the men. Now, they didn’t see him, and didn’t flee.
The man he’d chased came bursting out of the bazaar, gasping, and the two with the horses rushed forward to grab him. None of them saw Gregory come up behind the horses— he slapped both on the rump, spooking them, and sending them running.
All three men spun and Gregory’s barrier flashed into existence again. The two hand-crossbows fired in rapid succession, but all the bolts impacted the aether-made shield. Gregory was on them a second later. He’d left the blade sheath on his naginata— he didn’t want them dead. He wanted them captured.
His aether pulled from his ring, as his was running dangerously low. Gregory ignored it, bashing one of the three men into the ground. He spun under a sword slash, broke the man’s knee, then crushed his throat before jabbing the capped blade into the winded man’s gut, crumpling him.
With all three down and one dying, Gregory let foresight drop. The moment he did, Laozi landed beside him in a gust of wind, and Aliminus appeared behind the three attackers.
“Pettit, explain,” Laozi said.
“That man fired a crossbow at Claudia. I shielded her, then chased him. These two were waiting with horses. I stopped them.”
Aliminus glared at the three men, his aether flooding the area. Gregory wrapped his aether around him out of reflex. Laozi stepped in front of Gregory— his steps faltered slightly and he glanced at Gregory, but still went in front of him. Gregory had felt the archmage’s aether before it parted around him, his resonance protecting him. When Laozi stepped in front of him, he felt the sage’s aether push back Aliminus’.
“I will take them and find out what they were after!” Aliminus snarled.
“You will inform me, yes?” Laozi asked.
Aliminus looked at the sage, then nodded curtly. “Come with me.”
“Gladly. Gregory, go back to your assigned camp.”
“Yes, sir,” Gregory said, bowing. By the time he’d straightened up, all five men were gone. Exhaling, he let his naginata go back to his ring and started back toward the encampment.
