It was after dinner when another knock came on the door to the small home. Mindie went to open it, and Gregory used foresight to check who it was. He got to his feet, approaching it as Mindie opened the door.
Yukiko beamed— she was the first one inside, so she grabbed Gregory and held him tightly. “Dear one, we worried for you.”
“As I worried for you when I heard about your fight. I want to hear about it. I only know that you won.”
“We want to hear about what happened with you, too,” Jenn said.
“Greg, are you okay?” Elsa asked, her eyes wide and questioning.
“Yeah, Elsa. I’m fine. Come in and sit. I’ll tell you my story, and then you can tell me yours.” Gregory said. He gave everyone a smile, glad that all of his friends had come to see him.
They settled in as Mindie went to tell the single staff to bring tea and snacks. It took Gregory over an hour to catch them up on what had happened since he left for the Empire’s Gambit tournament. He didn’t hold anything back, including the temptations he’d felt with Claudia.
Yukiko didn’t rebuke him at all, just smiling at him. When he got to Lightshield’s death, the room was somber. Elsa sniffled as she listened; his worry for her and the others only made her sniffle more.
“That’s everything,” he said, setting down a piece of paper on the table they sat at so everyone could see it.
They passed it around, their eyes going wide at the few sentences written on it. When they met his eyes, he nodded, his gaze darting to the window.
“We see. This isn’t a surprise. We were sure it would happen at some point. Lightshield warned us of his death for over a year. We will endure as he would want us to. Our friends will pass word to our clanmates.”
“Yes,” Clover nodded, taking the note. “We will.”
“Now, what about all of you?” Gregory asked.
“I can start,” Ling said. “The game started slow, as you know, but we held to our strategies. We built up, consolidated, and waited to bring in our best options. When news came that the southern edge had been attacked, we knew others would rush there, so we stayed put and focused on building up.”
“We boosted the villages, too, making sure their morale was as high as we could make it,” Clover said.
“Which matters more later,” Ling said, touching Clover’s hand.
“Sorry,” Clover murmured, leaning into Ling’s side.
“It’s okay,” Ling said before kissing Clover’s cheek. “We made sure we boosted morale for the village the way we’d planned.”
“It was then that we heard of the first attempt to kill you and Claudia,” Yukiko said. “We were worried, but glad you thwarted it and captured them. When they told us that you two were removed from the game and could only watch, it helped free our worries because it limited the fire mages they could field. I did wonder if she’d push her previous life with you at all. I’m glad she was as respectful as she was. And Greg, yes, we all approve, if she can meet the same rules.”
“I like her,” Clover smiled. “She’s different, but still nice. I wish Jessica had been a past life, too.”
“I’m glad it was only one of them,” Gregory said. “It was difficult enough with Claudia.”
The others laughed at his expression. Elsa watched them all silently, but she was clearly thinking.
“We started the second day where we left off,” Ling said. “They didn’t attack us and, when they started leaving, we brought in Yuki and Jenn.”
“I did the same with my town, but made sure we had archers ready,” Roshana added.
“Once we were all on the field, we had to adapt,” Jenn smiled. “Our ideas wouldn’t work against them chasing the other magi.”
“We let them take the archers and give chase while we moved to take the open villages and towns Buldoun had abandoned,” Ling said. “We used the friendly relations tactic there. We didn’t oppose or try to pull for war funds or recruits.”
“That gave us slowly building morale in those settlements,” Clover beamed. “Once we had them amiable to us, we shifted to the next set of Buldoun settlements. We built up cavalry and archers as we went, knowing they’d come for us in time.”
“While they took land, we chased down the invaders on our land,” Yukiko smiled. “We caught them outside the city. We got there a turn too late to save Nilum and the majority of the men defending it, but we did save Farin.”
“Damned cavalry flanked us,” Jenn sighed. “Took over half our archers out, but we won.”
“With the city secure and knowing the other commanders would be closing in, we went for our siege tactic like we’d discussed,” Yukiko smiled. “Roshana moved up to the city with Farin, and they took over making the defenses for it.”
“We made the ground untenable for anyone trying to advance. We left behind clear paths, making sure we had plenty of coverage from the archers on the walls,” Roshana said.
“Farin worked well with us. He didn’t even try to bring his clan back in, instead focusing on upgrading our troops or bringing in more,” Jenn said. “He was upset with Dave and Klein.”
“Neither of them tried to defend. They went straight for offense,” Yukiko sighed. “If they’d defended, it would’ve been easier for us when we arrived and they still might’ve been on the field.”
“Which left us the other night with a siege in progress and, as we found out later, the Buldoun crown having fielded mages to clear out Clover and Ling,” Jenn said.
“When we heard of them ambushing us, we laughed,” Yukiko snickered. “We did as we discussed, asking for it to be fought out. That fight was tough. They came fully equipped, too, but Jenn and I had tricks they hadn’t known about. The shadow blades hurt Jessica badly, but she wasn’t permanently harmed, thankfully. That left the two of us on Adrianna. She did her best, but it’s hard to portal your entire body if you have someone directly on top of you.”
“She gave me a lot of grief until I closed enough to get my hands on her,” Jenn said. “When Yuki wrapped shadows around her, it was over. I let her surrender.”
“That was when the light caught everyone’s attention,” Roshana whispered.
“I was scared,” Elsa whispered, reminding them of her being there.
Mindie hugged her. “We all were, especially when the three men were killed in plain view of everyone.”
“Then the fire…” Elsa whispered, hugging Mindie tightly.
“I knew it had to be our clan area,” Yukiko said softly. “I feared it was his end, and it turns out I was right. He must have wanted to go, since you said he did. Hemet had a ring like yours, so he was fine.”
“Yeah…” Gregory exhaled roughly.
“They collected all the players, securing us to make sure we were safe,” Jenn said.
“It was later when Hemet came and asked me to come check on you,” Mindie said. “He told them you were fine, but we wanted verification.”
“He came back after Mindie saw you and told us,” Yukiko said.
“That helped,” Elsa sniffled.
“We still had to win the tournament,” Roshana said. “We did as we planned long ago— we held the siege until the empire got more magi onto the field. They fielded every magi who hadn’t been knocked out already. The commanders were pinned between them and us. They surrendered.”
“The mages chased us,” Ling said, “but an armsmaster was waiting in our first fortified town, the one depicted by Egil.”
Clover giggled. “He came into our tent and asked what was prepared. When we told him, he laughed and said that we were smarter than most people he’d ever worked with.”
“It felt nice to hear the praise,” Ling smiled. “It was better when the mages tried to attack. They found the entire town against them, plus the three troops of men Egil had, backed by our magi’s potions and trinkets. After the first clash, they backed well up.”
“Then, Egil rode out and challenged them to a fight. Stallo accepted,” Clover laughed. “Stallo wounded him, but Egil’s thrust to his neck would’ve been fatal if not for the healers on hand.”
“Ivan offered to surrender,” Ling said. “At the end, we took back our captured towns, plus three from Buldoun. Krogga and Limaz had representatives here to watch the tournaments. Both lauded our clan for our actions.”
“Good,” Gregory smiled. “I knew you would win.”
“Tomorrow, there’s a feast,” Yukiko said. “Hemet told us. The day after that, we get to say farewells to our parents… and friends.”
Ling, Clover, Roshana, and Elsa looked sad.
“We’ll spend the first part of that day with our parents and send our maid off to train so she can shine brightly for us,” Yukiko said softly. “We have every faith in you, Elsa.”
Elsa sniffled, but smiled. “I won’t fail you, Yuki. I will be the best maid.”
Mindie hugged Elsa. “We know.”
“We’ll spend that evening with our fellow apprentices,” Yukiko said. “We’ll say our farewells.”
“Will we get to do like the novices?” Clover asked hopefully.
Gregory chuckled. “Yes.”
“Our heart has agreed,” Yukiko smiled, “so yes.”
Twenty-first bell began to ring, and everyone looked toward the window.
“I’ll go tell the staff to bring more pillows and blankets,” Gregory said, standing up. “We can all sleep here in the main room tonight.”
“Really?” Elsa was wide-eyed.
“Yes,” Mindie said. “A sleepover. You’ve done great for us, and deserve a reward.”
“She does,” Jenn agreed, “but first, baths.”
“There’s one tub. We’ll have to go one at a time, so just rinsing,” Gregory said, pausing by the door. “Figure out who’s going when.”
