Gregory was groggy when he woke to the third bell. They’d stayed up longer than intended— when they’d all bedded down for the night, it sparked conversations about previous sleepovers. Yukiko, Jenn, and Elsa didn’t have any stories to share, but everyone else did.
The stories were funny, because they chose the best moments they could remember. Clover had a lot of pillow fights. Ling told them about playing a game of truth and revealing embarrassing secrets, like the one about her old friend who loved having her tail stroked. Roshana said that game was a derivative of one from Limaz: truth or dare. Someone would get to pick if they wanted to tell a truth or do a dare, and the first person would get to ask a question or issue the dare they wanted. If the person didn’t share or do the dare, they were removed from the game.
Elsa had begged to play, never having had a night with so much fun before. The others exchanged looks as they agreed, making sure it was known that things would need to be kept tame with her in the room. That led to a lot of silly dares, mostly involving dancing. From there, Roshana showed them a dance she knew from her homeland that involved swaying hips and, if she’d had them, removing veils.
Blinking slowly, he found his wives weren’t the ones beside him. Roshana was on one side, wearing a peaceful smile on her sleepy face. The other side of him had him blinking in confusion for a moment. A flat, bare stomach was where he expected a face, the belly button right at eye level. Looking up, he found legs. When he looked down, he saw a bunched-up shirt just underneath some breasts. He leaned back and saw Ling’s face inverted with Clover’s head nearly touching hers, their faces just above his own navel.
Exhaling slowly, he sat up and looked over the rest of the room. Elsa was curled up, clutching one of his feet, murmuring in her sleep. He found his three wives on the far side of Roshana, with Yukiko being cuddled on either side. His wives were just waking up, the bell having woken them, too.
“Morning. Can I get one of you to help free my foot?” Gregory whispered.
Yukiko was the first to sit up, and she giggled. “That’s adorable, dearest.”
“I’ll get her,” Jenn grinned.
“Uh… why are Clover and Ling like that?” Mindie asked, her cheeks dusting pink.
“I have no idea,” Gregory said.
He’d gone to bed wearing his pants, as he didn’t really have nightclothes, and he wasn’t going to be in just his underclothes with Elsa in the room. It was a little jarring when he saw that they all had pajamas like Claudia, but Yukiko explained that they’d bought them when they went shopping for wedding clothes. He was doubly grateful for his pants now.
Roshana, Clover, and Ling shifted as they woke up. Gregory watched Clover and Ling both look confused, then blush, turning to look at him.
“So, what happened?” Gregory chuckled.
“We couldn’t decide who should sleep next to you like Roshana, so we came to this solution,” Ling said slowly.
“We’re sorry,” Clover said. She ducked her head, putting her closer to Gregory’s lap.
“It’s fine,” Gregory said quickly, which thankfully got Clover to look up again. “Nothing happened. It was just confusing.”
Ling tugged her shirt down to cover her toned stomach. “Thank you for understanding.”
Jenn managed to loosen Elsa’s hand on Gregory’s foot, so he was able to roll backward and get up to his feet. “I’ll go change in the bathing room. One of you can come to get me when you’re all dressed.”
He was walking away when he heard a sudden scramble. “Oh! I slept in! I’m sorry!” Elsa said in distress. “I’ll go get your breakfast!”
“Elsa, stop,” Yukiko said softly. “Just pause for a moment.”
Gregory left Yukiko to calm Elsa down— he knew she’d manage it better than he could.
~*~*~
The tournament feast wasn’t until late afternoon, giving them plenty of time for their normal training. Gregory finally stepped out of the building when it was time for the Peaceful Fist and sparring. He found it was on the far end of the arena, between the two countries’ encampments. A second, identical building sat beside the one he’d been in. It was more than likely the archmage’s residence during the tournament, as the one he’d been in had been Laozi’s.
After their training was done, they bathed and put on their best set of apprentice robes for the feast. With the few hours they had until it was time to go, they meditated or read as they wished. Elsa made sure they had tea beside them, reading when she wasn’t needed to be a maid.
A knock on the door brought them a surprise. Hemet stood there, smiling at them all. “I have for you the clothing you’ll need for tonight and the coming year,” he said once Elsa let him in. He produced three sets of kimonos for everyone, all of which were the same color orange as the initiate-tier medallion, except for three of cyan. “Mindie, these are for you. I also have news on your magus posting.”
Mindie swallowed the lump in her throat, bowing her head. “I’m ready to hear, sir.”
“Unlike most magus postings, which are set for a solid five-year limit, yours has been modified due to the request of your clan and the loss of its elder. For the next two years, you will assist initiates with their troops and the tournament they endure. After that, you will shift to assist a senior clan member with her own assignment.”
Mindie beamed. She looked briefly toward her husband and wives before going back to Hemet. “Thank you, sir.”
“Bishop sent word with your posting. ‘Tell her this isn’t a reward. She will work her very best or I will recall her early.’ I trust you would, anyway.”
“Yes,” Mindie nodded.
“Now, you might have an incorrect idea of how much time you will have to see your loved ones. I’m going to clarify that right now. You will be posted with the head trainer in a city. Your loved ones will be posted in the towns around that city with their troops. For one week every two months, they will be relieved of their duties and their entire troop will go to the city to be debriefed and given time off. Those weeks can overlap by a single day alone,” he added, looking at the other three who were married. “It isn’t much, but it’s what you have.”
“We will endure,” Jenn said.
“Roshana,” Hemet said, turning to her, “your posting was unprepared, since you joined so late. We have opted to not have you train with troops, nor have a separate adept posting. For the next two years, you will assist the clan at the academy, much the way Ling is.”
Roshana had been prepared for the worst, so she beamed when she heard the news. “I will do my very best to help make the clan strong, Grandmaster.”
“Hemet, or sir, please. I’m past the need for my tier to define me. Clover and Ling, you already know about your next few years.”
“Yes, sir,” Ling and Clover said.
“Gregory, you need to decide where you would like your magus posting to be. Jenn, Yukiko, Clover, Ling, and Roshana, your list of choices are needed, as well. You have an hour to get them written up for the overseer. He’s going to be juggling every person from the tournament, minus Nick Shun. Since the empire won the Empire’s Gambit tournament, the overseer has allowed the players to also have a chance to get a posting they want. I’ll see you in an hour when I come to walk with you to dinner.”
All of them bowed to him, thanking him. When he was gone, they grabbed their new clothing and went to change. Gregory was the first one; just under his first outfit was a piece of paper. It only had a few words written on it; “Kroggian Embassy.”
Gregory exhaled slowly— the writing was Lightshield’s scrawled script. Picking it up, he stared at it for a long moment before he let his ring pull it and his other outfits into storage.
Why there? Gregory wondered as he got dressed. That would put me under a master or grandmaster magi… are they going to post Hemet there? I can’t see that going well with how Krogga views magi. He let his thoughts chew on it as he dressed into the orange outfit.
When he came out of the bathing room to let Yukiko know it was her turn, he found all of them talking excitedly. “What happened?” Gregory asked.
“We’ve decided what our posting choices are,” Yukiko smiled. She was holding a piece of paper in hand, as did each of the others. “Our first choice is the Kroggian Embassy. After that, we each have different choices.”
Gregory suddenly held the paper he’d found. “I was going to ask for the same.”
“Which would give us our five years together!” Clover said excitedly.
“If the overseer can do this,” Ling said slowly, “it would have to cause some concern among other clans.”
“Ah, but other clans have all held embassy postings before,” Jenn smiled. “We looked into that before.”
“We should thank the one who’s responsible for this,” Roshana said softly. “A silent thank you to him.”
Everyone bowed their heads for a moment, offering thanks to their lost elder.
“Isn’t that going to be dangerous?” Elsa asked. She’d remained silent the entire time, but her fear and worry had been growing. “Krogga hates magi.”
“It will have risks,” Yukiko said, going over to Elsa, “but together, we are strong. You know this. Have faith in us, and in Aether.”
Elsa swallowed, clearly calming herself. “I do, mistress. I do. I still worry… anyone who cares for you would. I will pray to Aether that you will be fine and that, when you come back from your magus posting, I’ll be ready to be your maid.”
Yukiko touched Elsa’s head lightly. “Or a magi. Either way, you will always be welcome to stand beside us.”
Elsa sniffled, but raised her head proudly. “I will never fail to impress you.”
“We never doubt you,” Gregory said softly. “If you do become a magi, remember to help those who come after you like we have.”
“I will,” Elsa said firmly.
“I need to change so we can all get ready,” Yukiko said, stepping away from Elsa. “We should make sure our apprentice clothes are bundled so they can be taken back to the academy. Others will have use for them.”
“I was going to suggest that we also hand over any other enchanted items we no longer need,” Jenn said. “Ling can take them to study and return for us.”
Gregory did a quick inventory of his things, then turned to Mindie, handing her a ring. “This will snuff out all fire. It takes a bane core to recharge. My armor does the same thing without bane cores, so this is better for you to have. If our healer is safe, she can make sure we’re healed.”
“Agreed,” Yukiko said firmly when it looked like Mindie might object.
Mindie bowed her head, putting the ring on. “As you wish.”
Gregory smiled, then handed Ling another ring. “It was my aether and storage ring. It holds up to a magus’ level of aether.”
“My earrings and obi. The earrings held the same amount of aether, and the obi was item storage,” Yukiko said, handing hers over. “Study them, then either give them to Dia or to someone of your choice. If non-magi could use them, I’d give the obi to Elsa.”
“I will study them well,” Ling bowed as she pushed the items into her ring.
Roshana held out a ring. “Ring of the Mind. It can help another member of the clan now. Our novice… apprentice now… friends have one they’ve been using. Let this help someone else.”
Ling took the ring with a bow. “I will study this intently, as well.”
“I’ll be back,” Yukiko said, finally going to change.
“What should we do with our pouches?” Clover asked, touching her item storage pouch they’d gotten from the clan.
“Turn them back over to the clan,” Gregory said. “We have more novices and apprentices to help.”
“I’ll tell the others, too,” Clover beamed. “Since…” She trailed off, touching her ring with a broader smile.
The others all smiled at Gregory.
Elsa watched them, sending a silent prayer to Aether to keep her friends safe.
