Gregory woke with a grin when the third bell chimed. Getting dressed quickly, he checked to make sure everything was quiet, then slipped from the tent. He could hear the men assigned as cooks grumbling as they went to the supply tent to start breakfast. Every breakfast was frumenty and every dinner was soup, as those were the easiest things to make for the entire unit.
Not wanting to attract attention, he went around his tent slowly. In scant moments, he had the tables and benches set up as if dropped off in the middle of the night. He recalled Davis’ expression when he told him that he’d arranged a surprise to be delivered in the middle of the night— his lieutenant took it in stride, clearly willing to give Gregory the benefit of the doubt with all he was doing.
Gregory popped a piece of aether jerky into his mouth. It was lacking, but it would do for the time being; he’d get better jerky in Grakle. The men had noticed him eating with them, and the murmurs were surprised that the magi would not only eat with them, but eat the exact same food. He knew today’s display would up his reputation with them even more.
Focusing on his shadow ring, he teleported back into his room. He took a seat on the ground and started his daily meditation, this time going over his fights with Jenn and Yukiko, studying their style with the wakizashi.
When fourth bell rang, Gregory met Rafiq and Basal in the main room. “Good morning to you both. I picked up two extra sets of bowls and tankards in town.” Handing both of them two extras each, he grinned. “Just wash mine and leave it in my room. I wanted to make sure that, if something happens, we aren’t without clean dishes.”
“Yes, sir,” Basal said a little stiffly.
“It’s not a comment on you doing your job, Basal. I’ve just seen enough unexpected events to want to plan for things to disrupt the routine of the day. I don’t put it past Willof to interject some randomness to see how the men react. That includes us, so just prepare to be told that you need to do something different by him.”
“Oh… yes, sir,” Basal said, chagrined.
“It’s okay,” Gregory said, patting the badger eurtik’s shoulder. “I’ve hurt people with unthinking words before. I don’t blame you for your reaction.”
“Are you sure you’re a magi, sir?” Basal blurted out.
Rafiq laughed at the question. “He is unusual, isn’t he? I can verify that he is a magi. His entire clan that I’ve met is like this. Makes you wonder what the world might look like if more were, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah…” Basal sighed, looking distant.
“Maybe one day,” Gregory said softly, “but today, you’ll see weapons training. Do you know how to fight, Basal?”
“No training,” Basal said slowly.
“Just the fights growing up?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Would you like to learn?” Gregory asked gently. “It isn’t required, but if you and Hanz want to learn, I’ll see to it.”
“I’ll ask him, Gregory.”
“Let’s go. It sounds like they found my surprise,” Gregory chuckled when he heard someone exclaim behind his tent.
The trio stepped out to see guards walking toward the tent quickly. Sergeant Howard Donald was trotting over to the commotion, coming from the cooking area.
“What’s going on, Sergeant?” Gregory called out to the wolf eurtik.
“Someone left tables behind your tent, sir,” Donald explained.
“Good. They arrived like I wanted. One per squad, and two small ones for myself and the lieutenant. Get them set up. Mind the fact that they’ll have to move after breakfast for training.”
“Yes, sir,” Donald saluted before barking orders to the men.
“You bought tables for the men, sir?” Basal asked in shock.
“Yes. We’ll have to hope no one steals them when we go to Grakle, but… they’d be foolish to do so. I would enforce the law for theft. Maybe I should have one of the men carve the clan emblem on them?”
“That would make them identifiable,” Rafiq nodded. “One of them might be proficient with woodwork.”
“I’ll ask after breakfast,” Gregory smiled as he watched the men carry the tables and benches into the communal area.
“Tables, sir? You know that’ll be a problem for transportation,” Davis said quietly when he approached Gregory with Willof in tow.
“Could be,” Gregory nodded. “More weight and bulkier than that bed. See if anyone can figure out how to incorporate the bed into the obstacle course. Maybe a softer landing area on the other side of a wall?”
Willof nodded. “Training; there’s no reason to risk serious injuries right now.”
“I will, sir, but…” Davis trailed off for a second, clearly looking for the right words.
“Just spit it out. Blunt is fine,” Gregory said, still watching the men.
“They’ll either be stolen when we leave or we’ll have to transport them. I can’t believe even badly-crafted tables are cheap.”
“They’re sturdy, but roughly done. No pretty decorations at all, as I bought them from the man who supplies the cheapest taverns. Can any of them carve?”
“I think so?” Davis replied, trying to see how that mattered.
“Have them carve my clan emblem on the tops of all of them. Give the man a small bonus for doing so. If someone wants to steal them, well… it’ll be obvious who they belonged to. If they’re missing when we get back, I’ll lodge the complaint with the mayor, and the town guards can find them or we’ll do it ourselves.”
“Either way, they’ll see he cares about them in different ways,” Willof said. “He won’t overburden the wagon when you go to the city, which is a big thing. On top of that, he’ll show he’ll uphold the law, either via the mayor or the men. In addition, if the men have to be used, it’ll be another training experience.”
“Might just ask the mayor to allow us in to search the most likely places to start with,” Gregory said.
Davis looked thoughtful for a moment. “You’re really an initiate, right, sir?”
“I am. After the Peaceful Fist, send two squads to keep working on the course. The other three will be starting weapons training.”
“Yes, sir. You want them paired off?”
“To begin with; let’s see where the weakest are. We’ll be ramping it up to squad tactics quickly. Who’s your best fighter?”
“We have a few that are skilled, sir, but no one who’s far above the others. Why?”
“I’ll spar with each man during training. It’ll help them understand that I’m not the kind of magi who’ll hide behind them. My magic isn’t designed for that. I’ll get them to respect my ability in combat and to be ready for me to lead them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you use the naginata, Gregory, it won’t be enjoyable for any of them,” Rafiq said.
“I’ll be starting with the guandao; it’s my weakest weapon. I need to thank Egil again for letting me have it.”
“It was selfish on his part,” Rafiq laughed. “He’ll test you on it when you see him again.”
“Who?” Davis asked.
“Armsmaster Egil Magi-killer, the commander for this year,” Willof said.
“The armsmaster fights our magi?” Davis asked in surprise.
“Yes. Magi-killer wins most times, unless they use naginata. Gregory won their spars every night we stopped on the way here with that weapon.”
Davis stared at Gregory, his mouth open and eyes wide.
“Huh? I did?” Gregory asked clearly surprised.
Rafiq laughed. “Yes. You lose over half the time with any other weapon, the guandao being your worst. You win only one or two times out of ten with it currently.”
“B-but that…!” Davis stammered.
“Puts him capable of fighting a multiple-times armsmaster with the armsmaster’s preferred weapons,” Willof finished for the lieutenant. “Pettit is… unusual in many ways.”
The chime for breakfast came, and Gregory patted Davis’ back. “Your table is there. You did tell the men that they could approach me during meals, right?”
“We did, sir. I think they’re still uncertain.”
“Maybe they’ll loosen up after weapons training,” Gregory said.
Gregory was proven wrong as breakfast was drawing to an end. One of the men came toward the table slowly, clearly aware he was being watched by nearly everyone. Finally, a few feet from the table, he had to clear his throat to attempt to speak. When he did, the hesitation in his tone was painful to hear, “Sir… is it… is it true we can talk to you during meals?”
Gregory looked into the face of one of the part-panther eurtik men under Sergeant Glasson. How the sergeant had wrangled five other panther eurtik men, Gregory didn’t know. “It is. Have a seat.”
“Oh, no, sir!” the man said quickly. “I just wanted to thank you for the tables, sir. That’s all.” He threw a hasty salute, then quickly hurried away.
Gregory stared, letting the surprise of the abbreviated meeting show on his features. “Well… it’s a start… I guess?”
“I’m amazed one of them tried it today,” Rafiq murmured. “You see it as an open hand. Most of them are probably wondering if it’s a trap.”
“He’s right, sir,” Basal whispered. “Magi don’t just answer questions from people like us.”
Gregory took another bite of the frumenty. There was nothing that could be done for the bland meal that wouldn’t cost too much. He was sure that dinner would show a marked improvement, though.
A couple of minutes later, another man came toward the table; he clearly had a little more courage from seeing nothing bad happen to the first guard. “Sir, I just wanted to thank you for the tables. Also, the training has been less grueling the last couple of days, too. Thank you, sir.”
“Did you want to sit and discuss anything?” Gregory offered.
“Sit with you, sir? Is…is that allowed?”
“For these moments, yes. Meals are open for any of you to approach me with comments, concerns, suggestions, or anything else. I won’t deride, humiliate, or brush you off. The offer is open during meals; it also means you can bring problems with your sergeant to me if you’ve been uncomfortable doing so with the lieutenant.”
The man stared at Gregory. “Uh… y-yes, sir. I’ll let the others know.”
“Thank you.” Gregory gave him a rueful smile. “I didn’t think the offer would catch everyone so flatfooted.”
“Magi just… aren’t approachable. Present company excluded, sir.”
“It’s fine. We’ll be adding more work after the Peaceful Fist today, so be ready for that.”
“Yes, sir.” He saluted and walked away— his gait was proud, like he’d been brave enough to do what none of the others could do.
“That should get it rolling. Probably not until at least dinner, though,” Rafiq said, scraping out the last of his bowl. “If I gave you some money, could you get me some aether jerky from town next time you go?”
“I’ll split what I picked up with you. Grakle should have better quality, though we’re still a bit away from that.”
“Unfortunately, that’s true. Until then, thank you. I need more meat in my diet.”
“Is after the Peaceful Fist okay?”
“Yes, and thank you.”
Gregory started to gather the last pieces of his frumenty onto his spoon. “At least today, we saw some progress.”
