Gregory’s men remained respectful to the eurtiks over the following weeks, with no problems arising from having them. If anything, the morale of the men climbed higher. The food was better, with more flavor and variation. The former barmaids helping to serve dinner and bring drinks during training helped even more.
For the slaves, life was better than it had ever been. The sergeants were honest, the men were respectful, and they had possessions and time of their own. Nammi and Netty were still thinking of going with one of Gregory’s wives, however, just to have more women around them.
Petal had agreed to Gregory’s suggestion that she become the cook for Jenn’s unit. It hadn’t taken much, but the promise she would be treated just as well and that her son would be in charge of Gregory’s kitchen was enough. May offered to go with her so that Petal would still have a friend.
Gregory had taken the step of sending May to Gardenia once. She arranged for their tables to be collected when the unit left and be brought back a week later. He didn’t want to cause more problems in the town than he already had, if he could help it.
That would leave Gregory with Barny, Polka, and Dot. Flopsy hadn’t wavered from her hope of serving Mindie as a maid. Gregory was happy for them, and promised that, if problems arose with the other units, he would welcome them back.
During one of his chats with the eurtiks, Gregory opened his resonance. All of them felt mostly solid— Gregory chalked that up to his honesty with them and them still being a little nervous around the men.
All the slaves had taken to practicing the Peaceful Fist and unarmed combat training. With Rafiq leading them and the camp boys, they were basically another two squads training. Willof mentioned it during an officer’s meeting, saying that he was bemused that even slaves near Gregory quickly adapted to the way he did things. The others laughed at his observation, agreeing with him.
~*~*~
Gregory watched the men during breakfast. Everyone was talking excitedly, as they would be marching for Grakle in a few hours. He had to admit to himself that he was just as excited. Tomorrow, he’d get to see Yukiko and Mindie. He knew he’d only have the half day with Yukiko, but he would treasure it. Then, he’d have five days with Mindie before Jenn arrived and he got his half day with her.
“You’ve been smiling all morning,” Basal said.
“Tomorrow, I’ll get to see my wives again. Well, two of them, at least,” Gregory chuckled. “It’s a good reason to smile.”
“I would hope so,” Rafiq said as he finished his meal. “It will be years before I see my wife again.”
That statement hit Gregory in the gut.
“It isn’t your fault, Gregory. I volunteered, remember?”
“Yeah, but if not for Damon, no one would’ve needed to volunteer.”
“Possibly, or another would’ve wanted to have foresight studied. Truly, I have embraced my role here. You trying your best for them,” Rafiq nodded toward the other slaves, “has reaffirmed my views of you.”
“Are some of them really going to leave?” Basal asked.
“Five of them. We’ll have Polka, Dot, and Barny left with us,” Gregory said.
“That’ll be sad, but I understand, sir.”
“It’s their choice.”
“The first real choice they’ve ever had,” Rafiq added. “Basal, you’ve had a rough life, but even you know their lives have been worse.”
“I can’t imagine not being able to choose what to do with my life,” Basal murmured.
“You might get a taste of that in a few years,” Gregory said gently. “If you test as a magi, you’ll have your life restricted in ways you never have before.”
“But I can join Aether’s Guard, can’t I, sir?”
Gregory smiled at the earnest young man. “They would take you, but you’ll have to push even harder.”
“Because your clan has enemies. I’ll do my best, but honestly… I’m not sure I want to be a magi.”
“It’s not for everyone. Being part eurtik will make the path harder, but you’d find friends in the clan.” Gregory stood up, having finished his food. “I need to check in with Davis before things get packed away.”
“I’ll get everything in order, sir,” Basal said quickly, standing.
~*~*~
It took longer than Gregory thought it would to get everything packed. It was closing in on midday before they were marching toward the city. Gregory rode at the front with Davis and Willof while the men marched behind them with the eurtik, camp boys, Rafiq, and the wagon.
During the march, Gregory questioned the order they went in. If someone wanted to cripple the unit, they would just need to hit the wagon. Gregory wondered if splitting up the men to walk on either side of the wagon with another squad behind it might not be a better formation.
Willof laughed, agreeing that it would give better security to their supplies. Davis had grinned, as well, explaining that he’d wanted to see if Gregory knew how to best protect the critical supplies.
The sun was close to setting and they were still an hour or two from Grakle when Davis called a halt to the march. Gregory handed his mare off to Basal, then followed Davis to learn.
The men unloaded just enough to get them through the night. No tents were pulled out, as they would be making a hasty camp. Petal and Barny had the toughest time of it, as they had to make and cook dinner without their usual setup, but they did the best they could.
The soup was good enough, though well under what they could do with a proper camp. None of the men said a word, as they all knew they’d have done an even worse job of it.
It was as dinner was finishing up that Gregory sprang his last surprise— he’d never handed out the desserts he’d gotten three weeks ago. It was the third night after having the eurtik in camp that he even remembered his surprise for the men. When he’d pulled one of the pies from his ring, he was surprised that it was still warm.
That had him test it over the next few weeks. Gregory discovered that everything went into stasis when he pushed it into his ring. He couldn’t put anything living inside, but severed items could go in, he’d tested it on plants to verify that observation.
The pies were a shock to the men as Gregory had them handed out. “Men, this is a gift from me to thank you for all your hard work. You’ll be on a week’s leave soon. Before that happens, I wanted to remind you of something.”
Everyone was watching him, clearly intent on hearing what he had to say. Rafiq pulled out his notebook and charcoal pencil, ready to take notes on the speech.
“Your time off still reflects on you, the unit, myself, and my clan. The trouble you get into won’t just result in you being reprimanded; it’ll mean a blackmark against us as a whole, a reprimand for your sergeant, our lieutenant, and myself. It’ll go on to tarnish Aether’s Guard, as well.”
It was clear the men hadn’t thought that their week off could be a way to hurt all of them.
“I’m not worried, though,” Gregory went on. “I know from your dedication these last couple of months that you won’t disgrace us. Now, some of you might make mistakes, minor errors. Don’t hide them. Admit them, own your mistakes, and report them. It’s in this way that we can smooth over any reprimands we might get. Then, learn from those mistakes, help your fellows learn from them, and together, we’ll become even better.”
Chests puffed up at the faith Gregory was showing in them.
“I would ask you to stay in at least pairs to stop anyone from being singled out by the unscrupulous, but I won’t demand it. Enjoy your time off, and remember that you represent something more than just yourself. Now, enjoy the dessert. You’ve earned it.”
The men dug into the pie slices they were given, but they were clearly also discussing what they’d been told.
Gregory gathered up Davis, Willof, and the sergeants for a meeting. Even Gregory didn’t have a tent, so they just stepped away from the others. “Do you think I did enough to mitigate what might happen?”
“Frankly, sir,” Milton said, “if any of them fuck up, I’d be shocked. You basically praised them for their dedication. How could any of them risk damaging that praise?”
“But he went further,” Townson jumped in, “speaking how any one mistake would reflect on the others. None of them wants to hurt their squadmates or the unit.”
“To say nothing of us,” Bunson added. “I’m sure your men are as proud of you as mine are of me.”
“Then he said it would reflect badly on him,” Donald said. “They don’t want to do that, not after all he’s done for them.”
“Sir,” Glasson snorted, “right now, they’d rather sit in a quiet room doing nothing than party.”
“They’re right,” Davis chuckled, “but they’ll go out and drink, gamble, and maybe even wench. They will go in pairs or as squads. I’d bet on that.”
“Gregory, my report for your first few months is about as glowing as it can be,” Willof told him. “Your men are dedicated to a degree I’d never thought to see from a new unit. I’m very curious how your wives have done, too, so I’ll be speaking to both of their trainers while we’re in Grakle.”
“Much like me, I’d bet, but differently.” Gregory smiled, thinking about Jenn and Yukiko. “Yukiko will have gotten the best she could get for them without costing them any extra vela, probably even saving them some. Jenn will be just like me, getting into training with her men and pushing them as she pushes herself.”
“Their lieutenants and sergeants will love them, then,” Davis said, “if they’re even half of you, sir.”
The sergeants all agreed, and Gregory chuckled.
“We’ll need to do more to be the best unit when it comes time for the tournament,” Gregory grinned.
“Yes, sir,” the officers chorused.
