The men had the makeshift camp packed in short order after breakfast, letting them march sooner than the day before. Gregory, Davis, and Willof rode in front of the men, but the rest of the order was switched around. The eurtiks walked in a loose circle around the wagon, with two squads marching to either side. The last squad marched behind the wagon as rear security.
They reached the city a couple of hours after sunrise. The guards on the gate shifted, and a captain came out of the gatehouse as the unit approached. Gregory, Davis, and Willof rode a little faster to meet the captain who was waiting for them.
“Captain, is there a problem?” Gregory asked.
“What unit are you?” the captain said brusquely.
“Magi Gregory Pettit, Aether’s Guard,” Gregory said.
“Another Aether’s Guard unit,” the captain murmured. “Your men will be on a week’s leave?”
“Yes, sir. My week coincides with the last of the units in the area coming in for theirs.”
“Just as the first unit leaves tomorrow morning,” the captain nodded. “Very well. We will not be giving your men any slack, Magi. They will comport themselves as men of uniform should, or they will be held accountable.”
Gregory was a little surprised at how unmoving the captain was acting. Most people would bend for a magi, but this man didn’t seem to care if Gregory was one or not.
“My men will be the best-behaved unit you’ll ever see, Captain…?” Gregory trailed off, waiting for the introduction.
“Captain Koruthers,” Koruthers replied crisply. “Do you know where to take them?”
“I have him, Captain,” Willof said bluntly.
Koruthers gave Willof a look, then a respectful nod. “Captain, I’ll leave them to you. If you wish to talk, myself and the other captains normally find ourselves at the Golden Vela near the main square after shift.”
“I will see you there, Captain,” Willof saluted.
“Good day,” Koruthers saluted back before leaving them at the gate.
“Lead us in, Captain,” Gregory said, aware of the gate guards watching them.
“Yes, sir.” Willof saluted once more before he rode through the open gate, the wagon having already caught up to them.
The streets were busy, but everyone made way for the unit of armed men escorting a wagon. Gregory recalled the route toward the manor that Egil was using, and they were going that way. It was one street short of the manor where Willof turned, and after another couple of streets, they arrived at a walled compound.
Willof rang the bell at the gates, announcing them. A minute later, they opened, revealing a couple of youngsters. They both stepped out of the way to allow the unit into the yard.
The compound had a wide space that was clearly used often. There was a stable where horses and oxen stood in shade, and a couple of empty wagons were parked beside the structure. The largest building was two stories high— it didn’t have windows, but it had plenty of arrow slits on the second floor. The last building was a modest home where a grizzled-looking man was exiting the door.
“Captain,” the man saluted Willof. “Second floor of the barracks for your men and followers. Yourself, the lieutenant, and the magi are at the commander’s manor.”
“Thank you,” Willof said. He dismounted and handed his reins to a young woman. “The sergeants will relay the rules of your barracks to them.”
“I’ll gather them up for a chat after the men get settled.” He looked over the collection of full-blooded eurtik. “You have more staff than expected, but we can make it work.”
Gregory dismounted; he was a little stiff when doing it, as he was still getting fully used to riding. “What’s your name, sir?”
“I’m Madoc, Magi. Former captain of the army, retired now. I run the barracks here for training units. My family is the entirety of the staff.”
“An honor to meet you, Madoc. If my men cause problems, the sergeants will quickly resolve it.”
“As sergeants should,” Madoc chuckled. “We have them from here, sir. You can retire to the manor.”
Gregory saluted the former army captain before he turned to go. He had to stop as Flopsy was standing a few feet away, bouncing slightly in place. “Come with us, Flopsy. We’ll see how Mindie feels about it.”
“Yes, sir!” Flopsy beamed.
Davis went to have a quick word with the sergeants before going with the others. Willof and Rafiq waited with Gregory and Flopsy until Davis joined them.
~*~*~
The butler let them in, welcoming them to the manor. He directed Gregory to where Mindie and Yukiko were before leading Davis, Willof, and Rafiq away. Gregory walked quickly down the hall, eager to see his wives again, while Flopsy hurried to follow him. He didn’t charge into the room— he paused to knock, just in case they were engaged.
The door opened a few seconds later, revealing a smiling Yukiko just before she pulled him into the room, kissing him passionately. Gregory returned the heated kiss with all the love he felt for her, having forgotten about Flopsy behind him.
“Oh, hello,” Mindie said, catching sight of the rabbit eurtik. “Who are you?”
“Flopsy, mistress,” Flopsy replied before bowing low to her. “Are you Mindie? Gregory said I could serve his wife Mindie.”
“He did?” Mindie asked with a bemused expression, as Flopsy was obviously eager.
“If you’re okay with it,” Flopsy amended, still bowing.
“First, we need to let them greet each other. After that, we’ll hear what he has to say.”
When the kiss finally broke, Gregory and Yukiko were breathing roughly.
“Greg, you brought one of the women you saved with you?” Mindie asked before Yukiko could distract him again.
“Oh, uh… yeah. She wants to be a maid for a lady. I told her that if you weren’t comfortable with it, you could see about finding her a good mistress to serve.”
Yukiko stepped back from him, giving the rabbit eurtik a long look. “What’s your name?”
“Flopsy, mistress.”
“Gregory, you should go bathe,” Yukiko said. “Mindie and I will talk with Flopsy while you do. Once you’re clean, I get you for the rest of the day.”
“As my heart wishes,” Gregory murmured, kissing her cheek. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Don’t rush,” Yukiko told him, taking his hand in hers. “I know I’ve been soaking longer than normal, as baths will be forgotten again when we go back to train.”
“I won’t rush, but I’m not going to linger, not when I only get you for the rest of today.”
Yukiko’s smile was bright. “I made plans, but we have a couple of hours before we need to leave.”
“I definitely won’t take hours,” Gregory laughed, squeezing her hand before he slipped to Mindie’s side. “A kiss for my lovely healer before I go?”
“Yes, please,” Mindie giggled, pulling him in close for a kiss.
~*~*~
Fresh from the bath, Gregory felt truly clean for the first time in months. He’d forgotten about what it was like as a child, going days between baths. Egil’s comments about missing them were now crystal clear.
“Dear one,” Yukiko smiled as she came down the hall, “are you ready to go?”
“I didn’t take that long, did I?”
“No, but we can take a walk through the city. We can compare our experiences so far.”
“As my heart wishes,” Gregory said.
Side by side, they walked down the hall. “There’s a letter from Nessa. Mindie has it. I can give you the high points, if you’d like?”
“Please? I hope they’re doing well.”
“They wrote it just before returning to the academy from Waterrock,” Yukiko said. “Vicky finished in second, behind their new friend, Frederica. The academy put the four of them against each other. Vicky beat Nessa and Daciana, then lost to Frederica before the final eight. Frederica beat all of them. That kept Nessa and Daciana from the finals, but Vicky beat her other opponents, so she made it in.”
“They probably cheered themselves hoarse for her,” Gregory chuckled.
“The final match was tough, but Frederica played it safe and wore Vicky down which, again, let our clan take the top spots. They mentioned that, with the Hardened Fist helping them, our apprentices won their tournament, too.”
“That’s going to cause some friction…”
“No doubt it did. With news of Lightshield passing, most people are probably thinking things will change against the clan. Bishop will prove to them how wrong that thought is.”
“She’ll be as tough as she always was.”
“Daciana had a tough time learning from Kassidy in the beginning. The letter states she managed to earn the smith’s respect before their time ended. Nessa passed Brown’s test and was training to cook with him. She was effusive in how much she was learning; Brown even complimented her before they left. Vicky said she’d be prepared for riding in the coming year. The trainer she studied with told her how often magi ride.”
“Wish I’d taken to learn from a groom…” Gregory murmured. “How has that been for you?”
Yukiko smiled. “I’ve ridden before, so it was just refreshing what I’ve known. Have you been alright?”
“Had to get salve for my thighs, but I’m improving. I hope Jenn is alright.”
“I’m sure she’s fine. Her magic would help any lingering discomfort she might’ve felt.”
“That’s true.”
“Will you tell me the full story about the eurtiks?”
“Sure,” Gregory said as they left the manor behind. “It started with me looking for a cook…”
~*~*~
The day sped away from the two lovers. Yukiko showed him the places she thought were the best in the city. The meal they had at midday was delicious and the richest aether food he’d had since starting training.
One of their stops was a business that specialized in aether jerky. Gregory stocked well up on the best they had. As they left, he explained to Yukiko about his ring storing things in perfect condition. She promised that she’d test her ring for him when she returned to her unit.
They strolled through a public garden, earning them some looks, but no one approached the two magi. The pair ignored the observers, lost in their own world as they tried to soak in as much as they could.
They were returning to the manor for dinner when Yukiko exhaled sadly. “This year and next are testing me… I half want to leave my men behind to go be with you.”
“I know,” Gregory murmured. “I’ve had similar thoughts. It would hurt the clan if we did. We can weather this so we can have our magus postings together.”
“Yes… we do what we need to. Tonight, Mindie will be a helper, but you’ll be mine.”
“As my heart wishes,” Gregory chuckled.
“Sir,” Davis saluted him as they approached the manor, “we need you to come by the barracks.”
“Is there a problem?” Gregory asked, surprised.
“No, sir. There’s a delivery you need to sign for.”
Gregory was confused, but Yukiko touched his hand, nodding toward the road. “We’ll go now.”
“Yes, sir,” Davis replied.
“Davis, this is Yukiko Pettit, my wife. Her men are the others in the barracks.”
“A pleasure, ma’am.”
“How are your men doing, Lieutenant?” Yukiko asked.
“Good, ma’am. Best men I’ve ever trained.”
“Hmm… my lieutenant says the same of ours. We’ll find out in the future which of you is correct.”
“The tournament,” Davis nodded.
They made the rest of the trip in silence. When they arrived, a pair of wagons sat in the yard, surrounded by armed guards. Davis led Gregory straight up to the leader of the group, who was talking to Rafiq.
“Magi Pettit, as requested,” Davis said.
The scarred man gave Gregory a nod before holding out a paper to him. “I need you to sign off, Magi.”
Gregory took the page to read it. With a nod, he pulled a pen from his ring, along with ink. “Hold this, please.” He had the paper signed in short order. “There you go.”
“Thank you, Magi. Unload it, men.”
Crates began to be pulled from the wagons.
“What is it?” Yukiko asked.
“The armor and weapons promised by the archmage. I’d like to hand the weapons off to you, Yuki. My men have all taken to using the naginata; I have to order them weapons while we’re here.”
Yukiko just looked at him before she started laughing. “Of course they have. I’ll accept the weapons.”
“Excuse me, sir,” Nammi said, coming their way slowly.
“Nammi, good timing. Yuki, this is Nammi, one of the sisters who you offered to take.”
Yukiko met Nammi’s gaze before the eurtik dropped hers. “A pleasure. We leave in the morning, so be ready. The rules will likely be the same that my husband had, but we’ll discuss that tomorrow. My men will be respectful, and none of them will touch you.”
“Thank you, mistress.”
“Ma’am or Yukiko,” Yukiko told her. “You will be a camp worker, not a housemaid, so ‘mistress’ would be wrong.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Ma’am,” a man said, striding their way, “didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Greg, this is my lieutenant, Max Pellant. The weapons here are for our men. Get them organized and ready for tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Davis, have the armor delivered to the men. The archmage of Buldoun sent them to us. They should be the very best his country has,” Gregory said.
“Yes, sir,” Davis replied crisply. “I’ll see about tabards to modify them to represent the unit if needed.”
“No need,” the man with the clipboard laughed. “These were enchanted to hold the Aether’s Guard clan emblem and fit whoever wears them. The weapons never need to be sharpened, and the shields will not break.”
Gregory exhaled slowly. “He did say they would be the best he could get…”
“Make sure the men know my husband gave these to us,” Yukiko told Max.
“Yes, ma’am,” Max said, saluting her.
Nammi blinked slowly, having just heard of items that alone were worth dozens of her. The magi who’d pulled her from the tavern had been unlike any she’d ever heard of, and this just raised that bar higher.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Yukiko told the shocked eurtik. “Should we go have dinner with our wife now, my heart?”
“Yeah. Davis, I’ll be back to check on the armor tomorrow.”
“We’ll have it in order, sir,” Davis saluted. “Tell the cook that I’ll be late, please.”
“Will do,” Gregory said as he walked away with Yukiko. Everyone in the yard watched the two of them leave.
