They only made a few trips out of the manor, mostly for food or to walk in the flower garden park, and once by a scrivener so both of them could pick up more books. Mindie and Gregory tested if the rings he’d given his wives could store things the way his ring did. They discovered that they did indeed hold items in perfect stasis— if it went in hot, it was still hot when removed from the ring. Gregory considered buying perishable goods at discount, as he could store them indefinitely.
Other than those moments, the couple stayed in the manor. Mindie played her music for him, and Gregory would smile as she did. They studied, meditated, and trained the Peaceful Fist every day, as well. The rest of the time, they stayed in their room, making up for the time they’d been apart before and would be again soon.
~*~*~
“Mistress, another magi is coming to the manor,” Flopsy called to them through the closed door.
“Show her up as soon as she gets here,” Mindie called back.
Gregory let Mindie off his lap; the pair had been cuddling while they waited for Jenn to arrive. “You don’t mind, right?”
“Not at all,” Mindie said softly, kissing his cheek. “I’ll have her for the rest of the week. This is the only day you get to see her.”
“Thank you, dear one.”
“Tonight, you’ll get pampered by both of us,” Mindie smirked, even though her cheeks blazed.
“Wish I didn’t have to go,” Gregory sighed. “Just this year and next… it’s not that long, but it feels like forever.”
“It does feel that way. Even with me being busy healing people or helping Egil with paperwork, next week will be the hardest for me. I’ll have gotten used to having one of you near me again just in time for all of you to be gone.”
“You’ll have an extra task this time, too.”
“Flopsy, yes. It won’t be easy, so she’ll likely be here when you come back again.”
“Not like you can just ask around for compassionate people who treat eurtik well,” Gregory snorted.
“Exactly. What plans do you have?”
“I’m going to take her to speak with Petal and May, then do what Yuki did with me: show her the city. After she gets a bath… ah, I’m going to miss that.”
Mindie giggled as she touched one of her fox ears. “Just the bath?”
“My personal bather will be missed more,” Gregory chuckled, “but I’ll miss being able to soak in the hot water.”
“I’ll be here to help you enjoy them again when you’re next… Oh.”
“Huh?”
“Your next visit here should be right around the time the tournament at the academy starts.”
Gregory frowned, then nodded. “I hadn’t even thought about that. We’ll miss the solstice together, too.”
“Which means Yuki’s birthday.”
“Can you arrange a special day for when Yuki and I are both here?”
Mindie smiled gently. “Of course.”
“For us both to spend with her,” Gregory clarified. “It’ll be sad that Jenn won’t be there with us, but the two of us can give her an early present.”
“I’ll arrange it,” Mindie giggled, clearly already planning everything in her head.
“I’m going to see if I can find yuzu fruit with Jenn today. We can make sure we have them for the solstice that way.”
“That would be good. We’ve been using a lot of supplements and need the purification.”
“Exactly. Wish I’d thought of it sooner.”
“I can do it, instead,” Mindie offered.
Gregory considered her offer for a moment. “It’ll give Jenn and me something to do together. If I can’t find them easily, I’ll let you know so you can try.”
“Very well, dear one.”
A knock on the door came, but Gregory had been waiting, so he pulled it open. Jenn stood there, her eyes bright when she met his gaze. Nothing was said as Gregory pulled her to him, bending down to kiss his shorter wife.
Flopsy glanced at Mindie, expecting to see some jealousy, but she only saw love in the healer’s eyes. A small pang of wistfulness shot through the eurtik slave. She’d always hoped to meet a man who would love her, but hadn’t yet. To see the love this trio had for each other— plus the love she’d briefly seen from the other magi— she wondered if she’d ever find even a tenth of what they had.
When Gregory finally stepped back, Mindie was there to get her own kiss from Jenn. His chuckle was soft as he watched his wives share their love.
Jenn was breathing fast when Mindie finally let her go. “Goodness, I could come to enjoy being welcomed home like that.”
“I thought the same thing when Yuki did it to me,” Gregory smiled. “I have plans to show you the city, but perhaps you’d like to get a real bath first?”
Jenn’s lips twitched at his mention of plans. “Hmm… a bath does sound good, but spending more time with you sounds better.”
“It’s been months since you had a good scrub,” Mindie said. “You have all day with him, so go get clean first. He’ll be ready when you are.”
Jenn sighed, then stepped back. “Fiiine. I won’t soak long, though.”
“I didn’t, either,” Gregory grinned.
Jenn turned to go, almost running into Flopsy, who was still standing there. “Oh, sorry. Excuse me.”
“My mistake, mistress,” Flopsy said quickly, bowing low.
“Flopsy, go with her. Assist as needed.”
“Yes, mistress.”
Jenn was going to object, but it was clear that Mindie wanted her to take the rabbit eurtik with her, so she nodded. “This way.”
“Do I need to get your clothing first?” Flopsy asked as she hurried after Jenn.
“I already have it on me,” Jenn replied.
Gregory watched them go before turning to Mindie. “Why?”
“I want Flopsy to get used to more things. Whoever she ends up with might want her to help them with bathing.”
“That’s a good point,” Gregory admitted. “I still think she’ll be over a half hour.”
“Not much longer than that, but probably close. Means I can play you another song or two before she comes back.”
Gregory shut the bedroom doors. “Or we can go back to cuddling.”
“A song, then more cuddles?”
“As my heart wishes.”
~*~*~
Petal and May were happy to meet Jenn, who in turn introduced them to her lieutenant. Lieutenant Jayson Taylor was as tall and broad as Egil. The large man was surprisingly personable, far different from the armsmaster in temperament. Jenn had Jayson give the armor out to the men after Gregory mentioned it’d come in.
With that errand done, the pair were soon walking down the street, side-by-side. Jenn wore a grin as she glanced at Gregory. “Thank you for helping me find a cook, and an assistant for her.”
“I’m just glad they’ll have a better life,” Gregory said as he produced their slave runes. “Here: Petal’s and May’s. I gave Yuki the runes for the eurtiks who went with her. They’re in case you ever need to prove they’re supposed to be with you.”
Jenn grimaced, but she took the runes, absorbing them into her ring straight away. “One day, those can be broken.”
“It’ll be a hard path.”
“But those make the best magi,” Jenn said.
If we survive, Gregory thought, not wanting to bring the mood down more. “How was Flopsy?”
“Reminds me a little of Clover. She’s eager, earnest, and only seems to want to do her best. I hope Mindie can find a good person for her.”
“You feel the same as I do, then?”
“We already have a maid waiting for us when we finish our time,” Jenn nodded. “I hope she’s doing okay.”
“Yuki and I wrote letters to her to let her know we started our training here.”
“I’ll add to it.”
“There’s also a letter from Nessa about their time away from the academy and the tournament. We wrote replies to it, too.”
“I’ll make sure to add to that,” Jenn smiled.
“Roshana, Clover, and Ling all found their resonances,” Gregory said once he’d checked the nearby area with aether sight. “We’ll see them in a dream soon.”
“That way, they can tell us and just be a few short steps away from what they want. I bet they’re eager to tell us, no matter how embarrassing the truth is.”
“Probably. It’ll help keep the others focused, too.”
“Daciana will be so jealous,” Jenn laughed, imagining their friend’s reaction.
“Tail whipping back and forth as she vows to do it, too,” Gregory chuckled, having the same thought. “Yeah… I miss them. Not as deeply as I did you, Yuki, and Mindie, but I still miss them.”
Jenn took his hand. “So do I. We’ll see them again… not soon, but we will.”
“We have a couple of stops to make,” Gregory said to change the topic back to them. “There’s a lovely little tavern that we’ve used for midday meals. On the way, there’s a flower garden to walk through.”
“Oh? A date?”
“Yes. Our first. I asked the tavern owner to make a meal just for us.”
Jenn squeezed his hand. “Thank you, Greg. That makes my heart warm.”
“Just try to enjoy your time in the city. Mindie will be with you all week, and she’s helped me a lot.”
“Wish I got to see you more, or Yuki at all, but Mindie will help ease that loss.”
“After we eat, we’re going to stop at a place that makes aether-infused jerky.”
“Oh, good,” Jenn sighed. “I did the best I could with what I could find, but I haven’t been getting enough with my meals.”
“None of us have. The jerky here will help that. I also want to track down some yuzu fruit for the solstice.”
“Because we won’t be in the city for that,” Jenn nodded slowly. “Going to miss that and Yuki’s birthday.”
“Mindie and I are planning to give her an early birthday next time.”
“I can’t…” Jenn muttered, disappointed.
“You can help Mindie plan it.”
“Yes!” Jenn said quickly. “That’ll work.”
“I also want to explain how special your ring is,” Gregory chuckled. “Turns out that all of the promise rings can do something most spatial items can’t.”
“Oh?”
“Over lunch will be best.”
“Okay, dear one.”
