Gregory exhaled roughly as he pulled Jenn to his side. “Now that is a sendoff.”
Mindie let out a shuddering breath as she curled up to his other side. “Yes, it is.”
“And we all got what we wanted,” Jenn murmured happily. “Thank you for indulging me again, my heart.”
“And me, too,” Mindie added.
“I’ll always do what I can for my wives,” Gregory smiled, kissing each in turn. As he finished, the fifth bell started to chime. “Time to go.”
With sad sighs, the trio got out of bed to get dressed.
“I’m glad that merchant is going to get the yuzu fruit for us,” Jenn said. “He was a little surprised you asked for so much.”
“I wanted to be good for next year, too. Mindie can make sure the others know where to go when it’s time.”
“I’ve made notes about all the places we’ve found that are worth their time when they come,” Mindie said. “They’ll have an easier time of it.”
“We’re just showing them the way.”
“I wonder how their year is going with tactics class?” Jenn mused. “Knowing the three of them, they’re going to run roughshod over the rest of the class.”
“They’re dedicated to trying to do as we did,” Gregory chuckled. “Though I do wonder how many clans started teaching their novices Empire’s Gambit after last year?”
“I’d wager the major clans, at least,” Mindie said. “They have to want to top our clan; we’ve bested them in every tournament. I’m sure that we’ll be recruiting even more novices this year, too.”
“‘The rich get richer,’ as Yuki’s said before. It’s always the big clans that excel in the academy. They have the power and money to back their students. The fact that we came out of nowhere and dominated the way we did for two years has to have stung their pride.”
“Which will make them do more this year to try stopping it from happening again,” Jenn said.
“Maybe. I doubt we’ll recruit the novices who win this year’s tournament. It was because our friends trained with us and the bets Hao won that our friends did as well as they did.”
“That’s true.”
Finally dressed, they went to leave the room. Flopsy was standing in the hall, clearly waiting to start cleaning for the day. “Good morning to you. If you need me for anything, mistresses, I am ready to assist.”
“We’ll be seeing our husband off first,” Mindie replied. “After that, Egil will have his sparring time with Jenn. When she goes to spar, you can begin to prepare the bath for us.”
“As you command, mistress,” Flopsy bowed.
“Thank you, Flopsy.” Mindie gave the rabbit eurtik a smile. “We’ll see you later.”
Flopsy stayed bowed while they left.
“She’s very earnest,” Jenn murmured as they went downstairs.
“She wants to serve a good mistress,” Mindie said. “I’ll find her one, even if it takes me time.”
~*~*~
Gregory walked with Jenn and Mindie beside him as they went to the barracks. The men were already in order and ready to go when the group arrived. Jenn’s men were in their armor and lined up to see them off, much the same way Gregory’s men had for Yukiko. The wagon had fewer people with it, now; just Basal, Hanz, Barny, Polka, and Dot were there, because the others had either stayed with Mindie, gone with Yukiko or were staying to go with Jenn.
Gregory gave both of his wives quick kisses before striding off to his horse. Basal helped him into the saddle and he rode to the front of the formation. “We march,” Gregory said when he got to the front with Davis and Willof. “Move out!”
As their unit began to march, Jenn’s men came to attention, saluting them. Jenn and Mindie both bowed as magi to Gregory; he bowed back, the heartache of leaving them again clenching his heart tight. The same pain was reflected in their eyes, and their sad smiles told the story to anyone watching them.
Gregory pulled his eyes to the front again when he passed them. It was time to focus on training his men again. He hadn’t heard of any troubles during the week, but he’d be calling a meeting with his officers when they camped for the night.
The people already out for the morning as the sun was rising moved aside for the unit. Most bowed their heads in passing, but a few older men pulled themselves up and saluted them.
“Old soldiers are always easy to spot,” Willof said as he saluted those few back.
“How long do most serve?” Gregory asked.
“A majority will do a single five-year stint. A few will double that, going for ten years. At ten, the soldier gets a small stipend for the rest of his life, and his spouse will get a payment when he passes. The rare few stay in for twenty. That gives a bigger stipend for him and a larger payment to any wife, along with small payments to his children. There’s no bonus for going past twenty unless you’ve advanced past major in rank. If you do, the stipend and payments increase depending on the rank you retired at.”
Gregory had read that all before, but the book hadn’t mentioned how many stayed in.
“How long have you served?”
“Fourteen years this solstice. I did ten years at various posts along the borders, then a few years at the academy. I was only accepted because I wasn’t married. Most start there; it’s rare for a man ten years in to be posted to the academy.”
“Nearly unheard of,” Davis added. “Most soldiers find a woman who can accept their husband being away for years.”
“A lot of those relationships are rough when the men finally go home.”
“Agreed. It’s then that the two have to find how to become a couple. It works most of the time.”
“And the times it doesn’t are ugly,” Willof said. “I’ve had old friends who’ve been in that spot.”
Davis grimaced. “Yeah… It can be hard enough trying to learn how to be part of society and not just a soldier. Add in trying to love a woman you probably haven’t seen in years and things can spiral.”
“Bad how?” Gregory asked.
“A lot of us carry mental scars from what we’ve seen or done,” Willof said slowly. “Things that could wake us in the middle of the night. A few I know instinctively get ready to fight if they hear hooves thundering toward them. They don’t realize where they are… they only remember where they were. If someone startles them in that moment… they react.”
“Hurting whoever is near them,” Gregory murmured. “If that person is their wife, who they’re still not used to having beside them…”
“Yes. In rarer cases, it’s just that the soldier refuses to accept anything but what he thought he would find when he returned. Maybe the wife isn’t as loving as he wanted, resentment builds, arguments happen… and then a man with a history of violence lashes out.”
“Krogg’s balls…” Gregory exhaled. “Can we help our men at all?”
“No. We can do our best to support them while they’re with us, but once they retire, they’ll go back to where they consider home. At that point, we can’t do an Aether-damned thing,” Davis grunted. “It’s also why so many old soldiers drink. It helps dull the memories, but that can lead back to the other problems.”
“Life can be a fickle bitch that way,” Willof said. “Just do your best if you’re ever called in to deal with that kind of moment.”
Silence fell over the men as they rode ahead of the unit. Each of them was lost in thought over the sobering facts of what old soldiers faced upon retirement.
~*~*~
The hasty camp was set up and Barny started cooking dinner. Gregory called the sergeants over for a talk, wanting to know if his men had earned the reward he’d set aside for them.
“How did they do?” Gregory asked once the group was assembled.
“Damned near flawless,” Davis said. “Only two minor issues, both of which were broken up. The men left rather than let it become more.”
“Which men?”
“Mine for one of them,” Glasson said. “They were in a place that accepts people like us. As they were heading back to the barracks, they crossed paths with a couple of men who started insulting them. Instead of answering them, they just kept walking. That prompted the hecklers to follow them for a while. One of the men almost turned back, but his fellows kept him walking with them.”
“They did the right thing. How close was it to devolving?”
“Very close, sir,” Glasson replied. “If I’d been there, I might’ve been the one to start the fight.”
“What was the other issue?”
“Mine,” Milton said. “The whole unit went out to find some companionship, taking your words to heart. The establishment welcomed them in, but when they were leaving, the price went up by fifty percent. The owner claimed it was because the men stopped the women from being able to entertain others, costing him business.”
“Hmm… sounds like he was just wanting to leverage more money out of them.”
“Likely. I heard of it and stopped in to speak to him. He laughed at me and said there was no proof he’d done anything wrong. I wanted to knock out his teeth for that. Instead, I let him laugh and left. I told my men and the other sergeants to stay clear of that establishment in the future.”
“When we go back, Milton, you’ll take me there. I will speak to him about defrauding my men.”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s all of it?” Gregory asked. When the others nodded, he smiled. “I have a reward for them, then, to thank them for making this first trip so smooth.”
“If you keep giving them rewards, they might expect them,” Davis said slowly.
“But all the rewards are fleeting,” Gregory countered. “Treats to sweeten their actions.”
Townson chuckled. “They have enjoyed those. There might have been a little bragging to the other men about it.”
Gregory winced. “Not sure my wives will like that.”
“I’d bet they just adapt,” Willof laughed.
“That’s very likely, and they can manage it themselves if they want to,” Gregory said, thinking of the money he’d handed off to each of his wives so they could do what he was. “I’ll address the men and thank them as dinner is being served.”
The meeting broke up and, after a small wait, dinner was ready.
“Gentlemen,” Gregory said, addressing the men as Polka and Dot started to serve the food. “I want to take a moment to thank you. You did exactly what I would expect from you. There was not a single problem for the entire week. When we get back to our camp, we will begin the rotation of squads into town. I was told of two instances where things might’ve gone wrong while in the city. Those of you who were involved, you did the right thing, as hard as that might’ve been. To thank all of you for your actions, I have dessert for everyone after dinner. Again, my thanks for you being on your best behavior.”
The men were proudly smiling as Gregory took a seat.
