The last week before heading to Grakle both crawled by and was gone in a blink. The men were excited, as they’d heard they’d be patrolling the city with the other magi units. There’d been some friendly banter between the groups when they’d met before, but now, Gregory’s men were eager to prove they were the best.
Breakfast was coming to an end, and Gregory made a mental list of what he needed to do. He could see each of the men had packed their things— as they already had their bedding tied to their sling bags.
“Fill in the last bit of the latrine pit, absorb the tents,” Gregory murmured as he handed his bowl to Basal, who had to do a quick clean. “The dishes should be the last of it.”
Davis came to the table. “Sir, once you’re ready, we can begin.”
“Get the dishes clean. I’ll begin with the squad tents.”
“Yes, sir,” Davis replied before turning to face the squad tables. “Dishes, then we march.”
Polka and Dot started to bring steaming water basins to each table so everyone could clean their things. The men didn’t want to be the reason they couldn’t make it to Grakle today, so they washed their dishes as soon as they had water.
Gregory left them to it and went to the squad tents. He’d tested it a few times, so he was glad that he could do exactly as he was about to. Touching the first tent, he willed his ring to absorb it. It vanished, along with anything left inside it. Smiling, he walked over to the second one, but it didn’t vanish when he tried.
Gregory frowned and thought about why it might have failed. He knew his ring wasn’t full, which was one possible reason. With a sigh, he extended his resonance, wanting anything nearby to flee. A moment later, he saw a spider scuttle away, as well as a mouse. With a nod, he pulled his resonance back and tried again; this time, the tent vanished.
“Living things can’t be stored,” Gregory murmured as he walked to the third tent. “There’s a reason for that, I’m sure. Plants can be, though…” He trailed off as he considered what the limitations were exactly.
By the time he’d finished, the men were done cleaning their dishes. Gregory walked by, collecting the tables, benches, and other odds and ends. He swung by the cooking tent and, after driving a few insects out, absorbed the entire thing. Davis’ tent was the last, as he’d collected his tent before anyone else’s that morning.
The men were lined up and ready to march when Gregory finished. The wagon was loaded, hitched, and waiting with Barny holding the leads for the oxen. Basal stood by, holding the reins of Gregory’s horse.
“Lieutenant, is everything in order?” Gregory asked.
“Everything has been squared away, sir. We’re ready to move.”
Gregory nodded, walking with Davis to their mounts. “Very well. Men, we march without pause to Grakle. Move out!”
~*~*~
No one complained as they marched. The goal was to reach the city, not camp early, and they did. The sun was low in the sky when the unit arrived at the gates of Grakle.
The same captain as before stood outside with a handful of his men. As Gregory, Davis, and Willof paused, the captain saluted. “Magi, Captain, Lieutenant, welcome back. We weren’t expecting you tonight. My men are looking forward to their time off, though. We’ll have everything squared away by tomorrow night so you can take over the day after.”
“We’ll be ready to take over at the appointed time, Captain,” Gregory replied. “I wish you a good evening.”
“Good evening, Magi.”
The men were starting to slow as they approached, but Gregory rode into the city, so they were able to keep moving. The streets were busier in the evening, which did slow their march to the barracks, even with people moving aside for them.
As they got closer, Gregory chuckled. He raised a hand in greeting to Yukiko, who was coming from another direction. She waved back to him, clearly as amused as he was. The two units fell into line, only to find Jenn and her men just arriving ahead of them.
“Your wives seem to have had the same idea of getting in early, sir,” Davis chuckled.
“Great minds, Lieutenant. Great minds,” Gregory grinned.
Madoc was directing things, his children helping as much as they could. The retired soldier— now barracks manager— looked a little put out to have all three units arriving a day ahead of schedule.
Gregory and Yukiko had their men pause just outside the courtyard, letting the family handle Jenn’s men first. Yukiko rode up to sit beside Gregory. “Did you use your ring to collect tents?”
“I was going to mention it to you both,” Gregory chuckled.
“Considering how quickly we all got here, I’m going to assume that Jenn knows, too. If you hadn’t found out about how the rings store things, we’d likely not have done it.”
“Happy accident. It’s helped tremendously. Does your wagon have emergency supplies, just in case you can’t set camp?”
“Of course, dear one,” Yukiko smiled. “I’d bet my pay chest is in better condition than yours, too.”
“No bet; we all know you manage money better, Yuki. I did okay, thanks to what you’ve helped teach me, but I know you do vastly better.”
Jenn’s men were heading into the barracks, so Gregory leaned over to kiss Yukiko’s cheek. “My turn. I’ll wait, like Jenn is.”
“Good.” Yukiko smiled and nudged her horse aside so Gregory could lead his men into the yard. She raised her hand, and her lieutenant had her unit stop from following Gregory’s in.
“Giving the manager time to get each unit settled?” Max Pellant, her lieutenant, asked.
“For the best. We did put them out, and not just us.”
“Fair point,” Max nodded. “Tomorrow is off?”
“Yes. Tell the men to be ready for the day after. I don’t want us stumbling this late into training.”
“The sergeants know,” Max said, “but I’ll reiterate.”
“Wonderful,” Yukiko smiled.
~*~*~
Mindie was heading to the dining room for dinner when a knock on the front door got her attention. Drav was heading that way, but she went, as well. The few times someone came to the estate at this time of night was to ask for her help in healing.
Opening the door, Drav paused in surprise before he stepped back, bowing. “Magi, welcome back. We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow morning. I will inform the kitchen so they can prepare for all of you, but it will be at least an hour until dinner is ready.”
“That’s fine,” Gregory said. “Most of us would like to get the dust off.”
Mindie’s smile gleamed as she hurried forward to hug her lovers. “All three of you?”
“All of us,” Jenn chuckled. “We wanted to be here tonight.”
The family stepped in and out of the way so the others could come inside.
“Ella, if you want to bathe with the female magi, the rest of us will use the other room,” Ben Ursage said.
Ella Voulaz gave the family a glance, then looked back at Ben. “I’m not going to try separating them.”
“It’s fine,” Yukiko laughed. “We can make things go faster by separating the men and women.”
“She’s right. We’ll be fine,” Gregory said, “though we’re at least one person too many for the other bath.”
“Ella, you don’t mind if Gregory joins us, do you?” Jenn asked with a slight smirk.
Ella barked a laugh when she saw the pink tint to Gregory’s cheeks. “Your husband might not want that.”
“Mixed bathing happens,” Gregory said as he fought down his blush.
None of the other men said a word, though a few looked amused.
Rafiq closed the front door, as Drav had already left.
~*~*~
Gregory was glad that Yukiko and Jenn behaved in the bath; Ella’s whispered conversation with Jenn had him worried the entire time. Ella was nearly old enough to be Gregory’s grandmother, so he didn’t think the conversation was too risqué.
Dressed, clean, and ready for dinner, they headed for the dining room. Egil was already there with Mindie, and the pair stopped speaking when the group arrived.
“Ella, good to see you again. You did leave the poor boy alone, didn’t you?” Egil asked.
“I haven’t been that bad for a decade,” Ella laughed. “Besides, his wives were there.”
Gregory was shocked that Egil had made the comment.
Egil started laughing at Gregory’s expression. “An old joke, Gregory. She was always well-behaved… unless we had that potato moonshine. Then, she was… different.”
Ella let out a grumble. “One time…! Sorry, two times. It only happened twice.”
“Twice was enough,” Egil chuckled. “Did you ever see them again?”
“Never been back there,” Ella sniffed. “Too old for that now.”
“I’ll make a note to keep any potato alcohol away from her,” Jenn said seriously.
“Talking about Ella’s missteps, are we?” Ben asked, coming into the room.
“No!” Ella snapped.
Ben held up his hands. “I just heard potato alcohol. No one who knows could fault me.”
“I made a joke,” Egil shrugged. “Now that you’re all here, sit.”
Everyone took their seats.
“I didn’t expect any of you until tomorrow, but that’s fine. Tomorrow, you can devise your plan for keeping the city safe. The day after, you and your men are responsible,” Egil clarified to them. “The city guard will have men on standby just in case, but you shouldn’t need them. Your trainers will not offer suggestions, but they will stay beside you. Any questions?”
“I’ve looked at potential patrols, sir,” Yukiko said. “We’re missing at least a score of men to do what I would consider the minimum required patrols.”
“True. You are indeed short of men,” Egil nodded. “And?”
Yukiko bowed her head. “We’ll manage, sir. I just wanted clarification about manpower.”
“Your units are all you have,” Egil said. “Is it fair? Not at all. But life isn’t, either. Any other questions?”
“Yes, sir,” Jenn said. “We can barely cover the city for half the day. What about nights?”
Egil nodded. “Nights will still be handled by the city guard, but you’ll be switching with them next week. Anyone else?”
“Are we traveling together to the tournament, sir?” Gregory asked.
Egil’s lips twitched. “Yes. I will be in command of the route and itinerary.”
“Yes, sir.” Gregory bowed slightly in his seat.
When no one else spoke up, Egil pulled on the rope behind him. “Very well. Let’s enjoy the meal.”
A moment later, the staff brought covered carts into the room.
