Jenn’s men weren’t the only ones who had trouble in Gullo— Glasson’s squad from Gregory’s unit got into a verbal altercation with a particularly loud bigot. Even Yukiko’s men almost got into a fight when a bartender diluted their drinks to half-strength, but charged full price. No actual fights broke out, but the men who’d been involved in the incidents were embarrassed that they’d nearly caused trouble.
The march continued for weeks after they left Gullo. They stopped outside of all villages, never seeing a city, and stayed in two more large towns. In both towns, their men again had minor problems, but with no violence involved.
~*~*~
It was late in the evening when they reached where they’d be camping outside the city. Shiba was half the size of Wesrik, and even though it was used every year for the initiate tournament, there were no accommodations for the magi guard units inside the city. Egil explained that there had been once before, but different clan units fought too often, so the mayor banned them from entry.
The campgrounds were almost completely full, as all the other units had already arrived. Egil directed them to their spots, and the tents were set quickly. It was only after they were done that other units became aware they were there. It was too late for normal dinner, as Egil had them march into the setting sun. The men were instead given jerky rations with the promise of a good meal in the morning.
Since they were at the tournament grounds, Gregory, Yukiko, and Jenn all separated to their own tents for the night. Mindie had rotated with each of them, so she went with Yukiko to start the cycle again. As they settled into their beds, all of them were curious as to what the tournament would be like.
~*~*~
The distant echo of third bell woke Gregory from his slumber. He was sure his wives were doing the same thing he was when he got dressed. With that done he sat down to hold aether to polish his channels and then meditate.
Fifth bell had him on his feet again, and Basal and Rafiq were leaving their rooms at the same time. “Morning,” Gregory greeted them. “Day one of the tournament. Hopefully, Egil will tell us more today.”
“Today is when you should find out everything,” Rafiq smiled. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to warn you.”
“You had orders. I wasn’t going to press and get you in trouble,” Gregory shrugged.
Leaving the tent, they found the men starting to wake, as Barny and the sisters were already working on breakfast. Gregory had set the tables out before going to sleep the previous night, so he took his seat. His gaze drifted over the camp; everything was in place as it should be. They didn’t have to dig latrines, at least, as permanent structures were in place for that. His men were strapping their armor on; no one knew if they’d need it, and they’d rather be ready than not.
“Good morning, Gregory,” Willof said, pausing next to the table. “At the seventh bell, you and your wives, minus Mindie, will be taken to the command tent to meet the judges. You’ll be told what the tournament is at that point.”
“Yes, sir,” Gregory said. “I’ll be ready when it’s time.”
“I’ll see you then,” Willof said before he went to sit with Davis.
~*~*~
Willof, Ben, Ella, and Egil escorted the three of them to a manor that’d been hidden behind the grove of trees encircling it. They marched two-by-two, with Egil in the lead. Gregory saw a few friends as they passed other camps, so he hoped he would be able to speak with them later.
The staff for the manor led them to a large office with three desks facing the door. Behind the desks, three men sat watching them. Two of them were in kimonos while the third was wearing a uniform.
“Sir, Magi, I have brought the initiates I was in charge of,” Egil announced, then stepped aside. “Gregory Pettit, Jenn Pettit, and Yukiko Pettit, you stand before Grandmaster Bao Zhu, the leader of the Hardened Fist clan.” Grandmaster Zhu was a heavily-muscled magi. His black hair had grayed temples that were a color match for his gray eyes.
“Elder Lionel Ironhand, who leads the Ironhand clan,” Egil continued. Elder Ironhand’s bright blue eyes stared at them with curiosity. Gregory realized he was part-elf from his pointed ears.
“And Commander General Yuansu Ruzi, head of the Imperial Army,” Egil finished. The general was heavily scarred with gray eyes and hair. The man was old, though not a magi. However, like Egil, he seemed far from weak.
Gregory and his wives bowed deeply as magi should to their seniors, greeting them respectfully.
“General, these are the three who advised them during the year: Captain Quincy Willof, Ben Ursage, and Ella Voulaz.”
“Ursage and Voulaz used to be part of your command, if I recall correctly, Magi-killer,” Ruzi said, his voice not frail in the least.
“They were. They also helped me with the tactics class last year at the academy. The last two of my helpers who transitioned to this assignment.”
“A lot of people are interested in the experiment you proposed last year,” Ruzi said. “We will see in the coming years if it is worth repeating.”
“I believe in what I said to the sage and council of the academy, sir.”
“I know, Magi-killer. You are going to head back to the academy again?”
“As long as they allow me to spend my last few years teaching, I will reside there.”
“I will have a letter to go with you, then,” Ruzi nodded. “No more of this, though. You’ll stay and teach tactics. You’ve done your marching.”
Egil drew himself to attention, saluting. “As you command, General.”
“Enough, Egil,” Ruzi sighed. “We spent our first few years together. You would be sitting here if you hadn’t signed on with the Han clan.”
“You always say that, but I wouldn’t be. I wasn’t diplomatic enough in my youth to go up the ranks the way you did. We have gone astray, old friend. This is about the magi, not me.”
“Neither I nor Zhu will take offense,” Ironhand said. “You have killed grandmasters before, after all.”
“My last magi killed was a decade ago, Elder.”
“Yet neither of us is pushing you.”
“For which I am thankful,” Egil replied. “Out of all the magi, not including the emperor himself, you two are the ones I wish to face the least.”
“Mollifying, but I’m not sure that’s true,” Zhu said. “You’d rather face me than Grandmaster Shun?”
“His fire doesn’t scare me,” Egil answered simply.
“You must still have Flem’s best ring, then,” Ironhand chuckled. “No fire magi who knows you killed the last four with impunity would challenge you. Not even Shun.”
Egil smiled as he bowed slightly. “I find having answers helps make things easier.”
“As it always does,” Ruzi chuckled. “Now,” he coughed, looking back at the young magi. “Initiates, we have the reports of your training. They will be gone over; these account for half of your score during the tournament. The other half includes mounted combat, your men marching, and the obstacle course. Since you are the last of the initiates to arrive,” he gave Egil a pointed look, “almost as if someone planned it that way, you will be tested last. Today and tomorrow are mounted combat. The two days after that are the marching portion. After that, we run eight units a day through the course. When it’s all over, the scores are totaled so we can see which units are the best of this year’s class. Any questions?”
“Sir,” Yukiko asked, “are we allowed to watch the others?”
“Only the unit directly before yours,” Ruzi replied.
“Can we visit with other magi in the campgrounds?” Gregory asked.
“No. We are keeping you separate here.”
No one else spoke up, so he nodded. “You three are the last three units to attempt every category. Do not disappoint us on preparedness.”
“No, sir,” the three replied in unison.
“Magi-killer, return them to their camps. You are their liaison until the tournament ends.”
“Yes, sir,” Egil said, saluting.
“Dismissed.”
Everyone saluted except the magi, who bowed respectfully.
~*~*~
Egil waited until they reached Jenn’s camp to address them, “Did you have any questions you didn’t want to ask them?”
“Why are we not allowed to watch the others, sir?” Yukiko asked.
“A few reasons, but the main one is that they want you all to be as unprepared as possible.”
“Are we all on that footing, sir?” Jenn asked.
Egil’s head dipped a fraction. “To suggest otherwise is to question the judges, Initiate.”
“I didn’t mean to imply such, sir. I just know that some clans have shown that they’ll bend rules to the breaking point to have an advantage.”
“Yes. I pity the people who try that here. There was a secondary reason of major note. Can you tell me what it is?”
“Sabotage,” Yukiko answered. “A clan who hates another might try to find a way for an observer to hinder those being tested.”
“Correct.”
“Which is why we’re last, isn’t it, sir? So that there isn’t another unknown unit behind us watching?” Gregory asked.
“One of the reasons,” Egil chuckled. “Prepare your men for the marches. Tomorrow, you have to show what you learned for riding.”
“Yes, sir,” the trio replied, bowing to him.
Egil saluted, then headed for his tent.
Gregory turned to Willof. “I’ll need your gelding.”
“That’s fine,” Willof said. “I’ll take the mare back to Grakle.”
“Hmm… I would request the same,” Yukiko said to Ben.
“And me,” Jenn chimed in, directed at Ella.
“We’d look bad saying ‘no’ now,” Ben chuckled. “Fine.”
Ella nodded to Jenn. “Take good care of him.”
“I will,” Jenn replied.
“We have the rest of today,” Gregory said. “Davis, give the men one more day of drills. I’ll be with Basal, making sure I’m solid for tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir,” Davis replied.
His wives echoed him and, a moment later, the group split apart. They had things to do so that they would be ready for tomorrow.
