Gregory waved goodbye to Elsa one more time as the three of them left Gin’s. Their evening of games and dinner with the children had left them happy, and training the next morning had been enriching and fun for all of them.
“It’ll be a month or more before we see them again, probably,” Gregory said a few minutes later as they walked down the street.
“Yes,” Yukiko agreed, “but it was good to see them. They all enjoyed spending time with us.”
“Elsa is almost a mother to them,” Jenn commented. “At the very least, she’s a very protective older sister. She broke up that argument faster than we could react.”
“Just using their names and a look,” Yukiko giggled. “My mother did the same to me a few times.”
“I’m sure all of our mothers did,” Jenn replied.
“Which shop were we going to first?” Gregory asked, wanting to push the topic away from mothers.
“Hemet’s is the closest,” Yukiko said.
“That’s our first stop, then,” Gregory said, taking a right at the next street.
The jingle of the bell announced them as they entered Hemet’s Curiosities. Hemet came out of the back and gave them a slight bow of his head. “How might I serve you today, Apprentices?”
“Hemet, it’s good to see you again,” Yukiko smiled. “We only need a few items and hope you have them.”
“I have many odds and ends,” Hemet grinned.
“Do you have storage earrings that can hold at least a middle-initiate’s aether?” Yukiko asked.
Hemet’s lips pursed and he looked into the distance for a second. “I believe I might. Is that all?”
“I hope you also have a ring that does the same. Greg doesn’t have pierced ears, so a ring would work for him.”
“Three storage items that can hold at least a middle-initiate’s aether?” Hemet asked to make sure that was all they were looking for.
“We could also use a dozen bane cores to recharge our rings,” Yukiko added after a moment.
“Let me see what I have,” Hemet said, going into the back.
“This is going to cost a lot, Yuki,” Gregory said softly. “Are you sure it’ll be okay?”
“Mother told me what limit I have with the bonds they left with me,” Yukiko said. “As long as we stay under that, it’s fine. If I go over, it’ll be okay, but I will need to explain to them.”
“We don’t need them, yet,” Jenn said. “My ring from the elder holds more than the earrings.” As she said that, a frown formed on her lips. “I don’t know what it can hold actually, as it hasn’t pushed back at me at all.”
Both Yukiko and Gregory looked a little surprised at her comment. Gregory was the first one to reply, “Lightshield said it was the ring of a woman that Aether favored. Maybe it’s like the medallion except it wasn’t already holding aether when Jenn got it?”
“Hmm… we could have Hemet examine it for us,” Yukiko said. “The ring,” she clarified when Gregory’s forehead creased. “He should be able to tell us how much aether it can hold.”
“Oh, that would be good,” Jenn nodded. “If it holds enough, we can pass on getting me another item.”
Yukiko pursed her lips, then nodded. “If it holds enough, but extra aether isn’t a bad thing.”
“I’m not arguing that, but why spend the vela on it now if my ring can hold enough?”
“She has a point,” Gregory said, siding with Jenn. “We’ll still want the ring looked at first before we decide one way or the other.”
“Agreed,” Jenn said.
“I will agree to those terms,” Yukiko said.
They had to wait another few minutes before Hemet came back. “I have good news and bad,” Hemet said, bringing a small case to the counter. “I have a few aether storage items, but only one set of earrings, and some of them are expensive.”
“Before we go further, we have a request. Can you examine a ring and tell us how much aether it can hold?” Yukiko asked.
“I can do so,” Hemet said, producing his monocle. “I do charge a flat fee to examine an item— one thousand vela.”
“Accepted,” Yukiko smiled. “Jenn?”
Jenn slipped the ring off and set it on the counter. “I got this from our clan leader for winning the second tournament. I’ve pushed energy into it every day since then, and it hasn’t given indication it is full.”
Hemet’s lips pursed as he picked up the ring. Setting his monocle in place, he stared at it, turning it over and over slowly in his hands. “Hmm… very intriguing. It’s also a storage ring with a large capacity. There’s also a faint trace of aether on the band… a glamor to hide a marking.”
When Hemet said those words, Gregory knew what the hidden marking was. A snippet of a vision came to him, showing the ring being held in a large, masculine hand. The inside of the band had the same markings that the temple had, but in tiny detail and with one difference— the triangle was replaced by an aether flame. Its flames went up to each circle instead of lines.
“I can erase the glamor, if you wish,” Hemet was saying as he removed his monocle. “As for how much aether this ring will hold…” One aged hand came up to stroke the wispy white beard. “All I can safely say is an elder’s aether, but possibly more. Your clan leader gave you this?”
“Elder Lightshield,” Jenn said, her eyes wide as she looked at the ring in Hemet’s hand. “An elder’s aether? And I have it?”
Yukiko stared at the ring, then glanced at Gregory, who stepped forward and held out his hand. Hemet exhaled sadly and placed the ring on Gregory’s palm.
“I couldn’t interest you into selling it, could I?” Hemet asked, though his tone gave away he knew what their answer would be.
“No,” Gregory replied kindly. “If the elder gave it to her, I’m sure he had a reason to.”
“Did you wish the glamor removed, at least?” Hemet asked.
“There’s no need,” Gregory said as he turned to hand the ring to Jenn. “I’m sure if we need to know, it’ll become clear in time.”
Meeting Gregory’s gaze, her eyes widened a little more and she took the ring, slipping it onto her finger. Yukiko took a step forward, making Hemet look her way.
“It seems we’ll only need two items instead of three,” Yukiko said, “though if you have a storage item— a belt pouch, for instance— I would be interested in that.”
“That all depends on how much storage space you want,” Hemet said. “First, though, let’s talk about aether storage…”
~*~*~
Gregory shook his head as they walked down the street. “That was much more than I thought it would be, Yuki.”
“They’ll last us for years,” Yukiko replied. “I only went over Mother’s budget by a little. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
Jenn exhaled deeply. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to how much vela your family is okay with spending.”
“Agreed,” Gregory nodded. “She only spends like that for us, though.”
Yukiko looked down. “I just want the best for us…”
“We know,” Gregory said, going to put his arm around her waist for a second before moving away a half-step. “We thank you for it, but it’s still staggering to me.”
“To us,” Jenn corrected. “And we aren’t complaining, Yuki, but that was nearly what my father makes in a year.”
“And more than my village would make in that same time span,” Gregory added. “It just reminds me of how lucky I was to be caught by you.”
“We were,” Jenn smiled. “Not only did she accept me, she also let me have a desire of my own.”
Yukiko’s lips turned up and she shot them both glances. “I will temper my spending for the rest of today… And I still feel like the lucky one. My heart accepted me, and then my best friend joined me in protecting and loving my heart.”
“The one thing we’ll never agree on,” Gregory chuckled, “is which of us is the luckiest.”
Both women laughed with him as they drew closer to the second stop.
~*~*~
“How can I help you?” the polite female voice asked as the bell chimed. “Oh, Warlin. How can we assist?”
“My name is Pettit now,” Yukiko gently corrected her. “All of us need to make sure our additives are as helpful as possible.” She pulled her medallion out. “As you can see, we continue to grow.
“And rapidly,” Rhea, the receptionist of Alvis Alchemy, said with surprise. “I’ll make sure the next batch of supplies reflects your current rank.”
“I’m one step behind them,” Jenn said, showing Rhea her medallion. “If it’s possible, could I have mine just a touch stronger so that I might match them in time?”
“A little stronger should be fine,” Rhea replied. “I’ll speak with Aldor just to make sure.”
“Thank you,” Yukiko smiled. “I was also hoping you had a dozen or so bane cores I could purchase.”
“Bane cores?” Rhea asked, puzzled.
“One of our enchantments requires cores to recharge them. This was the first place I thought of to get them,” Yukiko lied gracefully.
“Ah. Let me check our stock and see what we can spare,” Rhea said.
“More cores?” Gregory murmured when Rhea left.
“A stockpile of them would be useful, and we all have storage items now,” Yukiko whispered back.
“That’s a good point. It’s also why the ring cost so much.”
Before Yukiko could reply to Gregory’s statement, Rhea was back. “We have nine that we can spare at this time. Is that sufficient?”
“That will do wonderfully,” Yukiko smiled. Placing a small pouch, which clinked metallically, on the counter. “How much?”
~*~*~
“Seven spare cores each, plus the ones we still had left from before…” Jenn shook her head. “We’ll be good for the next tournament, hopefully.”
“I believe we will,” Yukiko replied. “Just one more shop before we stop for dinner.”
“Do you think they’ll like it?” Gregory asked.
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t,” Yukiko said. “I want to grab a basic book for Farin, as well. If we start off well with him, maybe he’ll be more pleasant than Chucky was.”
“That’s not a high bar to clear,” Jenn snorted.
“True,” Yukiko admitted. “He was polite the one day we saw him. We’ll get to see more tomorrow.”
Gregory opened the door to the shop and followed his wives inside. No bell sounded, which struck Gregory as odd until he realized that a bell might cause a scrivener to make an error.
“I’ll be right with you,” the large man hunched over at an inclined desk called to them.
“We’ll wait, sir,” Gregory replied.
“You may look, but do not touch,” the man said as he continued to work.
The three of them spread out, and Jenn was the one who found the books they were looking for a few minutes later. She flagged the other two down, and all of them waited by the shelf that held the books they wanted.
“There we go,” the scrivener sighed as he cleaned his pen nib. “Sorry about that, but that piece of text is a nightmare.” Once his pen was clean, he set it down and stood up, stretching. “How may I help you?” he asked, turning around to face them. “Oh, magi. I am sorry to make you wait.”
“It’s fine, sir,” Yukiko smiled. “We wish to purchase these books here,” she pointed to the ones they’d found. “We’d also like two extra copies of these two.”
The scrivener moved over to look at the ones she wanted. “Ah yes, that makes sense. Apprentice magi are learning Empire’s Gambit. I’m surprised your clan let you out of training to come buy them.”
“Our clan is a little more flexible than others,” Gregory said.
“I meant no disrespect, magi. I can easily sell these to you, but I am missing a third copy of the ‘The Fanatic’s Way.’ If you’d like, I can make the third one you wish, but it’ll take me a few weeks, as I’m in the middle of a book for the Han clan.”
“That’ll be fine,” Yukiko replied. “You can have it sent to Aether’s Guard inside the academy when you’ve finished it.”
“Very well,” the scrivener smiled. “Let me get the extra copies from the back.”
~*~*~
“Do you think they’ll ask?” Gregory asked as they were almost to the door of Stabled Hunger.
“I’m nearly positive,” Yukiko replied.
“Ramon will be circumspect with his questions, but if Gufta is in…” Jenn trailed off and shook her head.
“That’s about what I thought,” Gregory agreed as he opened the door.
It was late afternoon, but still hours before the sun would set, so the taproom was mostly empty. Besides Ramon, who was standing behind the bar, there were only three others present. Mumisa, Murium’s mother, was at a table, reading as she always seemed to be. An older man with deep scars on one cheek gave them a brief glance, then ignored them. The last was thankfully not Gufta, but a small woman with a large nose.
“Oh! Welcome, welcome!” Ramon greeted them happily. “I didn’t expect to see you three.” His smile vanished instantly and his face grew troubled. “Wait, is Nessa okay?”
“She’s fine, Ramon,” Yukiko said to pacify the worried father. “We saw her yesterday.”
Ramon’s face started to clear before it went back to worried. “But not today? Don’t you study with her and the others every morning?”
“Easy,” Gregory said. “Normally, yes, but it was our week off, so we didn’t see them this morning. We weren’t inside the academy walls.”
Ramon exhaled a deep breath. “Oh, thank Aether.” He gave them a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I’m still adjusting to her being a magi.”
“We understand,” Jenn said. “We didn’t mean to cause you concern. We just came for dinner, as this is one of our favorite places.”
Ramon brightened up. “I’ll go let Vana know you are here.” He started to head into the kitchen, then paused. “Ah, would you mind if she talked with you? She has questions about the academy.”
“Not at all,” Yukiko smiled softly. “We’ll answer what we can. You’ve been so kind to us, it would be wrong to refuse such a simple request.”
Ramon bowed his head. “Thank you. I hope my daughter can join your clan. I’ll worry less if it happens.”
