It was just after midday when Gregory called a halt to the march. Dismounting Legacy, he handed his reins to Polka, then walked to the front of the unit. Thera went with him, her head raised proudly. Together, they continued advancing away from the unit for a hundred yards.
“Now,” Gregory said softly.
Thera dropped to the ground at that moment. Gregory spun, his naginata coming out. Two arrows went past where he’d been, one of which would’ve hit Thera if she hadn’t dropped. Two eurtik rushed from the closest foliage and Gregory had them both on the ground, clutching broken bones, in seconds.
“Stop!” Gregory shouted. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Another arrow came from the tree line, and Gregory swatted it down with his weapon.
“I call for a parley under the eyes of the pack-father!” Gregory said forcefully.
His men were holding firm, but most of them were upset that they were being held back when he was under threat. They’d accepted what the sergeants had told them, but a few were on the cusp of breaking from the ranks.
Nothing happened for a few long seconds before a single person came out of the tree line. The moose eurtik motioned Gregory to him. “I’ve never heard a magi invoke parley at all, much less correctly. Come speak, but I doubt we will part without blood.”
Gregory helped Thera to her feet before the pair advanced to him. “I’m Gregory Pettit of Aether’s Guard. Who are you, sir?”
“Call me Milt. Why do you invoke parley, then taunt us with a slave beside you?”
“You’re here because your village was raided by slavers,” Gregory said. “Instead of finding them, you found us.”
More people hidden in the trees shifted, letting out angry growls and mutters. Rocks flew from a couple to pelt some of Gregory’s men.
“Enough!” Milt snapped. “Parley was called! Do not dishonor our people!” He glared at Gregory. “Gloating, Magi? This is why you called to talk?”
“No,” Gregory said softly. “I called parley to seek a different avenue of resolution. You’re angry that you couldn’t save your family and friends, so you wanted to take the price of blood from me and my men.”
“We could free your slaves, too.”
“No. You must have never tried to do that before… eurtik cannot touch the runes. Doing so sends unbearable pain to the one who is branded. If the branded touches them, they die. Unless you have a partial-eurtik in your band, you would not have any way of helping them. It would take one of your shamans, the ones with true power, to break the rune. I doubt you have one of them with you, either.”
Milt ground his teeth for a moment. “You enslave us, and now you mock us?”
Jeers and insults sounded from the hidden eurtiks in the woods. Most of them centered around Gregory’s lack of intelligence, while a few were aimed at his parents. Those were the ones that got Gregory’s eyes to narrow slightly.
“I’m not mocking you, unlike what your friends are doing to me,” Gregory said. “I was stating facts so you could plan better in the future.”
Milt’s head tipped back slightly, taken aback by Gregory’s statement. “You expect to die today, Magi?”
“No. I hope that we all walk away from this alive, and besides your two allies,” he motioned to the pair who’d limped back to the trees, “we part uninjured.”
Milt’s jaw set as he looked at the guards, the slaves near the wagon, and then Thera. “You told them about us? Smelled us waiting?”
“No,” Thera snorted. “His magic is foresight; he knew you were coming. If he’d wanted to, he could’ve ambushed you instead. Gregory isn’t like others… he wants what is right, not what the empire says.”
“Foresight?” Milt questioned before his eyes shifted to Gregory. “If that’s true, what numb—?”
“Forty-two,” Gregory cut Milt off.
“What color—?”
“Rainbow, which isn’t really a single color.”
Milt stared at Gregory before he exhaled slowly. “Why didn’t you just attack us, Magi? It’s clear you can see the future. Why do this?”
“Because what my country does is wrong, more so because the men doing it aren’t following the laws at all. I’ll be doing what I can until I’m removed from my post— I’ll be making the slavers prove they’ve done exactly as the law states. If they break laws, then I’ll be freeing any and all the eurtiks they have.”
Milt’s eyes narrowed. “I’m just to take your word? When has a magi ever set an enslaved eurtik free?”
“I know that Lionel Lighthand did,” Gregory said. “He founded my clan, and I will do as he did.” Gregory summoned Thera’s rune to hand. “You see this rune?”
Milt’s eyes narrowed when he realized the glyph on the rune was the same as the one marking Thera’s chest. “Yes, Magi. I’m a hair from breaking parley with you. To taunt me like this…!”
Gregory held the rune up so others could see it. Then, he pushed his aether into the stone, willing it to break. Magus-levels of aether tried to stop him, but Gregory gritted his teeth against the resistance. He was only an adept, barely halfway to a magus; he shouldn’t be able to break the rune. Lionel Lighthand’s journal had said it was possible if the magi walked the spirit path, which Gregory did.
There was a crack and a flare of aether. Broken pieces fell from his raised hand as he stared at Milt. Milt’s jaw worked soundlessly as he looked from Gregory’s empty hand down to the magi’s eyes.
Thera touched her chest when the brand faded away. “I’m… I’m free…” The words were a whisper. She knew what Gregory had said earlier, but to actually be free was still a shock.
“A captured eurtik can earn their freedom back,” Gregory said softly. “That was what used to be when we were at war. Thera has earned her freedom by helping me. I don’t know if I can help your people, but I’ll try, Milt. Please, take Thera and go. Go home and let her get back to her family. Her sister died years ago, and she should bring that news to her parents.”
Silence hung in the air as every eurtik ambusher tried to accept what they’d just seen.
“What of the others?” Milt finally asked, motioning to the wagon.
“They’ve declined,” Gregory replied. “The sisters are in love with people in the unit and don’t want to be parted. If they were freed, they’d have to go north. Barny also didn’t want to leave, saying that being the cook for my unit is the best life he’s had, and he doesn’t wish to lose it.” Gregory didn’t mention Rafiq, who was in the wagon unseen by anyone.
“He speaks the truth,” Thera said, still standing beside Gregory. “I heard him ask them.”
Milt looked from Thera to Gregory, then back. “Go on. Once you’re safely in the trees, I will follow.”
Thera shook her head. “He will not chase us, but he did make me promise to make sure you went with me. I invoke my name, Theramona Stalkingclaw, to make sure you do as I promised.”
Milt took two steps back from her, his eyes wide. “Stalkingclaw?”
“We go,” Thera said firmly. “Gather your men.”
Milt hurried into the woods, and now, it was Gregory’s turn to be surprised.
Thera turned to Gregory, giving him a soft smile. “You don’t know what you’ve done, Gregory. You’ll have my family’s thanks for years to come. If you ever leave the empire for the north, use my name. In time, my family will hear of it, and we will repay this debt.” Stepping back, she bowed slightly from the waist, both of her hands curled into fists and pressed to her chest. “May Aether guide you and may your flame burn brightly to lead others to your path.”
Gregory let his naginata vanish as he bowed back to her as a magi. “May Aether bless you, Thera… Theramona Stalkingclaw.”
Thera smiled as she looked back to the unit, then bowed to them. “Give them my thanks, too. Never would I have imagined my freedom coming as it did. Your men were always respectful. Even Glasson was polite when I declined his request to court me.” She looked back at Gregory, meeting his eyes. “We’ll likely not meet again, as I am no shaman, but your name shall be remembered for generations.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help the others… not for years, and by then, it’ll be too late for many who you knew. I pray to one day overturn the idea of slavery, of eurtik being lesser. My wives and clan will stand with me when I move. If you hear of that day, know that I’m finally doing what should’ve been done ages past.”
“If I still live when that day comes, I’ll come south to find you. Helping you in that would be something I would cherish.” With a last bow of her head, she went back to get her bag off the wagon, then ran into the forest. “We go!”
Gregory stood there for a minute before he went back to his men. They saluted him as he came back, and Gregory returned their salute.
“You did the right thing,” Polka said as he mounted his horse. “I’m proud to be in this unit, sir.”
Her sister, then Barny, and finally his men all picked up that sentiment. Looking over all of them, he bowed his head. “We have hours left before camp today. Lieutenant, get us moving.”
“Fall in,” Davis commanded.
Gregory looked back to see Rafiq watching him.
“I saw nothing and have been sick all day,” Rafiq said. “Nothing about today will be recorded correctly, as I was unable to see events myself.”
Gregory met Rafiq’s eyes. “Again, I have to thank you for being here with me.”
“I’ve never been prouder to be here than I am today,” Rafiq smiled. “You’re truly a man who will do what is right.”
The order to march came, and Gregory let Legacy carry him to the front to ride with Davis. Part of him was still worried that freeing Thera might come back to hurt him and his family, but then he remembered her expression, and he smiled. He’d done the right thing, and his wives would be proud of him.
