Gregory went to Donald’s squad first— they were the ones without a leader, and might be the most affected by the deaths. Stepping inside, he found Davis talking with the men, all of whom had injuries.
“He did his duty. We will honor him when we reach Icelake,” Davis was saying. “Until we get another sergeant, I will be filling in.”
“Lieutenant,” Gregory said to let everyone know he was there.
“Yes, sir?” Davis asked.
“How are they?”
“Two with severe arm injuries, one with a moderate foot injury, and two with small nicks to the face, sir.”
Gregory went closer to where the five men were sitting. “At ease, men. Stay comfortable,” he said quickly when they started to stand. “We’ll be going slowly into Icelake. All of you paid a price today, and we lost three in total, one of them being your sergeant. The next few weeks will be challenging until we can have someone step into that role. We’ll do our best to find someone who can lead you like Donald did.”
“Sir?” one of the men asked softly. “Sarge had said one of them might die to secure what we needed to get the bastards responsible. Did we?”
Gregory met his eyes for a moment. “Andrew French, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We did, Andrew. Donald was responsible for pulling the key part of that out of the fire for us. The man he dragged out of the fight will be crucial for what happens next.”
“That—!” French cut off what he was going to say before exhaling. “I’d rather have Sarge back with us, sir.”
“I would, too, Andrew. Donald and the other sergeants said the price would be worth paying it. I agreed with them, but now…” Gregory shook his head. “The price will always hurt.”
“It does, sir… for the good leaders, at least,” Davis said. “Sir, why are the squires with you?” he asked, trying to change the topic.
“Basal and Hanz had to defend the wagon from a couple of opportunists. Each of them killed a man today. They’re trying to accept the feelings that come from the act.”
“It’s tough and never gets easier,” French said. “Before today, I’d been in a few life-and-death fights, boys. Come on in; we’ll talk with you for a bit. I’m sorry for calling you boys, too. You’re blooded now… you might not be adults yet, but you’re as close to being men as you can be until your age day comes.”
The two boys went to sit with the five sorrowful men. As they took their seats, a couple of the men draped their arms over their shoulders, treating them like friends instead of children.
Gregory slipped out of the tent with Davis beside him. “Are any of them able to step up?”
“French’s the only one who might work from their squad. The rest haven’t been in long enough for me to commit to them leading. Colter from Bunson’s squad is the one I’d tap, but I don’t know if you want to bring in someone from another unit or not.”
“How would they take it if we went either way?”
“If we promote French, all of them might either fall apart, or they could become even more dependable. If we bring Colter over, they’ll accept him. It’s been known Colter is one of the men to move up in time. I’ll let you know when we reach Icelake. I want to keep eyes on French until then.”
“Very well. Keep your eyes on Hanz, too. I hate that they had to deal with that, but they could’ve been hurt much worse, or more of the unit would’ve died if we’d let them come closer. Damned either way.”
“They’ll be okay, Greg. It’ll be tough for a little while, but they’ll get calluses on those memories.”
“I hope so…”
Gregory parted with Davis. Going from squad to squad, he spoke to his men. He paused longer with Townson’s and Glasson’s units, as each had lost a comrade. Those two groups shared stories about the dead, with Gregory adding in a couple of his own.
~*~*~
Dinner was solemn— the memories of the blood and deaths were still too fresh for any laughter. Gregory stood after he finished his meal. He didn’t speak right away as his gaze went to the empty seats. The little conversation going on died when all eyes went to him.
“Today, we paid a high price for upholding the law,” Gregory said. “We lost comrades, dear friends, even trusted leaders. Your hearts are heavy, as is my own. There will be full honors for them and their families, and we will have their wake at the barracks in Icelake. I won’t ask you to do more than what’s needed. Those too wounded to walk will ride in the wagon. We’ll be going slower than normal to help the walking wounded among us.”
“That includes you, sir,” Davis said from the table where Donald’s squad was sitting.
“Including me. I’m glad we had the alchemical aids we did, along with the armor that saved even more of our lives. I’ll always do everything I can for you, but even I fail at times.”
“No, sir.” Bunson got to his feet. “You saved lives today. Any of us who’ve faced a physical enhancement magi in a fight knows that. Our entire unit might’ve died at his hands alone. You took the biggest threat and neutralized it so we could do our duty. We know you’ll never stand behind us— that isn’t who you are— but I refuse to accept today as a failure of yours. Today was an attack on our unit. We repelled it at cost, but we still stand strong. I will ask what everyone here wants to ask: can we nail the bastards that pushed us into this?”
Gregory swallowed the lump in his throat as Bunson sat again. Exhaling slowly, he nodded. “Between the letters the mage had in his storage ring and the man that Sergeant Donald gave his life to pull out, yes. I’ll do everything I have to to personally pin the masterminds to a wall. Our brothers will not have died in vain. You’ve believed in me since my first day with you. Believe in me now.”
Davis stood, his eyes going to the sergeants, all of whom stood, too. A moment later, the entire camp was on their feet. It was a little awkward for some, but they all saluted, some even using the wrong arm if their right was injured.
“Honor! Duty! Death!”
Gregory felt the tears as the unit repeated the mantra of magi guard units. He wasn’t alone in that; most eyes were as wet as his.
“Our honor is our duty, and our duty is guarding a magi’s life, even if it means our deaths,” Gregory recited the full pledge. “I will never send you in to just save me. My duty is your lives. It is my honor to serve the empire with you, and if I die, I know it was at no fault of yours. I will never forget them or you in the years ahead of me. I will etch their names into my mind for all time.” Gregory saluted them back when he finished speaking. “Finish your meals, men. Rest and recover as much as you can. Tomorrow, we advance toward the first of those I will see brought to justice.”
When the men sat back down, Gregory walked away, heading for the man chained in the wagon bed. He was the only survivor of the battle, the one who’d cost Donald his life. Others might’ve pulled through if Gregory had used some healing items on them, but he had a finite number of them, and he’d not been charitable in the minutes after the fight ended.
“Magi…” the man whispered in fear, his furred bear ears flattened down.
“Your name?” Gregory asked evenly.
“Edward Smith, sir.”
“One of my sergeants died to pull you out of the fight, Edward. He was a good man. Quiet, calm, one of the best.”
“I’m sorry, Magi. I… didn’t want to be here. I owed Dalt money and he forced me to come to pay it back. When I saw you charge the mage, I took my chance before I had to raise weapons against your men. One of my allies slashed my back when I went to surrender. It was then that your sergeant stepped in to pull me out… I’m sorry, sir.”
Gregory had to hold tight on his emotions. He wanted to lash out at Edward, to blame him for Donald’s death, but that would be wrong. If Edward was speaking truthfully, he was just another victim. Opening his resonance, he felt a small thump from the huddled man. Gregory exhaled slowly and let go of his resonance, which had told him this man wasn’t his enemy. He didn’t know how accurate his resonance was, but he trusted it.
“You’ll be called to speak in front of two commanders. I don’t want you to say what you think I want to hear. All I want is the truth. No embellishments, no suppositions; just the honest truth. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Magi.”
“Tell me.”
“Dalt came to me two weeks ago, calling in my debt. He said we’d be attacking people, not capturing eurtik. I objected, but he practically owned me with how much I owed him.”
“Why? Why the debt?”
Edward looked down before exhaling. “I bought one of his captures from him last year, before they could be taken to the market. I didn’t have all of the money then, so he said I could pay him later. When I tried to pay him off, he laughed and told me there was interest added on. I could never get enough to pay him back. I was stuck.”
“What did you do with the eurtik you bought?” Gregory asked, ice touching his voice.
“Married her, sir. When I bought her, I told her that I hoped to have a family. I gave her the option to be sold to Lowen Pointer as a barmaid, instead. She asked me why I’d gone into debt for her, and I told her the truth: she’s beautiful, sir. She took my breath away when I saw her.”
Gregory was unsure how to feel. The man had just admitted to buying a slave to marry her. He said she agreed, but how could he know if that was true, or if he was just projecting or wanting to sound better?
“After Dalt called you to help?” Gregory asked, knowing he’d digressed.
“We marched out here. The mage joined us as we were leaving Icelake. It wasn’t until we got here two days ago that they told us who we would be fighting. Some of us didn’t like the idea of fighting a magi, but Dalt, the mage Franky, and a few others kept an iron hand on us. I think a few still managed to get away, but I’m not suited for sneaking, sir.”
Gregory agreed that the large man was unlikely to sneak well.
“I made up my mind to throw down my weapon instead of attacking last night. That might be why the man next to me attacked me. I must’ve shown my intention of not fighting today.”
“Did Dalt say who was behind this?”
“Yes, sir. Him and the mage talked about it openly. Said Rupert Chainer paid them and that we’d all get a split of the profit from selling your unit’s gear. We’d all get a single percent of profits or, in my case, Dalt would call me square with him.”
“Very well, Edward. Remember what you told me. I need your words to make my case for me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gregory didn’t see any utensils or a bowl with him, so he produced some rations. “Eat up. I’ll have some water brought to you. You’ll be sharing the wagon with some of my men tomorrow. You’ll not be abused in any way. My word on it.”
Edward bowed his head. “Thank you, sir. Sir… umm… will you make sure my wife and newborn are taken in by good people?”
Gregory paused, then exhaled, knowing why Edward had asked: attacking a magi was a death sentence. He touched Edward’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly. “You’ll see them again, Edward. You didn’t raise a weapon, you surrendered, and then gave evidence. You will not be charged. I will also do what I can to make sure your wife and child are safe from reprisals while I deal with the problem.”
Edward started to sob. “Thank you, Magi…! Thank you…”
“Don’t thank me, Edward. Tomorrow, when the men ask you, tell them the truth. You’ll find that they’ll listen.”
Gregory walked away while Edward cried tears of relief that he might see his family again.
