Moral Stand (Aether’s Revival Book 7)

Gregory rode ahead of the wagon as they closed on Icelake. The guards on duty saluted him as he approached, confused that he was in front of his unit. Sergeant Quintas stepped out when Gregory reached the gate, his brow contracted in confusion.

“Sergeant, I have a group of unlawful slavers. They don’t have the requisite licenses to be out doing what they were. I’ll need them detained until the commander can deal with them,” Gregory went straight into his speech. “Handle them and arrange for their wagon and oxen to be cared for. My men will be along before and after them. I need to go speak with the commander.”

Quintas stood blankly for a moment before he finally found his voice, “Unlawful slavers, sir? What’s that?”

Gregory stared back at the sergeant. “Are you telling me that you’ve never inspected their paperwork when they’ve brought slaves in?”

Quintas swallowed, feeling the pressure building around him. “No, sir… I… I didn’t know that was a thing, sir.”

“I’ll address it with the commander. The laws on slavery are quite clear. You would be well served to read them again, Sergeant.”

“Yes, sir!” Quintas said, quickly saluting.

Gregory nodded before nudging Legacy into the town.

“Sarge, what was he saying?” one of the other guards asked quietly as they watched Gregory leave.

“Fuck if I know… Trida will sort him out, but it looks like we’re taking one of the bands into custody until then. Send a runner off to the stables; we need them to come take a wagon and oxen into care.”

Gregory tied his horse up outside the guard center, giving the man on duty outside a nod as he strode past. The guard exhaled, glad that he wasn’t the one the magi was upset with. It took Gregory less than a minute to get to and knock on Trida’s door.

“Enter,” Trida commanded.

Gregory went inside the room, shutting the door behind him. “Commander, I have problems that need to be addressed.”

Trida looked up from his paperwork, then stood up. “Pettit, have a seat. Did one of my men do something?”

“Yes and no, Commander,” Gregory said, taking a seat. “Your gate guards are currently taking a band of slavers into custody on my orders.”

Trida’s eyebrows went up. “I see… Why are we arresting them?”

“Failure to follow the laws, Commander. They don’t have their licenses for capturing slaves on them. To add to that, they didn’t have the proper forms for the number of slaves and the reasons for capture completed, either.”

Trida sat back, staying quiet for a moment. “Pettit… hmm… how to phrase this…?”

“Bluntly works, Commander.”

“Fine. No one follows those outdated laws.”

Gregory sat forward. “They’re the laws, Commander. It’s not our duty to selectively enforce them— it’s our duty to enforce them as written. If we disagree with them, then we can write a formal complaint to our superiors to pass up the chain of command.”

Trida’s jaw clenched for a second before he sighed. “What you are doing will have repercussions. This town was built off the slave trade.”

“I’m not stopping it, Commander. I’m just stopping unlawful slavery. If they have their papers in order, I’ll do nothing. That does bring me to another point— why did your sergeant not know the laws? If this town is built on slavery, how could your gate sergeant be ignorant of them?”

Trida ground his teeth together in annoyance. “Are you going to drag my men into this, Adept?”

“No. They’re yours to deal with, Commander. I’ll only enforce the laws as needed when I’m outside the walls of this town or Coldwood. Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking to Magus Smitton. It was insinuated that she not only looked the other way to the lawbreaking, but might’ve accepted bribes to do so.”

Trida’s face paled. “You’re going to accuse the town magus?”

“Accuse? No, Commander. I’m going to bring my report to her and explain the problems I found, just like I’m talking to you right now, and I will deliver a report to you tomorrow. I’ll not abide laws being broken, Commander.”

Closing his eyes, Trida tried to find a way to not arrest the slaver band, but he had no answers for Gregory’s actions. “Very well. I will hold them until you speak to the magus. You should be aware that she’ll likely free them.”

“That’s between you and her, Commander. I’ll be making sure my report is in order— it includes the fact that the men who broke the law are to be banned from the act of capturing slaves for a year. All of them, not just the leader.”

“Very well, Magi. I will wait for your report tomorrow and to hear from Magus Smitton.”

Gregory rose from his chair. “Commander, I don’t mean for you to be placed in a bad spot. I doubt this will be the only time this year I enforce things.”

Trida stood up with him, feeling like his back was to the wall. “Laws should be followed, but against magi…” He shook his head. “I’ll do what I must, Adept.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Commander.” Gregory exhaled, letting some of the tension out of his stance. “Trida, I’m sorry for this, but I once asked you about upholding the laws. I hope you do the right thing… I’m sure I’ll have Roberts behind me, at least.”

Trida’s grimace was pronounced. “You’re binding my hands and placing me in front of a magus, Pettit. You’ll not come out of this well, and I’ll catch backlash, too. I’ll do what the laws dictate, but I will bow to the magus.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to fight her, Commander. I believe that’ll be my job. You’ll need to not bend to other pressures that will be brought to bear.”

“I don’t take bribes,” Trida said firmly, “nor will my men. If the laws are plain, they will be upheld until a magi overrides me.”

Gregory saluted. “My report will be brought over by my lieutenant tomorrow after breakfast.”

“I’ll make sure it’s filed correctly. This will cause waves, Adept. I hope you’re prepared.”

“We’ll see.”

~*~*~

Basal was waiting for him at the stables attached to the barracks. “Sir, is it going to be okay?”

Dismounting Legacy, he handed the reins to the young man. “It should be, Basal. Take good care of him. I’ll be speaking after dinner to address the concerns I’m sure most of you have.”

“Yes, sir,” Basal said. Licking his lips, he spoke softer, “Greg… thank you. I wanted you to know that I’m proud to be part of the unit.”

Gregory’s face softened from the hard expression he’d been holding. “Thank you, Basal. I can’t see far enough ahead to know where this will all lead, but today, we did the right thing. Those people will return to their families and have a chance to live the lives they should have.”

Striding into the barracks a minute later, Gregory had to slow down, as his men were in the dining area, still in their armor. Donald called them to attention and everyone stood up, going quiet. Gregory looked at the men who’d backed his plan to do what he could, the weight of their belief again resting heavily on his shoulders.

“Sir,” Townson said, “are we secure enough to stand down?”

Gregory blinked for a moment, then smiled— his chest warmed at what he’d just been asked. The men hadn’t gone to rest, thinking they might be needed to help him. “Stand down, men,” he said. “I’ll address things after dinner. I have to get my reports in order for the commander and magus. Barny, is it time for dinner?”

“Just over an hour,” Barny called back from the kitchen.

“Don’t leave the barracks until after dinner,” Gregory said. “Dismissed.” With that said, he strode toward the stairs. It would take him time to make four copies of his report, meaning a bath would have to wait until after he’d eaten.

~*~*~

Dinner was a quick soup, as Barny didn’t have the extra time he normally had to work with. It was still tasty, but also notably lacking compared to his usual meals. Rafiq accepted the copy of Gregory’s report without comment before dinner. He had his own notes to finish, but had been waiting for Gregory before he could.

Done eating, Gregory stood up. The quiet conversations fell off when everyone looked his way. “Men, today, we upheld the laws. From today until we leave our posting, we’ll be in for a rough time. If nothing else, the slavers we put out of work will probably cause you grief. Hold to what we’ve taught you to this point. It’ll be even more important now, as the commander here might take a firmer stance on how we comport ourselves.”

The men were silent as they listened to him.

“I’ll do my best to warn all of you about any problems, but that requires you to tell the sergeants if you have any. My foresight shows me what’s reported to me, so don’t hold back. It’ll be the only way I can help stop the worst from happening.”

Nods came from the majority of his unit.

“Commander Trida is… unhelpful, but not against us. His men might be willing to take a little extra to push at you. If that happens, it’s doubly important to tell me. I hope that, after my meeting with Magus Smitton, Trida will bend more toward our side. Until then, I’m uncertain of what might happen. Some of you are wondering how I couldn’t know; that’s because I only look a single day forward at a time. It’s taxing, but is normally enough to keep us safe.”

The few who’d frowned now looked a little sheepish.

“Tonight and for the rest of this year, we’ll have people arrayed against us. We’re undercutting their business, and they’ll be resentful of that. I will not bend. The laws will be upheld.” He paused, then looked down. “That means if— or when— they learn and have their paperwork in order, we’ll do nothing.” Looking up, he scanned the room. “We can only do the little we can for now. It’ll pain me to let them walk away, but we cannot give them something to hurt us with. If they have the paperwork, we let them go.”

“Sir, do you think they will?” Glasson called out.

“Not for months, and possibly not at all. We leave next year. They might just try to avoid us outside the towns. If we don’t find them, they can continue as they are. It’s only if we catch them that we’ll step in.”

“Can you look ahead enough to find them?” Milton asked.

“That’s doubtful,” Gregory said slowly. “Is that something you want? Do you want me to push so we can try doing more?”

The two words echoed in the room, coming from everyone, “Yes, sir!”

Gregory bowed his head, swallowing the lump in his throat. The pride he had in his men climbed higher. Looking up, he didn’t hide that pride. “Very well. I’ll be taxed greatly by doing it, but I’ll try. Without all of you wanting it, I wouldn’t. Pushing like that will increase the danger we’ll all be in.”

“Sir,” Davis said, standing up, “if need be, we’ll stay in the barracks. We can and will act as a unit under siege.”

A few frowns and grimaces were interspaced among the men, but the majority nodded. They’d gotten used to enjoying their days off; they didn’t want to give them up.

“Only if it is absolutely necessary, Lieutenant. The men should have as much enjoyment as they can have. If things go very badly, then we’ll do what is needed.”

The few men who’d been unhappy with Davis’ suggestion now felt like asses— Gregory had done more than any other commander, much less any magi, would do for them. The fact that he’d not restrict them out of hand hit home.

“Tomorrow and the next day might be the last calm days we have,” Gregory went on. “Men, thank you. I’m being selfish to ask you to follow me into this conflict. You’ll always have my gratitude for your support.”

The entire room stood, saluting him.

Gregory drew himself up to attention, saluting them back. “Dismissed!”

The majority sat back down to finish up the last of their food, but a few started to wash their dishes; they wanted to go out for a drink before the news of the slavers got around.