Moral Stand (Aether’s Revival Book 7)

The patrol into Icelake had the unit face a sounder of feral bane boars, over a score in strength when the young were added in. There was only so much that could be done against angry boars. If not for their enchanted armor, there would have been more wounds than the minor ones they incurred. The worst was that four naginatas broke, not holding up when they were used to stop a boar charging them.

Even with the late start and bane boar attack, they arrived only a day behind their normal schedule. Gregory informed the men they’d be only staying for a single day, not the two they’d been used to enjoying. None of them complained— they were committed to following whatever Gregory needed them to do.

When they’d arrived, the gate sergeant finally asked after Thera, noticing the slave was no longer with them. Gregory explained that she’d died weeks back, shrugging as if it was of no matter. The murmurs from the guards on the gate were low, but most of them were uncomplimentary toward him and his unit.

Arriving at the barracks, Gregory was surprised by the guard there, asking him to come to the Gilded Cup that evening. Agreeing to meet with Trida, Gregory sent the man on his way before he went to clean up; he needed to get his report in order before he went so he could hand it off to the commander.

~*~*~

Working on his report over dinner, Gregory was slightly annoyed. Tonight would see his men being harassed by former slavers while he was speaking to Trida. He’d rather have gone out with his men to mitigate things, but that would worsen his tenuous relationship with the commander.

When dinner ended, Gregory stood up. “Gentlemen, remember: don’t rise to the bait. You’ll have people determined to put you as the aggressor. It’s only four of them, so just ignore them on your way to and from the taverns. There’ll be rumors while you drink; you can debate the people there, but keep it as civil as you can. You have my faith.”

The men all stood to salute him, which he returned before he picked up his report. “Davis?”

“Ready to go, sir.”

The pair left the barracks behind. Gregory had them leave the horses; it wasn’t worth getting them saddled for a five-minute walk. Davis was fine with that, as walking would keep him warmer than riding.

“You realize that you’re one of the very few who doesn’t like to flaunt their status by riding, right, sir?”

“Or by throwing their power and rank around,” Gregory nodded. “I hope this snow stops before we leave. It was bothering Rafiq… he’d do much better in Limaz than here.”

“That’s why you don’t see a lot of crocodilian eurtik in the north. Limaz is more their home than the wilds.”

“It always made me wonder about the history we know. Everyone thinks of the eurtik as being solely from the north, but Rafiq disproves that.”

“Makes you wonder if the empire split them apart?”

“In a way, we did,” Gregory said sadly. “Limaz, Buldoun, Krogga… all of our neighbors started up as countries of their own when the First War started. Nothing in the archive could point to reasons for that. I think it was the war breaking apart a loose federation of kingdoms. In all other places, eurtiks are more accepted… When we get to Krogga, I hope to read some of their histories.”

“The better you know your adversary, the easier it is to anticipate him,” Davis said.

“Lighthand,” Gregory chuckled. “How has your reading been?”

“Slow. I do manage a little every night when we’re on the move. He was an interesting man. It was clear that he cared for his men as much as you do.”

“His journals helped me understand how I should treat them,” Gregory said. “They guided me into deciding my path.”

“It’s been working exceptionally well.”

“I’m glad. With the restrictions coming up because of what we’re doing, I’ve been worried.”

“You’ve already addressed it with them and promised them that it’s for the year only. They’ll enjoy the extra time in Krogga.”

“I hope that it’s easier there than here,” Gregory said as they approached the Gilded Cup. “Alright… time for us to act as civilly as we can. We’re also losing money tonight, the both of us.”

“That’s fair. If we take their money all the time, it’d be noticed.”

Trida, his captain, and a couple of his lieutenants sat at their normal table. Gregory waved back as they crossed the room, pausing to pay a barmaid and have her bring another round over.

“You didn’t come in yesterday,” Trida said after a greeting. “Problems?”

“Bane boars. I’ll be taking them over to the butcher tomorrow.”

“An entire sounder,” Davis added. “Six sows and their young, twenty in all. We need to see about replacing a few weapons tomorrow, too, sir.” The last was directed at Gregory.

“Right. Broken on the charge.”

“How many dead?” Hendil asked.

“None.”

“None?” Hendil asked incredulously.

“Captain,” Trida cut in, “if the magi says none, we take him at his word. Even if a charge from enraged bane boars usually kills men.”

Gregory put a scroll on the table. “My report. Easy enough to give it to you now.”

“If no one died, why the delay?” Hendil asked, then sat back as the maid brought over the drinks.

“That was a Coldwood problem. It’s also in my report. We were attacked and had to deal with that on our first day out of town.”

Trida picked up the scroll. Opening it, he began to read, his face going pale as he went. When he finished, he downed half of his mug. “Pettit…” he trailed off, not sure what to say.

“I think the group here was more intelligent,” Gregory said, “even if they are going to harass my men.”

“You can’t put men out of work and not expect them to be upset,” Hendil snorted.

“We can expect people to follow the laws,” Davis said simply in a light rebuttal.

“Speaking of people being upset,” Gregory stepped in after Davis, “your men at the gate; they weren’t so quiet about not getting bonuses from the slavers, since they didn’t bring in any eurtik.”

Trida set down his mug. “What?”

“Some of the guards at the gate I entered were loud enough with their comments about freshly-branded slaves coming in ahead of the normal group. They knew what was happening and got small kickbacks to look the other way.”

“That’s slander!” Hendil growled.

Gregory let his resonance touch Hendil. His hollowness was worse than most, but not twisted. “It’s fact, Captain. I heard them.”

“Enough,” Trida said before Hendil could speak again. “I will look into it, Magi.”

“That’s your purview, Commander. I won’t speak on the matter again.”

Davis pulled out a deck of cards. “Shall we get the game going?”

“That’d be good,” Trida said.

~*~*~

Making their way back to the barracks a couple of hours later, Davis shook his head. “Hendil knows something…”

“Someone had to approve it,” Gregory shrugged.

“I’d have bet on the sergeant, but he was quick to object.”

“Sergeant likely gets his cut, too.”

“Fair point, sir.”

“Trida isn’t involved, at least.”

“You’re sure?”

“From my conversations with him and how quick he was to step in there, yes. However, he isn’t happy with us right now, since things are going wrong all around us,” Gregory said.

“It makes him look weak that bribes were being taken under his nose.”

“Exactly, which would sting anyone’s pride. He won’t help us, but I don’t think he’ll hinder us, either. Hendil will probably be looking for a way to get back at us.”

“The men?”

“If they get into any trouble, I’m sure Hendil will try hammering them down.”

“I doubt he’ll get the chance, sir.”

“But he might help manufacture opportunities with his allies…” Gregory said slowly. “I’ll have to keep a close eye on the futures going forward in regards to him.”

“Do you want me to accompany you tomorrow for the butcher and weapons?”

“No need. Take the day off, Davis. You need some time to relax, as well.”

“What about you, sir?”

“I relax every day for a few hours.”

“Is meditation training really relaxing, sir?” Davis asked skeptically.

“It is for me. The fact that it also makes me stronger is just a nice bonus.”

Davis snorted, shaking his head. “Very well.”

The barracks were busier than Gregory expected when they got back. His men hadn’t stayed out long, which had been one of the futures, but since nothing bad had happened, he hadn’t looked at them closely.

“Sir, we’ve got room at our table,” Milton called out as he picked up the dice. “Care to sit in?”

“We’ve got space, too,” Townson said.

Gregory chuckled as he looked at the two squads. “Combine and I’ll join in. We’ll have a big game.”

A minute later, Gregory was seated with two of his five squads, playing dice. Polka came up, handing him a mug of tea, getting a “thank you” in return.

“You won’t be using foresight, will you, sir?” one of the men asked.

“Not with the unit. If others are present, I might, just to make sure we all come out ahead.”

Laughter went around the group as the next man picked up the dice for his turn.

Davis had vanished for a bit, but came back down to join in. He ended up at another game when the other squads came back from the tavern. Bunson reported that they’d opted to end the night early, as people were getting prickly. The rumor that Gregory was restricting the capture of slaves had started, and some of the more drunk patrons were being belligerent toward them.

Eventually, the games were called off, as it’d gotten late. Gregory stayed until the end while the rest went to bed to sleep— he could use his paths to offset the sleep he needed for the night. When he made his way up to his room, Rafiq was waiting for him.

“Rafiq?”

“Just wondering if you’d like an ear again, Greg.”

Gregory paused, then nodded. “That’d be nice. Thank you, my friend.”