Moral Stand (Aether’s Revival Book 7)

Gregory stood up from his meditation. He’d checked the future, and hadn’t found anything that would cause concern for him or his men. Making sure he’d gathered the last of his things, he left the room.

“Good morning, sir,” Basal said, coming out of the room he shared with Hanz and Rafiq.

“Good morning to you three,” Gregory replied, as the others had followed Basal out. “Breakfast, and then we march.”

“That will be good,” Rafiq said. “I believe the other unit has worn the goodwill of your men thin.”

“More than wore it thin. They damn near broke it last night,” Davis said, exiting his room.

“Trying to cheat my men was a mistake,” Gregory snorted. “I’m not sure his sergeant will even discipline him correctly, but after today, he’ll not be a problem for us again.”

“I’ll get your things, sir,” Hanz said, heading for Davis’ room.

“It’s all packed already,” Davis said, tapping the sling bag he had. “Make sure you have all of yours.”

“I collected it for them,” Rafiq said. “I’ll make sure it’s distributed tonight when we make camp.”

“Thank you, Rafiq,” Gregory said. “The men should be getting ready now. We’ll check when we pass their floor.”

As they trooped downstairs, Gregory gave a nod to his men; the entire unit was up and getting ready for the day. Sergeant Howard Donald stood outside the sergeant’s room, already in his armor and watching the men.

“Good morning, sir,” Donald said, his wolf ears twitching. “We’ll be down before the fifth bell.”

“I don’t doubt it, Sergeant. The sooner we’re away from the fools, the better.”

“They lost the last of any good faith last night. If you hadn’t been there, it might’ve devolved further.”

“I’m sure you and the others would’ve gotten it under control, but Grabil’s men were fine with swinging on ours. See you all downstairs.”

“Yes, sir.”

Continuing downstairs, they found Barny and the sisters in the kitchen, so Gregory went to talk with the trio. “As soon as you get cleaned up after breakfast, we’ll be heading out. I’m sure you’ll want to do that before the others wake up.”

“They don’t have a cook. It’ll be a rude wake-up for them,” Barny said tightly. “We’ve been nibbling as we work, and while you all eat, we’ll be cleaning the pots and pans. That way, we’ll be ready as soon as the men are done.”

“Just as eager to be away from them as the rest of us?” Gregory chuckled.

“Gods yes,” Polka said. “We’ve turned down ‘suggestions’ from a few of the others.”

“They didn’t push, did they?”

“No, sir. When we mentioned we were yours, they quickly backed off.”

“Though a few did mutter disparaging comments about your tastes,” Dot added.

“After they asked you and you turned them down?” Gregory snorted. “Let me guess: beast lover? Animal fucker? Something like that?”

“Those were the exact insults,” Dot chuckled.

“Idiots…” Gregory sighed. “Two of my wives are partial eurtiks. And who knows, but in the future, I might even end up with full eurtik wives. Those words will never impact me the way they think they should.”

Polka and Dot glanced at each other, then smiled. “We’re happy to work with you, sir. We’ve heard much worse directed at us, but didn’t want to mention it to you… just in case it caused a problem.”

“Insults like that won’t provoke me. Other ones used to be a hot button, but I’ve worked on not letting words trigger me into acting rashly. Never think you have to shield me from rumors or insults.”

“Yes, sir,” the twins said together.

Gregory laughed, then left them to their work. He took a seat with Rafiq and Davis when he went back to the mess hall. “I take it the boys are making sure the horses and wagon are good to go?”

“Yes, sir,” Davis nodded. “We’re all in agreement that the wilds will be far more pleasant than our current company.”

“Really drove home the difference of commanders to the men,” Rafiq said. “The care and attention you pay to them compared to the non-existent presence of Grabil? I wouldn’t be surprised if your men try to do even more to show their appreciation after seeing that.”

“I’m not sure they can do more,” Gregory chuckled.

“They really can’t, but it did help remind them of how good life is with our unit,” Davis added.

~*~*~

The unit was heading out when someone called out from the stairs, “Sir, leaving already?”

Gregory turned back to see Lieutenant Simmons. “It’s time. I wish you and your unit the best of luck on the southern border.”

“What? You know where we’re posted next? Magus Grabil hasn’t told us.”

“Magus Artok told me. You’ll be on the Limaz border. Best of luck, Lieutenant.”

“Wait! Did your cook leave breakfast, sir?”

“No time. It’s time to march,” Gregory said.

“Fuck me…” Simmons grumbled. “Back to slop it is.”

Gregory went around the barracks to where his unit was lined up. “Men, we march like we have before. Every hour we’re out of town, there’s a chance of us being attacked. It could be bane beasts, eurtiks intent on harming us, or even bandits, though the last would be idiotic in the extreme. Be on your guard. We’ll be running two-hour watches at night. The time slot for each unit will change one spot every day. That way, no one’s stuck on mid-watch. Five days of marching means everyone will cycle every shift.”

The men looked resolute as they stood at attention.

“I’ve looked ahead and we shouldn’t have any big surprises, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be minor issues. A twisted ankle would hurt you, but wouldn’t be something to stand out to me.” He mounted Legacy, his gelding. “We march!”

As they headed out, Gregory kept a passive eye on the citizens of Coldwood; most wouldn’t even look at the magi guard unit. A few saluted as the unit passed them— older men with scars, making it likely they were once soldiers. A couple called out to bring back more slaves, laughing as they did.

The gate guards stood up a bit straighter seeing them coming, and the sergeant on duty walked out of the gatehouse as they approached. “Magi, your first patrol?”

“It is, Sergeant,” Gregory said, motioning at Davis to keep going. “Any advice?”

“Be mindful of your surroundings, sir. The eurtiks and bane beasts are not above setting ambushes. Most casualties come from inattention.”

“Understood. Thank you, Sergeant.”

“Glad to help. Your men look more disciplined than most of the adept guards we see. I hope it’s not just shine that fails when things go wrong.”

Gregory was surprised that the sergeant was being so forward. “I can assure you, Sergeant, that my squad is like no other adept magi guard you’ve ever seen. I’ll be aiming for zero casualties during my year.”

“That’d be a first for this posting, sir. Best of luck, and I’ll pray to Aether that you can manage it.”

Gregory saluted the sergeant, who saluted him back. “Carry on, Sergeant.”

“Safe travels, sir.”

Gregory kicked Legacy into a trot, going past his men to catch up to Davis in the lead. “No squad has ever had a zero-casualty record for the year. We have another record to beat.”

Davis chuckled. “We’ll be doing our best, sir. He seemed amiable.”

“He was. It might be worth chatting with him in the future. Perhaps one of the sergeants or even you should do that?”

“I’ll check into it when we get back.”

Gregory took a deep breath. “Crisp air out here… it reminds me of home, the smell of the forest.”

“Your home has a forest like this?” Davis asked as they left the town. The forest itself had been clear-cut back from the walls, but it was still thick close by.

“Alturis is forested and hilly. Even the hills are forested, except near the mine. That part was cut back so the work could be done.”

“You haven’t talked much about your home, but when you do, there’s pride in your tone.”

“I’ll always love Alturis. My home is truly neighborly… I found out how odd that is as I got to the Velum Empire proper.”

“You mentioned a mine, sir? What do they dig from the ground?” Davis asked, his eyes were scanning the surrounding area the entire time.

“Iron ore, mostly,” Gregory said, his own gaze always moving, “but we do have veins of other minerals…”

~*~*~

“Company, halt!” Gregory called out. “This site is where we’ll camp for the night.”

Davis looked over the campsite with a twist to his lips. “They didn’t upkeep it. We’ll get it set right, but tonight will be more work than it should.”

“I’ll make sure it’s in my reports,” Gregory said, “not that it helps us right now.”

They dismounted as the men fell out into squads to get things set up. Basal and Hanz came rushing up to take the horses. Barny and the twins went to work getting the oxen settled; they’d have to wait for Gregory to set out the kitchen tent to work on dinner.

Sergeant Freddy Milton came Gregory’s way, the half-dwarf looking disgusted. “Sir, so you can include it in your report, they left the latrine pit open. We’ll get it covered up, but… well… we should move the camp a little farther away.”

Gregory sighed. “Davis, get it arranged, please. I know I said no major problems popped up, but this was obviously below my threshold of ‘major.’”

“We’ll take care of it, sir,” Milton said, “but the previous magi didn’t keep things in the order they should’ve been kept in.”

“Understood, Sergeant. I’ll be meeting with you all after dinner so I can get every problem recorded.”

“Yes, sir,” Milton saluted.

“Carry on.”

Rafiq had come to his side while Milton left. “Records are important, even when they aren’t read.”

“Yes. I expect the magus in Icelake to ignore it, but eventually, it’ll make its way to someone who might care.”

Rafiq nodded. “Are you going to reestablish routine, Gregory?”

“Yes. We’ll be doing the Peaceful Fist after breakfasts again; it’ll be good for all of us. Besides, we’d be much faster than we should be, otherwise.”

“Good point. You still want to spend five days between the towns?”

“I have no reason to push speed right now. Until we get a better feel for the patrol route, it might cause more problems.”

“A very good point.”

“As soon as I have the spots, I’ll place the tents,” Gregory said. “I see they’re getting the area for the cooks ready first.”

“Food motivates people.”

“Yes, it does,” Gregory laughed.