Aether's Apprentices

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Lucky...” Daciana sighed. “I wish I was.”

  “We’re not jealous,” Victoria started to say, but then she shook her head. “No, that’s a lie. We are, but we don’t begrudge you that. If we all have our dreams met, we’ll be close and need to not lie to each other.”

  “Correct.” Yukiko gave Victoria a smile. “That’ll be good if it’s true, Mindie,” she said, addressing the healer. “If that happens, it’ll give us a chance to get to know you more.”

  “Greg, you never answered her question,” Clover said.

  Gregory’s face burned and he nodded. “Yeah. When you find resonance, you have to face a few trials.”

  “Fear, strength, weakness, and desire,” Mindie said, not as uncomfortable now as when she first sat down.

  Gregory’s face felt like it would explode from heat, but he spoke anyway, “I faced mine. The fear, weakness, strength, and desires.” He took a deep breath, then admitted what had been hinted at, but not flatly stated, “Mine showed me in bed with my wives, but standing beside the bed... in almost nothing and asking to join us… was you, all of you, and more I haven’t met yet.” His voice was softer when he admitted the last part.

  All of them felt their chests warm at the clear acknowledgement that he desired them. Smiles grew wide on their faces, and Daciana’s tail started to wag quickly.

  “Aether, that’s embarrassing to admit...” Gregory exhaled.

  “And we admitted ours to them, already,” Yukiko said, “but not to Roshana and Mindie, so we’ll do that in a moment.” She swept everyone there with a slow, searching gaze. “After you find your resonance, if it shows you that Greg is your heart, you will have to admit that. Not just to Jenn and me, but to Gregory.” Faces went crimson around the table as they all thought about doing that. “And then, to each other,” she finished, causing a lot of glances between the others.

  Mindie looked nearly terrified, Ling worried, and Clover uncertain. The others might be a touch worried, but it wasn’t obvious as it was for those three.

  “Which makes sense,” Roshana said. “If we’re all a family, we need to know as much about each other as possible.”

  “Exactly,” Jenn said.

  “Now, let me tell you all about my resonance. All the parts of it,” Yukiko began.

  ~*~*~

  When Yukiko, Jenn, and Gregory had told everyone all the stages of their resonance, the group was quiet, processing what they’d been told.

  “You’re stronger than I think I would’ve been,” Victoria told Yukiko. “You saw that sharing him would be the best in the long run and agreed to do it. I’m not sure I would if I was his first wife.”

  Nessa shook her head. “I can’t say, but knowing his resonance, can you still hold to that?”

  Victoria looked at Gregory, then the others at the table, and smiled. “No... But that’s also because I do care and love you, Daciana, Jenn, and Yuki. Clover and Ling... my affection is growing for them, but it isn’t exactly love, yet. By the end of next year…? Maybe.” She gave Clover a wink.

  Clover beamed, nodding. “I will say yes.”

  Roshana and Mindie felt out of place again.

  “I welcome all of you,” Daciana said. “Alpha wants you, so he can have you. But… you will be his. If you even touch another man…” She trailed off, showing teeth to the pair as a low growl came from her chest.

  “None of that,” Yukiko said sharply.

  Daciana cut off suddenly and lowered her head, her tail still and her ears down. “Sorry, but the thought of it—”

  “Stop,” Yukiko said softly. “There’s no need for threats here. Anyone worthy of our heart would never sleep with another man. They would only lay with those who are part of our group.”

  “I want no other man,” Roshana said simply. “I have had men ask after me before, but I knew that my heart would come to me in time.”

  Mindie was scarlet. “I… I…” She shook her head vigorously.

  Yukiko placed her hand on Mindie’s. “It’s okay. Can you say that you would be with one or more of us?”

  “Yes,” Roshana said.

  Mindie swallowed, looking down, and murmured something Gregory couldn’t hear.

  Yukiko smiled wider. “Really? I’m flattered. Just me?”

  Mindie’s eyes flickered to Jenn before going back to the table.

  “Good,” Jenn smiled.

  “Will you think about them now?” Yukiko asked softly.

  Mindie lifted her head just enough to shoot the others glances, seeing smiles only. Licking her lips, her head bobbed fractionally. Her eyes shot to Gregory, obviously wanting to see how he took the idea. Seeing that Gregory was as red as she felt, clearly as awkward and uncertain, helped ease her fears.

  “He’s interested, as you heard about his resonance,” Yukiko said. “Just as you know my desires and Jenn’s now. Do either of those disturb you? Any of you?”

  A chorus of “no” went up around the table, with Mindie’s being a whisper.

  The twentieth bell began to chime and Yukiko sighed. “It’s time for bed. We wake with the third bell and, by fourth bell, we’re in the archive to study. We study until mid-fifth bell, then separate to go our own ways. Tomorrow... I would expect to study, then head back here for us to leave.”

  “Yuki,” Nessa asked, “can we break tradition? Just for tonight?”

  “What did you have in mind?” Yukiko asked.

  “We can stay until the twenty-second bell, then wake for breakfast with the fifth bell, skipping the archive. This way, our goodbye is tonight, not during studying tomorrow.”

  Jenn nodded when Yukiko looked at her, and Gregory nodded a moment later.

  “Very well. We need to inform the staff about breakfast being later,” Yukiko said.

  “I’ll go,” Daciana said, jumping to her feet.

  “No,” Gregory said as he stood up. “Stay and talk. I’ll go. I’m sure a couple of you at least want to talk without me here. I know it has to embarrass you.”

  “A good idea, dear one,” Yukiko said. “We’ll see you in a bit. Do us a favor and knock before you come back in?”

  “Greg,” Nessa said, “if one of the others asks about us... tell them we’ll start showing them the way of the clan tomorrow after class.”

  “I’ll tell them,” Gregory said.

  He made it to the door, then glanced back. All of them were talking softly enough that he couldn’t hear them, but all of them were smiling. The rightness of seeing them like that pulsed in his core, and he smiled before leaving the room.

  Chapter Fifty-three

  Fourth bell brought the lovers awake. Gregory sighed as he felt his wives stir beside him. “We tried to sleep in, at least.”

  “Hmm... this is for the best,” Yukiko said. “We wanted to get up now, anyway.”

  “We did?” Gregory asked, confused.

  “Yes,” Jenn said, kissing his chest.

  “We had a request last night,” Yukiko said, shifting to look down at him. “We need to get up and get our things together, as it is.”

  Gregory wondered about the request, but Yukiko wasn’t wrong— they still had some things to pack. “Dressed, packed, and… wait, we didn’t get the aether supplements for next year from Alvis.”

  “Rhea told us they would be here this morning,” Jenn said before getting out of bed and stretching. “We thought about it yesterday during our bath. We asked her as she was getting dressed and we were going in.”

  “That’s a relief, at least,” Gregory exhaled. “I’d hate to have to ask for us to stop by the shop on the way out of the city.”

  “That would be problematic,” Yukiko said. “I expect everyone’s going to be leaving as a group. I’m sure the academy has made arrangements for the various stops that will be made.”

  “I hadn’t considered that,” Gregory said as he started dressing into his yellow kimono. “Not sure next year is going to be any better for colors.” He looked down at his medallion g
lowing with orange light.

  “A little better, but not much,” Jenn agreed. “Adept and beyond will be much better.”

  “Green will be much nicer,” Yukiko agreed.

  “I’ll like seeing you in cyan,” Gregory told Yuki, catching her eyes with his.

  “And you will look good in the green with your eyes, dearest. The green will also do well for our dear fighter and her hazel eyes,” Yukiko said.

  “I have to take the medallion with us,” Gregory said after a few minutes, picking up the aether flame ryuite medallion he’d gotten in Waterrock.

  “Can’t leave it here,” Yukiko agreed. “It should be fine in your ring. You and Jenn are lucky that your storage items are rings. I have to take my obi off when we bathe. I’ve been giving it to Jenn to hold onto, but this coming year, I’ll have to do something different as we’ll be split up.”

  “We can see about getting you a ring with minor storage?” Jenn suggested. “For your weapons, armor, and obi.”

  “Hmm... that might work, but I would probably need to take another enchantment off to manage that,” Yukiko said. “I can feel it on the edge of my aether right now when we’re fully equipped with weapons and armor.”

  “I have one item less than you,” Jenn said, “and I haven’t felt that, so you might be right.”

  “I have more,” Gregory said, “but something tells me that the gloves and boots don’t count toward that as they should.” He picked up a glove from the armoire and looked at it pensively.

  The other two looked thoughtful as they continued dressing. Gregory shook his head and went back to pulling on his clothing. Minutes went by as they moved about the room, collecting all of their things. They had Jenn take the extra things that they couldn’t carry, as her storage item was larger than theirs.

  “We’ll have to divide all that up again near the end of the tournament,” Jenn said. “For now, it works.”

  “Greg,” Yukiko said, getting his attention, “I was thinking… Mother and Father collected Elsa last week. I’d thought it was a little strange, but I figured it out.”

  Gregory nodded slowly. “They’ll be at the tournament.”

  Yukiko smiled broadly. “Yes.” Her smile dimmed. “We won’t get to interact with Elsa as we have, but she’ll be there.”

  “She’ll be there for the fights?” Jenn asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Yukiko said slowly. “Maybe, or she’ll be at the inn. I can see Mother doing either. If she brings her, it’s so Elsa can have a chance to watch us push. If not, it’s to reinforce the fact that Elsa is a maid.”

  “Hmm...” Gregory nodded. “I can see that. If I’m being honest, I hope she gets to see us. Not just the fighting, but Empire’s Gambit, too.”

  Yukiko and Jenn both nodded, smiling at the thought of Elsa being able to watch them do their best.

  The room was empty when they finished clearing it. They were in the front room when a barely audible, timid knock came on the door. Gregory gave it a confused glance, but before he could turn to Yukiko, Jenn gave his hand a quick squeeze, so he gave her the look, instead.

  Yukiko went to the door, unlocking it before peeking out. Smiling, she opened it and revealed Nessa, Daciana, and Victoria. “Come on in,” she said softly.

  All three of the young women were dressed for the day. They thanked her in hushed tones as they came in. Their attention went to Gregory, who could see the sadness, determination, and hope in their gazes.

  Yukiko shut the door, then turned to Gregory. “Dearest, our friends and potential wives had a request. Jenn and I agreed, but the decision is yours.”

  Gregory swallowed— a million different thoughts ran through his head. He was positive that the majority of them were wrong, though if he was being honest with himself, he was a little hopeful that they weren’t wrong.

  “Greg,” Nessa said slowly, “it took a lot of courage for us to ask your wives last night. And maybe asking makes us less than ladies, but we agreed this was something we wanted.”

  Gregory’s thoughts took a more intimate turn, and he had to push them away as he waited for them to explain exactly what they were asking.

  “But we thought... since it’ll be years before we see each other again, that maybe this would be okay,” Daciana said. Her ears were laid flat and her tail was still, clearly waiting to be rebuked.

  “If you’re okay with it,” Victoria said, lifting her chin to speak proudly, though there was a tremor to her voice, “would you kiss us?”

  Gregory blinked at them for a moment, as his brain had spun far past kissing. The trio started to look embarrassed and hurt before he was able to get his mouth working again. “Sorry,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “I didn’t mean to make that awkward.”

  His first word had all three of them downcast, but when he continued, they glanced up with muted hope.

  “Yuki, Jenn?” he asked, wanting to make sure they both really agreed to this.

  Jenn kissed his cheek, then stepped forward to stand beside the novices. “Yes, Yuki and I agree. We’d ask if you’d let us do the same, though, to make sure we’re all okay with what might be in the future.”

  Yukiko moved up to stand as a bookend to the novices, leaving the three younger magi between her and Jenn. “The choice lies with our heart.”

  Gregory exhaled slowly. He saw only honesty in his wives, not that he expected any differently. Closing his eyes for a second, he let his resonance encompass them. The idea of them all kissing focused in his mind. The aether touching them felt true to him, and he let his resonance fade, opening his eyes again.

  “This is awkward, but you all know what my desires are. I won’t say no, not when my wives agree, too,” Gregory said. “I’ll go last, though.”

  “Jenn, you go first,” Yukiko said, then took a few steps to stand beside Gregory. Taking his hand, she gave him a smile. “We thought you’d agree, but we didn’t want to say yes, just in case.”

  He kissed her cheek. “When my wives agree and it’s something I want, too, then it’ll be a yes. But thank you, dear one.”

  Jenn shifted to stand in front of Nessa. The smaller woman was the aggressor— she put her hand behind Nessa’s head and brought Nessa’s lips to hers. It wasn’t a deep kiss, but it did linger for a few seconds before Jenn released her. Stepping sideways, she repeated the exact same kiss with Daciana, then Victoria.

  Stepping back, Jenn was grinning, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I enjoyed that.”

  The novices were red in the face, but smiling back at her, clearly having enjoyed the kisses. Their smiles grew when Yukiko approached them. She started with Victoria, then moved down the line to end with Nessa. The kisses were longer and slower as Yukiko tested each, seeing if they wanted soft or passionate.

  All four of them were flushed when Yukiko stepped back and gave them a wink. “Yes, I think these three are passionate enough for us.” She stepped aside, looking at Gregory. “Dearest?”

  Gregory swallowed. All eyes locked on him, dipping briefly before going back to his face. He knew his interest was clear— seeing his wives kiss the other three had gotten more than just his attention. There was no jealousy, just a happy hum to his heart and core.

  He went up to Daciana first, clearly surprising them, as she was in the middle of the line. Daciana’s tail had been wagging furiously after each kiss, but now, it slowed as she looked up at him. All of the novices were shorter than he was, mostly by half a head, give or take an inch either way. Staring down into Daciana’s eyes, he saw hope, yearning, and adoration. Her eyes closed and her lips pursed as she tilted her head back, waiting for him.

  Putting a hand behind her head, he felt her shiver when he gently cupped the back of her neck. Her lips parted fractionally as a soft whine escaped. Gregory didn’t keep her waiting, though, and lowered his lips to hers. Daciana’s were soft and trembled slightly when he kissed her. Her arms went around him, latching onto his back as she kissed him back.

  Greg
ory let the kiss build, and was surprised when her tongue brushed lightly at his lips. The moment felt right, so he allowed her to invade his mouth. They dueled briefly, but Gregory dominated her tongue, pushing it back, then invading her mouth in turn.

  Daciana let out a happy sound, pressing against him, her soul soaring with happiness. When they finally pulled away from one another, she blinked slowly. Her mouth was still parted as she found herself looking up at him. “Alpha...” she whispered. “Always yours. I will prove myself.”