“We’re glad you’re here,” Yukiko told her. “I’d have been disappointed if you weren’t.”
Before Jenn could reply, Baylyss came out of the kitchen with a cart loaded with food. “Breakfast is served. It’s simple and not aether-infused, but I have some aether fruits from Dia that you are to have with this.”
“Thank you,” all three of them said.
“I made something that the children are used to, but I’m not sure if you are,” Baylyss said as she put the cauldron on the table. “It’s frumenty.”
Gregory chuckled at Yukiko’s lack of recognition. “Cracked oats that have been boiled. It’s bland, but filling.”
“We normally add fruit to it,” Elsa said. “It helps.”
“And we have the fruit from Dia, so it works out,” Jenn nodded.
~*~*~
Breakfast went by without a lot of conversation, though Gregory could tell that Yukiko was glad for the fruit. Truthfully, he was, too— the frumenty reminded him of his childhood, but he’d forgotten just how bland it could be.
The kids were all eager for meditation, and the three magi were smiling through the exercise. As their meditation came to an end, Gregory recalled he had promised Master Damon he’d write down his foresight moments.
Waiting for the kids to go off to their tasks, Gregory turned to Yukiko and Jenn. “I need a few minutes to write some things down for Damon.”
“Yes, you did tell him you’d inform him about your foresight,” Yukiko nodded. “You’re not going to tell him everything, are you?”
“No. Bits and pieces only,” Gregory said. “I think I need to underplay what I can do.”
“That’s for the best,” Yukiko agreed. “Jenn and I will get our things together so Baylyss can have them sent back to the academy for us.”
“I’ll be in the front room. I’m sure you’ll finish before me.”
“We’ll see you there,” Jenn said.
Gregory left the garden and found Baylyss. “Baylyss, can I have some paper and ink?”
“Writing a letter home to your friends?”
“Uh… I should do that, too. I can have my father deliver it for me. I had something else I have to do first, though.”
“I’ll have some brought to you.”
“Thanks. I’ll be in the front room.”
One of the children brought him the supplies before hurrying off to another task. Gregory tackled the easy one first— he wrote out the few times he wanted to clearly admit to using foresight. He chose not to write about his fight with Klein, hoping that would muddy the idea that the spirit path could affect his foresight. With that done, he turned his attention to the letter to Gunnar.
Gunnar, I hope this finds you and the family well. Things have been busy here. I’m sure you’re aware that Father is here with me currently. I got married right after the tournament. Never expected my father to be here for it, but that was Yuki’s gift to me.
It’s been different— he’s acting like he did before Mother died. I don’t know how else to say it. Supportive, understanding, and kind, just like he used to be. It makes those years in between more stark, but I understand them better now. He was just so terrified of losing me.
Anyway, the tournament went well. This time, I lost in the final fight to Jenn Bean. I told you about her in the last letter. Funny thing is that she joined Yuki and me in Aether’s Guard. We joined a clan, but it’s different from all the others. We can leave them whenever we want, and they aren’t forcing us to learn any specific way. They’re also tolerant of people with mixed blood, which was one of the main reasons we chose them.
How is the kid? Was it a boy or girl? Bet she’ll take after El if she’s a girl. You’ll have your hands full keeping the boys off her when she grows up. If they’re a boy, they’ll take after you and be the third strongest in the town.
How’s Ria? Are she and Stan doing okay? What about your parents?
Maybe it’s odd, but I want to hear about home. Things are so different here, and I get why the magi in the stories never come home. Seeing your friends and family age and die long before you is the reason why... If I don’t make it back in twenty years, I’ll probably never make it back. I’d rather keep you all in my memory as you are today. Maybe that’s selfish of me, but I want to keep those memories. I hope you’ll understand and will forgive me if that happens.
Your oldest friend,
Greg
Signing the letter, he read it again and exhaled slowly. “I hope they understand.”
“Dearest?” Yukiko asked, coming into the room.
“Just finished writing a letter to Gunnar.”
“Is something wrong?” Yukiko asked, crossing the room to him with Jenn following her.
“I don’t know... I’m feeling a little maudlin.”
“May I?” Yukiko asked.
Gregory handed her the letter. “Go ahead.”
Jenn stepped back, and Gregory met her eyes. “You can, too, Jenn. Gunnar was my best friend growing up.”
Jenn bit her lip. “Are you sure?”
“You don’t have to, but if you want to, it’s fine.”
Jenn gave him a small nod and stood next to Yukiko to read it with her.
After a couple of minutes, Yukiko handed Gregory the letter back. “It’s a good letter, Greg. If he’s a good man, he’ll understand what you’re saying.”
“I can see why writing this would be hard,” Jenn said softly. “You’re saying you want to stay in contact, but you want to preserve your memories, too.”
The bell on the door rang and Gregory got to his feet, folding the letter. “That’s probably the carriage to take us to lunch.”
Elsa went quickly over to the door, giving them a smile as she passed them. When
