Aether’s Apprentices: Chapter 52

When the meal ended, Gregory gave Mindie and Roshana a smile as he went to leave. Yukiko bent over to whisper to Mindie, and Jenn did the same to Roshana. He hesitated, but his wives quickly caught up to the rest of them.

As they climbed the stairs, Gregory asked them about the exchange. “Whispers?”

“Inviting them to join in the conversation tonight,” Yukiko said. “I didn’t want to invite all the newcomers.”

“We’ll be welcoming them tomorrow,” Nessa said. “But tonight is to see you all for the last time.” She said the words smoothly, but she was clearly sad.

“I know why Roshana,” Clover said, “but Mindie?”

Daciana giggled, giving Clover a wolf smile. “She’s interested in some of us.” She tapped her nose knowingly.

“Really?” Ling asked thoughtfully. “Hmm…”

“She’s friendly and comfortable,” Jenn said. “She just always feels right when she’s there to assist us.”

The others fell silent as they went to the suite, clearly considering what Jenn had said. It didn’t take them long to reach the room. Yukiko left the door cracked open so the others could find them easily. They settled at the table, but a pall of gloominess was over the group.

Clover tried to lighten the mood. “You going to win this tournament, Vicky?”

Victoria blinked as she looked at Clover. “Oh, yes. I plan to beat them both black and blue.”

“No. I’ll win this time,” Daciana said with a sniff. “I have tricks.”

“And yet you still lost to me once already,” Nessa said, a small smile touching her lips. “Maybe a repeat? Even Greg didn’t manage that.”

“He didn’t,” Jenn agreed. “I had to pummel him into submission, though.”

“Yeah, that looked brutal,” Daciana said. “I worried you two would have problems after that.”

“And then he married her,” Victoria giggled. “Maybe we need to beat him up.”

“I’d rather you all help me protect him,” Yukiko giggled. “Greg knows your strengths.”

“I’d rather not get beaten like that again, anyway,” Gregory admitted. “Besides,” he said slowly, “I’m not going to say no to any of you.”

“Us, or Roshana?” Ling asked.

“And perhaps Mindie,” Yukiko added. “You will all have to show me your dedication and find your resonance. That way, you know that you are absolutely sure that he’s your heart, like he is ours.”

“He’s already mine,” Victoria said softly. “I knew he was when I cared for him at the inn. His aether touched my hand and I knew.”

“My first scent of him told me,” Daciana said, looking away from Gregory in embarrassment.

“We’ll do as you say, Yuki,” Nessa said, looking at her lovers. “We understand that you’re his first wife and that we have to prove ourselves.”

“Yes,” Victoria and Daciana said together.

“As do we,” Ling said, Clover nodding along.

Yukiko’s head turned and she motioned to the others. “In here!” she called out.

A moment later, Roshana peered inside, then opened the door for her and Mindie. “Is this okay?”

“We invited you,” Jenn said. “Of course, it’s okay.”

Mindie followed Roshana inside, but she felt the eyes watching her and her cheeks began to burn. Everyone shifted so the pair could sit, putting Roshana next to Jenn and Mindie next to Yukiko.

“Thank you for inviting me to your room,” Mindie said.

“You’re a friend, as everyone here is,” Yukiko replied gently. “Very much like everyone here. Sadly, you’re a bit behind the others in some regards.”

“Oh?” Mindie asked.

“We had a birthday party not long ago,” Jenn said, “where we all got to know each other better. Roshana was there with us.”

“Oh,” Mindie said, clearly feeling like an outsider.

“Have you told them?” Daciana asked Mindie without preamble.

Mindie gave her a puzzled look. “Told them?”

Daciana gave her a smile, then looked at Yukiko.

Yukiko shook her head at Daciana’s brashness, but cleared her throat. “Mindie, everyone here has felt a connection to Greg. You were once shocked that we both loved and married him.”

Mindie nodded slowly, then looked at Daciana with widening eyes. “Wait… all of you?”

“We have expressed interest in doing so,” Ling said, clearly unsure about saying what she was.

“We’ve agreed that they can have a chance,” Jenn said. “There are steps for them to complete before we say yes or no. It’s been hinted that you might harbor such feelings.”

Mindie was already looking at Daciana when she blushed. “I…! That is… uh…”

“She is,” Daciana said. “I can smell it.”

Mindie’s face went crimson and she covered it with her hands. “Wait! But, I… no, that isn’t…”

Yukiko touched her arm softly. “Mindie, we aren’t here to ridicule you or tell you it’s wrong. There’s nothing wrong with being interested in our heart. If you’re earnest and true, then you might have a piece of his love, as well.”

“I hope to, myself,” Roshana said softly. “You’ve known them longer than I have, but even I hope for that.”

“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Jenn said. “It’ll be years before some of, if not all, of you will be given that chance, but we need to know who is interested. All of them have admitted their feelings for Greg to us.”

Mindie’s face was bright red. She looked through her fingers at the others who were nodding. “And you’re all okay with this? Greg?”

Gregory started to blush as he cleared his throat, “Uh… do you know about resonance, Mindie?”

Mindie lowered her hands, her cheeks cooling little by little. “I’ve been trying to find it for months. How do you know about it?”

“We’ve found ours,” Yukiko said. She pulled her medallion out, showing their tier and rank to her.

Mindie stared at it with wide eyes, then fished out her own medallion, which was only on the seventh rank of the initiate tier. “How?”

“We train more than one path at a time,” Jenn replied. “We’ll teach… oh… we might not have the time to.”

Mindie shook her head. “I’m going with you to the tournament. Elder Lightshield told me that’s what I’ll do to finish my adept year. After that, I’ll be assisting the clan with matters outside the academy. I think it means I’ll be helping you three with your initiate year.”

“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.