Sasha, Jayhan and Stefan met at mid-morning the next day in the space behind the stables where Leon kept piles of gravel, soil and sand, stacks of firewood, scrap pieces of metal and wood and some of his tools. He had cleared a roughly circular sandy patch in the middle to use for fighting practice until they could set up an area in one of the paddocks and was now sitting on a pile of firewood watching to see what they would do.
Maud and Sheldrake also wandered over to watch and, rather to the mage’s surprise, so did the rest of their household; Eloquin the governess, Clive the butler, Clive’s wife Beth who was also the head groom, Rosie the maid, her little brother Edgar and even Hannah, the cook. At the last minute, even Jake and Thompson, the farmhands, came running to join them, wipin
