Chapter Seven: Going Home
". . . five days between semesters three and four, so if anyone intends to travel home, fill out the request form and return it to me or one of the other dorm monitors. We'll get it to Colonel Cataloupe for approval. You are allowed to contact your families directly to make arrangements if necessary. Those who are staying on campus will be allowed day-of passes to leave academy grounds and visit Ventrex City if they so choose. Be aware traveling and visiting the city must be done in full uniform, and the academy's code of conduct applies at all times." Cadet Lin looked around at the crowd of expectant faces. "Any questions? Good. Dismissed."
And excited buzz of voices rose up as the cadets dispersed. This would be their first real holiday since classes had started. Though he had known going into the academy this opportunity would be available, Avocato was nonetheless relieved to hear they'd be given a chance to leave. Events had been planned around the break, just so he could be home.
"Nikos, Kedi, come on," he ordered. "I'll fill out my form and you two copy all the information. You're coming with me."
"What? Where?" they demanded, startled.
Avocato grinned. "We're going to a wedding."
"Yours?" asked Kedi, only half-joking.
Avocato gave him a playful shove. "My eldest brother's!"
"We haven't been invited!" Nikos protested.
"You just were. By me. You can't leave me alone with all my cousins. Besides, my mother wants to meet you." It helped that both lived too far away to make it worth their while to go home. He had them where he wanted them. "Toshi, Felice, fancy going to a wedding?"
"Yours?"
Avocato groaned in frustration, not sure why they were so eager to marry him off.
"His brother's," Kedi and Nikos chimed in unison, their accents clashing horribly.
"Thank you, Cato, but if I'm not home in two days, I'll be disowned," Felice replied.
"I'll be hunted down," Toshi confirmed.
He gave up after an almost identical exchange with Pawlette and FannFee. That evening they were granted leave to travel by rail to Alfitrix in two days' time, to return the evening of the fifth day. They were also granted permission to wear their uniforms to the wedding. Delighted, Avocato paid for their trip, reserving seats there and back, and notified his mother. He could not wait to be home.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Avocato, you're certain your parents won't mind?" Nikos pressed for at least the tenth time as he followed Avocato through Alfitrix's open-air rail station.
"Of course not. They'll be happy to have you two."
"But your brother is getting married!" Kedi wailed.
"High time, too!" Avocato agreed.
"There won't be space for extra guests!"
Avocato smiled, raising his hand to wave at a familiar black transport pulling up to the rail station. "There's always space, Nikos. Absolute worst case, you two might have to share my rooms with me. Which might be more fun, anyway."
"Rooms?" mouthed Nikos to Kedi, and the two cadets turned to stare at their friend in astonishment. They were even more surprised when a sleek and elegant transport pulled up to the curb right before them. A liveried driver stepped out smartly, opened the rear door, and bowed slightly, saying,
"Master Avocato, it's good to see you again. Welcome home."
"Thank you, Silaff, it's good to be home, if only for a few days. How are you? How is your grandson?" said Avocato with a smile, returning a short bow.
"Thriving, sir. He's starting to walk just these past days," he replied, pleased to brag.
"I want to see some holos. He'll be running by the time you get us home." Avocato gestured for Nikos and Kedi to step closer. "Silaff, these are my friends and classmates, Kedi, of house Kotik, and Nikos from Answaar. This is Silaff, who's been with my family . . . my life and longer."
"Much longer," confirmed the driver with a fond smile. Silaff nodded to the two cadets. "Welcome to Alfitrix, gentlemen. If there's anything I can do to help make your stay more pleasant, please don't hesitate to ask me. If you'll get in, sirs, I'll load your bags and we can go."
His friends were completely lost. Feebly, Kedi began, "We can . . ."
"Silaff," said Avocato, grabbing his bag before the elderly servant could, "let us. If word ever reached the academy that we didn't tote our own bags, we'd never hear the end of it."
Not to be completely out-maneuvered, Silaff contented himself with opening the rear hatch and arranging the bags as the trio of young cadets handed them over one by one. Avocato then herded his shell-shocked companions into the back of the transport, snatching his hand away as Silaff hurried over to close the door behind them.
"You have a driver," stated Nikos in disbelief.
"My father has a driver," corrected Avocato.
"You said your house was a cadet branch of the imperial line!" Kedi exclaimed, his accent thickening.
"It is."
"You said cadet branches are small and unimportant!"
"For the most part," corrected Avocato. "There are exceptions."
Nikos frowned. "How long ago did this 'branching' happen, Avocato?"
He shrugged. "Five generations ago on my father's side, two on my mother's."
Kedi snorted. "My family's branch was pruned and mulched long ago."
"Your grandfather was king?" whispered Nikos.
"Great-grandfather. My grandfather was the king's youngest brother. He married Princess MarMee, First Heir of Hiis. My mother is their third child. It was decreed . . . oh, centuries ago that the offspring of direct heirs to the House of Hiis will be granted the title of prince or princess."
"So, you're royalty?" Nikos squeaked.
"No, for which I thank every goddess in the pantheon," Avocato replied hastily. "I'd never get to do anything interesting if we were royalty. I'm an heir of House Cato, not Hiis. I'm the lucky one in my family – I have two brothers between me and a noble title. I just hope they both have a lot of children so I don't have to stay in the home guard."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
Avocato quieted, growing serious. Almost sadly, he admitted, "I didn't want it to matter."
They stared at him, astonished and overwhelmed and . . . moved. As with his color, he wanted to be himself and not a title.
"It doesn't matter," declared Kedi, using a tone of voice that ended all debate. He sat back to enjoy the ride. "Do not doubt, Cato. We like you for you. Despite you."
"And to spite you," Nikos added.
He smiled, relieved.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
The estate abuzz with activity in preparation for the wedding tomorrow. Workers and servants scurried all about the house and grounds. To Avocato, it was all very over the top, but his mother was in her element and it showed in the organization and excitement, as opposed to chaos and panic. Silaff dropped them at the hall's main entrance, and while Avocato distracted him looking at holograms of his grandkit, Kedi and Nikos grabbed their duffles. Before Silaff could protest, each cadet slung their bag over their shoulder and headed up the stairs, waving their thanks. Kedi looked around with undisguised admiration at the old and massive house and lush gardens.
"We don't have anything like this at home."
Nikos snorted. "We don't even have pictures like this at home. Cato, you grew up in a museum."
"You're not wrong! Welcome to House Cato!" Avocato laughed and lead them through the large, open doors. The main entrance was very grand, almost unchanged since it had been built hundreds of years prior. Marble and glass gleamed, and family portraits old and new lined the walls.
"Little Cato! I can't believe they let you out!"
They turned to see a slim Ventrexian a few years older than them coming down the grand staircase in the middle of the hall. His fur was glossy black, and his eyes and features were the same as Avocato's. He was slightly more polished and far less rough-and-tumble than the younger Cato, but blessed with the same smile and humor. They were clearly brothers, though Avocato towered over him, and clearly very fond of each other.
"Actually, I can't believe they let you in first, let alone let you out amongst the populace."
Dropping his bag, Avocato smiled and formally bowed before he was enfolded in a quick embrace. "Well, they only want the best, so that rules you out entirely, Catowba."
The black lord stepped back and examined him skeptically. "At least they taught you how to dress decently – oh, wait, no, they didn't. Never mind. You must be so thankful for uniforms. No decisions or fashion sense involved. Clearly. Could they have put you in a worse color? You look half naked. Oh, look, your tail is longer, too! I didn't think that was possible."
"So, you do think? And look! Your tail is still a stubby brush sticking out of your ass."
"Spoken like a true soldier. Father will be so pleased to hear your new vocabulary. At least you've learned something at the academy."
Avocato laughed. "How is Catomar holding up?"
Catowba let his annoyance show. "Being his usual uptight self. But what have you brought our lovely cousins?" He looked past his taller little brother to the waiting pair of cadets who were clearly impressed and cowed by events and the setting.
Avocato smiled. "Catowba, allow me to introduce Nikos from Vel Pitten in the Answaar Region, and Kedi of House Kotik in the Far Reaches. Gentlemen, my older brother, Lord Catowba, Second Heir of House Cato."
"Not for long, I trust," said Catowba, eyeing them up and down with a bright, critical eye. "Welcome to our home, gentlemen. It's delightful to have you. The first of many visits, I trust. Little Cato, head straight to your rooms after you see Mother. I'm sending the tailor to fit your uniforms. You absolutely cannot be seen like this. Any of you. They can stay in your suite; they don't look as if they take up much space and all the bedrooms are bespoke. Luncheon at the usual time, dress accordingly, and afterwards you're all to report to the main dining room. You need a refresher and they need a lesson."
Avocato sighed at the rigors of being home. "Where is Mother now?"
"If she's not in her office, page her secretary. Don't look for Father until lunch. Now shoo! I'm busy."
They all looked for their bags, only to see them vanishing up the stairs on the shoulders of one of the footmen.
"Lesson?" wondered Nikos nervously.
"Don't worry," assured Avocato, waving them towards the stairs. "It will be fun. We can go for a ride afterwards."
"Are you being sent to your room?"
"Hardly!"
"Little Cato?" Kedi got in on the teasing, his face aglow with pleasure at the diminutive.
"Shut up."
His mother was delighted to see him and meet his friends, and, gracious lady that she was, she charmed them utterly. Nikos was rendered speechless to meet an actual princess. Kedi fumbled to answer when she asked how they were finding the academy. A little later, with both his friends only partially over the fact that he had rooms to himself in this house, the tailor and his apprentices took one horrified look at Kedi and Nikos in their uniforms and almost broke into spasms. Not even Avocato passed muster with them, and the tailor had been the one to fit his uniforms before he left for the academy. According to the new measurements the tailors scanned, Avocato was taller and broader in the shoulders. Kedi and Nikos were silent and still as the tailors took their scans, and then their uniforms were whisked away, leaving the three of them scattered through Avocato's suite in nothing but their underclothes.
"Would this be dressing accordingly, Little Cato?" wondered Kedi.
He glared. "In your case, yes."
Avocato dressed as plainly as he could manage, well aware that both his friends, Nikos especially, were self-conscious about their more rustic, regional clothing, even if it was their best. Since his clothes wouldn't fit either of them, he offered to take them on a raid of his brothers' closets if they wanted. That set them laughing and eased the tension in the room. Kedi wore a long tunic of deep blue, embroidered in traditional motifs and trimmed with tight, glistening frost lizard down. Nikos's wide-sleeved robe top crossed over his chest and was secured by a elaborately knotted sash. Loose trousers and half-boots finished both their outfits, though Kedi outshone them both.
"Don't worry about your clothes," Avocato insisted. "The people at lunch will have no idea of what constitutes high fashion in Vel Pitten or the Far Reaches, and they would sooner choke to death on their pastry rather than admit as much. Just be yourselves and use whatever fork they're using. The ladies especially are masters at finding things to talk about. You're like nothing they've ever had lunch with before, and you're going to fascinate them."
"Like you fascinate the academy?" demanded Nikos.
"Worse," he said, and grinned as they groaned in chorus.