Chapter Eight: The Lesson
Luncheon over, Avocato was escorting his friends to the main dining room. In his opinion, the buffet luncheon had been a smashing success. As far as Nikos and Kedi were concerned, they somehow managed to survive. Nikos ended up in a detailed discussion of irrigation techniques with Avocato's great uncle, who owned extensive farmland, and his lord father, who had been to Answaar in his youth. One of his mother's friends identified the shimmering trim on Kedi's embroidered tunic as frost lizard feathers - a rare and highly prized commodity, even in these circles - and he ended up surrounded by curious ladies and a few lords who wanted to hear about hunting the lizards across the ice fields of the Far Reaches.
". . . my lord father adored you, Nikos. He wants to sit down and talk spice before we leave. He's always looking for new flavors. Kedi, don't be surprised if some of the lords back there ask for introductions to your family. They love hunting - game as much as eligible bachelors for their daughters to marry."
And now they were approaching the dining room, where strains of music reached their ears. Avocato's smile grew wider and the music grew louder with each step he took. Suspicious, Kedi and Nikos slowed down, exchanging a look that wondered if it was too late to bolt. It was. Avocato threw the doors wide, laid hold of his friends' sleeves, and hauled them forward, exclaiming,
"Good afternoon, cousins!"
The music stopped. Everyone in the room paused at this interruption.
Beyond the double doors was a bevy of lovely young women, a dance instructor, and no other males in sight. The pretext for their presence was to refresh their dancing skills before the ball, but Avocato could tell that already the unmarried ladies were just trying to outdo one another with clothes and jewels and hair. They were dazzling, the stuff of fairy tales, and this was just the start. It was the duty of each and every one of them to produce heirs, and to do that, they needed husbands. While not a state affair, the wedding of a grand lord's heir to an arch lord's second heir was quite the event of the season, and prime hunting grounds. Fans snapped, heads turned, a murmur of whispers rippled through the crowd, and every eye was on them. Kedi and Nikos froze, suddenly aware that they were the prey, and the predators were as beautiful as they were dangerous.
"This is what I meant when I said you couldn't leave me with my cousins," whispered Avocato as he pulled them into the room.
"My cousins don't look like that," breathed Kedi, awestruck.
Promised Nikos, "I'm going to stab you, Little Cato."
"We're outnumbered ten to one." Suddenly Kedi didn't sound upset by the imbalance of power.
"Good odds. You can thank me later." Avocato stopped before an elderly woman, dignified and severe, and bowed respectfully. He deliberately spoke just loudly enough for all the young ladies to hear. "Madama Mayka! Please forgive the interruption. It's wonderful to see you again. You are magnificent as always. Please allow me to introduce my good friends from the Ventrexian Royal Military Academy. This is Kedi of House Kotik in the Far Reaches, and this is Nikos, from the Answaar Region. My fellow cadets, this is Madama Mayka, my dance instructor."
Put on the spot, Nikos and Kedi were forced to abandon their plans to strangle their friend, and greet the lady with polite words and bows. A fresh buzz arose at the sound of their accents.
"I have a great favor to ask, Madama," Avocato continued without pause, well aware he was courting death from all sides. "This will be the first ball my friends have had the opportunity to attend, and they've both expressed a great desire to dance at it. I know of no one better suited to get them up to speed than you. Can you help?"
Another wave of whispers moved through the ranks. Madama Mayka, perfectly aware of what Avocato was up to, gave the two terrified cadets a long, narrow-eyed assessment. From the corner of her eye she cast Avocato a look, followed by a tiny nod and the hint of a smirk. They were not the worst material she had ever worked with, and at least they could take orders.
She gave a quick, double clap. "Ladies! I'll need three of you to take these young men in hand. Quickly now! Places!"
There was a pause, and then a small stampede bore down on them.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Who was that gorgeous girl?"
Avocato and Nikos exchanged a look behind Kedi's back.
"Seeing as how that describes all of them, could you, perhaps, narrow down the criteria?" asked Nikos.
They had stayed far later than anticipated, and Kedi and Nikos had enjoyed themselves more than either could have imagined - so much that they didn't even want to smother Avocato in his sleep anymore. By the end of the lesson, both cadets could manage a few basic dances fairly well, and would not embarrass Madama Mayka or themselves so long as they had a skilled partner. Avocato assured them there was no chance of an unskilled partner at the wedding, to their relief. There wasn't enough time to go riding, but they had more important things to discuss.
"She was mostly white, and danced divinely."
"That describes four ladies I danced with," Nikos replied, flush with pleasure. "There was one odd-eyed beauty that quite took my breath away, however. Cato?"
Avocato wracked his memory. "That would be . . . Cordell of House Cordon. She's the only one in that family with odd eyes, if I remember aright. She's also one of the few I'm not related to, actually, though I'm cousin to her half-sister Cordata on my mother's side." He shrugged. "Close enough. Call her a cousin."
"Where I'm from, we'd call her a Bianca," was the dreamy reply. "An odd-eyed Bianca, no less. I've never seen or met a girl as stunning."
"No," said Kedi. "She danced twice with me. Her eyes were gold."
"Both of them? Like mine?" suggested Avocato.
"Pfft." Kedi snorted. "Your eyes are yellow at best, Avocato."
"Pardon me."
"Her feet were tiny. She floated! She could not have been more graceful!"
Confessed Nikos, "I was not looking at their feet."
Avocato motioned his friend to keep gushing. In truth, he knew exactly who Kedi meant, but he wanted to drag this out as long as he could. What he had noticed, and what his friends had not, was that the lady in question has secreted herself in a little nook not far down the hall. He could see her back reflected in the mirror behind her as she peeped through a flower arrangement. Past experience told him that the acoustics in this hall carried every word clearly to her ears. If she had danced with Kedi twice, she had definitely seen something she liked in him. Besides, it was fun to see Kedi so enthusiastic
"What color did she wear?" asked Nikos.
"The palest blue, like ice on a clear morning."
Never having seen ice outside of a beverage, Nikos dryly said, "I'll take your word for it."
"Her nose was so small and pink, and her face was dusted with gray. Everything about her was pale and delicate. She smelled like spring rain and her laugh was sweet as a bell."
Nikos stared in amazement. "Did you know he could wax so poetic, Avocato?"
"Not I."
"She was the most beautiful one in the room," insisted Kedi.
"This is serious," murmured Nikos, and Avocato had to agree. "How tall?"
"Taller than you."
Sarcasm itself, Nikos snapped, "That's every Ventrexian over fifteen except Pawlette."
"She fit perfectly into my hands. I felt like I was holding glass, smooth and fragile."
Finally displaying a bit of mercy, Avocato pressed, "Was her coat on the long side?"
Kedi lit up. "Yes! Like silk! And her ears were slightly rounded, not sharp like you barbarians."
Avocato laughed. "I think you mean my cousin Clawdia."
"How is it you're related to so many beautiful young women?" demanded Nikos.
"Thank my parents."
"Clawdia," echoed Kedi, instantly enchanted by the sound. "Clawdia. I danced with Clawdia."
"Twice," reminded Avocato.
"She must be married. Or at least engaged."
"I don't believe so. My mother would have told me."
Kedi gaped in open disbelief. "How is it possible such a gorgeous woman isn't betrothed?"
"Upgraded to woman, now," murmured Nikos.
Avocato smiled. "I understand her parents are allowing her to choose her own husband. So clearly the right one hasn't caught her eye yet." He wasn't about to mention she was spoiled and demanding beyond comprehension. Sole heiress for her father's titles and her mother's estates, short, plump Lady Clawdia was poised to someday be one of the wealthiest and most powerful ladies on the planet, as well as the brattiest. Still, she was young, and self-conscious in the extreme, and he had seen her in moments of great kindness and generosity. There was hope.
"He will be the luckiest man alive, and I envy him. If I had such a wife, I'd spend all day looking at her, and wrap her in furs as white as snow, and deck her in icewater pearls. And I danced with her -"
"Twice!" they all exclaimed at the same time, then laughed.
Reminded Avocato, "You might get another chance tomorrow. Plus, you'll be in uniform. You'll be irresistible."
Kedi made a strangled noise they interpreted as overjoyed alarm. "I have to polish my boots!"
"I believe we're going back to your rooms now," said Nikos, watching Kedi dash off. "Is that the right way?"
"No. That leads to the kitchens. Fancy a tour?"