Chapter 17: Promises Kept

He awoke from a deep sleep to a variety of unfamiliar sounds: exotic birds calling to each other, insects buzzing in the trees, girls talking in excited whispers, a breeze shaking the leaves of nearby trees. The smells were very different as well – he could smell the river, the aromatic crops in the low fields by the house, flowers and the jungle and food and the sweet grasses used to stuff the pillow he used. It took a while for him to sort all the information his senses were receiving, and doing so eased him into a new day.

Avocato roused, stretching in place before shifting to look through the railing along the edge of the loft that was Nikos' room. On the main floor of the open and airy house, Miriyalu and Mrica were playing with the ornate folding fans he had brought for them. It was Nikos who had suggested fans when Avocato asked for something he could give the twins. Apparently Nikos had told his sisters how ladies in the court used them to communicate, and the little girls were fascinated by the notion and romance of it.

The suggestion was a good solution to an etiquette dilemma Avocato had faced, since as a young man, he was very limited as to what gifts he could present any unmarried young woman. Fans, fortunately, were acceptable, and he had enlisted his mother's help. MewMew, who loved giving gifts, especially gifts to children, had borrowed a friend's nine-year-old daughter to help her shop and came back with matching silver fans for the twins, along with elaborately beaded wrist braces that were the latest fashion in Alfitrix.

He could see the glittering-bright braces on the girls now, flashing in the faint light. They had been ecstatic over the gifts, and Avocato had already sent his parents holos of the twins in their new finery. MewMew, who had seen no reason to stop shopping, had also sent a beautiful, wild silk shawl for Nikos' mother, Piarcynka, and a small enameled box in the shape of a bird to Rinkon, Nikos' older sister. Lord Catomar had sent a gift for Pipar, Nikos' father, who liked to collect fossils and shells: a piece of amber with seed pods encased in it, which he had found on the banks of the Eral Sea when he was little older than Avocato.

Kedi had also presented them with a gift from the Far Reaches: a set of small figurines, one representing each member of the family. He'd commissioned the set to be carved from faintly blue crawn-tooth ivory. Every family in the Far Reaches had these in the house, he'd explained, for the protection and blessings they were said to bring, crawns being sacred in ancient times and still revered today. Pleased as they were with the thoughtful gifts, Pipar and Piarcynka had been far more delighted with the young men presenting them. they had seen holos, but hadn't quite believed their eyes: Avocato's height and coloring astonished them, as did Kedi's ears and size, while Piarcynka privately lamented Avocato's lack of whiskers. They were thrilled that Nikos had made such excellent friends, and almost speechless that these boys should travel halfway around Ventrexia just to visit for a little while. Such things were unimagined in Answaar, where everyone knew most everyone else, or someone related to them. Visitors were rare, and foreign visitors almost unheard of. To get two such exotic specimens at once was a call for celebration.

In return, Kedi and Avocato had been presented with nicknames. Kedi was now Kedidi. As Nikos explained, 'di' was a diminutive, and Kedi's name was practically begging for the addition. Heavier accents than Nikos' had rendered Avocato as 'Avoocatoo' to start, but by the time they sat down to dinner for the first time, he was simply 'Avoo.' Despite his efforts but lacking any experience in trying to change a woman's mind, he lost the battle to convince the twins he was not a prince, while they won the battle to get him to use chopsticks.

As Avocato watched, the twins posed this way and that, deciding what each position meant and enjoying the faint, metallic chime the silver sticks of the fans made when snapped open. They were sweet and talkative little things, alike to the last hair, and he found himself envying Nikos. A sister would be nice to have, as would younger siblings regardless of how nosy or how much trouble they stirred up.

There was motion beside him, and a moment later a sleepy Nikos joined him, stretching as he inched forward and draped himself over the railing. They had slept on padded mats on the floor of the loft, a surprisingly comfortable arrangement. The house was unlike anything Avocato had ever seen, built right into the trees a little way back from the banks of the Saan River. There was a main floor below, a wooden stage which included one of the kitchens (the other was a summer kitchen behind the house), storage, and dining and living space. The rest of the house – bedrooms, office, work spaces, and additional storage – was more a series of small enclosed platforms and lofts, their size and placement dictated by the tree branches. They were joined together by walkways and steps. Everything was open to the air, and there wasn't even a door, but the facilities were modern, if dated. Birds nested outside Rinkon's room, making a clamor every time someone moved, insects and lizards came and went, and occasionally, Nikos said, a small animal or reptile from the jungle would wander through. Tiny marsh deer, harmless little pests that stood no taller than Avocato's knee, were the most persistent invaders, especially during the rainy season.

"Did you sleep?" rasped Nikos, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Mmm." Avocato smiled. "Like the dead. All this travel and changing times caught up with me."

"I know what you mean. When I returned home last month, I slept for two full days. My sisters thought I was dead."

He chuckled, then said, "Remind me I have something to give you later." He nodded towards Miriyalu and Mrica as they played at being princesses. "They're taking the indoor semaphore very seriously."

"Those two . . . give them a new idea and they'll run it to ground. They'll have a complete vocabulary by the end of the week." Nikos paused thoughtfully. "Not a bad idea, actually. We have the battle language for in the field, but it's very limited, just like the ladies are limited by the fans. We should come up with our own, something to convey more than just commands."

Avocato smiled. "Then we could really drive them to distraction at the academy."

"Your motivation is highly questionable. I like it. Let's get breakfast."

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"Are we really doing this?"

"We're going swimming, Kedi, not going to be executed."

"How are they different?"

"You'd stay dry if you were being executed."

"So this is worse."

He had no argument.

Avocato and Kedi stood at the end of a long dock jutting into the river, staring at the doom that awaited them. The deep water was clear and slow and, they were both certain, freezing cold and hideously wet. A small, artificial bay surrounded them, a pool of calm slightly removed from the main current of the Saan. This was where the Catchpaw had dropped them off yesterday, and here where Nikos' family fished and fowled and swam. It was a lovely setting, with drooping trees and flowers and birds abounding. A faint mist rose off as the sun gradually climbed in the sky. Avocato recognized the lilies blooming just above the surface of the water, spreading their wide, flat leaves and filling the breeze with perfume. They had smaller versions growing in the garden ponds at Alfitrix. Long-legged marsh birds waded in the reeds, hunting for fish and prawns, and bugs like tiny duneflies skittered across the glassy water.

"This is your fault, Cato."

He shrugged. "I can't deny it."

"You go first."

Avocato sighed. It was only fair. He had made them dance, trapping them in a room filled with beautiful women. And while Avocato had no regrets, Nikos was about to get his revenge.

Light footsteps approached as Nikos and his younger sisters joined them. Curious as to what their guests were staring at, Mrica and Miriyalu peered at the water.

"What do you see?" one of them wondered.

"Water," Kedi replied. "Far too much water."

They giggled, something they did a lot. "It wouldn't be a river without it!" Then they dove in, fearless and graceful little shadows beneath the water, to emerge a distance away, soaked and laughing. They waved and called for their guests to join them. Kedi let out a little groan.

Nikos smiled. "Ready, Cato?"

Avocato gave him a look of despair. "Does it matter?"

"No," said Nikos, and pushed.

A yelp of alarm escaped him as Avocato broke the surface. Water rushed over his head, into his ears and mouth. Sound was distorted and his vision was a blur for the few moments he was submerged. Every inch of skin was assailed by a sensation he'd never experienced before. For the first time in his life, Avocato was in water. He was wet. All of him. At the same time. Instinct drove him upwards to the air, gasping and sputtering and somehow still among the living.

"Agh!" he screamed, squinting as water dripped in his eyes. He splashed furiously, trying to reach the dock to claw his way out of this sodden hell.

Crouching down, Nikos grinned at him. It was obvious he was enjoying every moment of this.

"Refreshing, isn't it?" he asked brightly.

"Agh!" screamed Avocato again in disagreement, hating Nikos, water, and his whole existence at that exact moment. He was silenced only when he accidentally swallowed more water.

Nikos motioned to the twins. "Mrica! Miri! Help Avoo! Show him how to float."

Giggles and splashes drew close to where Avocato struggled for survival. Seeing the girls take charge, Nikos turned to his next victim. Wide-eyed with terror, Kedi slowly backed away from his much smaller friend. Holding both paws up to keep Nikos well out of pushing range, Kedi tried reason first. His accent thickened right along with his tension.

"Nikos, I have changed my mind. I do not want to learn the swimming. I will be fine right here on the – ahhh!"

A tremendous splash rose high in the air as he toppled backwards off the walkway. Nikos rushed to the edge as Kedi, screaming even louder than Avocato, struggled to the surface in a panic. He splashed and flailed as if wrestling one of the gigantic rialp lizards that lived on the other side of the volcano. With a fond sigh, Nikos jumped in after him, paddling the distance between them. It was time to keep his promise with the first swimming lesson.

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"Tell me that wasn't fun."

Kedi let out a grumble, keeping his eyes firmly closed. "That wasn't fun."

"Liar," countered Nikos, knowing better.

Avocato chimed in. "That was very unfair."

"I'm sorry to have pushed you, Cato, but we both know there's no other way you would have gone in."

"What? I don't care that you pushed me in."

"Then what was unfair?"

"Unleashing your sisters on me! I could hardly run off and hide with a pair of little girls swimming circles around me!"

Nikos laughed, relieved. They were sitting at the end of the dock, drying off in the sunlight. Behind them, Kedi stretched out on his back like some large, beached sea creature. Once they had calmed down enough to listen and realized they were not going to suffer a watery death just for being immersed, they had actually learned a great deal. Nikos was a patient teacher and his sisters were more than happy to demonstrate how to go about floating and treading water and keeping water from going up one's nose.

"About as fair as unleashing an odd-eyed Bianca on me!"

"I didn't unleash Cordell. She unleashed herself."

Nikos let out a little growl and gave him a shove. "I'm going to push you in again."

Avocato laughed and caught himself, then grimaced and stretched. His muscles were not used to the new range of motion he'd subjected them to.

"You'll be sore for a few days, but tomorrow you'll both have an easier time of it."

"What?" demanded Avocato and Kedi in unison.

"Oh, you're going in every day," vowed Nikos, knowing exactly what they meant. "I told you, you're going to learn to swim."

"But . . ." Kedi whined.

"You paddle around like a pair of kittens right now. It's a disgrace for young lords like you. You have a great deal to learn yet. Don't worry, we have enough time to teach you properly."

They groaned, but in Avocato's case, at least, it was just for show.

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"What is wrong with my coat?"

Nikos, sitting cross-legged on his sleeping mat, looked over to where Avocato was trying to comb smooth the teal fur on his tail and said,

"Nothing, Cato. Swimming just washed some of the oil out of your fur."

Avocato blinked. "What? But . . . I'm fluffy! I can't be fluffy, Nikos!"

"I think you already are," said Kedi. His coat was thickest of them all, and he was enjoying a state of even greater floof than Avocato.

"I haven't been fluffy since I was three!" he wailed in a tight whisper, as if afraid someone might hear.

"Well, look at it as a chance to relive your childhood," reasoned Nikos, trying not to laugh. "Or my childhood, since I grew up swimming."

Avocato let out a sigh at this unforeseen side-effect and tossed the brush aside, giving up.

"Didn't you have something for me?" reminded Nikos, trying to distract him.

"Ah, yes," said Avocato, glad to get away from the topic of fluff. He crawled to where his and Kedi's bags were tucked into the slanting corner where ceiling met loft, pulling his pack close. "Something for each of you, in fact, which I have been charged to deliver." As he spoke, he rifled through the bag. "Not quite as impressive as a royal courier, but . . ."

He pulled out two envelopes. The pale blue one he held out to Kedi, the small yellow one to Nikos. Avocato smiled as he watched them, saying with exaggerated formality,

"Gentlemen, my task here is done."

His friends stared at the envelopes in undisguised shock as they each recognized the stationary. Avocato smirked. Clawdia had visited his family three times since he'd gotten home from the academy, and twice Cordell had joined her, something the ladies had never done alone before. Each time, they had maneuvered to corner Avocato out of sight of Cordata and the servants and grilled him about his friends and his plans to see them. On the third visit, he had been entrusted with the letters and bound by oath to deliver them safely and when no one else was around and, most importantly, to tell no one. It had been an easy promise to make.

"I've traveled halfway around the planet to deliver these," said Avocato, amused by their gaping expressions. "Either take them and read them or I'll open them and read them out loud."

Knowing he'd do it, the letters were snatched out of his hands, and both cadets sat smiling stupidly for a moment. Kedi paused, quietly asking,

"Have you had any word from Purrsis?"

He shook his head, his smile fixed to cover his disappointment. There had been no invitation for further correspondence, no wish to see him again. Just a gracious and polite note. "Thanks for the pen, nothing more. It seems she wasn't quite as taken as I was."

"I am sorry, Cato," said Kedi, meaning it. He was attuned to his friend's mood enough to recognize when he was hiding his true feelings.

"Don't be. There will be other balls and other ladies for me to fall in love with."

Off to the side, Nikos suddenly gave a squeak of excitement at something in the letter, then clapped his hand over his mouth before looking over at them in embarrassment.

Avocato grinned and finished, "Minus Cordell and Clawdia, of course."