Chapter 18: Sibling Rivalry

"You bend your knees more and reach down as you turn, Avoo. Like this."

He was almost certain it was Mrica who demonstrated the next few moves of the dance he was learning. Almost midway through his visit, and Avocato still couldn't tell the girls apart. They were alike as two blades of grass to his eyes. That they dressed the same and swapped ornaments did not help his cause. He was beginning to think they did it on purpose, just to confuse him and Kedi. He had yet to pinpoint a feature or personality trait that set Mrica apart from Miriyalu. He found both girls charming and well behaved. They adored their older brother and thrived on whatever attentions he gave them, and by association, whatever attentions Kedi and Avocato gave them.

Obedient to their instruction, Avocato stood tall between the twins and followed their moves as they taught him a dance they would perform with a group of their classmates at the local harvest festival later in the week. It was the region's biggest annual event, attended by farmers and merchants and entertainers. Nikos had tried to downplay it, now that he'd seen how things were celebrated in Alfitrix, but Avocato, who'd never attended anything of the sort, was looking forward to it with great anticipation.

Nikos had obviously told his little sisters everything that could possibly interest them about Avocato, because within a day of meeting him, they had decided he would teach them how to dance the way Nikos had described dancing with Cordell. Seeing such an arrangement a fair exchange for swimming lessons, Avocato had spent time every evening after dinner introducing them to dancing with a partner, something they had never done and found frightfully romantic. Kedi was often enlisted when another body was necessary, and sometimes Nikos, but both twins agreed their brother wasn't nearly as interesting to dance with as a prince or a lord.

"Mama," called today's pick for Miriyalu, "see what we taught Avoo! Start from the beginning again!"

Piarcynka paused in preparing breakfast to give them her full attention. If she had been anxious their noble and worldly guests might be bored with a place so rural as Vel Pitten, Avocato's enthusiasm set her mind at ease. He loved the setting, the food, the company, the whole atmosphere of a farm. Everything, it seemed, except swimming, which he did anyway and dragged Kedidi with him every day. He had even pitched in with harvesting some of the spices since there were religious groups and connoisseurs who eschewed automation and insisted on hand-picked crops. Nikos assured her that Avocato's responses weren't mere politeness – and his manners, though strange and out of place, were flawless – but that he was genuinely enjoying himself. Life here was like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he wanted to try everything. With the little ones he was patient and attentive, not begrudging the twins his time and game to learn whatever they wanted to share.

It was clear to Piarcynka that Avocato knew how to dance and could do it very well. Nikos had sent them a full report on visiting the Cato estate, the wedding, the ball, meeting princes and princesses, Cordell, along with a detailed account of Avocato's duel with Cordell's sister. So many astonishing people and events, but the most astonishing of all now stood between her youngest daughters doing a traditional harvest dance. He followed the twins exactly, adding little moves he saw them do which had been omitted from his lesson – a twist of the wrist here, flick the ears there, arch his long tail as they turned.

"Keep going!" she exclaimed, confident he could keep up.

She was right. Skilled as he was in martial arts and dancing and thimbles, Avocato had no difficulty keeping apace of his instructors. Miriyalu started giggling first, then Mrica a second later when Avocato imitated them as they reached their arms side to side in a sweeping gesture meant to represent the waters of the Saan River. Playing along, he started laughing as well, which reduced the twins to squeaky heaps of delight.

"Giggling's not part of the dance?" he asked, going completely serious, which struck them as the funniest thing he could possibly have said.

"Before you get too loud and wake everyone, go see if there are any fish in the traps for breakfast," Piarcynka ordered, shooing her daughters outside. They ran off toward the river. "Avoo, can you get these bowls down for me?"

"Of course, my lady," he said automatically, incapable of refusing a lady's request.

"So, you are cousin to this Lady Cordell's sister?" she asked, making him tea before pulling out ingredients and utensils. She had wanted to speak to him alone for a while, and this was her first opportunity, curious as she was about the odd-eyed Bianca her only son seemed so taken with.

"Her older half-sister, Lady Cordata, yes," he clarified, reaching down some bowls from a cupboard. He lingered in the kitchen with her, as curious as he was useless. "Their father is Archlord Cordo. Cordata's mother, my relation, was his first wife, Cordell's mother is his second wife. I'm related through my mother's family, which, Ventrexia help me, is even larger and older than my father's." He thought for a moment. "Cordata and I are . . . third cousins, twice removed, if I remember aright."

She blinked. "You have a very complex family."

He smiled. "In many ways. It's a very large family, too. Keeping them all straight can be a bit of a nightmare, sometimes."

"You must get names confused. They sound so alike to me."

"You get used to it. My name is actually the exception to the rule, since it doesn't start with my noble house, but that's a tradition from my mother's family in Hiis. It tends to throw people off the scent, so to say, which is always a good thing when you're this color." He gestured with both hands towards his face. Piarcynka smiled.

"Nikos sent us holos of him with Lady Cordell that your brother sent him. She is a very beautiful woman."

Avocato knew she was anxious for her only son's welfare. "She is. And as sweet as she is lovely. Cordell is very talented and intelligent. She's been studying art since she was a child. She's a very sensible young lady, too, and knows her own mind. Her father and mother give her a lot of freedom, more than most noble ladies."

"Is she an heiress?"

"Not directly." He glanced up as someone came down the walkway to the main floor, and smiled and inclined his head politely to Rinkon as she approached. "She is third heir of House Cordon of Bharata, second heir . . . of Archdame Merim's estate," he finished, a little taken aback when Rinkon's response was a hard glare. Without a word, she took a piece of fruit from the bowl on the table, deliberately gave him her back, and walked in the direction of the fields behind the house.

"Daughter!" snapped Piarcynka, quietly furious.

Rinkon stopped, but did not turn around. "Good morning, Mama. Good morning, honored guest. Have I your permission to go to the fields and work?"

"Have you no manners?" hissed Piarcynka.

She finally looked over her shoulder, her expression defiant and challenging. Unlike Nikos and the twins, Rinkon took after their sire, Pipar. She was slightly stockier and her coloring was much darker than her siblings, making her pale blue eyes all the more striking. "I seem to have forgotten them somewhere."

Avocato blinked, shocked at such disrespect. Not in a thousand lifetimes could he imagine speaking to MewMew in such a way, with such a tone, and in front of guests. He wouldn't live out the hour if Catowba heard anything of the sort.

"Make sure you find them before you step foot in this house again," Piarcynka ordered, her sharp tone inviting no argument.

"Of course, Mama."

Piarcynka sighed softly, her mouth pressed in a tight line as she looked down, embarrassed by her daughter's gross lack of manners. Avocato had little experience with women, but he had enough to know –

"I've offended her somehow, lady."

She shook her head, agitated as she got back to making breakfast. "She is disappointed in many ways - mostly in herself."

"I seem to bring that out in young women. May I ask why?"

"The scholarship that sends Nikos to the academy is very new. He is first to go. For us, so far from the capitol, it is the opportunity of a lifetime. No one in living memory has attended the Royal Academy from Answaar. There was a great deal of competition and hard work to get it."

"Ah." Avocato understood. "Nikos got it and she didn't."

She nodded. "Toward the end, when the candidates were narrowed down to just a handful and both of them were at the top of the list, they had promised each other that if either of them got the scholarship, they would not let it affect their relationship. They were very close until . . . Nikos kept his promise. Rinkon has not. Going to the academy is a dream they both cherished."

"I, for one, am grateful for the outcome."

Piarcynka considered his words for a moment. "I am as well. Nikos, though younger, is more mature. If Rinkon had gone and he had not, my son still would have held to his promise. She knows this. Her own jealousy shames her. Now she feels cheated and trapped in a cage of her own pride. Nikos sends wonderful stories of the cities and friends he has made from all over Ventrexia, his classes and life at the academy, and Rinkon cannot be happy for him." She looked at Avocato and smiled sadly. "Wonderful letters of being friends with lords, a grand estate and a ball and meeting the next king and queen . . . I am sorry to say, Avoo, Rinkon looks at you and sees everything that might have been."

Avocato grimaced, remembering what he had told his friends about nobles shipping their surplus progeny off to the military. "And I essentially just had to apply and show up at the academy to get in."

"That's of no matter. I know you have not had an easy time of it. And now Nikos is swept away by a beautiful and wealthy noblewoman as he builds a future of adventure and achievement far from Vel Pitten. Rinkon is haunted by things that never happened."

"When he received Princess Apricot's commission, Nikos told me the scholarship was going to be offered annually. Nothing is stopping her from trying again, or just joining the military and going to officer's academy once in."

"Rinkon is her own worst obstacle. She is eldest. She is used to being first in all things. She does not know how to be second. She does not want to stand in her brother's shadow."

"My cousin we spoke of, Cordata, is much the same. She wants the freedom that wealth brings other people. It's easier to be angry than to take what you have and find a way to make into what you want. But Rinkon's missing the point of attending the academy. Standing in someone's shadow is nothing more than covering their back. I would stand in Nikos' shadow forever and through anything if that's what it took."

Piarcynka paused, gazing up at Avocato's earnest expression. He meant every word, she knew, just as she knew her son could not ask for a better, more devoted friend. Standing on her toes, she gently held his face a moment before pulling him down to press a kiss to his forehead.

"You are a very good man, Avoocatoo. My son is fortunate to know you."

Avocato smiled. "I'm the fortunate one, my lady."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I'm sorry, Cato," Nikos said after Avocato had - rather reluctantly - told him of the morning's encounter. Nikos had heard some, not all, of the exchange in the kitchen and had pressed for the full story. "I was afraid something like this would happen. I'd asked her to contain her attitude. Apparently it was asking too much."

They had climbed high into an ancient mishtberry tree, and Nikos was showing Avocato how to harvest the thorny purple berries that would flavor preserves and sauces. Avocato was particularly pleased to recognize one of the spices he was gathering for once. Giving himself a moment to form a reply, Avocato worked a few berries free of a cluster as he'd been shown and added them to the basket on Nikos' back.

"Don't apologize," he said, meaning it. "I didn't apologize for Cordata's appalling conduct. She's responsible for herself, the same as your sister, and the only one she hurts in the process is herself."

"You have Cordata, I have Rinkon."

"And neither is fond of me. At least I never liked Cordata."

"We're very close in age," Nikos explained. "She's just a year older and very competitive. This is the first time she's lost to me and it's not sitting well."

"I suppose I'm lucky my brothers and I are a few years apart. Catomar's eight years older than me. Catowba's four and the furthest thing from competitive. Catomar is the sort who gets anxious about appearances and one of us having something bigger and better than him, and he avoids competing for fear of losing. I know he's always been jealous of the distinction my color gives me, though if he were this color, he'd be a complete martyr to it. I'm sure he thinks I stole some of his thunder at the wedding by showing up in uniform and dancing with Cordata. I'm equally sure he'll never say a word because if Catowba hears him whine, he'll be told to go straight to hell and handed directions to get there."

"Catowba did strike me as the more . . ."

Suggested Avocato, "Likable? Interesting? Cultured?"

"Sensible of your brothers," Nikos finished diplomatically, producing a smirk from his friend. Avocato reached for more mishtberries, saying,

"He is. Oh, Catomar's not hopelessly insufferable, just nervous about silly things. He learned his lessons the hard way, and Catowba will always make him behave."

"Do tell, Avoo," said Nikos, sensing a story begging to be told.

"This is secondhand, mind. I was . . . maybe three when it happened, so I have no memory of it. That said, when he was eleven, Catomar abruptly realized someday he'd be the lord of all he surveyed and it went straight to his head. He started leaving messes and getting extremely bossy and fussy with the servants at the estate, something we have never been permitted to do. It reached a point the staff couldn't get their usual jobs done. My lady mother noticed, found out what was the problem, and told my father. My lord father spoke to the staff and promised them he'd deal with Catomar." Avocato pulled a branch laden with berries close, smiling as he picked the fruits off one at a time. "So, Grand Lord Catomar duly summoned his sons and heirs and asked Catomar to explain why he was distressing the staff. According to Catowba, Catomar was too stupid to grovel and apologize. Instead, he insisted that as heir to the title, the servants were obligated to obey. My father asked him who the servants worked for, who owned the house, and who decided on the next grand lord of House Cato? He told Catomar to answer with care, because for every word he said, another week of punishment would be added."

Nikos blinked. "I take it Catomar couldn't limit himself to a simple you?"

"That's what my father expected . . . hoped for, probably. Apparently his eldest son isn't so clever. Instead of answering with one word, Catomar tried to argue his point. Catowba says father's expression was the best thing he'd ever seen, all the way up to the present day. He still has the paper where Father was tallying up Catomar's words."

"How long was your brother punished for?"

Avocato was trying very hard not to laugh. "Eight months."

Nikos' jaw dropped in astonishment. "What was the punishment?"

"He went to work for the house staff. Every day."

"Every . . ."

"School in the morning, an hour to rest, then he'd be cleaning until dinner, and an hour or two after that, and almost all day at the end of the week. He had two days off a week - both school days. It was the worst summer he's ever had, though possibly Catowba's finest."

"Did he learn his lesson?"

"Oh, yes. He also learned how to make beds, dust, clean dishes, scrub floors, muck a stable, keep his mouth shut, and appreciate the people who choose to do these things for us. He tried doing things badly, but that backfired. Since then, he's been far humbler, especially since Catowba filmed every time Catomar had to go into his room to make his bed or bring in the laundry. Catomar doesn't like to talk about it."

"I can imagine!"

"We were definitely born out of order. Catowba should have been eldest. Catomar doesn't quite see it, but he's very lucky to have Catowba keeping him in check."

"What about you?"

"Oh, Catomar's afraid of me, or at least what I represent. I'm taller, stronger, smarter, a Blue Imperial, and I have a chance at the sort of glory he can only dream of."

"Speaking of dreaming, is that snoring?"

They looked down at the base of the tree. Kedi leaned against it, fast asleep. Avocato picked a mishtberry and whipped it hard at the hat Kedi had pulled over his eyes, playfully calling,

"Kedidi!"

"He's asleep!" bellowed one of the twins helpfully, appearing at Kedi's side. He jumped and jerked awake with a sharp yelp, and giggles erupted.

"Not anymore," Nikos said softly, laughing.