Chapter 5: Bonds of Brotherhood

There is no vacation at the Academy. You are there until the Instructors decide you know what you need to know. No weekends off, no vacations or holiday trips back home. Oh sure, now and then a cadet goes home to attend an important function, a wedding, a funeral, a coronation, but those are the rare exceptions. Even the seasons barely seem to pass here in these central climes. But we are able to mark the passing of the years with the passing of our fellows. Eight months after my arrival, Foxfoot Aligos had been given word that he would be leaving in three days, it having been determined that he had learned sufficiently.

Really. That was as glamorous as it got around here when they sent someone off. Hardly better than the send off that Hew Blegget got, and he was drummed out!

My own departure, exactly three years to the day after my arrival was just as muted, only I wasn't leaving alone. Trunk Gurmot had been given his notice of completion on the same day. He had been my right hand man for the past three years, and had every intention of continuing in that capacity for as long as I would have him. The small, scrawny former Hew Blegget lackey had transformed himself, once given a chance, into a short but wiry whipsaw. He had always had one gift, a minor Talent that I didn't see as all that minor, an absolutely perfect memory. He built on that by driving himself, and asking me to drive him, towards not just skill, but mastery of all the things military that the Academy wanted to teach us.

Grinder was coming with me as well. The big red beast was just too much horse to leave. Captain Matru gouged me ridiculously on the price, but I was content. I was a few months from my sixteenth birthday. Trunk had turned fifteen four months earlier. As far as the Academy and Arbor was concerned, we left as men.

Trunk thought we were walking down to the dock, leading Grinder who had our gear in his bags, headed for a long and leisurely voyage to Demira, the city-kingdom where he had been born, and where his father Burr, the latest in a long line of high-powered advisors and financiers, waited for his return. I however, had other plans, and had spent some time linked to Dad back home in the Valley of the Wind, to make sure he would support my story. I was borrowing the old Legion concept of a single-use jump bracelet from Grandpa McKesson, except that there really wouldn't be a jump bracelet, there would just be me, doing the jumping, and Trunk, unknowingly providing the coordinates.

We were walking slowly down the winding road from the gates to the town below, Grinder's lead in my hand, when I stopped and handed Trunk the bracelet I had made. Dad had taken it last night and given it a quick dip in the pool at the facet in the valley. It had a definite residual trace of Magic from the dip which made it very convincing to anyone who had the ability to sense magic.

"Put that on, would you Trunk?" I asked.

"Okay. What's this for?"

"Its a little graduation present from my Father." I said.

"A gift from the High Wizard? What does it do?"

"Put your other hand on it." I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, now what?"

"Close your eyes and think of the street in front of your house. Think of those big brass gate handles you're always telling me about."

Once he had a clear image of it in his mind, I used it to tap into the Light and made the jump. The change in the ambient sounds and smells was enough to get his eyes open. His eyed were met with the fact that we had gone from just past midday at the Academy to what was obviously mid morning here. Then he saw the gate and those brass handles.

"Bear crap and the Spirits take me!" Trunk spat out.

"Welcome home." I said with a laugh. "You can throw the bracelet away if you want. It was a one-time bit of Magic."

"No chance of that, this was a gift from the High Wizard! Your father can do this kind of Magic?"

"Yes, it is one of his primary Talents." I answered. The canned answer I had grown up learning to give. "He gave Firetree, the Royal Wizard of Midhal a permanently spelled bracelet back before I was born. This is a much less impressive gift, but I thought you would appreciate it."

It took a good ten minutes for the riot to die down once it was realized who was at the gate. Unlike the Shavrom estate in Beletara, which I loved visiting, the Gurmot estate wasn't fronted by an open courtyard. The gate opened directly into the lower levels of the building, and we led Grinder through a long, dark, cobblestone-floored room until we broke out into a sand and gravel covered yard with several smaller buildings visible beyond it. Openings to the left and right led elsewhere in the complex.

Tap was the name of the man who took Grinder from me, after giving Trunk a hug and a big grin.

"Your father and mother will be fit to be tied sir." He said.

"I'll try and head them off at the pass and take the shortcut through the kitchen." Trunk told him. "Would you see that those bags get put in our rooms?"

"Of course young Sir."

We turned and walked back towards the main building, and in through a small side door to the right of where we'd just come. A hallway there led off into the bottom level but we almost immediately turned and began making our way up a narrow stairway.

"This is the back stairway." Trunk said. "It is mostly just for convenience, so the staff can get in and out of the kitchens without having to go through the rest of the house." We hit two landings on our way up.

"This leads to the staff quarters and baths." Trunk said at the first one.

"This is the main storage floor for most of the household's dry goods." He said at the second.

We went through the door on the third and final landing, and found ourselves in a glassed in herb garden at least twenty feet long. The long outer glass wall curved up to form a part of the ceiling, giving this room plenty of light. Another door at the opposite end of the room led into the kitchen where Trunk was met by a gaggle of women led by a very tall and widely built older woman with short, spiky black hair and utter black eyes with no whites at all.

"Mama Glass!" Trunk called, holding his arms out to her.

"Squeaky!!" She called, rushing into his hug and swallowing him up in her arms. She had to be at least a head taller than I was.

After the hug and some affectionate kisses and some equally as joyous greetings from the other two women who were introduced as Sky and Bow, we left the kitchen headed for the house's common rooms, passing through a small dining room first. Mama Glass had told us that Trunk's parents were waiting in the library along with his two older brothers and his sister.

"Squeaky?" I asked.

"A nickname from when I was a baby." He answered. "If you share that information with anyone we know, I'll murder you in your sleep."

Two steps down the hall and we both let out a snorting laugh.

"Good sincerity on that. Very believable." I said.

"Just remember." Trunk said with a rueful grin.

The only tall person in Trunk's family was his father. He was at least several inches taller than my own six feet. Trunk's mother was a short, compact woman with black hair and blue eyes. All of the children shared her height, hair, and eye color.

There came a round of hugs and back slapping, handshakes and tears. Well, only Trunk's mother shed tears. Everyone else just beamed.

"Mom, Dad, this is my friend Obsidian McKesson." Trunk finally said, turning to me. "Sid, these are my parents, Burr and Chalice Gurmot."

"A pleasure to met you both." I said, extending my hand to Mister Gurmot. Chalice Gurmot was having none of it and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Once freed, I did get the handshake.

"Welcome to our home." He said with a rich, smooth voice.

"Sid, these are my older brothers Gang and Ochre." I shook both men's hands. Ochre looked to be in his early twenties and Gang looked to be a few years older.

The two men were like peas in a pod and were the spitting image of Trunk. The Trunk I'd first met three years ago. Short and scrawny, just like Trunk had been.

Those observations got put on hold for a moment, there was one more Gurmot to introduce.

"And this is my twin sister Fell."

In those stories we read, back at the Academy, the histories dressed up as literature, a meeting like this would have been a moment for sparks and wide eyes. A moment of revelation and sudden romance.

The reality was that Fell Gurmot was almost terminally shy, and even more terminally spoiled. I got a sniff, and no real eye contact.

"Trunk, give me your cloak." I said, having decided to force what I knew had to be coming.

"What?" He asked.

"Give me your cloak, let your father see what his money and three years at the Academy has produced."

We were wearing our standard cotton under tunics beneath our cloaks. It was cooler here in Demira than it had been on the isle of Silecia, but still relatively warm this time of year. We were almost as far south of Arbor's equator here as Midhal is north of it.

With the cloak in my hands, there were gasps and stunned expressions from the entire roomful of Gurmots.

"Spirits! Son, what has happened to you?" Burr asked.

"Him!" Trunk said, pointing at me. "He happened to me. I found someone I was willing to follow, who was willing to lead, Spirits be praised, and then my chosen leader became my best friend. He pulled me up when I couldn't, pushed me when I could no longer push myself, pointed me at a goal I couldn't even see at first, and then let me go there alongside him."

"Sir, there were at least another hundred cadets at Academy who had the same opportunities that Trunk had. Many of them did well, a few flourished. None did as well as Trunk Gurmot sir. That tells me it was more Trunk's doing than anything else."

I managed to avoid having a conversation about how we had arrived, and Trunk and his mother had soon led me to a guest room that I was told was mine for as long as I wanted it. Our bags were brought up about the same time and Trunk took his off to his room in the family wing.

We had three hours before midday meal, and There was only a little desire on my part to play tourist in Demira. There was no need to change, no real need to freshen up, and we were certainly in no need of resting after our trip. I took the time to send a quick thought to my Mother.

<Mom?> I sent.

<Sid? Where are you?>

<I'm in Demira with Trunk at his family estate.> I sent her a good solid image of it, both my own and what I had borrowed from Trunk to use when I jumped us.

<I haven't seen you in three years sweetie. Do yo think the Gurmot's are willing to entertain another visitor for a couple of days?>

<I would imagine. I'll check at midday meal and let you know if its going to be a problem. When will you come, and what about Dad?>

<I'll ask, but you know he gets nervous about influencing your path and interacting during certain events.>

There was a short pause, and I knew Mom was either talking to Dad or was linked in thought with him.

<Your dad says he'll join us, but that we can only stay a short while. Should we bring your little sister?>

Oh yeah. Damn, but I tended to forget about Coral, because she was born a month after I'd left for the Academy. I hadn't even seen her yet, except through Mom and Dad's eyes.

<Oh absolutely! I'd love to see her, and I'm sure Trunk's mom and sister would love to have a baby to dote on instead of me.>

There was a knock at my door then, followed by Trunk's head popping in.

<got to go Mom, I'll check with you later about details.>

"Grab your staff and lets go get a workout. I want to show you our exercise yard, and take a look at it to see if it can be improved any, now that I know what to look for."

We went back downstairs, taking the rear stairway that we'd come up, and I discovered where one of those two paths at the back of the house went.

We began our staff work with a short bit of meditation. I had been amazed at how having to teach the staff to others crystallized Master Jo's lessons in my mind. I had a pretty firm idea of technique and theory, and even a good feel for the philosophy which he operated under. I could find nothing to disagree with. After a short fifteen minutes of meditation, just enough to get us settled here in this place that was new to me, and the situation that was new to Trunk, we began.

I had long since run out of things I could pass on, and Trunk and I worked together to teach ourselves and each other something new. Several times I had linked with Master Jo to ask for guidance, and each time he had given me a new insight and a new path to follow. In every instance what I was given, I shared with Trunk.

Today was not a day of discovery, today was just a day of work, and a way to burn off some of the energy that we were both feeling. Leaving the Academy had us both energized. At the end of the workout, we were both in need of some clean up and a change of clothes. A handful of guards and other staff had been drawn in by the sounds of our stick work, and they applauded appreciatively when we finished. Trunk introduced me to Captain Grud, the head of the household guard.

"I don't suppose the two of you will be sticking around long enough to teach my men how to wield a staff like that?"

"We are at loose ends for at least the moment. Your men are welcome to what we can do while we are here, but how long that will be is a question we can't answer at this moment." I answered.

"We may well know more by this time tomorrow." Trunk said. "We will work out before morning meal tomorrow. Check with us then."

We checked on Grinder, who was doing fine, but was glad to see me. I gave her a good rub down, and she gave me a thorough nuzzling. Half of what Trunk had brought back with him from the Academy was saddle gear, so we checked the stalls to look at the other horses, but the unclaimed horses were kept elsewhere, so we planned to go take a look at them after the midday meal.

Like most places on Arbor, the Gurmot house did not have individual bathrooms and running water. They did have plenty of hot water in the bath house, and showers, which was less common here than it was back on Earth or Meadow. We caught a quick shower, and wearing house robes, each headed to our rooms to change. On the way Trunk explained the laundry situation to me, and when I got back to my room I did find the color-coded laundry bag that hung on a peg on the back of the door, and threw what needed washing in it.

Three years had seen me grow a good four inches in height, and I had filled out in the shoulders and thighs quite a bit. The clothes that I had worn as a twelve-going-on-thirteen year old certainly did not fit me, so everything I had to wear were clothes from the Academy and from the shops of Heartwood. I missed the jeans and t-shirts I used to be able to wear at home in the Tower.

Trunk had told me to meet him in the small dining room which we had passed several times now. The table, which had been bare when I'd seen it previously, was now covered with a table cloth. There were several large pots of Cintosara already on the table, surrounded by a variety of mugs and cups. I grabbed an unadorned cup and poured myself some. I walked towards the kitchen, just to get a whiff of whatever was being cooked. It smelled very good, and I considered myself a good judge. My Great-Grandmother Liz was the best cook on at least three worlds, maybe four.

One end of the small dining room had a wall with windows in it. I went and stood in front of the windows, looking out I saw a large garden, obviously this garden was where the other side path that I had seen in the back of the house led. To one side of the open garden I saw a large glass enclosed hot house. I had to remind myself that Demira was far enough south of the equator to have real winters, at least equal to those back home, though perhaps made milder due to the maritime location. That hothouse was less of an extravagance than it probably seemed.

Trunk's brother Gang came in a few minutes later with his wife Glimmer and son Etch. Etch was two years old, a year or so younger than the sister I had never met. Certainly this would be the first time Trunk had met this young nephew.

"Does Trunk even know that you have a son?" I asked.

"No, it was going to be a surprise. You are insightful to have thought of that so quickly." Gang said.

"Not really, I have a little sister who is just a bit older than Etch that I have never seen either, so it was an easy connection to make."

"What are we connecting?" Trunk said from behind us.

The introductions of uncle and nephew were fun to watch, and it was interesting to see Trunk with a small child in his arms. Etch, for his part, was a sociable little fellow, and enjoyed being held. I got my own turn, and soon discovered the benefits and dangers of holding small children for any length of time.