Chương 53: The New Year

New Toledo, Vidako Imperium Stellarum December 25, 2847 Cassie woke, for the first time in her life, with a sleeping man's arm wrapped around her, and his body pressed against her back. She could feel the soft puff of Arc's breath tickling at the back of her neck, and his hand gently cupping her bare belly. Carefully, so as not to wake him, she rolled to face Arc, so that they were nearly nose to nose, and watched him sleep.

He wasn't the first boy she'd ever kissed, but he was the first one who'd ever looked at her and seen Cassie, before the princess imperial. At first, she'd just been grateful to have one person that she knew, with one-hundred percept certainty, wasn't angling for some kind of political advantage. And then, of course, she'd found that he was smart, and kind, and that while you might not expect it to look at him, Arc would never let someone he cared about be hurt while he could do something to stop it.

And this, this was wonderful. She breathed in through her nose, and there was something about even the smell of him that was right—so different from a dorm room of girls. His arm was still draped over her, hand idly hanging against her back, and she felt like she'd never slept so well in her life.

The absolute last thing she wanted to do was to get out of bed—though there was also the competing urge to scream from the palace balcony that he was hers, that she had a man, and she felt like there'd been some secret conspiracy to keep hidden from her just how good it felt to wake up next to someone you – Cassie stopped herself from thinking the word, because if she thought it, she might not be able to keep herself from saying it. Four months.

Was four months enough time to decide whether or not you loved someone? Right then and there, curled up in the blankets with him, she thought that it might be. But she also knew what her mother would say, and Jessica, and her brother and father. It's good that someone is awake, Lyra grumbled. I've only had Iceni to talk to all night—which I suppose is better than nothing. Cassie decided that she would not be thinking about what conversations their AIs had when neither of them was paying attention.

Gently, she reached out and traced her fingers along Arc's face. His shoulders shifted, and he turned his face into the pillow, and made a sleepy noise. Then, his eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning," Cassie whispered.

"I know it's not your holiday, but—merry Christmas."

"It's yours, though," Arc said.

"So I hope it's a good one. Are you alright? Second thoughts?"

"No," Cassie said.

"No second thoughts at all. You?"

"Not in a million years." He leaned in to kiss her, and after a moment they broke apart again.

"I think we should brush our teeth first," Cassie said, and laughed.

"And maybe have a shower." A sudden idea occurred to her.

"You know, I bet these are big enough for two people." 𝝮 It was only after Arc had snuck across the hall, back to his own suite, to change into a fresh set of clothes, that Jessica slipped into Cassie's room. It wasn't a surprise; she'd known this conversation was coming, sooner or later. She was just wiggling into a dress of deep, pine green that she'd ordered special for Christmas morning, and didn't turn away from the vanity mirror when her bodyguard closed the door to the hallway behind her.

"You look particularly pleased with yourself this morning," Jessica observed. She leaned against one wall, dressed in the uniform of the imperial guards. Between the military cut and how short her auburn hair was, at the moment, the impression was somewhat androgynous.

"Are you happy?"

"Yes," Cassie declared without a moment's hesitation.

"Yes, I am." She couldn't help but break out laughing.

"I don't know how I'm going to go back to sleeping alone in those dorms. Not after a few weeks of this."

"Don't fall too head over heels," the older woman grumbled.

"You know some men lose interest after –"Not Arc," Cassie interrupted her with absolute certainty.

"He won't. You've gotten to know him at least a little bit, Jessica, haven't you? You know he isn't like that."

"I suppose." Jessica gave a huff.

"The Montalbans have just about finished their family time, and breakfast is being set out in the dining room. I think once you're both dressed you can head there without interrupting anything. Just be aware that the Itzia's present is somewhat –""What?" Cassie asked.

"Rambunctious." 𝝮 Itzia Montalban's Christmas gift from her parents was, it turned out, a light-gray cat with dark spots, tufted ears, and long shocks of fur that hung down like sideburns from the side of its face.

"I named him Carámbano," Itzia declared, the cat hugged tightly to her chest as she showed him off to Cassie.

"It means 'icicle." Carámbano hung limply from her arms, looking decidedly grumpy, and let out a soft mewing sound.

"Put him down on the floor while we're at the table, mi hija," Duchess Nicté chided her daughter. Reluctantly, Itzia set the cat down, and he settled himself on the floor at her feet. Cassie was surprised that he didn't immediately sprint off and hide.

"Thoroughly genetically engineered," Duke Alvarez explained, as servants began setting out dishes up and down the length of the table. There was fresh fruit of all kinds, which was not a surprise given how warm the planet was. Platters of toast with a half dozen varieties of jam and thick dishes of butter; churros for dipping in hot chocolate; eggs cooked over potatoes and sliced ham; pastries drizzled with frosting; and freshly brewed coffee.

"The original iberian lynx went extinct in the wild in the mid twenty-first century," he continued.

"Right at the beginning of when we started experimenting with reviving species that had vanished from existence. Enough were preserved in zoos and nature preserves that we never lost the DNA entirely, and about a hundred years back one of the mega-corps began experimenting with turning them into a line of luxury companions. Their bonding instincts are heightened, and the urge to hunt is redirected into an urge to rip the nose off anyone who threatens their owner."

"I've seen pictures of what they can do with those claws," Marcus remarked.

"Males like that can get up to sixteen kilograms. He'll be gentle as a baby with her, and a nasty little bodyguard if she ever needs it." In fact, Biosynth Corporation's exotic line uses some of those images in their promotional materials, Lyra observed. As a sort of proof of capability. I could show you a few, if you're curious… Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. No, Cassie thought, sternly.

"Can we make an attempt, at least, to keep breakfast polite?" the duchess complained, and that seemed to settle everyone down. After everyone had a chance to eat, Cassie and Arc accompanied the family back to the cathedral for another service, and that involved being seen—and recorded. Cassie did her best to put up with it, and to smile for the cameras and wave, but she would have preferred to simply stay back at the duke's palace with Arc and squirrel themselves away back in her rooms.

As her father and mother had warned, questions about the Na'xir began to come, and Cassie heard the first as they were leaving the church. It would have been nice if the local media had waited until after the holiday was over, but she supposed they couldn't be so lucky.

"Princess Cascada," a man with a neatly oiled mustache called out, thrusting a microphone past the line of police who held a path from the cathedral's doors to the duke's waiting car.

"What can you tell us about the war against the Swarm?" She almost, almost said 'no comment' and walked away. But one of the duties of the imperial family was to calm the public, to comfort people when they were frightened. And it wouldn't cost her more than a few moments of time. She was holding onto Arc's arm, and he walked with her when she turned and approached the man with the camera. Jessica was there, visible, all of a sudden, right beside her, and a half dozen more microphones joined the first.

"I've been briefed by my father on the ongoing fleet operations in the former LeShaii systems," Cassie said, speaking slowly and clearly.

"There is obviously quite a bit that I can't say, for reasons of operational security. But I will tell you that the senate, fleet command, and the imperial family are taking every measure we can to safeguard the people of the Imperium."

"What do you say to the rumors that Admiral Wai's entire fleet has been lost?" a woman with ringlets of dark hair asked.

"First of all, Admiral Wai took a carrier battle group, not an entire fleet," Cassie said.

"Which I believe is a matter of public record. Second of all, he has the imperial family's full confidence."

"What about the rumors that this duel reflects a fissure between the imperial family and the senate?" Cassie had difficulty keeping a straight face at that one.

"Ridiculous."

"Then it's motivated entirely by your romantic entanglements?" a blonde woman asked.

"Isn't that a bit irresponsible, with the Imperium at war?"

"Tell that to Fletcher Radecki," Arc broke in, at her side.

"Since he's the one who wanted it."

"That will be all for now," Cassie said.

"But I want to remind everyone that, whether you celebrate this holiday or another, and whatever your faith, the Imperium is here to protect you. I hope you all have a wonderful day." Jessica stepped in front of the microphones, interposing her body so that Cassie and Arc could get away, and they joined the duke's family in the grav-car. Only once the door had shut, blocking out the sound of the crowd, was Cassie able to relax.

"I hope I didn't mess anything up there," Arc said.

"I just don't like them using this to try to make you look bad."

"It's fine," Cassie assured him.

"You didn't say anything that wasn't true."

"Is there anything I should know about the war?" Duke Alvarez asked, as the car pulled away from the cathedral.

"If they're asking you questions this morning, they'll be asking me the next time I get in front of a camera."

"There's not much I can tell you," Cassie admitted.

"At least, not everything. But I'll have Lyra sort out whatever you're cleared for, summarize it, and send it to you," she promised. 𝝮 The duke's prediction was accurate, and the war cast a shadow over the new year. Cassie and Arc spent the beginning of 2848 training with Lieutenant Estrada, making public appearances with the Montalban family, and snatching every bit of time to themselves that they could get.

At Cassie's insistence, not only did Arc spend every night in her room again, they actually moved his luggage across the hall and hung his clothes in her suite's closet, so that he wouldn't have to dash across the corridor every morning to get dressed. That meant that the palace servants would know what was happening, of course, but Cassie decided that she didn't care.

Either they were loyal to the Montalbans, or it would leak to the media, and either way there wasn't much she could do about it save to abstain—and she wasn't willing to do that. In any event, gossip about the duel was pushed out of sight and out of mind by each new report from the front.

A week before Cassie and Arc were due to return to campus, a passenger liner from the core worlds brought word that the Vitellius had engaged a Na'xir fleet on the outskirts of the Tau Ceti system, in the star's extensive debris disk. Cassie and Arc joined the Montalban family in a comfortable den, with a mix of couches and love seats surrounding a holo-projector in the center of the room.

"... Fleet has confirmed the loss of the Orestilla, a Livian-class destroyer, during the engagement at Tau Ceti," a dignified looking man with streaks of gray in his dark hair said, speaking clearly and deliberately as he gazed out at the audience. He wore a sober suit, and Cassie suspected that he would sing in a pleasant baritone, if the chance ever came up.

"We also have reports of substantial damage to the Vitellius, though the full extent of that is not yet known," the reporter continued.

"The official crew complement of a Livian-class is, according to our records, three-hundred and sixty-two. If the Orestilla was lost with all hands, that would represent the single greatest loss of imperial life during a combat engagement since the Singularity War." The projection zoomed out, to include the image of a bearded man wearing the uniform of an admiral. Projected beneath him was a glowing label which read, 'Rear Admiral Anson Townshend, Superintendent of the Imperial Mech Academy on Vidako.'

"With us today to comment on the ongoing war, we have Rear Admiral Townshend," the reporter said.

"Thank you for joining us, Admiral Townshend. I'm sure you're aware that many people here on Vidako must be feeling a great deal of anxiety as the war against the Na'xir escalates. What can you tell us?"

"That's who the commandant reports to," Cassie mused, from where she'd cuddled into a loveseat with Arc.

"I don't think I've ever actually seen him in person before," Arc said.

"You wouldn't." Duke Montalban shook his head.

"Marlowe runs the day–to-day business of the academy. Townshend deals with budgets, regulations, supplies—and politics. I meet with him once a month or so."" –of course understand that there's very little I can say about ongoing operations," Townshend was saying.

"But I am fully confident that the Imperial Fleet is prepared for action. We have spent the past sixty-five years making certain that there will never again be another tragedy such as the Imperium experienced at Wolf 1069."

"What does the confirmed loss of a destroyer so early in the war say about how things are going, however?" the reporter asked.

"It says that the Na'xir are tough," Townshend said, and Cassie thought she detected a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Look, this is a war. We aren't the aggressors, and we didn't ask for this fight, but we're damned well going to end it. In the meantime, the men and women fighting to protect the Imperium deserve our respect and support."

"Is Vidako in any danger?"

"Vidako is one of the best protected worlds outside of the core," Townshend pointed out.

"And I will point out that, in addition to Duke Montalban's guard, the academy is prepared to field almost a hundred and fifty mechs at any given time. That comes out to one fifth the mech forces spread throughout the entire fleet. My message for the people of Vidako is," the admiral said, leaning forward to look not at the reporter, but into the camera, "stay calm, and go about your business." No sooner had the interview ended, and the holo-projector been shut off, than Santiago, the duke's son, leapt to his feet.

"You can't seriously still expect me to study architecture now, can you?" the young man demanded of his father. From his place in Itzia's lap, Carámbano lifted his head, suddenly on guard.

"That is precisely what I expect," Alvarez Montalban declared. Santiago practically quivered, fists clenched, as he stood in the center of the room.

"When I graduate next year," he said, "I would like you to recommend me to the academy here on Vidako."

"No," the duke said, without even a moment's hesitation.

"I've already selected cadets for the next three years." Cassie felt her stomach drop. She knew what was coming before it happened, but everyone else seemed surprised when Santiago spun to face her.

"In that case," the boy said, "Your Imperial Highness, I request your recommendation." Duke Alvarez shot to his feet.

"I said no!"

"It isn't your choice, Papá," Santiago said.

"I'm not asking you anymore." The eyes of the entire family were on Cassie.

"Santiago," she said, choosing her words very carefully, "your father and mother have been very kind to me. I would never want to insult them in their own home." He opened his mouth, but she held up her hand, in the same way that her father would.

"You have the rest of this year, and one more, to finish. I think that during that time you and your parents need to have a conversation."

"Absolutely," Alvarez grumbled.

"If, when the time for applications comes, you and your family are agreed," Cassie said, "I will use my recommendation so that your father isn't put in the position of breaking the commitments he has already made. But only if your father and mother approve." Santiago swallowed, and then nodded his head.

"Thank you."

"I think it's time for us to retire for the evening," Cassie said, and slipped out of the loveseat. She reached a hand for Arc's and he took it.

"Goodnight, everyone." After that, there was a certain stiffness to their interactions with the Montalban family. Duchess Nicté did her best, and Itzia was always a breath of fresh air, but it became easier to spend all of their time down at the firing range, working with Lieutenant Estrada, than in the palace. If Santiago argued with his father, it happened where Cassie and Arc could neither see it, nor hear it.

Still, it was with a certain relief that they packed their things at the end of winter break, left for the New Toledo airport, and then settled in for the flight back to San Teodoro.