Second Draft Chapter 14

The next morning, the day before Cadet registration, my father visited me. He never mentioned the Cadets once, but he didn’t have to. We both knew that the purpose of his visit was to remind me not to disappoint him.

Abel came as well. Abel was thirteen now, and had changed a lot from the whiny little kid he was a few years before. But he was still a child, and I felt more distant from him at that time than ever. I was eighteen and I felt myself fully an adult.

Since my door was never locked, my father simply opened it and walked in. Seeing that I was still asleep, he rapped his hand loudly against the wall to wake me up. “Alright Jonathon, rise and shine. It’s almost four o’clock in the afternoon.”

“Are you going to sleep all day?” Abel chimed in.

I looked around groggily. “I was only taking a nap Dad. I’ve been up since eight o’clock this morning.”

Abel stayed respectfully by the door, but my father walked around the room inspecting things as if he owned the place. And I guess in a way he did, considering that he and Flash practically ran this University. He opened the curtains, and I squinted as sunlight poured into the room. “You were out too late last night, weren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“And you haven’t even unpacked yet? This is unacceptable Jonathon. Your room was never this dirty when you lived in my house, and it won’t be this dirty here. After Flash went through all the trouble to get you a single room, is this how you’re going to take care of it?”

I sat up on the bed and shrugged my shoulders. “The room doesn’t look that bad to me.”

He acted like he didn’t even hear. “This is not acceptable. If you don’t clean this up, you can be stuck with a roommate just like everyone else at the University.”

I nodded as I tried to wipe the sleep out of my eyes. “Okay. I’ll clean it up.”

“The next time I come over here I want to see a room that I can be proud of. I didn’t raise you to be a slob Jonathon.” Whatever cleaning skills I had or didn’t have at this point in my life were no thanks to him. I never saw him clean anything around the house. He relied on the servants for all of that. But I kept my mouth shut.

He pulled a chair out from behind my desk, and sat down in the center of the room, looking straight at me. Abel now entered the room and sat down on my desk. “So what have you been doing this week?” my father asked me.

I breathed in a deep breath as I realized any hope of him leaving soon was gone. I would have to face the usual inquisition, and forget about my nap.

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University classes started in the fall, just like our old school always did. But the world was different now, and we were different with it. We had become adults, and left our childish schooldays behind us.

At last, we had the coveted student passes to the University campus, and we could enter and leave at will. Although now that I had it, I no longer cared about it.

We all lived within walking distance of the University, or at least all of my old schoolmates from Urbae did. In fact the University was actually closer to my house than the old school. But it was no longer my house anymore. It was my father’s house, and Abel’s house. I now lived in the University dormitories, according to the old tradition, just as my father had once left his parent’s house when he had turned 18.

I had been to the University for one afternoon two and a half years ago, but the University I remembered from that day had no relation to the University I now saw before me. At times I began to doubt I had ever been here before at all, and wondered if I might not have dreamed the whole thing.

Most of that day two years ago was spent in the nature preserve, away from the main part of the campus. Only at the end did we encounter the main campus buildings, and then the running around and confusion made things seem completely different from the calm green lawns I now saw before me everyday. After several unsuccessful attempts to reconcile things in my mind, I began to wonder if I had even been to this part of campus at all, or if my brain had been playing tricks on me, and we had ended up on some different part of campus entirely.

I had made one attempt to go back into the nature preserve and relocate the path we walked, but either I couldn’t find it or I didn’t recognize it when I saw it. Forest scenes have a way of all looking the same, and after two years it was impossible to retrace my steps.

There was, however, one unmistakable reminder of that day, and I saw him at Cadet registration.

Because I had volunteered in the Cadet Center for two years, I was known to everyone and my paper work went through smoothly without me even having to fill out anything. Actually given my family connections, this would probably have been the case regardless.

On a Tuesday morning, the day before classes started, I woke up early and went to the Cadet Building in the center of campus.

A whole campus building was dedicated to the Cadets. It was a very elegant building. Even the landscape around it was carefully controlled. The building itself was built in the classical style. The entrance was supported by spotless white pillars. I walked up the many stairs and in through the grand entrance. The lobby had a large domed ceiling. I was just about to ask at the front desk where registration was, when I saw a sign directing the new recruits. I walked down the grand hallway towards an auditorium at the end of the hall.

As I entered the auditorium, I looked over the sea of faces to see if I knew anyone. Most of the faces were new and strange. A few people looked vaguely familiar. I think I had seen some of them around somewhere at the University during the past week.

From my old school class, I saw Christopher sitting in the front rows. He was talking to the people around him and seemed to have made several new friends already.

Christopher was ambitious in his own way, and so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see him there. After all, he had been elected our class president every year for the last four years. It was only natural that he would want to be a Cadet. No doubt he considered it some sort of stepping stone to an upward career in government office.

And yet, when I thought of all the hard training I had done with Orion, I found myself wondering if Christopher would be able to handle it. He was in reasonably good shape, but athletics wasn’t his passion. He was probably much more at home with his schoolbooks, or debating with LJ and Varro. Christopher would try for the leadership track, but I didn’t think he would be much competition for me.

In a corner on the side of the auditorium were my three best friends Ajax, Teucer, and Hector. They were sitting off by themselves and made absolutely no effort to meet any of the other people. In fact they sent off a hostile look to anyone who dared to sit close to them. They were the same as ever. The three of them had their gang, and they were convinced no one else would be of any value to them.

I wasn’t expecting to see those three here, but I wasn’t surprised by it. They were always looking for an excuse to push people around, and so Cadet training would fit them nicely. Once they got into the army they could push people around for their job.

The nice thing about Hector and Teucer was that they knew their place. They wouldn’t try and surpass Ajax by enrolling in the leadership track. Ajax was the only one of them who would be competition for me. In strength Ajax and I were about equal, but he had not been training like I had for the past two years.

I didn’t know any of the other new recruits, but I was already feeling very confident about my chances.

I took a seat near the back and waited for things to begin. Soon, the room became quite as a huge giant of a man dressed in a military uniform came to the front. He had red hair and a large red beard, and was at least a head taller than anyone else I’d ever seen, even bigger than Orion. His uniform was obviously too small for him, and strained against his body as if it would snap off at any minute. He reminded me of a man from another time, and I immediately thought of Orion and Orion’s dream to imitate the heroes of old. This man looked like a hero of old. Or like a giant from the ancient legends.

“Alright, everyone listen up,” he bellowed. “My name is Zeus.” That name sounded familiar to me, and in fact the man himself looked familiar. The voice sounded familiar. I had heard it before. Words came drifting back to my ear. “…You dumb hicks, get your hands off of him.” I closed my eyes and I could hear him as clearly as I did two years ago. “Don’t you realize whose son that is?”

I shook my mind out of the past and looked back up at Zeus. “For the next four years, I own you,” he declared. He said it with a smile on his face, and it was greeted with nervous laughter from around the room. But the humor was for him only. “Remember that before you sign up. This is the only warning you’re going to get. The Cadets isn’t just some campus club. Once you sign your name on the dotted line, you’re committed for the next four years. Legally the Cadets own you. You can’t just quit because you don’t like it. If any of you don’t think you can handle that, then you can just turn around and march right out of here.”

There was a slight stirring, as if several people would have liked to walk out the door. I looked at Christopher. Since he was in the front, all I could see was the back of his head, but his head was fixed to the front, as if the thought of leaving never occurred to him. Once Christopher sets his mind to something, he’s usually pretty determined.

“Cadets isn’t easy. The next four years I’m going to work you to your limit everyday. I’m going to make you hurt. Every night you’ll think back on this moment, and many of you will wish you had left when you had a chance.”

Next I looked over in the corner. Hector was shuffling his feet uncomfortably, and Teucer was starring longingly at the door. Ajax was lying languidly in the chair, his arms hanging loosely by his sides. He couldn’t have looked anymore relaxed.

“The Cadets requires a lot of hard work, dedication, and discipline. Most importantly, it requires obedience. Obedience to Fabulae, obedience to the Duke, and obedience to me. You will lose your self identity, and you will become a slave to the Cadets.”

When after a pause, no one had stood up to leave, Zeus’s smile widened. “Good. That’s what I like to see. The Cadets has a proud history. We were there at the Restoration, and we’ve produced the finest officers for every war ever since then. Not all of you have what it takes maybe, but all of you will work hard.” He relaxed his posture on stage and his shoulders dropped down. The posture was contagious, and there was a general loosening of tension all throughout the auditorium. “All right boys, you can relax for the first day. All we want from you right now is your name, your age, and some other important information. Then we want to get your measurements so that we can issue you the appropriate equipment. Now, there are a lot of you here, so just sit tight and be patient. We’ll get through all of you eventually. Monday be here at five in the morning for-.”

There was a slight, I wouldn’t say groan, but a slight murmur through the auditorium. It was something I almost felt more than heard. Zeus felt it too. In fact I think he had been expecting it, and maybe even deliberately setting it up. He abruptly stopped his speech and straightened his shoulders and stood at attention again.

“Do any of you boys have a problem with the time we meet?” he shouted. “Do you? Is five too early in the morning for you rich kids?”

Zeus stopped for a second and starred out at the audience, as if he expected someone to respond. I think most of us, myself included, half hoped someone would be foolish enough to respond, just out of morbid interest so we could see Zeus turn on them. But no one said anything.

“You will be here at five on Monday morning gentlemen, and you will be here on time, or you will have to deal with me.” Zeus looked around the room one last time. His eyes darted from person to person as if he were just waiting for somebody to make a mistake. Again, no one moved.

“Alright, go to it then. Registration is through that door on your left,” Zeus pointed to a door in the front of the auditorium.

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“Looking good Jon. I think we might have found the perfect look for you at last,” David said, as I tried my new Cadet Uniform on in front of the mirror.

I could hardly believe the look myself. I had never felt so adult before. But seeing my reflection in the mirror with the Cadet uniform on, I felt a sense of how grown up I really was.

The brand new uniform shown bright blue, with shiny brass buttons. I was so used to seeing Orion wear this uniform, that one of my first thoughts was how much like him I now looked. Of course he was taller than me. And more muscular. But I had been working hard the past two years, and now my own muscular frame shown slightly through the uniform. I had an impulse to see more of my frame in the mirror. I straightened up slightly so that the uniform was pulled taught, at the same time breathing in and pushing out my chest.

I had meant it as a subtle gesture that no one would notice, but David knew me too well to let me get away with it. His hand flew out, slapping the backside of my head. “Knock it off Jon. Quit showing off in front of the mirror.”

My shoulders sagged back down, but I made a token effort to save face. “I was just straightening up.”

“Yeah, whatever.” David wasn’t convinced, but he was kind enough not to push the point and embarrass me in front of Helen.

“I think that Uniform makes you looked really sexy,” Helen cooed. The words seemed to obtain a new innocence in her voice.

“How many of those new uniforms did they give you?” David asked.

“Five.”

“Five? All the same?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you need five of them for?”

“They have to be perfectly clean at the start of each day.”

This seemed to be funny to David. He chuckled. “Looks like you’re going to be doing a lot of washing for the next few years.”

“They have maids on campus,” Helen reminded David.

“No, I have to wash and clean the Uniform myself,” I answered. “It’s part of Cadets regulations.”

“But they have maids right on campus for washing,” Helen insisted.

“Not for the Cadets. We have to learn ourselves. There are no maids on the battlefields.”

“Jon, nobody cares if you have a clean uniform on the battlefield,” David said.

I let this ignorant comment go without a response.

From behind me, a new voice entered the conversation. “Nice Jon. Very nice.” All three of us turned around at once to see Hermes walk in through the open door.

I thrust my chest forward again. David didn’t notice because his attention was on the newcomer. Then I did the introductions. “David, Helen, I’d like you to meet a new friend of mine, Hermes.”

David shook hands in his usual friendly way. David was automatically friends with everyone. He didn’t have an enemy in this world. “Pleased to meet you,” David said, holding out his hand.

“Likewise.” Hermes shook David’s hand, but he was already looking over to me. “Hey Jon, we missed you on Tuesday.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I’ll try and be there next week.” I actually had no intention of coming next week, but I didn’t want to get in a long discussion about it.

“What’s on Tuesday?” Helen asked.

I looked to Hermes to answer that question, but he nodded his head at me and sent the question right back. “Oh, just some art thing,” I said.

Hermes, deeming my explanation unsatisfactory, decided to expand. “It’s the art guild. It’s a place where students can get together to share their work, and learn about what art opportunities the University offers.” It sounded a little hollow coming off his tongue, as if it was a prepared sale’s pitch which he gave to lots of students. And it probably was.

Helen smiled at me, with her usual magic smile, and I felt my whole body wanting to melt underneath her gaze. “You’re doing art guild as well? That’s wonderful Jon. I’m so proud of you.”

She seemed so pleased at my interest in art, and of course I couldn’t tell her that I actually had no intention of going. Instead I played into the role she admired. “It’s something I always wanted to try out. You know how I’ve always had an interest in art.”

“No,” she said, her eyes wide with astonishment. Her eyes looked particularly beautiful when they were opened wide like that. “No, I didn’t know that at all. You never mentioned that before Jon.”

In the back of my mind I realized that every word I was saying now was something I would have to wiggle out of later when I talked to Hermes again. But at the moment I didn’t care. “Art is something I’ve always been passionate about. Icarus and I went to the art show last week on campus, and that’s where we met Hermes.”

Helen looked so happy, and pleased with me, that I didn’t want to say anything for fear of disrupting her glow. I just wanted to look into her face, and see her smile. David’s face looked much more confused. “How can you do art guild?” he asked. “You’re going to be busy with Cadets.”

Hermes jumped to answer this question. “We meet at eight o’clock, after Cadets training finishes.”

The confused look on David’s face only deepened. “Yeah, but you’re going to be very busy. With all the Cadet training, and your schoolwork, do you really have time for this Jon?”

“I’ll be busy, but this is important,” I answered. “Art is important to me.”

A smile broke out on David’s face as he slowly shook his head. “Jon the Artist. Man, I never would have thought it.”