43 - Should I go Fancy?

The next morning, the little kids… Ilia and Maks made a huge mess at breakfast and Kyrus found himself fielding Ilia while Haraklez hauled Maks back while they hurled words at each other.

Ilax looked at his youngest offspring, the one under Kyrus’s arm and one under Haraklez’s. He stood up and grasped both of them by the scruff of the neck, nodding his thanks, set them down on the floor. “Listen.” He went down on one knee in front of the two of them, turning them to face him. His voice was soft and far more effective than any shout. The two stopped, looking at him, faces flushed.

“Did some mountain sprite come in the night and spirit away my children, leaving two little rock gnomes in their places?” An identical head shake. “Well then, I must have just imagined what just happened.” Another identical headshake. Even though they were a year apart Maks and Ilia were as alike as twins to Kyrus’s eyes, especially with the Milari habit of long hair for both sexes. Grey/blue eyes stared solemnly into their father’s face.

“Pa, I’m sorry—we’re sorry—we were mad—‘cause you like Kyrus so much—and we were worried you were going to go away again and either fight or visit Lainz or go out to the Eastern border --“ He held up his hands, one finger raised for each.

“And these are excuses for such behaviour, how?” He threw an arm around each of the children and pulled them onto his lap. “I love you both and you cannot convince me I’ve been neglecting you, my dears. I’m sorry you are jealous of Kyrus.”

“He calls you ‘Uncle’ now! Is he our cousin?”

“I’ll be able to explain all of that soon, my dears. I’m still angry at the mess and you are not going to get away with making more work for anyone else. You two will be scrubbing the table tonight, and once my little hearth is clean, you can go and offer Brakayus another couple of hands for dinner cleanup.”

“Awwww!”

“And this is unjust how?” Ilax inquired mildly. The children looked down. “If you can come up with an argument that I am being unjust, present it and I will listen. If not, you have only your behaviour to answer for.”

“Sorry, Pa. An' Kyrus.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Very good, now wash faces and hands and scoot off to school, or you’ll be late.”

Kyrus watched the two children rush to do as their father asked as the man wiped the spilled goats' milk. “How do you not just lose your temper,” he asked. “My mother would have been shrieking at my baby brother and I and smacking our backsides long before.”

Ilax smiled. “It takes a lot of patience. You learn. It’s a matter of not letting their blow-ups frighten and anger you, as if it were somehow your responsibility.” Haraklez, though interested in the conversation, excused herself, grabbed up her moa goad and headed out to her new riding class. Kyrus was answerable to Ilax as the first teacher, so did not have to rush off. Though moving around was a lot easier now that the snow was down to sullen drifts sulking in the shade of buildings and the north sides of slopes. “You have a baby brother,” Ilax asked.

“Light and Dark give him peace,” Kyrus said drawing his thumb down his forehead. “He only lived to his fifth birthday. No other siblings living. My mother birthed a girl who breathed a few hours and then one more stillborn. I wonder if she poured all of her child-will into me and didn’t have enough left for the others.”

“Ancestors give them shelter. Kyrus, you are not in any way responsible for your sibling’s deaths. You know that?”

“Ma always said. When I go home I’ll have to sweep clean the stone over them again. It will be covered with sand from the wind and Ma’s in no kind of shape to tend graves.”

“That’s good of you. I have some paperwork to do in my offices and you’ll be interested to know I’ve got a new teacher for you to meet tonight. He’s a great warrior and Ceemander.”

Kyrus nodded miserably. “Ceemander?”

“It will be all right, lad. You might want to be careful how you dress, just for your own sake when you come up on the mountain to meet him.”

The boy sighed. “This isn’t going to be any kind of teaching that will get me exiled?”

“You will have all the same choices as you do right this moment, Kyrus.”

"So should I go as fancy as my best shirt?”

“The bright blue one? Yes. After dinner come up to the Ancestor’s stones and meet me there.”

“Near my father’s grave? Yes, Uncle.”