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Late afternoon sun poured through the window, making Vincent's half of the room almost unbearably warm. The open window caught no breeze, but Vincent was determined to stay as close to any source of relief as possible and so had sprawled across his bed with a textbook rather than studying at his desk. In concession to the heat, he was out of uniform: wearing only a thin undershirt and his uniform pants. His dress jacket lay abandoned in an untidy pile at the foot of his bed where he occasionally would rest one or the other of his bare feet on it before thinking better of the wrinkled fabric and retreating to the other corner of the bed once again.
The heat wasn't helping his concentration, and he had started this particular chapter on aerial tactics for the third time when he heard the telltale creak of a board in the hall outside. Alex must be back from his latest foray into the skies. Vincent wasn't sure which was more unbearable, Alex before one of these excursions, trying to pretend that his excitement was purely for the rush of flying, or Alex afterwards trying to pretend that he wasn't moping about missing Euris.
"Definitely afterwards," he muttered.
The door opened and Alex entered. He nodded his typical greeting and dropped a heavy rucksack, then crossed the room to sit down heavily on his bed. Vincent put his book down, partly out of courtesy, and partly because he was pretty sure the aerial tactics were a lost cause.
"Hey, Alex."
Alex had already begun to strip off the top half of his flight suit in concession to the small room's close atmosphere. He looked up with that slightly vague expression he sometimes got when confronted with a social response he hadn't quite considered. "Oh, hey, Vince," came the dispirited reply.
Vincent picked up the book again. His roommate was clearly absorbed in something and he was pretty sure it wasn't going to be anything of interest of him. As much as he liked both vanships and Alex's girlfriend, they somewhat lost their appeal after several successive days as the only topics of conversation.
"Vince?"
Vincent looked up from his book again, Alex had that same, displaced expression—something was clearly up. "Yes?"
Alex looked like he was steeling himself for something. Finally, he said, "I have a favor to ask."
Vincent closed the book, and sat up on the bed, directly facing Alex. "You?" he replied. "Sure, this ought to be good. What do you need?"
Alex made a face like he'd just tasted something sour. "Euris' cousin just started here at the Academy. She's worried about her and wants me to take her out to the festival tomorrow. You're better at that than I am, and I thought you could help."
This was going to be even better than he'd thought. Vincent gave a cocky smirk and said lightly, "Our last chance to relax this term and you want to saddle us with some first year? Alex, you may have a girl, but some of us are still looking and having some kid along is just going to get in the way." He paused, then nodded at Alex. "Anyway, why worry about it?"
"Well," Alex shrugged. "It is Euris' cousin."
Vincent pointed at him and replied, "And you're wrapped around Euris'–"
It was at that point that something slotted into place, like a ship hitting its mark in battle formation, and Vincent had a sudden moment of clarity. His hand fell uselessly to his side and he looked at his roommate hard.
"Alex," he said in a much more serious tone.
"Yes."
"You're talking about the Princess."
Alex nodded. "I'm talking about Euris' cousin Sophia, yes."
Vincent stared at his roommate, fixated. He began speaking more urgently. "But Euris' cousin Sophia is the Princess. She's the Emperor's only living heir!"
Alex shrugged at this. "That too, but I'm still supposed to show her a good time." That same, unfocused look came over his face. "Can you help?"
Vincent fell back on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and briefly weighed his options but the conclusion was inevitable. "I suppose," he finally said. "I'll have to."
The festival that night was a good one, by anybody's reckoning. The heat wave had finally broken, news of a big naval victory had come in, and the mood throughout the city was high. One advantage to being in the capital was that people brought customs from all corners of Anatoray. It seemed like there was so much happening that the fun would be spread out and hard to find, but what it really meant was that there was something new to discover at each booth and stand.
For Vincent, the biggest discovery had to be Sophia, herself. She looked a lot like Euris. In fact, you'd have to look twice to figure out that they weren't sisters. She was smaller though, more petite and graceful, and she had striking green eyes. The grey and white academy uniform didn't do her any favors and more than once Vincent caught himself wondering how she'd look in a brighter dress and hurriedly found something else to focus on.
It wasn't just that she was pretty. She was a first year, but you wouldn't know it to talk to her. Most kids that age were a bit goofy and kind of awkward. Maybe it was from being raised in the palace, but Sophia was like a well of calm, even in the riotous atmosphere of a festival. Then, once they'd found a quiet place to sit and have a few drinks, and he'd gotten her to open up a bit, he'd learned that she was damned interesting to talk to as well—intelligent and funny. All in all, Vincent could see he was going to be spending the rest of the term exercising every bit of self control he had.
They had just ordered their final round of coffee when the sound of the market bell cut through the noise and confusion. The festival was winding down for the night and they had well overstayed themselves. The café they'd settled in at was on the far side of the district from the Academy and making it back by curfew was going to be a very near thing. It was only once they'd hustled their way through the crowds to within sight of the gates that they realized just how near.
They stopped in their tracks and Vincent stifled a curse. Alex, however, wasn't quite so chivalrous. "Damn it," he panted.
The gates were already closed. Worse, not only were they closed, but the guard at the watch station had been doubled. Apparently the Commandant wasn't giving any second chances this evening.
Sophia stood on tiptoe trying to peer through the crowd and see what had drawn such a response, but Vincent stepped in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"The gate's closed," he explained. "We need to get out of the guards' line of sight while we try to figure out a way back in. Otherwise, we're each in for demerits."
With that, the three of them threaded their way back through the thinning crowd to another café. While this one was generally popular with cadets, and had been a sea of grey and white when they'd stopped by earlier in the evening, they were now the only ones there in uniform. They settled at a table near the back to plan.
"Well," said Sophia with a wry smile. "Next time, I think I'll brew the coffee for the nightcap."
"Yeah," replied Vincent. He ran a hand through his short hair and rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. "That assumes there's going to be a next time and the lot of us aren't on KP duty for the rest of our natural lives."
Alex looked uncharacteristically flustered and blurted out, "Well, I can't get caught."
Vincent turned to him, eyes narrowed. "Really? And the both of us can afford the demerits?"
His roommate pointed at him in response. "You," he said, "have never received a demerit in your life." Alex turned in his seat and pointed at Sophia. "And she will graduate no matter what." He then gestured at himself. "I, on the other hand, have something to lose. I get a demerit, and they're going to pull me out of flight training."
Vincent flushed red and shot back without thinking. "Oh, so no more long weekends down in Norkia with Euris? How sad for you! Let me jeopardize my commission so you can keep on seeing your girlfriend." He saw Sophia flinch and immediately wished he'd thought before speaking. He'd somehow managed to forget that she was still young and quite sheltered.
Sophia recovered quickly, though her cheeks were a bright, embarrassed red. She held her hands up between the two of them. "Stop it!" she hissed. "We need to come up with a plan, not fight over who's got the most to lose."
Both boys deflated somewhat at this, each sinking back into their chairs. After a long few minutes of silence, Vincent spoke up. "I might know a way in."
Alex fixed him with a glare, but didn't say anything. Sophia turned to face him and said calmly. "You might? But you're not sure."
Vincent sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table in front of him. "An upperclassman told me about it when I was just a second year. I've never tried it, though." He looked back and forth between the two of them. "It'll require a sacrifice, too."
Alex raised an eyebrow at this. "A sacrifice?"
Vincent nodded. "Someone's going to have to get caught someplace conspicuous so the other two can get over the garden fence behind the old library. It might not even be possible with the extra guard on tonight, but it's the only way in that I know of."
Alex sighed and looked down, sulkily. "Years spent training in tactics and we've only got one plan of attack? Sure, why not. After all, the night can't get any worse."
The next morning at mess, Vincent just stared at the food on his tray, dispirited. Alex had been asleep when he got back from his spectacular chewing out, and had left the room before he woke. Thanks to a muzzy head, he'd barely made the morning's dress review. Then, cap that all off with a mess hall breakfast and Vincent was pretty sure this was turning into one of the worst days he'd had since coming to the academy.
The clatter of a tray landing next to his brought Vincent's attention back to the immediate present, and he glanced over to see who had intruded on his deliberate solitude at the farthest corner of the hall. He shouldn't have been surprised that the princess was joining him, but he was. Pleased as well, though he did his best to keep that out of his expression.
"You looked like you could use some company," she said as she took a spot on the long bench.
Vincent looked back down at the tray and began poking at the egg-like substance in front of him with a fork. "I could've sworn I had some, but they haven't yet managed to achieve sentience in the food." He frowned at it before dropping the fork with a clatter. "Sometimes, I think it's a near thing, though."
Sophia chuckled and picked up a piece of toast. She glanced at him awkwardly before turning back to her plate and asking, "Did you get in very much trouble last night?"
Vincent sighed. "Not as much as I could have, I suppose." He looked over at her, then back at his food. "Alex was almost right, the fact that I've had a spotless record counted for something." He shrugged and continued. "Actually, I think it's the fact that we're so close to graduation that helped. Rather than give me a black mark that would affect my assignment, I just got the verbal reaming of my life." He paused, before concluding with a smirk. "I never knew there were that many different ways to say irresponsible idiot."
There was a long awkward silence, filled only by the sounds of cutlery on the trays. Then, Vincent turned back to Sophia and asked, "How about you? I didn't see you for the metaphorical beating, so I assume you two got in all right."
Sophia gave a shy smile and blushed. "Yes, we did. Alex boosted me over that fence, then escorted me to my dorm."
Something about that bothered Vincent. Alex was taken, he was very taken—by this girl's cousin no less. Alex hadn't given a damn about her. He hadn't wanted the burden of dealing with her in the first place, then had done nothing to protect her or her reputation when things had gone wrong. Now, here she was blushing at the thought of him. That definitely bothered Vincent.
Outwardly, he gave no sign. He simply nodded and made a sort of non-committal sound as he ate.
Sophia turned to him, still smiling, and said, "Thank you, Vincent."
Vincent shook his head. "I think at this point, you can call me Vince." He sighed dramatically. "Well, Princess. You'll just have to make that coffee to make it up to me."
Her smile broadened, and she nodded. "Sure, Vince."
At that moment, Vincent knew. This was definitely going to be a very long term.