Victor formed his face into a very public smile and kept it frozen in place. His voice, deadened from the enthusiastic friendliness of moments before, was nonetheless cordial. "I am most pleased to meet you." He lifted his head, stiffening his spine and giving the cadet's parents an appraising glance.

Don Fernando bowed from the waist before extending his hand to Victor. Victor shook his hand courteously, then waited for Lenore to curtsey before taking her hand and brushing his lips against her knuckles. "Our son, Ciro, has told us much about you, Highness."

Victor acknowledged Lenore's comment with a slight nod. "I'm sure he has, Donna Lenore. It was a pleasure meeting you. I hope you enjoy the reception." Victor's plastic smile remained in place long enough for the nobles to realize they had been dismissed, then it melted into a more genuine expression as he turned back to the Sanderlins.

Renny let a low chuckle rumble from his chest as Ciro and his parents withdrew. "I wonder what Ciro the Hero told his folks, Vic. Do you think he mentioned how you took his forces apart in the tactical simulations we did last year?"

Victor composed his face into a fair imitation of the recently departed cadet and let his voice rise up to match Ciro's. "Si, Mummy, the Duke and I engaged our forces against each other in class last fall. I wouldn't say I embarrassed Victor, but the outcome was most unexpected." Letting his voice return to normal, Victor added. "It's true. He didn't embarrass me and I never expected to win that quickly."

Rebecca looked back over her shoulder at Ciro, then frowned. "He sounds dangerous. What unit will he be assigned to?"

Victor and Renny shared a private smile. "We're negotiating on his behalf to get him a position with Romano Liao's personal bodyguard unit or a Periphery pirate gang," Victor laughed.

Renny elbowed his roommate. "Spooks, 1130 and closing."

Victor looked over toward the room's main entrance. Several men and women, moving singly and in pairs, entered the room. They smiled cordially and drifted through the crowd with seeming purposelessness, but their wary eyes continuously scanned the room. Renny tagged it perfectly. That's the advance team.

Victor saw the puzzled looks on the faces of Renny's guests. "Not to worry, Mrs. Sanderlin. Renny and I have spent a certain amount of time eluding the CID agents assigned to safeguard me. He's even better at spotting them than I am." He glanced back at the doorway. "This many infesting the party means my parents cannot be too far behind."

Some of the color drained from Albert Sanderlin's face. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Victor." He turned to his son. "Come on, Renard, we should, ah, circulate some more."

Victor held up his hand. "No. Please don't go." Nadine shook her head slightly. "Highness, we are simple quillar farmers from Rijeka ..." She looked over at Ciro

Oquendo and his parents huddled nearby. "We're no one special ..."

A heartbeat's worth of anger shot through Victor's eyes. "You're wrong in that, Mrs. Sanderlin. Youare the parents of someone I am very proud to call a friend, and that makes you special, indeed. Between friends, and by extension, between their families, there are no ranks.

"You've come all this way to see your son graduate and to see something of the rest of the Inner Sphere. You've endured a long trip, and I know well the physical strain caused by jumping from star system to star system. You called this a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so let's make it even more memorable." Victor dropped his eyes and his voice. "Please do me the honor of letting me introduce you to my parents."

Albert Sanderlin gave his wife's hand a reassuring squeeze, then nodded at Victor in silent assent. As Davion turned his attention back to the doorway, a buzzing whisper filled the room. He felt his own heart beating faster and the ache of a lump in his throat.

His mother appeared first, on the arm of the Nagelring's Kommandant. Tall and girlishly slender, Melissa Steiner Davion showed her age only in the mature grace of her movements. The blue gown she wore, a shade darker than the blue trim on the Cadets' uniforms, was cut in a stylishly youthful fashion. The silken material had been slashed diagonally to her left knee, exposing a shapely calf, and again at the right shoulder, baring her right arm. The diamond and sapphire necklace and drop earrings matched the gown's hue. Her blond hair, worn up, was encircled by a simple platinum coronet.

Behind her, escorting the Kommandant's wife, came Prince Hanse Davion. Wearing the navy-blue dress uniform of the Davion Heavy Guards, Hahse Davion stood tall and proud. Age had leeched some of the ruddy color from his hair, especially at the sides and back, and had given his face a few seams, but no one would ever mistake that for a sign of weakness. The Prince, his blue eyes bright, exuded a confidence and power that crackled through the gathering like static electricity.

Victor felt the ache in his throat drain and his smile broaden. It's been far too long since I last saw you.He tugged at the hem of his dress jacket. I hope I've made you proud.

Melissa freed herself from the Kommandant's arm and made her way across the room to her son. As she came toward him, Victor was reminded of his late grandmother, Katrina Steiner. The way my mother carries herself, and those gray eyes, she is so much like her mother.The memory of his grandmother faded as Melissa came nearer, and he smiled with the pleasure of seeing her again. Then again, my mother is like no one else.

Victor opened his arms and took her into a warm embrace. "Hello, Mother," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek, and giving her another squeeze. Still with one arm around her, he turned to greet his father. Their hands met in a firm grip, then Melissa stepped aside as father and son pulled each other into a backslapping hug.

Victor turned to Renny and his family. "Father, Mother, it is my great pleasure to introduce Cadet Renard Sanderlin, his parents Albert and Nadine, and his special friend, Rebecca Waldeck." Victor smiled as he avoided Renny's earlier mistake. "These are my parents, Prince Hanse Davion and Archon Melissa Steiner Davion."

Hanse immediately kissed Nadine Sanderlin's hand. "I understand we have your son to thank for Victor's successes in the more difficult mathematical subjects taught here." Hanse smiled warmly. "Would that Renard had been at Albion when I was there. Then I might have graduated at the top of my class."

Nadine, mute with terror, nodded and smiled, but no one noticed her silence in the round of exchanged greetings. Renny snapped a smart salute to the Prince, which Hanse returned equally crisply before shaking Renny's hand. Melissa immediately won over Rebecca and Nadine by complimenting them on their dresses, and that unfroze Nadine's tongue enough that she could return the compliment.

The informal curtain of bodyguards that drifted between the royal family and the rest of the party held Ciro Oquendo and his kin at bay, but did not prevent three other people from joining Victor and his parents. The first was a tall, broad-shouldered man, whose coppery hair was worn long enough to hide the golden Marshal's epaulets on his black uniform and to half-obscure the dozens of campaign ribbons on his left breast. The woman on his arm wore a black and gold gown that contrasted dramatically with her fair hair.

Victor greeted both with a smile, then turned to introduce them to the others. "Renny, this is your new commanding officer, Marshal of the Armies Morgan Hasek-Davion, and his wife, Duchess Kym Hasek-Davion." Victor left it to Renny to introduce his parents as he turned toward the third newcomer.