Xaxac wished he wasn’t so tired.

He forced himself to sit up and knew that Agalon was speaking to him, but he couldn’t actually process the things he was saying. Agalon didn’t seem to be tired at all, and Xac wasn’t entirely sure he had slept. He was standing, allowing Lee to dress him, and whatever he had said was obviously important, because he snapped his fingers and tried again.

“I know you’re tired, Honey Bunny, but you can sleep in the carriage. Try and get your makeup on so we can pack it.”

“I’m sorry master,” Xac stretched his arms over his head and yawned.

“Get your clothes on, please?” Lee asked. There were bags under his eyes and Xac wondered if he had slept either as he trudged his way to the vanity and sat down.

“He’s fallin over,” Agalon observed, “Darlin, drink your coffee- actually, wait.”

He brushed Lee away and made his way to the nightstand on his side.

“Wash your face first,” Lee said, “And dry it real good. It’ll wake you up.”

Xac moved to the basin to obey him, and therefore did not see what Agalon was doing as he unwrapped a small package to reveal something that looked like a snowball. He carried it to Xac’s breakfast tray and held it over his coffee, then began to pick at it. It came off in little powdery flakes, like sugar, and dissolved in the warm liquid. Agalon stirred it, and by the time Xac had finished drying his face he had rewrapped the snowball and moved to the bed to pack it away in his traveling pouch.

He handed Xac the coffee and proclaimed, “Here, drink up, darlin, this’ll wake ya up.”

“Thanks, Master,” Xac smiled at him, took a sip, and sat down to do his makeup.

“I need to arrange all the house staff, before I head out,” Agalon told Lee as Xac began to paint his face. The coffee didn’t seem to have the effect Agalon promised, but it may be the sort of thing that took a little time, like the wine. As it was his eyes were blurring from lack of sleep, and he was afraid he was going to mess up the makeup.

Xac didn’t want to be tired, he wanted to be excited! He was finally going to town! He was going to get clothes! They had to go register the fighters, but from everything Agalon had said, that was mostly a formality, the bulk of the trip would be spent shopping. Xac had never been shopping before, never been off the plantation before, and he was looking forward to it! He wished he could muster up the energy to display his excitement, but right now it was taking all his concentration not to poke himself right in the eye with his pigment stick.

“Now, Honey Bunny, I don’t want you to get scared,” Agalon said as Xac moved onto the other eye in a futile attempt to get them to match, “So I’m gonna tell ya what’s gonna happen. It’s a long trip so we’re gonna stop to stay overnight at my buddy Kyrtarr’s house. He’s got a pleasure slave, too, so you’ll have somebody to talk to.”

“Neat!” Xac said, trying to project the excitement he felt. He had never met anyone else in his position, and he wondered what it would be like. They had so much to talk about; he wondered if they could get a minute alone, if maybe this person had been in the business longer than he had, if he could finally meet someone in a position to tell him something, anything, about what he was supposed to be doing. It would be nice to have some sort of direction, to not be expected to figure everything out on his own.

He took another drink of his coffee and stood to get dressed. He didn’t look as nice as he would have liked, but he thought it was at least passable. He realized halfway through his shirt that he had missed a button and had to start over.

“Are you all packed up?” Agalon asked, and Xac assumed this question had been directed toward him until he looked up and saw that Agalon was looking at Lee.

“I ain’t got a whole lot to pack,” Lee said, “We ain’t gonna be gone that long, are we?”

“Not real long,” Agalon said, “But we might stay overnight in town for Xac. He ain’t never been there before.”

“Yes, master,” Lee said, “Let’s get your face so I can pack up all the toiletries.”

“You’re goin with us?” Xac asked as he sat on the bed and began to eat the fruit on his breakfast tray.

“A gentleman always travels with his valet,” Lee said, “I hate to leave Nancy all my work, but she’s proved before that she can handle it.” He huffed and said, “Well enough, I guess. It is what it is.”

“We’ll meet with um before we leave,” Agalon said, “I’ll give you a couple minutes alone while we’re boardin. I know you wanna put the fear of god in um.”

“Very good, Master,” Lee agreed.

Xaxac watched them while he slowly chewed his strawberry and thought that he may be waking up a little.

When Xaxac entered the foyer on Agalon’s arm, he was met with a strange sight. He could look down and see a row of people in fancy house clothes, all lined up and facing the door. He recognized a few of them, including Allie and Abby, and the sight of his family made his heart leap. He hadn’t realized he had actually lept until Agalon paused to look down at him. But he smiled, snuggled into his side, and that seemed enough to appease him.

Agalon strode down the stairs with Xac clinging to him and marched to stand in front of the crowd that had gathered there in the foyer, disentangled Xac from his arm and gently shoved him behind him. Once he was sure Agalon couldn’t see him, Xac smiled and waved at his mother and sister, but Lee grabbed his hand by the wrist, shoved it into the small of his back, then took his right hand and arranged it over his heart, before standing and taking the same pose himself. Xac sighed and rolled his eyes- a movement which picked up on Mrs OfAgalon.

There was even more hate in her eyes now than there had been before.

Xac hadn’t expected that. He had thought whatever experience she had had would have humbled her.

He smiled at her.

“During my short absence,” Agalon said to the gathered crowd, “I expect everything to go smoothly. Nancy will, of course, be taking over Lee’s duties, and I have complete faith that she knows what she’s doin. This here is a formality. My only real rule is that I want it known that Lorry is grounded. If I hear tell that boy has stepped one foot outside his quarters while I’m gone, rest assured there will be hell to pay. If you ain’t bringin him food, don’t open that door. And when you do go to take him food, I want at least three of you to do it, because he’ll run if he gets a ghost of a chance. I’ve put magical wards in place, and he ought not have any way to break um, but lord knows with that boy. I better see my son, safe in his room, when I get back.”

“I reckon Lee’s gonna give y’all some kinda rundown or somethin,” Agalon continued, “So I’m gonna let him do that. I’ll see all y’all when I get back. Be good without me.”

He said this last sentence as if it was a joke, so Xac was smiling when he turned around to see him. He held out his arm and Xac dove to snuggle into his side.

A footman opened the door, and Xac stepped through it into the summer heat.

Jimmy Ray was standing below the porch next to a contraption Xac had never seen before. It was a sort of small room, on wheels, attached to the horses with boxes coming out the front and back of it. Xac inferred that the front box was for whoever controlled the horses to sit on, but he had no idea what the back was for.

That must be the carriage.

Jimmy Ray stepped forward and opened a door in one of the walls that had blended into the body so seamlessly Xac had not known it was a door until it opened, but he made note of it.

“HEY!”

Xac jerked to the sound of the scream and saw Lorsan standing behind an open window.

“Just get in, darlin,” Agalon said.

“You think you can just up and leave me?” Lorsan yelled, “Locked up like this? That what you think? I ain’t gonna be here when you get back!”

Lorsan made a series of odd movements; he looked as if he was trying to smash open a window, but the window was open. Instead he ran and rammed his arm into absolutely nothing- and a ripple of green appeared in the air like water in a pond, spreading out until it hit the windowpane.

“Well, now, thank you kindly, son, I will have a nice journey!” Agalon shouted up to him, “I love you too! I’ll miss you!”

Then he climbed into the carriage, and Jimmy Ray gave Xaxac a look that conveyed a lot without the necessity for speech. He gestured that Xac should follow his master, so Xaxac grabbed the doorframe and hauled himself into the contraption.

It was small, but comfortable. The walls were lined with couches, one on each side, with just enough room between them for the door. Agalon was sitting on the couch against the back wall, so Xac took the other and sank into the plush, green surface. Each of the side walls had windows with green gauzy curtains drawn over them, and Xac bounced a little as he pulled one back to look outside. The road on the other side led to a gate that he could see through. A road ran past it, and on the other side was a stone wall like the one that surrounded the plantation. It looked so much like the wall he had seen his entire life that he speculated there was another plantation on the other side of it. How many were there? How big was the world beyond the wall?

Jimmy Ray closed the door, and the world narrowed to the small room where he sat with Agalon.

“Ain’t Lee comin?” Xac asked.

“He’s drivin darlin,” Agalon said absentmindedly as he reached into the bag on his hip and produced a thin book with a plain cover. It had no pictures, only text that Xaxac could not read. “I ain’t takin a driver and my valet just to run up to Basilglen. I wouldn’t even take Lee if I thought I could live without him. He probably oughta be here… without him the monkeys are runnin the zoo.”

“Oh,” Xac said, and listened attentively as the carriage creeked. Someone was climbing onto the box in front of them.

There were very small windows behind the couches on either side, so Xac stood on his knees to peer out the one behind him and saw the back of Lee’s head.

“Sit down,” Agalon ordered and Xac obeyed him.

He jostled when the carriage began to move.

Xac had never traveled anywhere before, and began to bounce again in his excitement. He pulled back the curtain and stared out the window as two men in the uniform of grooms walked to the gate and pulled it open-

As the carriage passed the gate and turned onto the road, Xac could see the mansion, the immaculately kept front lawn, the fields stretching out behind it; it looked so much like the painting that hung over the bed in his room. Except for one small detail.

Lorsan glared down at him from a third story window.