“How come you said you hate travelin?” Xac asked as he ate his salad, “You was braggin about goin to the water continent.”

“Oh I love it once we get there,” Alex explained, “I just don’t like the trip.”

Xaxac nodded and thought of all the questions he wasn’t allowed to ask. It made coming up with “safe” conversation topics difficult. His brain was all cluttered up with the sort of things he wasn’t supposed to think about.

“Are we havin a party?” he asked instead, “Aggie said he’d tell me after dinner.”

“Not really,” Alex said, stabbing at the vegetables in his salad in a disappointed sort of way, so differently from how he had eaten in his own home, “We’re really here to watch you shift.”

Xac stared at him in incomprehension. Surely he had misunderstood. Maybe next month they would do that, but not so soon? Aggie had said that he had to get him trained first; the last time he had bitten him! There was no way he would bring people in this early. That didn’t make sense.

He took a sip of his whiskey and said, “That don’t make sense.”

“Sure it does,” Alex shrugged, “I think he’s gonna start exhibitin you. Start off with a small group of close friends to make sure it’s alright, then move on to crowds.”

“But it ain’t alright!” Xac implored, “It ain’t alright at all! I’m a monster! I can’t remember nothin! I bit him last time, bit Aggie!”

“I don’t think ya did,” Alex shrugged and sipped his whiskey, “He’d’a done somethin about somethin like that.”

“I did,” Xaxac insisted, “he’s got a scar on his arm, on account of I bit him!”

“Well now I sure as hell wouldn’t do that again,” Alex said, “If I was you.”

“You ain’t listenin to me,” Xaxac said with great annoyance, “I’m a monster! I’m cursed! I hurt people! Y’all don’t need to be around me!”

‘I mean, to be fair,” Alex said, “it ain’t like you’re a wolf or a wildcat, right? You’re a rabbit. What the hell are you gonna do? Do rabbits even hurt when they bite? Is that a thing? I ain’t never been bit by no rabbit.”

“It left a scar,” Xaxac said.

The door opened and Jimmy stuck his head in.

“Hey Xac,” he said, “I can’t stay long, still got the valet trainin and my master’s hard to catch, but thought you’d want to know that there was somebody else pulled up outside and it’s your clothes. Finally. Thought you’d want to know.”

“Oh,” Xac said, trying to bring his energy down to Jimmy’s level, “Uh… thanks. I don’t… know what to do about that? I don’t think I’m supposed to leave.”

“I don’t know where they’re gonna put um or nothin,” Jimmy said, “Y’all ain’t got the wardrobes yet.”

Xac stood and rushed to the door, then glanced past Jimmy at the empty hall before he lowered his voice and spoke.

“How’s Alley?” He asked.

“She’s doin good,” Jimmy pulled back and glanced up and down the halls himself. Xaxac knew that they each had something to say to the other, but neither was willing to betray the trust of the same girl they loved in different ways.

“Tell her,” Xac said, choosing his words carefully, “That I’m makin her a baby blanket, you know for the baby.”

“We sure need it,” Jimmy said, “Thanks.”

“Out of angora,” Xaxac said, “And I’m gonna fold it up and try to get it to you so you can take it to her.”

“Thanks,” Jimmy said.

“Be real, real careful with it,” Xaxac told him, stared intently into his eyes and continued, “It’s expensive. Hard to get.”

Jimmy’s eyes darted up and down the hall, then he leaned in, glanced up at Alex, then back at Xac, and spoke in a voice that was both quick and quiet.

“If you’re gonna do it,” he said, “do it before Lorsan leaves for school. He’s always stealin his daddy’s shit. Do it while we can still make it look like it’s him.”

Xac nodded.

“Don’t let him catch you,” Jimmy warned.

Xac nodded again.

“I gotta get back to work,” Jimmy said.

Xac nodded again, and Jimmy closed the door, so Xac returned to the table.

Alex stared at him, slowly took a sip of his whiskey and said, “Now that right there is the very definition of none of my business but please, for the love of Thesis and all that is holy, do not do somethin stupid. I like you, kid.”

“Bunnies ain’t exactly known for their intellect,” Xaxac said and took a bite of his salad.

Alex made a sort of humming sound that Xaxac could not interpret in any meaningful way.

“This is ridiculous,” Agalon said in a huff as Xaxac stood, back in his own sitting room, amidst the sea of packages, “It’s been damn near three weeks, almost a month! Where the everlovin hell is my wardrobes?”

“You get um off Jerry?” Kyrtarr asked, “You know she don’t get in no hurry.”

“I got guests comin,” Agalon said, “I ain’t got nowhere to put nothin. Lee, run down to my lab and get my scryin tablet.”

“Yes, master,” Lee bowed and walked into the hall.

“Mister Agalon?” Alex asked, “Can we open these? I wanna see Xac in his new clothes.”

“He ain’t go nowhere to put um, darlin,” Kyrtarr explained patiently, “Don’t go makin no messes.” He poured himself a glass of the wine sitting on the table and said, “Be nice, like Xac. Look at him, what’s he doin?”

“He’s knittin,” Agalon said, sounding impatient and staring at the door, “He does that. Ain’t it cute?”

“Whatcha makin there, you pretty little thing?” Kyrtarr asked.

Xaxac froze.

You’re just another pretty thing he owns.

“It’s a, um, baby blanket,” Xaxac said quietly as he began to move his needles again and fell into the comfort brought on by the clack clack clacking of his needles, “For my-”

You ain’t got a sister.

“For a friend of mine. A kitchen maid. She’s pregnant.”

“You let ‘im give angora to kitchen maids?” Kyrtarr asked Agalon.

“Leave him alone,” Agalon said, “It’s cute. Lookin all domestic. And you shoulda seen how big his eyes was when he asked for it. I can’t deny him nothin,” his frustration seemed to evaporate a little as he ran a hand through Xaxac’s hair, “Can I, Honey Bunny?”

“Thank you, Aggie,” Xaxac smiled up at him, “I really like it. I’m makin you somethin, too.”

“What are you makin me?” Agalon asked as if he thought the concept was adorable.

“What do you want?” Xaxac asked.

“I don’t know what all you can make,” Agalon shrugged.

“On these needles I can make all kinds of stuff,” Xaxac said, “hats, blankets, jackets, shirts, stuff like that.”

“Whatever you want, Honey Bunny,” Agalon said as if it wasn’t particularly important, and Xaxac refused to process that information. Instead he stared intently at the blanket and watched string slowly, magically, transform into fabric.

“Your tablet, master,” Lee said as he arrived carrying what looked like a wooden box full of dirt.

Agalon took it, cleared some space on the writing desk and set it there. The stones in his ears began to glow as Xaxac stared at his own hands, going through practiced motions.

“What the hell do you want, Kailu? I’m closed. It’s eight at night. If it’s dark you ain’t got no business with me.”

Xaxac jumped.

That was Ms Rigg’s voice. He had met her at the shop, but he hadn’t heard her come in, didn’t know she was in the house at all. He sat up on his knees and looked over the back of the couch. He saw Alex sitting in the middle of the packages on the floor, Kytarr standing by the table drinking, Lee standing by the door, and Agalon standing by the desk staring at his pan of dirt. Ms Rigg was nowhere to be found.

“Jerry, where the hell’s my wardrobes?” Agalon asked in exasperation, “I got folks comin over. I need um. My guestrooms are gonna be full and I ain’t got nowhere to put my clothes, plus, Sakala just sent over everythin I ordered for my pleasure slave. I’m the Grand Duke of the Agricultural District. I ought not be in this situation.”

“No,” she agreed, “You ought not, because I done went and made you a perfectly good wardrobe and you threw it out on account of it didn’t match your pet’s colors. That ain’t my fault.”

“Jerry, forget the clock,” Agalon said, “just get me my wardrobes.”

“Why you havin people over?” Jerry asked, “It ain’t a party season.”

“Is that your business?” Agalon asked.

“I reckon it is if you want me to maybe expedite this here delivery,” Jerry said matter-of-factly.

Agalon sighed, stood to his full height, and crossed his arms over his chest in thought. He glanced at Xaxac then back at the pan of dirt and seemed to make up his mind.

“Honey Bunny why don’t you take Alex back to the guest room and y’all play while I get this worked out,” he said.

It was not a question.

“Yes, master,” Xaxac said.