Xaxac munched happily on his funnel cake and let the sugar dance over his tongue. Pure, unfiltered sugar on top of pure grease! His teeth ached, but his tongue sang, and everyone else seemed just as happy with their cheap, deep fried, junk food.

It had been a nice morning, all things considered. It was the kind of morning that he would have never even considered a year ago. He had done absolutely no work, been free to roam around the fairgrounds, and his biggest concern was trying to avoid getting grease stains on his expensive clothes. Alex was right, he had hit the jackpot. Most humans could only dream of the life he led. He was the personal pleasure slave to the Duke of the Agricultural District, and he was thankful. He would do anything to keep his position.

He wished his sister was with him.

Alley would love this place. She would have loved the music, the race, the games, the food. Fatty junk food was probably good for the baby; people were supposed to get fat while they were pregnant. She would love it here.

“I look for them both to qualify,” Lee was saying when Xac tuned back into the conversation, “But if we’re talkin plain, which I guess we are, wouldn’t hurt my feelin’s nary bit if they was to both lose and we could pack up early. Travelin’s hard on me at my age.”

“Real competition is comin out of the Mountains of Death province,” Bobby said, “They ain’t got nothin to do up there but train. That’s what they live on. Past four champions have come outta there.”

“I don’t even want to go to Satra,” Lee lamented, “But I bet there won’t be no helpin it. But it’s a long time comin. We got a good while. Whole woodlands trial is next. We might get cut out there. I hope we get cut out there. I don’t reckon we’ll have no more than two qualify for it.”

“Whole thing only exists so the elves got somethin to look at in the winter,” Bobby said, “They get bored easy. They ain’t the ones driving through the snow or the ones shovelin it.”

“I like elves,” Xac said, “they been real good to me.”

The conversation died as his companions looked around the fairground, at the crowd around them.

“We… we all like elves, Xaxac,” Lee said with a tinge of fear in his voice that Xac didn’t understand, “Eat your food.”

“I wish we could bring more people,” Xac said, “I wish I coulda brought Alley.”

“Who’s Alley?” Alex asked, “Your girlfriend?”

“My sister,” Xac murmered, because he was afraid someone would tell him he didn’t have a sister.

“Ain’t no reason to bring a kitchen maid,” Lee said sensibly.

“I wish Jimmy didn’t have to leave,” Xac said, “Wish he could be there to see the baby born.”

“Eat your food,” Lee said again, and Xaxac realized that he needed to stop talking. He was making people nervous.

The conversation died away for much longer than could be explained by a natural lul, and Xac wished he could heed the constant advice he got to keep his mouth shut. It was so strange; elves seemed to love him, but he felt like he didn’t know how to talk to humans. He wished with all his heart that he could be like Jess. That crowd of humans shouted her name, looked up to her. She knew how to make people love her, and she hadn’t said a word.

“Well,” Lee said as he tossed the stick from his corndog behind him and onto the ground, “We oughta be gettin back. Master Agalon is expecting us after lunch.”

He stood and dusted himself off.

“Wish we could get some coffee,” Xac said as he wadded up the paper that used to contain his funnel cake, “It’s got right cold, ain’t it?”

“It ain’t that cold,” Alex said as if Xaxac had said something foolish, “It’s fall. It ain’t the dead a’ winter.”

He took Xac’s hand again, and Xac stared down at it for a moment before Alex began to walk, following the group, tugging him along. The crowd had gotten much thicker in the midday, and Xac was glad to have someone to hold on to. He could imagine people getting lost in the thick of it.

When they entered the stable, Xac took in the scene before him.

There were more fighters in the room than he had imagined existed. The entire place was taken up with them as they sat on the floor eating food on handkerchiefs; all huge and glistening with sweat in a way that made Xac think they had spent the morning working out. The sheer size of them corralled as they were in such great numbers, made that strange feeling come over him that he had stopped questioning. He and Alex were undoubtedly the weakest people in the room; small and cute and completely without magic they were dwarfed both by the fighters and by the elves, who were all sitting at a table together enjoying their lunch, talking and laughing.

Lee and Bobby went back by the particular enclosure they had been standing by when Xac had arrived that morning, and Xaxac thought he was likely supposed to join them, but Alex didn’t slow down at all and tugged him along towards the group at the table.

He didn’t release Xaxac until he was upon them, and then only to throw his arms around his master from behind.

“We’re back, master!” he announced, though Xac thought this information should have been obvious from his actions.

“Didja have fun?” Kyrtarr asked him, and Alex slid into his lap.

“It was great!” Alex proclaimed, “Thank you, master!”

“Afternoon, darlin,” Agalon smiled up at Xac, so Xac smiled back and slid into his lap as well, but he was overly aware of the way the conversation had died, of all the eyes on him, and he recognized one person at the table in particular. Shyrrik Loraxia was sitting across from Agalon, and his eyes were wide with fear.

“Thesis’s eyes, Ky,” he said, “The empress let you keep that thing?”

“I wouldn’t never in no danger of losing him,” Agalon snarled, “he didn’t hurt nobody. He didn’t do anything. There wouldn’t no complaints that could be filed. He’s perfectly safe.”

“That’s the shifter?” Another man asked, put down his fork, placed both hands on the table and leaned forward to stare at Xaxac. “That’s the shifter?”

Xaxac looked at Alex and tried to read the emotion in his eyes. There was strength there. Alex wasn’t afraid of him, and didn’t want Xaxac to be afraid of himself.

“You’ll be here a while if all your fighters qualify,” Shyrrik said, “they decided you could take him out in public?”

“The moons won’t be full while we’re here,” Xac said as he wrapped his arms around Agalon’s throat and tried to make himself as small and nonthreatening as he could.

“They’ll be full on the way back!” Shyrrik argued, as if he thought Agalon had gone mad, “You can’t have this thing out in public!”

“I can do whatever I want with my humans!” Agalon said, “He didn’t hurt you! Love a’ god, all he did was run around and dig a hole and y’all out here actin scared to death! I swear I’m about to write a book; call it, ‘What I can’t believe y’all are out here doin’. There ain’t a damn thing wrong with him.”

“That thing was eight foot tall, teeth a foot long, claws on it-”

“He’s a rabbit!” Agalon said, “And I won’t have you sit there and insult me by insinuatin I’d put anybody in danger! I’m the duke! I know how to keep my people safe! Shifters ain’t necessarily dangerous! They’re just humans!”

“Should I go back to the hotel?” Xac asked in a whisper, trying to make his eyes as big as he could.

“He ain’t gonna run you off,” Agalon huffed, and it seemed he was right, because what he had said had apparently shut Shyrrik right up. Xaxac suspected that for a moment he had forgotten who he was talking to.

“To answer the question,” Agalon said much more calmly, “Yeah, this here’s my shifter. And he’s real well behaved, ain’t you darlin?”

Xaxac nodded.

“And he’s real soft,” Agalon bragged, “feels like a rabbit. Pretty sure his hair’s angora. You can touch it, if you want.”

“I don’t bite,” Xac promised, and did not let his smile falter when he felt Agalon’s grip tighten, just a little, “I’m really good. I swear! I wouldn’t never wanna hurt nobody!”

The elven man who had stood reached tentatively across the table and laid a hand in Xaxac’s hair.

His awe turned to a contented smile.

“Y’all feel this,” he said, and Xac smiled with him.

“He’s got them buck teeth!” another of the elves said as he, too, stood and came to stand within petting distance so he could run a hand through Xac’s hair, “He looks like a rabbit!”

“I don’t know how anybody could be scared of him,” Kyrtarr said helpfully, “Honestly, Shy, you know better’n that.”

“Much as I’d like to sit around showin him off,” Agalon chuckled, “If I don’t get movin somebody’s gonna come after me. I got duke business to tend to. Somebody’s gotta judge the critters and pies and whatnot.”

Xac slid off his lap so that he could stand and immediately clung to his arm once he did.

“I reckon I’ll see you gentlemen at sundown,” Agalon smiled his charming smile, and Xac tried to mimic it. As Agalon turned to walk away, Xac caught the bodyguards he had hired, standing near their group of fighters. The male, Aymar, was whispering something to his companion, and they were both staring at Xaxac.