Xaxac’s arm had stopped hurting at all by the next day when he followed behind Lee shortly after he had woken him up for breakfast. Lee wasn’t in a particularly good mood, hadn’t been in a good mood since he had returned from wherever he had gone on his trip, and it scared Xac a little. He was normally quippy and quick-witted in the exact manner one means when they use the phrase ‘smart ass’, but today he spoke mostly in monosyllabic responses to Xac’s questions, and half the time he didn’t seem to hear him at all. He didn’t seem as if he had even noticed Xac’s broken arm, and when Xac showed it to him, he responded with, “Yeah, sure is, ain’t it?” as if he wasn’t particularly interested.

Xaxac wondered what was wrong with him.

Xaxac wondered what was wrong with Agalon.

If he had come to bed at all he would have had to have gone to sleep after Xac and woken up before him. Though to be fair, Xac had fallen asleep pretty readily, before he had even eaten dinner, so that was possible. But it wasn’t a good feeling. Agalon was mad at him, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it, he only knew that his life depended on keeping Agalon happy, so he needed to correct it instantly.

Lee led him to the foyer where most of the housestaff were already waiting, arranged neatly in a line.

The sight made Xaxac uneasy.

Because there were people missing.

Neither his mother nor his sister were standing with the rest of the staff.

“Lee?” He asked as Lee grabbed him by the upper part of his good arm and the hip on the side of his bad arm and positioned him in the line beside the boy who lit the fires and would not speak to him.

“Be quiet, Xac,” Lee said in the same manner he had said everything else, as if he was thinking of something else, something far away and incredibly important, and didn’t have the time or attention for anything else- but this was important.

“Lee, where’s mama?” Xaxac asked.

“Be quiet, Xaxac,” Lee said, more sternly, “Put your arm behind your back. Don’t bend the broke one, but put your good one behind your back.”

Then he stood, facing the door, clicked his heels together, fisted one hand over his heart and the other in the small of his back and seemed to go into a state of suspended animation, staring straight ahead, like everyone else in line.

It was so quiet.

This silence in a room full of people stretched on for so long that Xaxac became jittery. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, hear his blood pumping through his veins, but he fought it and stood perfectly still, staring straight ahead at those giant, closed doors.

They weren’t much to look at, but Xac took in every detail, from the dark wood to the metal fixtures, which he was pretty sure were not, as he had once suspected, real gold. Now that he had seen a lot of gold, mostly in Agalon’s jewelry, he could tell a difference. Whatever was on the door wanted very badly to be gold, but it was not.

He was so happy to hear the sounds of footfalls on the stairs that he broke into a real smile, but it faded when the group rounded the corner past the last staircase and came into view, to stop before the door.

Agalon and Lorsan were followed closely by Jimmy, who carried a suitcase in one hand, a canvas bag in the other, and wore a backpack.

Was Jimmy going somewhere?

He was dressed as if he was going somewhere. He wore a traveling cloak almost as nice as the one Lorsan wore, and even the sight of Lorsan, in his military uniform once again, put Xac off. Lorry looked much better as a boy, even a noble one, than he did as a soldier.

Xaxac longed to speak to Jimmy, to ask him what he was doing, why he was dressed as if he was going somewhere.

But he couldn’t.

He couldn’t even lock eyes with him, couldn’t give him any sort of knowing look, because Jimmy stood behind and slightly to the left of Lorsan, and kept his eyes glued to his own boots.

“You got everything you need?” Agalon asked.

Stolen story; please report.

“Yup,” Lorsan said as if the question annoyed him. “You need me, I’ll be gone for the next four and a half months.”

“No you won’t,” Agalon reminded him, “You’ll be back in a little bit for the Mask Festival on the equinox.”

“Sure,” Lorsan said, and Xaxac thought that he had no intention of returning for the party.

Agalon reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, which he held out to Lorsan, “When you get there, you give this to Sergeant Thefir.”

“Yup,” Lorsan said again as he took it and tucked it into the bag on his belt.

“I’ll miss you,” Agalon said warmly, placed his hands on both of Lorsan’s shoulders and pulled him into a fierce hug, which didn’t seem to be to Lorsan’s taste at all. He pulled away as soon as he could, but his father would not release him, and kissed him on his forehead in a way that reminded Xac of the way he would kiss him on his forehead, normally as a parting kiss. It was a goodbye kiss, and watching him do it to someone else made something inside of him grow heavy in a way he didn’t understand.

“Scry me as soon as you get there,” Agalon said.

“Yup,” Lorsan said, but apparently Agalon didn’t believe him, because he reached for his face, held his chin in two fingers and forced him to look up, into his eyes.

“Lorsan,” he said seriously, “Scry me when you get there. The world is a dangerous place for pretty little noblemen. Something could happen. I’ll be worried.”

“I will,” Lorsan said, with far more disgust in his voice than Xaxac thought the situation warranted, “I gotta go. It’s a long trip.”

He jerked away and put some distance between them, which seemed to be the signal for the doormen, who stepped forward to open the doors and let in the light of the beautiful morning full of crisp autumn air.

“I love you, Lorry,” Agalon said.

“Yeah,” Lorsan paused on the porch, but Jimmy went on to the carriage Xaxac saw beyond, waiting on them, and began to load the luggage into the box on the back, “You too, dad.”

Jimmy moved to the door to open it, and Lorsan stepped inside without looking back.

Xaxac thought that Jimmy would turn around, would come back into the house, but he didn’t. Instead, he took the reigns from Jimmy Ray and climbed onto the seat at the front of the carriage, behind the dashboard, where Lee had sat when he, Xaxac, and Agalon had traveled. Jimmy didn’t look back either as he tugged the reins, maneuvered the horses, and the entire carriage set off towards the gate and the road beyond.

“That’ll be all,” Agalon said once he saw the carriage move through the gate, “Y’all are dismissed.”

The line broke, and Xaxac scanned the crowd of people, just to make sure he had been correct. But neither his mother nor his sister were among them. He had planned to wait on Agalon, but Lee grabbed him by his good arm and led him away, back through the hall to the servants’ staircase by the kitchen.

“Lee?” Xac asked as they walked, “Where’s Jimmy goin?”

“He’s Master Lorsan’s valet,” Lee explained, “trained him myself. Good skills. He’s goin to the Military Academy in the capital. Good job, real good job to have. I reckon it’s on the castle grounds. He might see royalty.”

“To drop Lorry off?” Xac asked, “Then he’ll be back?”

“He’s Master Lorsan’s valet,” Lee said again, still sounding very tired, “He’ll be back when Master Lorsan’s back. He’s an attendant. He’ll be attendin to him.”

“For months?” Xac asked, “But… it’s been almost three months. If he’s gone four and a half months he won’t be here when Alley births the baby.”

“Right,” Lee said, moving more quickly up the stairs, “That tracks. Good counting.”

“But he won’t be here!” Xac insisted, “For the baby!”

“He won’t stay long then,” Lee continued, “Winter break don’t last that long, thank Thesis. Lorry don’t stay long in the winter unless the snow catches him.”

“But he ain’t gonna be here for the baby!” Xac insisted; he was growing frustrated, didn’t understand why Lee didn’t see the simple and obvious problem.

“Right,” Lee said, “that tracks.”

He opened the door at the top of the staircase and held it for Xaxac, but Xac stared at him and tried to figure out what the problem was, what the miscommunication was.

“Aggie knew she was pregnant!” Xaxac said, “Knew Jimmy’s her man. He wouldn’t send him away.”

“Why?” Lee asked, and Xaxac wished he would pay attention.

“What’s wrong with you?” Xac asked, feeling the whine seep into his voice despite how hard he tried to fight it, “Where you at?”

“I’m old,” Lee explained, “And tired. That trip to the Capital took a lot outta me and I ain’t lookin forward to this season startin. Lord, boy, you don’t know how bad I don’t wanna do this.”

“Lee,” Xac asked with all the seriousness he felt, “Where’s mama? Where’s Alley?”

“I don’t know nothin about that,” Lee said, “That’s Nancy’s domain. Come on, Xac, get where you’re supposed to be. I got a lot of prep to do for tomorrow. I ain’t got time for this.”

“What’s happenin tomorrow?” Xac asked.

“We gotta head out to Basilglen,” Lee said, “First round is in Basilglen. I gotta pack for Master Agalon, and for you. He brings his pleasure slave with him.”