Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part fourteen)
Rating and Warnings-- G; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.



The lady looked surprised, and maybe a little hurt, when he pulled away so suddenly to wrap his arms around his legs and curl into himself. But she shouldn't have asked! It really wasn't off-worlder business! It shouldn't matter to them...

"Ju'jou?" she murmured, carefully reaching out a hand. He shied away, struggling to not let his bones slip into place as animal-bones. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be on two legs, even if he was sitting on the floor and huddled so that it didn't really matter. He hadn't liked towns after spending time in the first one he'd ever seen.

"Doesn'tmattertoyou!" he repeated fervently, hiding his face. It was easy to forget that she couldn't see, but it was even easier to pretend none of them could see him if he hid. He knew it was immature and foolish. He just didn't care.

"Does now," came a gruff voice, and Ju'jou looked up in surprise to find the big man towering over him. He hadn't heard him move from the window! Humans can't walk that quietly! Or maybe he'd stopped listening. "Tell," the big man demanded, fixing him with a hard look. Were his eyes always yellow like that? Did humans ever have yellow eyes?

He could smell heat, like burning candles, but there were none in the room.

"Iworkedinatownforaverylongtime," he blurted out, speaking as rapidly as he could in hopes they wouldn't really understand. "Iwasn'tallowedtogobacktomyhomeuntiljustlastseason. I'vebeenonalotoftripssincethenbutIhadn'tgoneononealone."

The man said something in the other language, and the lady answered with several slow, smoothly-spoken sentences. The other language was pretty to hear. He wished he could speak it. She probably translated what he'd said for the men. She was really good with his language. He wondered how many languages she knew. He only knew two, and sivefan was the second of those. But other Sivefi were used to his kind speaking in bursts like they did in their own tongue. They didn't have trouble understanding, like the off-worlders did.

The three were talking now in thoughtful voices, exchanging meaningful looks that he didn't understand. The lady was mostly quiet, her hand still extended towards him, though she probably didn't expect him to come over there now. He wanted too, though. The off-worlders weren't stupid. They would ask more questions, and what if they decided he wasn't a good guide? His elders told him he'd do okay. But then, he'd thought most off-worlders didn't care this much about their guides. Some of them hadn't even bothered using the Sivefi's names.

The conversation died down, and the big man said something while looking down at him. Ju'jou cringed under the look, even though the man's eyes had gotten dark again instead of bright. He'd never seen humans change their eyes like that before. He wondered what it meant. He wondered if he shouldn't have reacted so badly to the question, because maybe they wouldn't think they needed to ask more questions, then. Oops.

"Ju'jou," the lady began, speaking so quietly that he had to uncover his face and prick his ears to hear her clearly. "What kind of work did you do in the town?"

That was a good question. If he hadn't been him, he would have been proud of her for her keenness. Instead, he shrank a little further down. His bones felt liquid, and it was hard to hold his shape. "IdidworkforSivefiwhoneededworkdone," he answered, trying to mumble. A booted toe nudging him lightly in the ribs nearly made him leap out of his skin; the big man was glaring.

"Speak slow," the man commanded, frowning and taking his foot back. Ju'jou wondered if he would kick him.

Being as quiet as he could, the shapechanger repeated himself. "I didwork for Sivefi who needed work done."

"What kind work?" The big man had taken over the conversation; the lady was quiet.

Ju'jou fixed his eyes on his toes and wedged his chin between his knees. His joints felt loose, like he'd pop a limb out of place if he moved. "I was aguard, sometimes," he muttered dejectedly, "and I helpedmove things, sometimes, and I fought otherSivefi forentertainment, sometimes, and I was acompanion, sometimes." He swallowed a whine, trying to shove the tension from his body without losing his shape. He hadn't accidentally switched bodies since leaving that town. He didn't want to lose control like that again, even if he was ashamed of himself.

The big man said three words in the other language; the lady stood slowly, moving like she was made of liquid steel, and said something else in a low, edged voice. The smaller man spoke hastily and stepped between them, empty hands articulating in gestures, then he glanced down at the changer's unmoving form. "What town?" he managed to ask. His pronunciation was a little better than the other man's.

"Atown veryfar from here, southandwest," Ju'jou answered, his eyes flicking to the lady. Her tail was moving rapidly behind her, but it didn't seem like a happy motion. He could smell anger in the air. Did the big man make her mad? Did he make her mad?! He whined.

The smaller man stepped forward and crouched within arm's reach of the Sivefi, his black dress pooling around his feet. "I speak bad," he admitted with a strange expression, "but she not want speak. In town, you fight..." He trailed off, searching for words, then pointed at Ju'jou. "Sivefi you? Not Sivefi--?" and he pointed at the floor, indicating the other Sivefi in the common room below.

It took Ju'jou a moment to figure out what he meant, but he nodded. This time, he spoke slowly voluntarily. "I fought Sivefi like me. Sivefi-rasarde, not Sivefi-hyunnin." He could almost hear his bones splashing around in the cavities of his muscles. He clung to his shape with as much willpower as he could muster. He'd already said it all - there was no use in hiding now.

"Entertainment?" The man said it properly, but questioningly. "Sivefi-...younen? Entertain?"

"For Sivefi-hyunnin entertainment." Ju'jou nodded again.

The man said something over his shoulder in the other language, which made the big man frown, then glanced back at the shapechanger. "How companion?" He paused, lips moving restlessly as though trying to find a word. He made a hand gesture, which turned into a motion towards the little window. "Like ... cart puller? Less work, still ... less person?"

That was an interesting way to ask that question, Ju'jou thought. Sivefi-hyunnin domesticated a lot of animals to serve them. Sivefi-rasarde were never supposed to be like those animals, but sometimes, they were. "Sometimes," he nodded.

"What other times?" the off-worlder asked, peering closely at Ju'jou's dappled face. "What when not less person?" He was very bright, just like the lady. They were good questions.

What had he been when he wasn't a pet? The shapechanger glanced at his toes again. Did he really have to answer that? It was embarrassing. Maybe he could get around it. "I wasjust acompanion othertimes," he answered vaguely, "not lessthanaperson."

The big man said something in the other language, and the smaller man replied in a horrified tone. They exchanged a few more words before the smaller man regained his composure and looked back to Ju'jou. "You guide us?" he asked, ending the interrogation.

Ju'jou nodded firmly, and his bones felt like bones again. "I willguide youthree," he affirmed.