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. . . . Kerchoo! She had a clear field.
Marge sat there, nervously waiting for her. "About time!" "I had to get
through a horde of lustful soldiers, my lady," she apologized. "I was not sure
I would be here in time."
"Yeah, well, I kinda figured something like that. You still got a few minutes
yet, and I'm still only mildly worried about Joe. After all, he'd be naked and
on foot, with those patrols about, and it's a long way. I "
There was a sudden figure at the window, that of a Kauri. Joe climbed in, and
Mia and Marge both frowned, then Mia looked down at her unchanged self and
Marge at Mia's normality.
"I don't know what the hell's wrong with this crazy curse!" he grumbled. "This
never happened before. Never."
Quickly he filled them in on what had happened up to a point.
Marge, of course, caught it immediately. "Uh, Joe . . . You look awfully good
and awfully fit and strong by Kauri standards for somebody who got drained by
a spell that strong."
His eyes rolled heavenward, then to Mia, then back to her. "The curse must
have restored it as I slept," he responded at last. "Maybe that's why I didn't
change back."
Until that moment, Marge had never thought a Kauri could look embarrassed. She
knew that there was only one way he could have gotten that kind of energy
recharge, but she resisted the urgings of her Texas fairy soul to bring it up
and rub it in. If he was as drained as he said, and then still made it that
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far, when he woke up it wouldn't have been an option but a compulsion.
"So what do we do now?" Marge asked instead. "The only way I know to go when
you have a bent curse is to visit a witch doctor, but somehow I don't think we
want a Kauri walking into any witch doctor in these parts and saying she's
really a were and couldn't switch back because of a sorcerous jolt!"
"Perhaps it will repair itself now, Master," Mia said hopefully. "The moon
will be up any moment."
"Jeez! That's a point!" Marge commented. "Maybe we should get into some kind
of position ..."
But it was too late. He saw Mia's form blur and twist, actually saw her very
brief change into Kauri form. He, too, felt it, but he suddenly realized that
he was out of position.
"Well, we've got two of us, anyway," Marge noted, looking at her twin where
Mia had stood moments before. Joe, however, had been slightly closer not to
Marge, but to Mia.
"I never realized that before," the Kauri went on, staring at the new Joe. "It
even duplicated the nose ring! Holy smoke, Joe! You own yourself!"
Joe let out a long, exasperated sigh.
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CHAPTER 9
FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER
Black shall be the color of the forces of evil; gold or silver trim is
optional.
Good shall have use of any other appropriate color combinations. One of the
few tangible benefits of good is that they shall be able to use the better
clothing designers.
The Books of Rules, II, 447(b)
JOE STOOD THERE, FEELING PRETTY STUPID. HE'D BEEN SO CONVINCED, considering
the day, that there would be no change at moonrise, that he'd been very
sloppy.
"I have seen the objects transferred before, my lady," he responded, the title
coming unbidden. Just as he'd inherited an entire duplicate set of Kauri
powers and instincts, and, yes, compulsions, so, too, had the damned curse
duplicated not only Mia, but the full deck of Rules governing her as well. "As
weres are supposed to exactly duplicate what they are nearest, it can happen."
"This is madness!" Mia protested. "How can he own himself?"
"Because the ring's a fake, really part of him," Marge answered. "He's not
really a slave, he's just duplicating, imitating one exactly." She sighed. "So
now what do we do?"
"He surely cannot go out like that," Mia pointed out.
"And I can't stay in," Marge said. "After last night I need a recharge and a
hotshot in spades, and, Mia, since you duplicated me exactly, so do you."
"I can do nothing but spend the night here, my ladies," Joe responded. "There
is clearly nothing else I can do."
"Yeah, and hope that this at least means the curse is no longer out of whack,"
Marge responded. "Otherwise, tomorrow daytime, there'll be two slaves and no
master."
Mia thought for a moment. "Uh, I would not leave this room all night in any
case," she told him. "The town is filled with soldiers and they all have been
pressing me to dance, and, you know."
"Besides," Marge noted, "you don't have the collar."
"I shall behave, my lady," he responded. How odd to be doing that to Mia! "I
shall sit here and worry about the two of you."
Marge laughed. "Don't worry about us! We're .not about to do any snooping
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tonight. Too hot out there for that! Come on, Mia! Let's blow this joint!"
Joe watched them go, then went over to the nightstand where there was some
barely nibbled-on fruits and vegetables. What a time! he thought grumpily,
finishing them off. While doing so, he was suddenly seized with the thought of
how unkempt and messy it all was. By the time he was finished, he'd
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