Chapter 12
The sitting room in which Tarrin and the others had been placed was absolutely palatial. Keritanima looked decidedly jealous as they sat in a massive room with a ceiling that had to be twenty spans high, the ceiling painted in a starry sky portrait. Live plants, some kind of broad-leafed ivy or clinging vine, climbed up one wall, flanking a fountain that bubbled happily on the wall which the majority of the furniture faced. Soft light radiated from the walls to light the room, a room with no windows, a room that smelled strangely fresh to Tarrin's keen nose. There were more sculptures in the sitting room, to the sides of the fountain, which seemed to be the centerpiece of the room. The walls not devoted to its living display had art hanging from them. One was a portrait of five Sha'Kar, a portrait so stunningly done that the people on the portrait literally looked alive. Tarrin recognized Iselde and Allyn on that portrait, as well as Arlan, the two children much younger than they looked now. There was a female adult Sha'Kar with red hair, of all things, a very beautiful female with soft blue eyes and a warm expression. She had the two children on her lap, who were but cubs when the portrait was painted. A Sha'Kar male with blond hair had his slender hand on her shoulder, and the resemblance made it clear that this one was the father of the children. He was a handsome fellow, not effeminately beautiful the way other Sha'Kar males seemed to be.
This was the second room they'd seen so far that seemed almost overwhelmingly beautiful. It was the same thing that the Palace in Wikuna tried for, but where the Palace bowled one over with displays of ridiculous wealth, this place assaulted one with the inescapable taste and beauty of its architecture, decoration, and feel. What this place gave up in quantity to Keritanima's Palace, it more than made up for in subtle taste. Tarrin didn't think that it was wrong for the Sha'Kar to want to surround themselves with beautiful things, but in a way, it almost seemed decadent, as Camara Tal put it.
And the way Iselde talked, this house was poor compared to some of the others. Dar was right… he didn't want to see anything else if this place was supposed to be crude.
There was that, and then there were the servants. Arlan had five human women waiting on them, literally hand and foot, all of them dressed in very simple silk black dresses that had skirts that ended at their knees, and dipped low enough to show off each girl's attributes. All five of them were very lovely young women, the oldest probably barely more than twenty, and they went about the business of serving their guests with exuberant, almost drowningly effective zeal. They tried to get Azakar and Camara Tal out of their armor, they tried to take everyone's shoes—Tarrin recalled that everyone here wore soft slippers, and most of his friends were wearing hard-soled boots—and they nearly smothered everyone with endless offers of food, drink, pillows, pipes, anything at all. And they meant anything. When one of the women caught Dar looking at her bosom, she gently yet boldly asked him if he wanted to take her into another room and have his way with her. That made the usually outgoing Arkisian blush to the roots of his hair and stammer out a disjointed, polite refusal.
What Tarrin and Azakar both noticed almost immediately that all the servants they'd seen so far had been human. The men and women outside, and now the five maids in the house. The five maids were all very lovely, almost as if no one that was not handsome or pretty would be allowed into the house to spoil its appearance. Azakar whispered his observations to Tarrin in Arakite as two of the maids were trying to get the Vendari to hand over their weapons and take something to eat and drink, and Tarrin had to agree with him. The two of them hadn't been very close since they'd been reunited, but both of them had an enduring, almost blind hatred of slavery and servitude. Both of them had suffered under the yoke of a master in different forms, and it was a tie that bound them together.
Another thing that Tarrin noticed about the women was that none of them were Sorcerers. So far, everyone they'd met that was not a servant was a Sorcerer. Of course, they'd only met three Sha'Kar, but Tarrin had seen some of the others on the very short walk between the edge of the forest and the front gate of Iselde's estate. He'd seen about twelve of the other citizens from relatively close distances, and that was close enough to sense their potential. But these five had no inherent talent for Sorcery. One of them, the tall redhead with the pale freckled skin and the large bosom, actually had the potential to learn Druidic magic—he could feel it in her clearly—but not Sorcery. That one, Tarrin marked mentally to come back and revisit the issue. There were so few Druids, he was positive that Triana would want him to try to do something about it.
Triana. He hadn't talked to anyone in Suld since they entered the void. Jesmind must be going absolutely crazy, he mused, and making life miserable for everyone around her. He'd bet that Triana would only give him a couple more days, and then she'd contact him with her magic. He knew that she could tell through her ability to keep tabs on him through the bond she once held that he was well, so she wasn't quite ready to tip her hand that she was worried quite yet and break down and talk to him. It was already sunset or close to it in Suld by now, so there was no sense doing it today. He'd get in touch with them tomorrow morning, when it would be around noon or so there.
Tarrin stood by the fountain, which had a small relief of a nude woman holding a pitcher, from which the water poured, sensing the magic about the fountain. It was Sorcery, but it was a lingering effect, something that Tarrin had thought very hard to accomplish. But then again, Spyder only taught them a mess of spells, not little tricks like sustaining a magical effect after the Sorcerer stopped concentrating on it. High Sorcery could render some spells permanent, linking them directly to the Weave where the spell would draw its power out of the strand on its own, but he didn't sense anything quite so drastic used here. The little fountain was self-contained, recycling the water in the bowl at the bottom to gurgle it from the pitcher at the top. He picked through the weave used on it, and realized that it was a lingering spell, but not permanent. The spell would slowly unravel as it lost the power that had been charged into it, like a candle slowly burning down to the nub. When it exhausted the extra power woven into it, it would unravel, and the spell would have to be cast again. That was a trick that Tarrin hadn't considered using in average weaves. He used it in powerful spells, like summoning Elementals—in fact, it was required to do that for an Elemental, for that power was the magical energy that sustained the Elemental after the Sorcerer finished weaving the spell. He'd never thought to use it in a spell so simple. He thought of any number of ways to use that, like a gentle breeze that would blow by itself and keep someone cool, or a fire that would burn by itself without fuel for hours, maybe even days. That would be handy in Keritanima's steam engine.
He wondered why Spyder hadn't taught him this trick, and it made him realize that these Sha'Kar were not to be taken lightly. He already could tell that they knew many of the oldest secrets of Sorcery, and they could be lethal adversaries if they decided to fight with them. Tarrin was stronger than any of them, but he was just one male, while they were five hundred strong. Even he could be overwhelmed if seven of their strongest Circled and confronted him. And if they did have human Sorcerers living on the island, then they could get around the limit of seven and come after them with a Circle as large as one hundred thirteen. Two branches of seven human Sorcerers acting as buffers between forty-nine Sha'Kar each, and one Sha'Kar merging the two branches together to act as buffer between the humans, who would also be leading the combined effort. That kind of directed power, it made Tarrin shudder to even consider it. That many Circled may very well have made the incredible dome that protected the island, or the wind that pushed all ships away, or the magical effects that had caused Keritanima's crew to mutiny. That was the power that the stories said was legendary, the mythical power of the katzh-dashi, the power to part the seas, sink islands, move mountains, or stop the moons.
With that many Sorcerers combined into a single Circle, all of them da'shar and sui'kun, they very well may have been able to do it.
That worried Tarrin. What if the Sha'Kar were here to defend the Firestaff? What if they were the final guardian? If they could bring that kind of power to bear against him, he wouldn't be able to defeat them. But, as Allia would say, if you can't steal the goat, then you trick the goat into coming to you. He could work around the Sha'Kar if it was needful. Just so long as they didn't oppose him when the time came to get the Firestaff. But that may be tricky. If they did know where it was and were here to protect it, it may get tricky getting that information out of them. But he'd find a way.
Tarrin looked away from the fountain, and saw that Azakar had taken one of the servant girls aside. She looked like a child standing beside the huge Mahuut, and he was leaning far down to talk to her in low tones. She was blushing quite a bit and giggling. Tarrin realized that he was sweet-talking her. Azakar? Talking to girls? It seemed amusing, but then again, Azakar was a rather handsome fellow. If someone didn't mind the fact that he was nine spans tall, anyway. Dolanna was doing the same thing, talking with one of the maids pouring her some tea, and Keritanima and Miranda had another one cornered over by a sculpture, surreptitiously grilling her for information.
Iselde and Allyn returned to the room quickly, and Tarrin noticed that all five servants stopped what they were doing and curtsied in their direction. The two Sha'Kar youths didn't even take notice of them, for their attention was fixated on Tarrin. Iselde came over to him and curtsied herself, her eyes bright and with a smile on her face. "Uncle Arlan went to escort the Council and Grand Syllis here," she announced to him. "He wanted to talk to them in person before they got here."
"I still can't believe that an honored one is in our house!" Allyn gushed, then he glanced at Allia. And kept glancing over at her. The young Sha'Kar seemed quite taken by the Selani, for some reason. That, or he just couldn't help looking at one of the Lost, one or the other.
"How long will it take for them to get here?" Tarrin asked the girl.
"Not long, honored one," she replied. "Once they hear that you're here, they'll come right away."
"The other estates are starting to hear about our visitors," Allyn said to them. "I saw a lot of talking at gates when I went with uncle Arlan."
"Would you like to sit down, honored one?" Iselde pressed. "Have you been offered food and drink?"
"I prefer to stand, Iselde," he said, bringing his tail around and waggling it. "This makes some furniture a little uncomfortable."
"We can bring you a stool if you'd like."
"I'm fine," he said firmly. He looked down at them, and realized that these two, so smitten with a sui'kun, just might be able to give him some information that he wouldn't have to drag out of the older, more experienced Elders. He may have better luck with them then the others would with the servants. "I'm still a bit surprised to find you out here," he told them. "Why did your people come here? Why not a larger island?"
"Why, because of the Ward," she answered. "Uncle Arlan said that the First Ones set it a long long time ago, to keep the mundanes away from this place. He says that when we left the towers to wait out the Breaking, that this place would be the best place for us. Without our magic, we'd be defenseless!" She licked her lips. "What's it like outside, honored one? Is there magic again? Is it safe for us now?"
"There's always been magic, Iselde," he told her. "Once the Breaking was over, it was safe for us again."
"How did you survive it, honored one?" Allyn asked.
"I wasn't alive when it happened," he told them. "I was born afterward."
"Oh!" Iselde gasped. "You're one of the new sui'kun, the ones that the Elders talk about all the time!"
"What do they say?"
"That the Goddess will send her gifts back into the world, and that new sui'kun will be born to replace those who died. That's what we've been waiting for. They say when the seven are restored, the Ward protecting the island will fail, and that will be our sign to return."
And that, he realized, was why the Goddess had sent him. There were six sui'kun alive right now. Spyder had been the original. Then Tarrin and Jenna had been born. Then Jasana. The fifth had been born during the battle at Suld, and the sixth not long ago. There was only one sui'kun left unborn, and if Iselde was right, then its birth would cause the Ward defending the island to fail. It may also disrupt the other magical protections, leaving the Firestaff undefended. Especially if the Sha'Kar left the island after the Ward came down, left to return to the outside world.
That was why it was so important for Tarrin to get the Firestaff. He had thought that the defenses were a bit too fearsome for the Goddess to worry about it, and in a way, he was right. Only Tarrin, the Mi'Shara, could breach the Ward and gain entry to the island. That was why he had the best chance of succeeding, because he could make his attempt before anyone else could try, and thusly face no competition during his attempt. But if those protections were gone, then the Firestaff would be just sitting somewhere on this island waiting for someone to pick it up. It may or may not be defended at that time, depending on if the Sha'Kar were the final guardians or not. If they were, it would be defenseless. If not, it would be guarded, but most of the other protective measures that protected it would be gone, thereby making recovering it a much simpler task. That was the whole reason why the ki'zadun had tried to both kill him and control him. If they controlled him, they would have first shot at the Firestaff. If they couldn't control him, they had to kill him, thereby making it a dead race, a race they had a good chance of winning. Only the Zakkites and the Wikuni would pose a real threat to their victory, for both were formidable naval powers. Both had the capability of surrounding the island and blockading it against anyone else.
Tarrin put that revelation aside for the moment, considering what else to ask. "How did your people know to come here?" he asked. "The Breaking happened so suddenly, there wasn't any warning."
"My uncle told us that some of my people can read the probabilities of the future," she answered. "It's not a gift of Sorcery, it's a gift of the mind. Some of them foresaw the Breaking and convinced enough of our people and some of the humans to come here and wait for that day to come. If it came and went without any disaster, then there would be nothing lost. But if it did, then our people would continue on and our ways wouldn't be lost to the world."
"Then your people were wise," he told her. "The Sha'kar are nothing but myth and legend now. Everything about your people has been lost and forgotten. Even your language has been forgotten by the outside world."
"If that's so, then how do you know it, honored one?"
"Good question," he smiled. "We found forgotten scrolls in a musty old cellar that held the key to learning the spoken form. Have you ever heard of the Book of Ages?"
Iselde gasped and gaped at him. "You've read from the holy book?" she asked him in wonder.
"I've held it in my paws, Iselde," he told her gently. "It taught us the written Sha'Kar language. We used that to piece together some things left behind after the Breaking, and that's what brought us out here."
"What are you doing here, honored one?" she finally asked. "If you're not here to come and get us, then why?"
"We're searching for an ancient artifact called the Firestaff," he told her very carefully, watching her expression and her eyes and analyzing her scent. When he said the word firestaff, he saw her eyes shift a little and her brow furrow, and her scent picked up a slight tang of concern. It was a word she understood, and it caused her to react with slight anxiety. "Ancient writings said that it was somewhere out here, and we've been looking for it. We thought it might be here, so we came to check before moving on."
"If you're sui'kun, then you know what it is, and what it can do," she said seriously.
"I do. That's why we're out here. I'm here to stop that from happening," he told her adamantly. "I was sent by the Goddess herself."
Tarrin saw the conflict in her eyes. Iselde knew something about the Firestaff, but she obviously wasn't sure if she should tell him or not. Tarrin was about to press her, to use her awe of him as a weapon to make her tell him what she knew, but Arlan chose that moment to return. And he was leading nine Sha'Kar, eight dressed in brilliant yellow robes that stood out against their skin and the ninth wearing a robe that almost looked to be made out of gold spun into cloth. All nine of them looked mature, but not old. Five were male, and four were female. All of them had the pattern Sha'Kar beauty, a similarity of appearance that probably went through the whole race, with only minor alterations of that base beauty to disseminate between individuals. Some had broader cheeks, some narrower. Some had larger eyes, some smaller. Some had larger ears or a sharper chin, some had a slightly narrower nose or more elegant brows. But the commonality of beauty went through all nine of them. Even Allia shared that same basic appearance, as did Var, Denai, and all the Selani he'd seen. In a fleeting instant, Tarrin understood why the Wikuni gods changed their children, who were also descendents of the Sha'Kar and Urzani. Those Sha'Kar had abandoned the Sha'Kar culture, but they still looked like Sha'Kar. The Wikuni gods wanted that change to be a complete one, so they altered the appearance of their worshippers.
All nine of them absolutely ignored everyone else in the room, didn't see the five human girls curtsy to them nervously. All of them were looking right at Tarrin. He could sense their power, and realized that these nine were not to be taken lightly. They were all da'shar, and from the feel of them, they were alive during the Breaking. These were people who lived during the Age of Power, beings whose command of Sorcery would seem almost godlike to the modern descendents of the old katzh-dashi. They were at least a thousand years old, all of them, and they all had a similar sense about them that Triana did, a sheathe of wisdom and power that made them stand above those around them. These, Tarrin realized, were Ancients.
Ghosts of the past, resurrected into the future. Now that dream made complete sense.
"Honored one," one of the yellow-robed males said in awe, one with small eyes. "I never dreamed I'd live to see the day the honored ones returned to us."
The one in the gold robe stepped forward and bowed. "Honored one, I am Grand Syllis," he introduced in a nasal voice. "It's been too long since we've been graced with the presence of one such as you. Sha'Kari welcomes you with open arms. Our homes are your homes, and our wine is your wine."
"My name is Tarrin," he told them in a calm, almost gruff manner after glancing at Dolanna, who nodded. Diplomacy wasn't Tarrin's strong suit, but it was obvious that they didn't even know that the others existed. "I'll admit that we're surprised to find you here. We didn't expect to find Sha'Kar on this journey."
"He is the one," one of the females said. "With the others."
"The other two honored ones, are they perchance with you?" Grand Syllis asked.
"They're in Suld," he answered honestly. "How did you know about them?"
"Delande is quite adept at traveling the Weave," Grand Syllis said. "She's one of the few who can breach the barrier the Ward creates and travel back to the Heart. She has been visiting there from time to time, waiting for the day da'shar and sui'kun reappeared. She saw you in the Heart with another honored one, and she said she could sense yet another very close to you."
Delande had to be the presence that Jenna and Jula had been sensing. That mystery was solved. Judging from Iselde's reaction, the news about the sui'kun was information the Elders didn't bandy about with the other Sha'Kar.
"I'm sure we could chat back and forth about pleasantries, but I'm afraid I've come on business," he told them. He saw Dolanna's slightly disapproving look, but he didn't feel like smalltalk at the moment. He wanted to set things out right now and see how they reacted to what he said. "Me and my friends are on a mission, a mission directly from the Goddess herself. Have you ever heard of an artifact called the Firestaff?"
That got their attention. All ten of them—including Arlan—gave him a startled look, and almost as one, the Elders and Grand Syllis put their hands inside the sleeves of their robes. The scents coming off of them were ones of trepidation and worry. They did know about the Firestaff, and judging from the defensive reactions, they knew quite a bit about it.
"The Goddess tasked us to find it, because the whole world is turning itself inside out over it right now. She wants us to find it and take it away and hide it again so it can't be found." He threw his braid over his shoulder absently. "We know it's somewhere in this general direction. When we started encountering all the obstacles, we felt that there was a good chance that it may be here, that the obstacles had been placed to defend it. Now I see that the obstacles are there because you're here," he said with a slight sigh. "I don't think it's here, but maybe, if you know where it is, you could tell us."
There. That set everything up. They knew what Tarrin was doing, but Tarrin made a plausible reason not to think that it was on the island. They knew something about it, something important. Probably where it was on the island, but he could tell from the way they reacted that they wouldn't willingly tell him anything. But Tarrin had set up the trap, and now he wanted to see if they were going to fall into it.
"I'm sorry, honored one, but we can be of little help to you," Grand Syllis said with a sigh. "I'm afraid we don't know where it is."
He was lying. Tarrin could smell it all over him. He was nervous and a little upset, and he was lying. Tarrin had to admit, he was a good liar. He didn't blink or shift or do any of the normal things that humans did when they lied. The Sha'Kar probably had no idea Tarrin's senses were so acute, that he could smell the change in the man's scent that was caused by his emotional shift when he had to lie.
"Then I'm afraid I have no more need to be here," he said bluntly. "Our mission is too important. We'll leave you and visit again when we return to Suld."
"Tarrin, what are you doing?" Kimmie demanded in the unspoken manner of the Cat.
"Trust me," he replied to her.
"Please!" one of the Elders cried out, a short thin male with blond hair. "You only just arrived, honored one! Surely you can spare a few days from your quest!"
"Yes, honored one! Please stay!" one of the females called, almost pleadingly. "We hunger for news of the outside world!"
Syllis looked visibly annoyed with his council of Elders as all of them, as well as Arlan, Iselde, and Allyn, pleaded with Tarrin to stay, even if only for a few days. Tarrin let them plead and beg and cajole a moment, looking serious, then he turned and glanced at Dolanna. She nodded, and he held up his paws. "Alright, but only for a few days," he told them.
"Thank you, honored one!" one of the Elders exploded, a very tall, willowy female.
That same female stepped from the group and curtsied to him, holding up the hem of her dress, and introduced herself as Dalenne. Then Grand Syllis stepped up and bowed, and then led Tarrin back to the Elders and introduced them one by one, the females first, as if by some custom. They were Yvenne, Uralia, and Vendelle, and the males were Jordan, Alphon, Thince, and Basel.
Tarrin responded by introducing his friends, but he saw that they seemed only mildly interested in them, almost as if they didn't matter until Tarrin brought their presence to their attention. He introduced Dolanna, Keritanima, Allia, and Dar as katzh-dashi, and that got something of a cordial reply from Grand Syllis. Introducing Phandebrass and Camara Tal as a Wizard and Priestess seemed only mildly interesting to the man, and he didn't even spare a glance at Azakar, a Knight, or the Vendari bodyguards. He gave Miranda a very strange look when Tarrin introduced her as Keritanima's friend and aide, one that made Tarrin wonder just what he could tell about his very special friend. When he introduced Kimmie as his mate, that made the Sha'Kar smile at her and offer his hand to her, something he didn't do for anyone else.
"I must ask what race you are, my dear," he asked Kimmie. "I've never seen your like before."
"We're Were-cats, Grand Syllis," she replied with a sweet smile.
"Were-kin? Our honored one is also a Were-kin!" Grand Syllis said with a bright smile. "I say, that is definitely very interesting. I didn't think any of the Were-kin had any potential as Sorcerers."
"The introduction of humans into the Were-kin broadened the abilities of our kind," Kimmie said carefully. "Many Were-kin are very capable Wizards and Priests as well, at least those that don't have enough Druidic aptitude to study it."
"I can sense something about you, dear lady. Are you perchance a Druid?"
"Wizard," she replied with a smile. "I'm afraid I wasn't lucky enough to have enough Druidic ability to train."
"At least you've managed to excel in some kind of magic, dear lady," Grand Syllis said with a false smile. His scent told Tarrin that the Sha'Kar was vastly relieved at that news. And that was very important information. Syllis feared Druids, and rightly so. Druids could block Sorcery. Syllis had just ensured that there wasn't a Druid among them to interfere with him, if it came down to it.
Tarrin looked at this Grand Syllis, and every moment that went by, he was more and more certain that the Sha'Kar was going to ultimately end up opposing him. He wasn't sure how he knew that, but he did. Even now, before the first lines had been drawn in the sand, Tarrin was already sizing up this future enemy, puzzling out his motivations and preparing counters to deal with them.
"Well, let me be the first to congratulate you on your coming blessing, dear lady," Syllis told her with a smile.
"Thank you," she said calmly. "You have good eyes, Grand Syllis. I'm not even showing yet."
Tarrin realized that it wasn't because he could see it, but because he probably probed Kimmie with his magic, the same way Arlan did to him when they first met. He assessed Kimmie and felt a second active intelligence within her. In a female, that was obviously a pregnancy. "Those who revere life are sensitive to the newest ones," he said with a sweeping of his arm. "Please, let us take you to the House of the Goddess, where we can give you rooms proper for your station. Not in this small hovel," he said with a slightly deprecatory glance at Arlan, who bowed his head.
"If it's all the same to you, Grand Syllis, I'm a simple man with simple tastes. I find this house quite satisfactory. If Master Arlan will have me, I'd prefer to stay here."
"You can have my personal chamber, honored one," Arlan said very brightly, almost falling over himself to accept. "You honor my humble home beyond words!"
"Are you sure, honored one?" Syllis pressed. "The House of the Goddess is much finer than this place. It's a place more suited for you."
"I'm not Sha'Kar or human, Grand," Tarrin said pointedly. "I have customs that will seem very alien to you. One of them is that I don't find a need to be surrounded by opulence and servants. Trust me, this place is almost too much. Were it any grander, I would go back into the forest and set up a camp there. I'd feel more comfortable out there anyway."
That seemed to scandalize all the Sha'Kar, but Syllis seemed to recover himself. "Anything you wish, honored one," he said smoothly. "If you would prefer to stay in this small cottage, then this is where you will stay. I'm sure Arlan will do his best to be a proper host to you."
"You will be well cared for, honored one!" Arlan said emphatically.
"For the moment, we of the Council need to withdraw and consult our books. We will search our histories for you and see if we can find what you seek. Until then, please make yourselves comfortable with Arlan and his family."
"I'm sure Arlan will be a proper host," Tarrin said confidently.
"Very good then. I know you prefer to be here and that you don't like opulence, but we must celebrate your arrival in a suitable fashion. A feast, I believe, one for the entire city. Would that offend you, honored one?"
Tarrin glanced at Dolanna, who nodded imperceptibly. "That's fine with me," he answered.
"Very good, then! We'll make the arrangements. Tonight, you will meet all of us who wait to return to our place in the world."
"I'm looking forward to it, Grand Syllis."
The male smiled at him. It was an oily smile, one that put Tarrin's hackles up almost immediately. It was a chilling smile. "We'll do our best to honor your arrival," he said.
And then, with lengthy farewells, the Council withdrew. Tarrin watched them leave, and all he could feel was uncertainty over Syllis. Maybe it was just him, maybe it was just his feral nature, maybe it was his inexperience with Sha'Kar culture, or maybe it was real, but everything about that Sha'Kar screamed at Tarrin to either kill him flee from him. The Cat saw him as an enemy, and Tarrin had a certainty within him that he was one. Syllis was going to be one he would have to watch carefully. Until then, there were Sha'Kar youths and human servants to quietly grill for information.
Arlan was true to his word, and pushed Tarrin to taking his personal chamber. To say that it was extravagant would have been a vast understatement. The bed itself was large enough to fit six Sha'Kar, on a raised pedestal of sorts at the far end of the room from the huge entry doors. It was round in shape, something Tarrin had never seen before, and was both soft and firm at the same time. The rest of the room was monstrous, fully as large as the sitting room, with paintings, a few tapestries, and more of those delicate sculptures. Some of them were decidedly erotic, although tastefully so, a window into the mind of the Sha'Kar. They obviously didn't have the same hang-ups about sex as the humans did. The huge bed was only the first of a series of unusual decorations or furnishings, from two strange couch-like divans with no backs, only a raised section on one side for someone to recline upon, and there were very well carved bureaus for clothes, with large, deep drawers. A series of balls of light hung from the ceiling, glowglobes, something he hadn't seen anywhere but in the Tower, and they served to illuminate the room. By far the strangest feature of the room was the pool in a recessed area behind the bed, which was literally in a room of its own. The fact that there was no door between the pool area and the rest of the room made Tarrin consider it a part of the room, the two separated by a very large, wide, elegant arch with Sha'Kar script chiseled into the white stones. It was a short prayer of blessing to the Goddess. The pool's water was hot to the touch, and Tarrin could sense the magic that caused it to be so, as well as several other permanent spells that kept the water clean and fresh. The arch too was imbued with magical energy, causing the heat of the pool beyond to be contained in the pool room.
It took Tarrin a while to get used to the idea that a room for sleeping was nearly as large as a hall in a castle keep. Kimmie too seemed a little overwhelmed by the huge chamber and its delicate art and wondrous beauty, sitting on one of the divans and spending almost ten minutes just staring this way and that. She seemed quite impressed by the chamber, and looked longingly at the baths.
After Tarrin and Kimmie got used to the idea of the room, they had one of the servant girls send for the others. They all gathered in the room a few moments later, all of them looking quite shocked by what they'd found in the rooms to which they'd been taken. "Tarrin, this mansion has twelve bedrooms!" Dar told him in a shocked tone. "Twelve! As big as the rooms are in this place, I didn't think they'd have much room for more than two!"
"We're not here to talk about the rooms, Dar," Tarrin told him as they gathered around the two divans. The room wasn't meant to entertain large numbers of people, so everyone but Kimmie, Dolanna, Keritanima, and Miranda stood around the two backless couches as the four females seated themselves. "Has anyone managed to drag anything out of anyone yet?"
Keritanima paused, looking around. Then she wove a Ward that would prevent eavesdropping and placed it over them. "The Firestaff is definitely somewhere on this island," she said. "I can see it in their eyes when I've asked about it."
"I agree," Dolanna nodded. "And more, it is not something they seem willing to discuss. I do not think the serving girls know much, but they will not talk about it."
"They're certainly friendly," Phandebrass coughed. "I was changing into a new robe when one of them came in. She made some entirely inappropriate offers, she did."
"You should feel lucky," Camara Tal teased him. "It's not often an old coot like you gets a lady's eye."
"It's more than that," Phandebrass said. "I say, I get the feeling that the girls are doing it out of duty. The young lady certainly didn't seem all that interested in me, she didn't. It was like she was offering for my benefit, not hers, she was."
"You mean the servants here double as prostitutes," Azakar said stiffly.
"I'd say that's a pretty fair description," Miranda said calmly. "One thing I did notice, and that's that the human servants are terrified of the Sha'Kar. You should see the way they jump whenever one of them is in the room. It's almost pitiful."
"I did notice that," Tarrin grunted.
"I took a walk around the grounds," Keritanima said. "There's a farm behind the house, and all the people who work it are human. None of them would talk to me. I asked Iselde why they wouldn't talk with me, and she said it's because they're working. But I've never seen a farmer that wasn't willing to stop a moment and jabber with someone."
"Let us reserve judgment, my friends," Dolanna cautioned. "These Sha'Kar are powerful. Their ways are not ours, and I think that we had best not alienate them. They would be formidable enemies. Even if they keep the humans as slaves, we should not try to interfere or voice our displeasure. At least not until after we have what we need from them," she corrected.
"Dolanna raises a very good point," Allia agreed. "I can feel their power surround them like a cloak. Even Iselde and Allyn are powerful, and they do not have the same sense about them as Keritanima and Dolanna. I do not think they are da'shar."
"They're not," Tarrin told her. "I already thought about that, and you're right, Dolanna. If they oppose us, they'll win. It's that simple. So we'd better be very careful about how we go about getting around their lying. Syllis knows where the Firestaff is. I'm sure of it. We just have to think of a way to trick him or someone else into telling us where it is."
"He may have it, dear one," Dolanna speculated. "Perhaps the Sha'Kar are the final guardians."
"No, they're not," Phandebrass said, scratching his chin. "They came here just before the Breaking, and the Firestaff was here thousands of years before that. Did you hear what Iselde told Tarrin? I say, she said her people came here because of the Ward, they did. That means that it was here long before them. The Ward, I think it was set here to protect the Firestaff, it was, because the poem mentioned the Ward. So, logic tells me that the poem that doesn't mention the Sha'Kar was written before they came here, and that means that there is a guardian, there is."
"Unless the Sha'Kar destroyed it," Camara Tal grunted. "If they're that strong, they could have ganged up on it and taken it out."
"That is a rather unsettling possibility," Phandebrass conceded with a frown.
"The question now is, what are we going to do?" Kimmie asked.
They were silent a moment. "Move very, very carefully," Keritanima answered. "We need information, and we can't really move until we get at least a rough understanding of what we're dealing with. So I guess for now, we spread out and learn everything we can about the Sha'Kar. The more we know about them, the easier it'll be to manipulate them when the time comes, if we have to go that far. I'd rather not. They may be potential enemies, but they are Sorcerers. They're our brothers and sisters. It'd be easy if you could tell the Goddess to make them obey us, Tarrin," she told him. "They seem to be faithful children. If she ordered it, they'd probably obey her."
"That's worth a try," he agreed, raising his head. "Mother? Can you hear me?" There was a long silence. Tarrin worried for a moment, then realized that the sense of distance from the Goddess was still there. Unlike everything else that returned when they got through the Ward, that had not returned. "I don't think she can hear me," he fretted. "I think the Ward is interfering with me."
"I say, that's understandable," Phandebrass said. "There are gods after the Firestaff as well. It's only logical that whoever set the Ward hides it from gods as well as mortals. Since we're inside the Ward, we're on the wrong side of the line." He looked to Camara Tal. "I say, my dear, do you think you could cast a spell? If you can, then my theory isn't sound."
"My spell will work, Phandebrass, whether Neme can hear me or not," he said. "My connection to her where my magic is concerned runs through the Weave, same as your connection to your magic. Now, I could try to commune with her," she stated. "If that doesn't work, then you're probably right."
Keritanima shuddered. "Who can make something that blocks the powers of a god?" she asked in a sober tone. "Who made that Ward?"
"I'd say the Goddess did," Tarrin answered her. "I assessed that Ward when I touched it, and believe me, I don't think any mortal, not even every Ancient there was Circled together, would have been capable of doing something like that. I could barely understand even the tiniest fraction of everything that that Ward is capable of doing. And she may have made it so well that it even blocks her. The other gods probably would have demanded that. An unopenable chest isn't very useful if the maker has a key."
"That's reasonable," Phandebrass nodded.
"Well, that's one good idea wasted," Keritanima grunted.
"It would have been too easy," Miranda said with a cheeky grin. "So far, nothing has been very easy. I don't think we can expect our luck to change now."
"So, Kerri, you're the resident sneak. What should we do?" Dar asked.
Keritanima rubbed the side of her muzzle with the back of her hand, then slapped her hands into her lap. "We find things out," she said. "I think we should all go explore the house and talk to all the servants. At least any of them that will talk. The Sorcerers will go talk to the Sha'Kar, since they seem to ignore the rest of you," she said with a snort, "and see what we can find out from them."
"What kind of questions should we ask?"
"Absolutely anything you can think of, Dar," she replied seriously. "And I mean anything. What they eat, when the Sha'Kar like to get up in the morning, what they do for fun, what kind of jokes they tell, anything. We need to get an understanding of how they think, and we'll get it if we can learn enough about what they do and how they act. Even something as simple as this room can tell you a lot about someone, if you stop and study it for a while."
"I know it may assault your sensibilities, Dar, but maybe you should take that maid up on the offer she made you earlier," Miranda said delicately. "Women love to talk, and they talk more in bed. Maybe you can loosen her tongue a little bit."
"Among other things," Camara Tal said with a wolfish grin.
"And she'll say more than she would have said in another situation," Miranda finished, then she turned to the Amazon. "That goes for you too, Camara," Miranda winked. "Human men are just as gabby as human women in bed."
Dar blushed furiously. "Are you serious?" he asked.
"Actually, Dar, she is," Keritanima told him soberly. "I know it's something of a sacrifice, but think about it. You may be the one that finds out what we need to know, and trust me, it's actually quite an enjoyable experience," she said with a slow smile. "You're a very attractive young human, and you're young enough that they may not take you as seriously as they take the rest of us. They may tell you things they won't tell anyone else."
"Well," he hedged, blushing purple. "I guess—I mean—oh, bloody Abyss."
That made the more progressive people in the group chuckle. Kimmie reached out and put a paw on the young man's arm and grinned at him. "That's right, soldier, sacrifice for the cause," she jibed. "I know going to bed with those very pretty young ladies is going to be a terrible burden for you."
"You're a big help," he grunted under his voice.
"If I wouldn't kill the men that tried to mate with me, I would," she grinned. "You weaker races just couldn't survive a night with one of us. We'd tear you apart in the throes of passion."
"That's a creepy image," Dar shuddered.
"That does remind me of something," Tarrin said. "The Sha'Kar don't know about me and Kimmie, and what we're capable of. That's a trump card I'd rather not lose."
"What should we tell them?" Dolanna asked.
"That we're Were-kin."
"And if they ask for specifics?"
"They read about us in their books, so stick with the generals," Kimmie answered. "We're shapeshifters, we're contagious, and so on and so on. Nothing about our senses. I think that's what Tarrin wants to protect."
Tarrin nodded towards his mate.
"Even if they find out about you, I doubt they'll find out about me," Keritanima said. "For a Wikuni to have the senses I have is very, very rare. Even if they know about Wikuni, they'd never consider that."
"Good point," Tarrin agreed. "Remember, we don't want a fight with the Sha'Kar, people. Kerri is right. Even if they may oppose what we're doing, they are our brothers and sisters, and when the seventh sui'kun is born, they'll be coming back to the world. So we'd better not make them hostile to the katzh-dashi, or we'll be dealing with a huge nest of angry hornets when that day comes."
"This could get murky," Miranda frowned.
"I know, but until we know enough to make some hard decisions, let's not stir them up. Let's do what Kerri said, and go out and learn as much as we can. If we can trick the information we need out of them, we won't have to put ourselves in a position where we may have to do something we'll regret later."
"Aye," Camara Tal nodded. "I know we have to plan for possibilities, but I think Tarrin hit the mark. Let's try very hard to make these Sha'Kar friends. Even if we don't agree with some of the things we've seen so far."
Azakar glared at her a short moment, then caught himself and nodded solemnly.
There wasn't much more to say at that point, so they broke up and scattered through the huge place. Tarrin wandered its passage aimlessly, gaping at the stunning works of art and sculptures, each more dazzling and breathtaking than the last, until he finally managed to bump into a Sha'Kar. It was Iselde, who was carrying a large book with her. "Oh, honored one!" she said with a curtsy. "I was looking for you, but you weren't in your room."
"Why did you need me, Iselde?" he asked.
"I wanted to give you this," she said, holding out the book to him. "It's a book of our history on the island. I thought you might like to learn what we've done while we've been here waiting."
Iselde handed him the book, and Tarrin was sure she had just put a gold mine of information in his paws. He tucked it under his arm, trying hard to feign only mild interest. "I'm sure I'll find it interesting, Iselde," he nodded to her. "Could you show me where the kitchen is? I'm a little hungry, and truth be told, I'm lost. This place is too big for me."
"Our house? Big?" she said, then she laughed. "You tease me, honored one!"
"To me, this place isn't just big, it's damn big," he told her bluntly as she started leading him along the passages. "I live in a cottage, Iselde. My entire cottage can fit in your uncle's bedchamber. In fact, I think you could get two of them in there," he amended after a moment.
She gaped at him. "How do you stand it? You'd have no room for anything at all!"
"I don't have much need for things, young one," he told her. "I can carry everything I own in a backpack, and I rather like it that way. Don't forget, girl, I'm not Sha'Kar, or even human. Were-kin don't need much space to be happy, and we don't need things to fill what space we need."
"I'll try to not judge you by our standards, honored one," she promised. "I can already see that you're nothing like what I imagined a sui'kun to be."
"What did you expect? And be honest. I won't be insulted or embarrassed, no matter what you say."
She flushed slightly. "Well, I expected a handsome human to ride in on a magic chariot, or on the back of an Elemental, and sweep us away," she said in a slightly distant tone. Tarrin smiled slightly. The girl was a daydreamer. "And we'd go back to the towers and do what we did before the Breaking."
"What was that?"
"Serve the Goddess," she said simply. "Most of the adults were alive before the Breaking, and they tell us stories of how things were then. About the seven towers, and how we served the will of the Goddess. I think it would be a great thing to be able to do that again," she sighed. "I'd like to see her, just once, the way the da'shar have. But until the Ward fails, we're stuck here. Not even the da'shar can breach the Ward with Traveling and reach the Heart, except for Lady Delande."
They had trained her rather well, even if she wasn't da'shar. "You said you're stuck here. You can't get out?"
She shook her head. "The Ward destroys a Circle if it comes into contact with it, so only a sui'kun would have enough raw power to breach the Ward with Sorcery. Isn't that how you got in, honored one?"
He was impressed. This girl had seemed a little scattered at first, but she was proving her intelligence to him now. "A sui'kun came with you?" he asked curiously. She said only a sui'kun could breach the Ward. If they got in, then someone had to open it for them.
She shook her head. "Actually, it's still quite a mystery how we managed to get inside. Several tried to breach the Ward with Sorcery, but all of them died trying. Then a woman nobody knew tried, and she managed to succeed. Nobody's seen her since then, and what happened to her is still a topic of debate. She was on the ship with the others, they say. One moment she was there, and then the next moment, as soon as they came through the Ward, she was gone. Some say the magic of the Ward absorbed her and trapped her within itself, some say the Ward disintegrated her, and some say the Ward wouldn't allow her to pass through. The ones that say that think she died on the outside, and that her ghost is still out there, haunting the seas surrounding the Ward. It's in the book, honored one. The very first chapter."
A woman opening the Ward? Only sui'kun could do it… could it have been Spyder? She was Urzani, and she'd be virtually indistinguishable from a Sha'Kar. That was probably why Iselde called her a woman instead of a human.
"Was this woman Sha'Kar?" he asked curiously.
Iselde nodded.
Tarrin chuckled in spite of himself. "You sneaky girl," he mused in Sulasian, reverting back to his native tongue. That had to have been Spyder. She'd never told him about this. Then again, she hadn't told him about just about anything. She was a woman of endless secrets, it seemed. He had a sneaking suspicion that Spyder knew absolutely everything about this place, and had chosen not to tell him for some reason. Whatever that may be. But whatever it was, from what little he knew of the Urzani, he trusted her. If she didn't tell him, she had to have had a good reason to do so. After all, it was in her best interest to keep him, a fellow sui'kun, alive.
"Excuse me, honored one?"
"Nothing, Iselde. Nothing. Lead on."
She continued to prattle on as they walked, but her chatting became more and more relaxed with him, and started making more sense. She had been almost awestruck by him earlier, and now that she was getting to know him, to find out that he happened to be an intelligent being as well as a sui'kun, she was starting to calm down a little. And he started to learn about the Sha'Kar from her ramblings. She talked on and on about how everyone was so excited about his arrival, how the entire island was on its toes, waiting feverishly for the feast, for their chance to meet him. It was going to be held outside, she told him, the tables already being made and set up in the center of their loose community, on the fenced grounds of the House of the Goddess, the estate home of Syllis and meeting place for the Council of Elders. She talked about how all her young friends had all but begged to be invited into the house to meet him privately, but her uncle Arlan had forbade visitors without his personal approval beforehand. She admitted that her being lucky enough to meet him first had made her very popular in the talking circles of the youngest Sha'Kar females, of which she was part. She also admitted that it was a new experience for her, for she was from a poor family that lived on the edge of the community, and that made her not very popular.
It seemed strangely like the Arakites and the Wikuni… they attached social standing to how close their houses were to the center of their town. Those who lived on the outside edges were seen as socially inferior to those who lived in the center. Strange that three races would exhibit a similar social trait.
That statement also told him much about the concept of social standing among the Sha'Kar. Social standing was something of a universal custom among most civilized societies, but the Sha'Kar sounded strangely like the Selani on that point. To a Selani, standing was honor, and honor was everything. To the Sha'Kar, he guessed, it dealt with more than that, probably family history, wealth, and probably ability with the Weave. In the social circles of the katzh-dashi, the ones with highest social standing were the ones with the most power. He knew that the modern katzh-dashi did have some traits of their Ancient forefathers, and that was probably one of them. Tarrin suspected that Arlan's house was poor and his family not very socially connected because their powers in Sorcery were weaker than everyone else's. The fact that there were only three of them in the house may also have an impact of some sort.
The way the Sha'Kar treated him certainly backed up that assumption. They were all absolutely fawning all over him, even the Council of Elders. It was strangely annoying, though he felt that a human may have enjoyed that kind of attention. He suspected that right now, he had higher social standing than anyone else on the island, even Grand Syllis. Because he was sui'kun.
From what little he heard so far, he guessed that in this place, where they were cut off from the outside world and had little to do, the matter of social standing had become a cornerstone of their society. And if that were so, then the methods by which one improved social standing were the most commonly pursued goals. If they prized Sorcery, then much of their time was probably spent improving their powers. If it was a question of wealth or prestige, then he figured that they'd be as deep into political games as the Wikuni noble houses.
She led him into a huge kitchen, which had no less than four strange metal plates on counters that radiated heat of varying degrees. Tarrin could sense the magic of them, yet another way the Sha'Kar had adapted Sorcery to serve them in everyday life. They had five large ovens, also magically heated. They also had a large room that was magically chilled. That reminded him of his own home, with the small cellar that had that strange magical object that radiated that constant intense cold. It was almost unheard of for such a rare magical object to be in the possession of a frontier family. His father had found it a long time ago, before he met his mother, and had kept it as a curiosity. After he got married, it served them well as a means to store food for very long periods without it spoiling. The Sha'Kar had obviously thought the same thing, so they used their magic to create a room for storing perishables, preserving the food by freezing it. There were about ten humans in the kitchens working hard to make Sha'Kar dishes, which were almost exclusively vegetarian. The only meat he saw them working on were strange birds with long-feathered tails, some of them already cooked.
Tarrin noticed something about them. All the humans were attractive. Not quite as pretty as the five maids, but they weren't ugly.
He also got his first view of the tattoo. It was on their chests, over their hearts, a small black tattoo that was the glyph of the family name. He saw it on a slender male who wore nothing but a pair of breeches, working to cook strange tube-like vegetables in a pan over one of the heated plates. Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached out and put two fingers on the back of the man's neck, assessing him. The man jumped slightly, and Tarrin had to suppress a sudden impulse to strike at the movement, to drive his fingers into the man's neck and kill him to prevent an attack. He still had a long way to go to fully conquer his feral nature. But he had to know. These Sha'Kar used Sorcery the same way the Wikuni used technology. He suspected that they were using Sorcery to control or intimidate their servants into utter obedience. It was the only rational explanation for how afraid they seemed of their Sha'Kar masters.
He was right. The magic was exceedingly subtle, but it was there. The tattoos were magical, set down by Sorcery, and he'd bet that that was why the humans were so afraid of the Sha'Kar. He couldn't quite make out what the glyph's function was, but he was sure that it wasn't entirely pleasant.
Dolanna had been right. These humans, they were literally slaves to the Sha'Kar.
That hardened Tarrin to them. Tarrin despised slavery, having been on the wrong side of the whip himself once. That they would use Sorcery to control these humans, that they would defile the gifts granted to them by the Goddess in such a hideous fashion, it filled him with a towering contempt, and he had to literally fight himself to prevent him from turning on Iselde and ripping out her throat.
His paws visibly shaking with suppressed rage, Tarrin forced himself to calm down, fell back on the tricks of concentration that Allia had taught him. He pulled the Cat around himself in that moment, for it didn't care one way or the other about these humans, and lacked the moral outrage that the human in him felt at what he had discovered. Shaking his head, shivering his tail, Tarrin got himself under control, and found he could look at Iselde without killing her.
"Honored one? Are you well?" she asked in concern.
If only she knew how close she came to dying. Tarrin turned and looked at her, feeling the distance the Cat put between his human outrage and her, and was glad of it. "What is his name?" he asked, pointing at the human he touched.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "He's just a servant. I'm not sure they even have names."
Her casual attitude nearly got her killed yet again. She could tell she said something that offended him, staring up into his narrowing eyes, seeing his cold expression. A worried look passed over her face, and she addressed the cook in a firm tone. "You, servant," she called. "Do you have a name?"
Tarrin sensed a very subtle spell pass from Iselde, and touch the magic latent in the tattoo. No wonder she didn't know his name. She could somehow summon or get the attention of any servant bearing that tattoo with her magic. The man turned from the cooking and bowed to her quickly. "They call me Kur, Mistress," he said in a trembling voice.
"Go back to your duties," she told him, and he bowed again and returned to his cooking. "Does that satisfy you, honored one?" she asked in a small voice.
It didn't, not in the slightest. It actually made him even more furious. But he didn't want to alienate Iselde quite yet. He knew she knew something about the Firestaff, and he had to find out what it was. He was quiet a long moment, as Iselde looked up at him fearfully. This was not the time, he told himself. Not the time. Not now, not yet. "Why are they cooking? Aren't we going to that feast?"
"Each family prepares food when we have such a celebration," she said. "As much as we can spare. Each house makes its finest dishes for everyone to enjoy."
"Oh. That bird is the only meat you have?"
"I'm sorry, but yes, honored one," she said with a small curtsy. "Uncle Arlan thinks eating red meat is unhealthy."
"But it's not a custom of all Sha'Kar?"
"No, honored one. Just a peculiarity of our house, nothing more. Some houses that are near the hills raise sheep. I eat with their families when I can," she said with a conspiratorial whisper. "When Uncle Arlan isn't paying attention. I love mutton, and I think he's wrong about it not being healthy."
"It probably isn't," he said, looking at the humans going about their business. He needed to get away from them. Their presence was like salt in a gaping wound. "If you haven't guessed, I'm a carnivore, Iselde. I like some vegetables, but not very many. If you don't object, I'll take a piece of one of those roasted birds over there."
"You can help yourself to anything here, honored one," she told him. "Our house is yours."
Tarrin took one of the smallest of the cooked birds and put it on a plate, then started back to the room. Iselde trailed along behind him like an adoring puppy, quiet and a little anxious, from her scent. She could tell she said something that offended him, and he figured that she was trying to figure out some way to get back in his good graces. "Do you need anything else, honored one?" she asked when they reached the door of the chamber that Arlan had given him. "Anything at all?"
"I don't think so, Iselde," he said.
"I don't think your mate is there. Would you like a musician to entertain you? A poet to recite for you? A philosopher to debate issues with you?"
"No thank you, Iselde."
"Would you like one of the servant girls to come and pleasure you?"
Tarrin raised an eyebrow at the Sha'Kar. These Sha'Kar were certainly nothing like humans at all.
"I'd like to read this book you gave me, and I prefer reading in a quiet room," he told her.
"As you wish, honored one," she said with a curtsy. "If you do want a musician or philosopher or poet or one of the servants to pleasure you, just tell one of the servants. They'll bring you anything you desire."
"I'm sure they will," he said, maybe a bit too caustically. "What are you going to do now, Iselde?" he asked curiously.
"I've been asked to a friend's house," she said, looking a bit eager. "We'll take lessons together in the Art from her mother, who's one of the better Sorcerers on the island. Then we'll probably talk, or at least start off that way."
"You say it like you're up to mischief," he noted.
She blushed. "Auli is an adventurous friend," she said. "She always gets me in trouble. She likes to play pranks on people, and seduce boys, and go where we're not supposed to go, and she's always taking servants into her room to take pleasure from them. My uncle doesn't like her. He says she's more interested in pleasure than study. My uncle is a prude sometimes," she told him with a wicked little smile. "He doesn't take pleasure from the servant girls at all, and he doesn't like music or dancing. Auli may like pleasure more than study, but Uncle Arlan doesn't do anything but work."
"What does he work on?"
"Bettering his Art," she replied. "He spends every day with the Elders as one of their pupils."
Tarrin picked through what she said earlier, and hit on something that surprised him. "Sha'Kar women take pleasure from the humans?" he asked curiously. In many societies, men were allowed to be promiscuous, but women weren't. That this girl Auli was doing so seemed not too unusual given what Tarrin had seen of the Sha'Kar so far, but Iselde had said it like it was yet another bad thing.
"Some women do," she answered. "Auli likes humans more than boys."
"That's not forbidden?"
"Not really, but some houses frown on it," she replied. "They say we may as well go out and take pleasure from the sheep. Auli has a reputation as a human-lover, so she's not very popular with some of the most prestigious women. Uncle Arlan says that me being friends with her is giving me the same bad reputation."
"What do you think, Iselde?" he asked.
"I think they're wrong," she replied honestly. "There's no harm in it. We can't get pregnant from it, and the humans can't get pregnant from the boys. Before the Breaking, humans and Sha'Kar married all the time, even if they couldn't have children. If our forefathers thought it was alright to take pleasure from humans, then why shouldn't we?"
Tarrin blinked. That was something rather important there. If the Sha'Kar thought highly enough of humans to marry them back before the Breaking, then what had caused them to change, and turn humans into slaves? Slaves that some Sha'Kar put on the same level as sheep? That needed a little further investigation. Keritanima said if they could get to know the Sha'Kar, they'd be better prepared to deal with them if they opposed Tarrin's mission. Understanding their history and their customs was a good start, and coming to know when the Sha'Kar's attitudes towards humans changed would shed some light on things.
"Thank you, Iselde," he said sincerely. "You just explained quite a few things about your people that I didn't understand."
"Thank you, honored one, "she said with a blush and a curtsy. "If you want to know more, just send for me. I'll tell you anything you want to know."
"I will," he promised. "But first, I want to read this book. I'm curious about your people, and I think this book is going to answer many of my questions."
"I hope it pleases you, honored one," she said sincerely.
"We'll see. Go have fun, Iselde. I'll see you later."
She curtsied to him with a smile, and then trotted down the passageway.
Seating himself on the bed cross-legged, Tarrin put the book in his lap and started reading, his only movement his paws to turn the pages and his tail slashing back and forth behind him. The book was indeed very enlightening. It began as Iselde said it would, with the Sha'Kar seeress who predicted the Breaking. He glossed generally over that section, reading it for its general content rather, reading that the seeress managed to convince a group of Sha'Kar and humans that it was serious enough for them to take action. So the party of them, nearly a thousand strong, took to ships with their belongings and some of the servants that attended them at the Tower and used their magic to defeat the protections surrounding the Ward. He read about the miracle at the Ward, when the unknown Sha'Kar woman managed to breach the Ward with her power, but disappeared in the act of it. Her act was enough to get the Sha'Kar and their ships through the Ward, however, and they were safe.
Tarrin read about how they arrived and found that they couldn't get back out. They tried to contact the Goddess, but discovered that the Ward was so powerful that they couldn't communicate through it. They found themselves trapped in a prison of their own design, and they despaired until the Breaking. When that happened, the voice of the Goddess managed to touch them during the destruction of the Weave, telling them to hold strong, that when the sui'kun were reborn, the Ward would fail, and they would be free and would be welcomed home. With that knowledge bolstering them, the Sha'Kar and their human companions settled in. At first they wanted to build a tower, but without a sui'kun to serve as its heart, it seemed an empty shadow of their past. Then one Sha'Kar rose up from the ranks and bestowed purpose to them. He was Grand Syllis, and he was the one that suggested they build estates rather than a tower, that they live in a community rather than a single building. Syllis established the Council of Elders and his position as Grand, a title that he would hold until they were able to return to the outside world. The idea worked rather well, the book said. The Sha'Kar found the system to their liking, for the Grand and the Council were much like the Keepers and Councils of their memory, and instead of sharing a single tower, all the Sha'Kar and humans could express themselves with their personal estates.
The book got a bit boring after that, as it talked about the rise of the seventeen Sha'Kar families that became the hub of the island's society. The book talked about how the forest was cut back to make room for the estates, and how the entire island became populated by the stranded Sorcerers and their servants. It then went on to ramble lengthily about how everyone was happy and prospered, and how they returned to their studies and created a quality of life they enjoyed.
Then it got interesting again, because tragedy befell the island. It came in the form of a sickness, striking the island about seven hundred years ago. It was a disease that started slowly, but then swept through the island rampantly. It affected both the humans and the Sha'Kar, but where it was merely inconvenient for the Sha'Kar, it proved to be lethal to the humans. In the span of five years, virtually all the humans on the island died from the deadly plague, cutting their numbers by more than half. All the human Sorcerers that had come with the Sha'Kar died, and the roughly hundred humans left at the end of the plague had been the servants, servants who had contracted the disease, but had survived.
Tarrin paused to consider that, consider how that may change the Sha'Kar's view of humans, and then he continued reading. With over half the population of the island gone, the Sha'Kar decided to tear down most of their houses and pull back to the shallow valley where the town was now, letting the forest reclaim the rest of the island. Since they had so much room, the fifty Sha'Kar families each were portioned a section of the land to do with as they pleased, and the Sha'Kar built the fifty estates that dotted the grassy plain, estates that Tarrin realized probably were still standing today. The book talked about how each family tried to outdo the others by making a home of great beauty, as the Sha'Kar sought to transform the land they had taken for themselves into a garden of beauty to remind them of the wonders of the towers, memories that grew dimmer and dimmer as time went by.
Tarrin wondered at that. The outside certainly didn't look like a garden of beauty now. Surely, it was pretty, but there weren't the vast gardens and crystal statues that the book mentioned. Everything outside was actually rather plain, from what he'd seen. Sure, it was pretty, but it was all natural. Grassy lawns behind ornate fences, with simple white stone paths between them.
Tarrin's curiosity was answered very quickly. Fifty years after the plague, the volcano erupted, burning most of the town to the ground. The extravagant houses and huge gardens they'd built had acted like fire traps, fanning the flames set by small embers falling from the volcano's peak. The Sha'Kar endured, the book said, stoically rebuilding their estates, but this time the Grand decreed that only the buildings should carry the beauty of the Sha'Kar. That the land should be allowed to be grassy lawns, grass that can more easily be extinguished by magic if it was set on fire. What was more, fences were built, and into them an enchantment was placed that would prevent fire from crossing them, so as to isolate any further fires so they couldn't spread across the entire city as they had during the eruption.
Tarrin frowned slightly. He guessed those fifty estates he thought were still standing actually weren't.
The book droned on and on about how they rebuilt a third time, and how few of the children of the human servants displayed any power in Sorcery. It talked about how they were taken in by the Sha'Kar families and trained in Sorcery, what they called the Art, and then the matter of the humans seemed to simply disappear.
As well as anything of interest, because almost nothing had changed, according to the book, up to about fifty years ago, when the book was written. The book just repeated itself about how happy everyone was, and how the families continued to train in the Art. It did talk about every new Sha'Kar birth like it was a matter of celebration, but made no mention of the humans. In fact, the history of how the humans had come to be marked like slaves and made to serve the Sha'Kar wasn't in the book either.
Tarrin put the book aside and pondered on its contents. Odds were, the change in looking at the humans came after the plague. He wondered how they had come to develop the system they had now, for the book made no mention of it. Then again, the book did mention servants. It mentioned that the Sha'Kar came with servants. They may not have been used to having grand mansions, but they were used to being served. Odds were, after the human Sorcerers died, they saw the humans more and more as just… servants.
It was the only explanation he could fathom, but it didn't answer the question. The Sha'Kar seemed to be decent folk. The book talked endlessly about how they worked together, how they cared for each other, how they strove to improve themselves and be happy. It just couldn't explain their change in attitude for the humans, humans they had considered as equals. Humans that most of the Sha'Kar had been alive to consider equals. These were not the descendents of the Ancients, these were the Ancients. It had been a thousand years since their isolation, but it didn't add up. The Sha'Kar were an ancient civilization, and he seriously doubted that a thousand years of isolation could have changed them that much, could have pushed them so far out of the culture they had practiced for millennia. If Sha'Kar were like Selani, then they wouldn't change easily.
He wondered how the Sha'Kar viewed the human Sorcerers among them. That would answer some of his questions.
The door opened, and Kimmie came in with Sapphire in her arms. The drake chirped happily and wriggled out of her arms, then flapped over and landed in Tarrin's lap. "Where have you been, Sapphire?" he chided her as he scratched her between the horns. "I was about to go looking for you!"
"We saw her and Phandebrass' drakes flying around the house," Kimmie answered him. "The Sha'Kar have never seen a drake before. I almost had to wrest her away from them."
"What were you doing?" he asked her as he Conjured a bowl of water for her, and set it on a stone table not far from the bed's pedestal. "I was reading this book on Sha'Kar history that Iselde gave me."
"I was slinking around in cat form," she answered, stretching languidly. "I couldn't get out of the fence, but I saw quite a bit."
"Like what?"
"Like they work their servants like dogs," she frowned. "Those farmers out there are trying to work the land with just a handful of beaten-up old tools. Most of them are doing it by hand. I saw Allyn out there too," she grinned. "Allyn has it hot and heavy for Allia. He was trying to impress her with Sorcery and poetry while she wandered around the lawn. I hope he doesn't go too far. Allia looks like the kind that deals with unwanted suitors permanently."
"She won't kill him," he assured her. "She may break his arm, but she won't kill him."
"I saw Kerri and Dolanna out there too. They were standing at the fence, talking over it with some of the Sha'Kar outside."
"Did you see any humans out there?"
"A few," she answered. "Most were servants, but I did see a couple in robes. Why do you ask?"
"This book is about what the Sha'Kar have done since they came here," he said, holding up the book. "It doesn't say anything about how the humans came to be slaves, but it did say that a plague killed nearly all of them about seven hundred years ago. All the Ancients who were human died in that plague, leaving only the human servants that were here, probably descendents of the original servants that came with them, alive. The humans here now are the descendents of the survivors."
"You think that has something to do with it?"
"I think it might have, but I'm not sure," he admitted.
"You seem hung up on the humans," she noted.
"Given how I feel about slaves, that shouldn't be a surprise," he said bluntly.
"No, I guess not," she sighed. "That Arlan fellow asked me if I was going to the feast in this," she said, holding her arms out. "I told him I'd come naked if he thought it would make a better impression. After he recovered his composure, he suggested I borrow one of Iselde's dresses," she finished with a sly grin.
"Iselde said that her uncle is very uptight," he told her. "He's almost a human in that regard. Iselde was much more liberal." He scratched his cheek with a claw. "I remember what I read about the Sha'Kar at the Tower. A lot of the customs of the katzh-dashi were originally Sha'Kar customs. These Sha'Kar aren't like the katzh-dashi, so it makes me wonder how else they've changed."
"Well, I didn't find out very much," she admitted. "I was hoping to see them interact when they didn't think anyone was there, but I didn't see anyone but the humans. I guess there's only those three Sha'Kar here."
"Three people living in this place," Tarrin mused. "It's big enough for three hundred."
"No doubt there. Think you can get one of my dresses from the ship?"
"Not this time," he said. "They don't know I can do that, and I'd rather not give that away."
"Ah," she said, her eyes brightening in understanding. "I guess I'll just have to make do with this. I surely don't want to wear one of Iselde's dresses."
"Why not? You'd look lovely in something see-through."
"I know I would, but she's not my size."
"I can fix that," he assured her. "But Iselde's at her friend's house right now, getting into mischief. We'll have to wait for her to come back before you can ask."
"Getting into mischief, eh?" Kimmie chuckled. "She told you that?"
Tarrin nodded. "Her friend has a bad reputation. She's a notorious flipskirt and troublemaker. Iselde likes her because her uncle is so strict, and her time with the girl is a chance to feel rebellious."
"Children seem to be a universal constant, no matter what race they are," Kimmie chuckled.
"Her friend Auli sounds like a real firebrand," Tarrin said with a slight smile. "She said her uncle hates her."
"That's reason enough to be her best friend right there," Kimmie laughed.
"Her description reminds me of Walten, a boy from my village," Tarrin told her. "He was always getting into trouble, but he didn't do some of the things that Auli does. His mother would have killed him. But I guess it's the different culture."
"What different things?"
"Seems Auli likes to take humans into her room and have her way with them," he told her. "And she's quite an accomplished seductress of the Sha'Kar boys. That kind of behavior could get a boy or girl strangled back in Aldreth."
"They are a bit moral there," Kimmie grinned.
"If they ever caught Walten with his hands up a girl's skirt, that would have been the end for him," Tarrin chuckled. "He did it anyway, but they never caught him."
"You'd think the mothers would warn the girls away."
"They did, but it's a big village when a single girl is trying to get herself not noticed, and there are plenty of thick woods around the village. I stumbled on Walten trying to talk Cilia Whitebranch out of her dress one morning about a year before I left for the Tower. The girls were warned away from him, but the very act of warning them away drew them to him like bees to honey. Girls love bad boys, for some reason. Care to explain that one to me?" he asked her.
"It's rebellion," she replied with a smile. "Being the girl of a bad boy is a way to fling rules in the faces of her parents. Besides, human girls are just as interested in boys as boys are in girls. They just play hard to get. It's instinctual."
"It sounds like you speak from experience," he teased.
"A little, but I never let a boy get much more than a hand up my skirt," she told him.
"Tease."
"I was saving all my special charms for you, Tarrin," she said with a wink. "What were you doing out that day you caught Walten and Cilia?"
"The same thing I always did, Kimmie. Wander around where I wasn't supposed to be." He chuckled. "Walten wanted to make sure nobody disturbed them, so he took Cilia down a path most of the village children didn't know, one that didn't have a boundary marker on it. A path I made that ran from my house to that small meadow with the brook, and I made another that ran from the brook to the south end of the village, so I wouldn't have to go out of my way to get from the brook to the village. Walten took her into the Frontier using that path, the one place he thought he'd never be found. He forgot that I wandered around out there all the time, and the noise they made drew me right to them."
"What did you do?" she asked, sitting on the bed beside him, caught up in the story.
"Well, I really didn't do anything. I snuck up on them to see if they'd notice me, but when I got there I saw that neither of them were paying much attention to anything. I realized that they were doing something pretty stupid, coming out into the Frontier that way, so I pulled back to where I wouldn't get noticed and made sure nothing came along and killed them while they were busy."
"If it was so dangerous, why were you there?" she asked with a playful smile.
"I guess I was more stupid than Walten and Cilia," he chuckled. "They never knew I was there, even to this day. They better be glad. I found Centaur tracks a few hours later, and they were fresh. I think me being there may have scared the Centaurs away."
"The Centaurs wouldn't have hurt them," Kimmie told him. "They would have attacked an armed band of men, but not two human teens mating in the bushes. They probably would have found that to be quite funny. Knowing Centaurs, they would have barged in on them and tried to scare them, hoping they'd run naked back into the village. Centaurs are like that."
"I've never really gotten to know any Centaurs."
"But you probably were the reason why they didn't. All the Woodkin around Aldreth knew you, and they all knew you weren't to be taken lightly. They'd seen you track game and shoot your bow, and they knew that you were more than capable of killing a Woodkin if you thought they were being a threat. The Centaurs probably realized that if they barged in on your friends, you would have shot at them with your bow in retaliation. If they were locals, they respected your aim, and the fact that you could have gotten into a firing position before Walten jumped up with his pants around his ankles."
Tarrin chuckled. "Someday I need to find out just how much the Woodkin knew about me."
"Almost everything, Tarrin," she grinned. "You forget, every time you went into the Frontier, someone was watching you. Usually it was Were-kin in animal form, but sometimes it was a mother with cubs to show them a human, sometimes it was a Centaur or a Faerie or a Pixie, sometimes a Dryad or a Sylph or a Nymph, and sometimes it was even a Druid. You were an enigma to them. A human barely more than a boy wandering fearlessly around the Heartwood, not seeming to have a care for the danger. At first they wanted to kill you, but they watched you and saw that you respected the woods, that that Ranger father of yours had taught you very well, so they decided to leave you alone. They got to know your habits, and when your wanderings showed patterns, they'd line up youngsters and cubs along that path and show you to them as you went by. The youngsters would practice stalking you, because if they could sneak up on you, they were proficient enough in woodcraft to sneak up on almost anyone."
Tarrin laughed. "You know, that answers probably the biggest mystery I had when I was out there," he said. "Every once in a while, I could tell someone was following me. But when I backtracked, not only was there nobody there, but there was no sign anyone ever was there. That would always scare me, and I'd run back home and stick close the farm for a ride or so, until I forgot about it and went back out into the Frontier."
"I know, and boy, did the cub that messed up ever get it from his mother when you were out of earshot," she laughed. "They liked using you as a practice target because you were very good at woodcraft, and you were very alert. Since you were so good, it meant that any cub that could sneak up on you was good enough to make it on his own."
"I must not have been very good if I was leading a parade around the Frontier," he grunted sourly.
Kimmie laughed. "You were a human, and a very young one, Tarrin, but remember who you were dealing with. Actually, that you noticed anything at all is a testament to how good you were. Any other human except your father would never have noticed anything." She laughed. "Boy, were they all terrified of your father, she admitted. "They knew he was a Ranger, and he was a lot better than you. He almost caught Woodkin on several occasions, and he knew we were there. I'll bet he knew that we followed you around, but he must have realized that we wouldn't hurt you."
"Father never said anything to me."
"If he had, you probably would have stopped going into the Frontier, and then we'd have missed you," she winked.
"I thought you never went to Aldreth when I was alive."
"I didn't. I asked Triana about it. I was curious."
"Oh."
"Triana told me that there was this one Dryad that had a crush on you," Kimmie laughed. "She kept trying to sneak around the Druid and get close to you, so she could seduce you, but Sathon was too smart for her. The game between them is almost legendary in that part of the Heartwood."
"I forgot that Sathon was the Druid up there," Tarrin admitted. "I hope everything's going alright for them, now that the villagers know about the Woodkin."
"They always did," she reminded him. "But I think things will get back to normal. I think the Woodkin won't be as reluctant to visit the village now, but that may be a good thing. We need more contact with the humans, and the villagers of Aldreth have proved that they can accept our visits without being too nosy." She yawned. "What time is it?"
"I don't know, there aren't any windows in here."
"I saw them setting up tables across town, on that estate on the small hill in the center of the place. I guess they'll be coming to get us soon."
There was a knock at the door, and Arlan stepped into the room and bowed to him. "Honored one, the feast will be taking place soon, and it's customary for us to come in our finest clothes," he said. "I don't think you came with any other clothes, so would it offend you if we find you something appropriate?"
"Not really," he answered. "Kimmie agreed to wear one of your niece's dresses. I guess I can borrow one of those robes your people wear and we can adjust the fit a little with Sorcery."
"I was thinking the same thing, honored one," he nodded. He motioned behind him, and two of the serving girls rushed into the room. One was holding a shimmering dress made of a strange silver cloth, and the other was carrying a pair of slippers.
"The dress already looks lovely, Arlan, but I'm afraid I don't need shoes," she said, holding a foot up for him to inspect. "We Were-cats have our own soles, you see. Shoes are very uncomfortable—" she extended the claws on her foot for his benefit—"and as you can see, if we do wear shoes, they don't last very long."
Arlan smiled slightly, then nodded. "You have a good point there, my Lady. Five of them, in fact."
Kimmie giggled and flashed him a brilliant smile.
"I'll leave my servants to help you get dressed. If it pleases you, would you join us in the sitting room when you're ready? We'll be leaving for the feast as soon as you feel ready, honored one."
"That's fine, Arlan," Tarrin nodded. "But we don't need help dressing, if that's alright with you. May I go through your clothes to find something?"
"My house is yours, honored one. Take anything you wish, but you'll find my finest clothing in that closet over there," he said, pointing to a door near the archway to the pool. "I'm sure something in there will meet with your tastes." He clapped his hands sharply, and the girl carrying the shoes turned around and scurried out. The other one, the redhead that Tarrin meant to talk to, handed the shimmering dress to Kimmie with a curtsy, then she too rushed out of the room at Arlan's bidding. "I'll be waiting for you whenever your pleasure brings you to us," he told them with a bow, then shut the door behind him as he left.
Kimmie held up the dress and admired it. "Wow," she said in appreciation. "This dress is amazing. It's soft as silk, light as linen, but it shimmers like it was made of silver thread."
Tarrin looked at the dress, and he had to admit that it was rather nice. It was too small for Kimmie, but he could fix that. It had a low neckline and flared sleeves, and came with a sash already tied around its waist. Tarrin would have to poke a hole in the back to make room for her tail, but he could mend it when Kimmie was done with it. All in all, he had to agree. It was a very beautiful dress. Kimmie would look smashing in it.
"Well, let's go indulge ourselves in that bathing pool, and then get ready," Kimmie said, getting up and setting the dress on the bed carefully, then starting on the buttons of her vest. "I've been dying to take a bath ever since I saw that pool," she said with undisguised longing.
"What do you think we'll find at that feast?" Tarrin asked as he got up and pulled off his vest.
"I'm not sure, but I hope that you and Zak don't lose your heads," she said as she shrugged off her vest, then started unlacing her breeches. "Remember what Dolanna said. We don't want to get on their bad side just yet." She stepped out of her breeches and folded them, and then set them on the bed. She started towards the pool as Tarrin removed his own breeches. She paused and looked back at him, waggling her tail at him in invitation. "Well, come on, Tarrin," she said with a smile. "Baths are no fun if you're alone."
Tarrin glanced at her tail, but his eyes were more interested in the lovely, heart-shaped bottom underneath that tail. He watched that bottom swagger seductively as she walked through the arch, realizing that Kimmie was playing for him. She usually didn't saunter quite like that. Jesmind was more beautiful than Kimmie in some ways, but when it came to bottoms, Kimmie won that contest paws down. Tarrin thanked Triana one more time before hurrying after her, thanking her for giving him the chance to know Kimmie as a mate, and the child that was coming.
He knew that the feast was going to be a chore for him, probably an assault on his sensibilities, but at least at the moment, his mind was oh so pleasantly distracted.