Chapter 13

The feast took place on the grounds of the largest estate on the island, the one sitting on the gentle rise almost in the exact center of the borders of the town. Seeing that estate made Tarrin understand why Iselde thought her mansion was small, for the estate of the Grand and the meeting place of the Council had to be three times larger than Iselde's home. It was monstrous, four stories high and easily taking up a couple of square longspans of land all by itself. It didn't have a stained glass window as Iselde's house did, instead it had permanent Illusions decorating its outside, Illusions of Sha'Kar in robes lining the walls, all of them looking down at the visitors with faces of gentle benediction. Tarrin could sense those Illusions even from that distance, over the background magical energy, but it was apparent even to someone without Sorcery that the decorations were magical in nature… mainly because they moved. That gave Tarrin the creeps the first time he noticed it, seeing one of the Illusory Sha'Kar males scratch his chin. The huge home of the Grand wasn't the only building on the estate. There were ten other buildings on the estate, all of which were about the size of Iselde's manor house, but they were all sitting behind the main building as one approached from the gate, so as not to get in the way of the view of the main structure. They lacked any decoration at all, only their white paint, and it made Tarrin curious as to why.

But there were too many things to look at for him to concentrate very long on just one. The grassy field between the fence and that main building was filled with many long tables, each with individual padded chairs resting around them, and those chairs were filled with Sha'Kar. Tarrin estimated that there were about five hundred of them in all, ranging from mere children to those who had that stately appearance that told him that they had to be thousands of years old. They sat and talked with one another energetically, not touching the huge amounts of food that had been placed on the tables in front of them, foods prepared in ways that baffled Tarrin. They were made as if they too were works of art, the cooks carefully arranging the food on the platters in specific patterns and styles. The result was that not much food could be put on one platter, cluttering up the table space with five plates whose food would have easily fit on just one.

The food wasn't the only decoration. All the Sha'Kar were wearing their finest clothes, and to Tarrin's surprise, their taste in clothing was elegantly underdecorated. The Sha'Kar seemed to prefer not wearing jewelry or making their garments gaudy with goring or decorations. The cloth itself was the decoration, that same shimmering kind of cloth of which Kimmie's dress was made, and the only large jewelry any of them wore were their katzh-dashi amulets. Some of them were wearing rings and earrings, he saw, but they were all small and elegant, diamond studs in the ears and rings with designs etched into the metal or with small gemstones, not the huge, gaudy pieces that humans and Wikuni seemed to prefer. Some of the dresses the women wore were opaque, and one girl that looked to be Iselde's age had on a shimmering blue dress on that was so opaque that her figure was clearly visible beneath it. The fact that the platinum blond of her pubic hair, which was the same color as the hair on her head, was contrasted beneath the dress against her brown skin and was clearly visible told him just how see-through the dress really was. But this obvious bit of nudity didn't seem to bother the Sha'Kar very much. Some of them looked at the girl with slightly stern and disapproving looks, but nobody told her to go home and change. The girl, to her credit, strutted around in her see-through gown like she owned the whole island, and took delight in hanging on the younger males and reveling in their appreciative stares. Without really knowing how, Tarrin knew that that one was Iselde's adventurous friend, Auli.

The finery wasn't limited to the Sha'Kar and the human Sorcerers. Kimmie was wearing one of Iselde's gowns, but so were Dolanna, Keritanima, and Allia. Dolanna wore a golden shimmering gown that went well with her dark hair, not seeming to be too conscious about the fact that it was opaque enough to give a slight hint at what laid beneath it. Keritanima wore a cream-colored one that contrasted her fur nicely, and Allia wore a daringly low-cut dress that was a snowy white, just like her hair. Hair that had been carefully combed and arranged in tumbling curls, looking both wild and carefully arranged to look that way at the same time. Tarrin knew that her hair looked like that all the time, but it was hard to tell with how carefully it had been combed out and arranged. Tarrin had never seen Allia wearing something so feminine before, and it absolutely blew him away how stunningly beautiful his sister was. Tarrin had gotten used to that beauty over the years, knowing she was lovely yet the impact of it losing its force after he'd seen her day after day after day. Tarrin saw that he wasn't the only one that noticed this. Quite a few Sha'Kar males couldn't stop looking at her as she crossed the lawn and seated herself on Tarrin's left, and he couldn't help stare at her either. She smiled at him and patted him on the leg quietly. Camara Tal and Azakar had shed their armor, Camara Tal wearing her halter and tripa, and Azakar was wearing a robe that had been magically stretched quite a bit to fit him. Azakar didn't have any other clothes with him, and he looked quite uncomfortable in the robe. Phandebrass had magically refurbished his frayed robe, making it look new, but he still insisted on wearing that ridiculous conical hat. Miranda was also wearing one of Iselde's dresses, but it was a subdued brown color and didn't seem as grand or fine as the others. It didn't shimmer like Iselde's other dresses, making Tarrin think that she'd been giving something very plain so she wouldn't be quite so noticeable. Binter and Sisska didn't change anything, even still carrying around their huge weapons in defense of the queen.

There were humans Sorcerers at the feast as well, but their role was clearly defined. All the human Sorcerers sat by themselves at the far side of the tables, as far away as one could get from the table that held Tarrin's friends and the table beside them that held Grand Syllis, the Council, and Arlan's family. Tarrin noticed that immediately, but the humans didn't seem to think that it was a bad thing. They talked amongst themselves quite happily, and they too had the artistically arranged food set before them, just like the Sha'Kar. The other humans, the servants, were there as well, and they were serving. A virtual army of them, each attending specific tables, pouring wine, fetching things, and those not busy stood exactly one pace behind and between the spaced chairs, hands folded in front of them, waiting for a call to duty. Tarrin found that to be hard to allow, for the Sha'Kar seemed to think of their servants as furniture, or hand tools. To use when needed, then to just forget once the task was complete. When he balled up a fist at the sight of it, Kimmie put a gentle paw over his, making him look at her and her slightly stern look. No scenes, Dolanna said. She was right, this wasn't the time or the place to address the issue.

Clearly, they were all waiting for something before beginning, but what it was, Tarrin had no idea. They all simply sat in their chairs and talked, sending gazes towards the Were-cat's table. It made him feel distinctly uncomfortable, but then again, they may be looking at the drakes. Sapphire was sitting on the table between Tarrin and Kimmie, and Chopstick and Turnkey flanked Phandebrass, both with their snouts eye-deep in silver bowls. Sapphire had a bowl of rabbit meat sitting before her, but she hadn't started on it yet. She was smarter than the other two drakes, and seemed to comprehend that since nobody else was eating, it must not be the proper time to do so. Tarrin and Arlan had a very short, one-sided argument about the drakes. Arlan said that nobody was allowed to bring pets to the feast, but Tarrin rolled his argument under by stating that if Sapphire didn't go, he didn't go. Leaving Arlan without a leg to stand on ended the disagreement faster than it started.

The wait seemed to be over when Grand Syllis stood up, then used Sorcery to create a platform of Air upon which to stand, which rose him over his chair and made him easily visible. He then augmented his voice with Sorcery so he could be easily heard by the thousand or so assorted Sha'Kar and humans, Sorcerers and servants. "Dear friends, for the first time since coming here, we find ourselves entertaining guests," he called. "And not just ordinary guests! The Goddess has blessed us today with the arrival of Tarrin, a sui'kun, a new honored one to replace those who died in the terrible tragedy of the Breaking.

"We gather today to celebrate the arrival of him and his servants and friends, and celebrate the coming of his unborn child. We gather to lift our voices to the sky and sing our thanks to the Goddess for saving us from the Breaking, and pray that soon the Ward will fail and allow us to return to her service. We gather to celebrate our gilded cage, this wondrous place that has sustained us and protected us during our long exile. We gather to celebrate!"

There was a long period of clapping, that seemed polite, but not overly enthusiastic. Then again, Sha'Kar didn't seem to be the type that got too emotional about those kinds of things. For them, maybe what he was seeing was enthusiastic.

"So, I'll not keep you sitting there with your mouths watering, my friends," he called. "Let us bow our heads in prayer to the Goddess." Tarrin noticed that all of them bowed their heads, and everyone at his table did so as well, either out of faith or consideration for Sha'Kar ways. "O wondrous Goddess, we thank you for your guidance and your protection, and your actions that brought us to this place. We lament that we are beyond your voice, but hope our voices can reach you outside the Ward. We await anxiously the day when the Ward is lowered and we are again blessed by your light and love. Until that day, we abide here resolutely, still your faithful children. Please accept our humble thanks for sending your chosen one to us to give us new hope and a new sense of purpose. Please bless this feast and those who partake in it, and please continue to watch over us and provide for us."

All the Sha'Kar lifted their heads, and Tarrin followed suit. "I won't hold you hungry any longer, dear friends," Syllis said with a grand smile. "Let us feast!"

As feasts went, Tarrin wasn't terribly impressed. All the food was spiced, turning even bland potatoes into something that could be potentially dangerous. What was worse, the only meats on the table were fish, crab, mutton, those long-tailed birds, and rabbit. Some dishes were hot, some were sugary, some were heavily spiced with tastes Tarrin had never experienced before, buttery and tangy and sweet and acidic and sour. Tarrin didn't stay with any one dish, as the two human females that were serving him kept filling his plate with small amounts of everything on the table, for him to sample and decide which pleased him. Tarrin felt a little annoyed at the two humans, since he could serve himself, but Dolanna kept giving him stern looks throughout the meal, reminding him that this was the Sha'Kar way, and he'd best not start causing a scene in front of all of them. Tarrin did, however, decide that all this picking was too irritating, and ordered the two humans to fill his plate with the peppered fish. They seemed taken aback at that, but he calmly told them that he wasn't of a race they knew, and he ate quite a bit more than the Sha'Kar or humans.

The eating took up the better part of two hours, as the sun set and the night took over. The Council paused in their feast to use Sorcery to create an array of glowing lights that hung over the tables, lighting them as brightly as the sun had. After the meal seemed to be over, servants began clearing away the leftovers and carrying the trays of food out of the estate, towards the other estates, and the Sha'Kar began to wander from table to table and talk among themselves. Quite a line formed before Tarrin's table, as the Sha'Kar tried to meet him and talk to him. Tarrin was assaulted by names from the many Sha'Kar, most of them fluid and musical, with a lot of vowels, who bowed or curtsied and shook his paw and smiled at him and acted like he was some kind of great celebrity. Some of them were nervous speaking with him, and their hands shook as they offered them to him, but all of them spoke formally yet with warm undertones, as if they were trying to make it sound like they'd been Tarrin's best friend since the beginning of time. Tarrin realized that they wanted the other Sha'Kar to think that Tarrin had taken a liking to them, a fact that would gain them considerable prestige. He remembered that Iselde said that she and Allyn had become quite popular since Tarrin had decided to stay in their house. They didn't seem to have more than a moment to speak, as another Sha'Kar was pushing the first out of the way before they could organize their thoughts, but they did manage to ask questions. Surprisingly, they weren't about Tarrin, they were about the outside. How many Towers were still standing, how the katzh-dashi had fared in their absence, what had happened in the world after the Breaking and if the world knew they were there. More than one asked that, if the katzh-dashi had tried to find a way to get them out of their gilded cage, as Syllis put it.

Speaking to so many of them, Tarrin had a chance to study the Sha'kar, and he wasn't sure he liked what he saw. Their postures were stiff, and their expressions were haughty when they weren't directly before him. They gave stony looks to the servants, when they noticed them at all. They came across to Tarrin as exceedingly arrogant people, putting on a good face to impress him.

Tarrin also noticed that again, he seemed to be the sole focus of attention. Some of the Sha'Kar did meet and talk politely with Keritanima, Dolanna, Dar, and Allia as they got up and introduced themselves at many of the tables, but the Sha'Kar wouldn't even look at Camara Tal, Azakar, Phandebrass, or Miranda. They would simply turn their heads if one of them tried to address them, pretending that they didn't exist.

One of the very youngest Sha'Kar, a boy that looked to be about eight, bowed clumsily to him at his parents' prompting and introduced himself. The boy was quite cute, with a wide-cheeked face and a sharp nose, and brilliant green eyes. He'd be a handsome adult. "My-my name is Andalan, honored one," he stammered nervously.

Tarrin put his cheek in his paw and regarded the youngster with a bit of amusement. After about an hour of shaking hands and talking briefly with Sha'Kar who seemed bent on showing him how polite and courteous and socially important they were, Tarrin found the boy's honest anxiety to be quite refreshing. "You know," he said slowly, looking at Kimmie, "he's about the same size as Jasana."

"He's almost as adorable as she is," Kimmie agreed with a smile.

"Hello there, Andalan," Tarrin said with a gentle smile, reaching down and lifting the boy's chin with a finger that was nearly as thick around as the boy's wrist. "You have pretty eyes, Andalan," Tarrin told him lightly. "They remind me of my daughter."

The boy looked stymied, but the looks on the faces of his parents were almost triumphant. "We didn't know you had other children, honored one," the mother said, a rather slim female that was tall, wearing a glittering gold dress that was seductively opaque, showing off her silhouette against the lights behind her.

"I have two," Tarrin told her. "A daughter and a son."

"It's unfortunate you couldn't bring them with you," the father said, wearing a plain white robe that seemed to almost glow with its snowy purity.

"Their mothers would have been very cross with me if I had," Tarrin chuckled.

"Your wife isn't their mother?" the woman asked, a bit shocked.

"I'm not his wife. I'm his mate," Kimmie corrected. "It's something of an informal marriage that will last as long as both of us are comfortable with one another. Marriage isn't a custom among our kind, my Lady. We don't have the temperament to spend all our lives with just one mate. We're a bit too volatile," she grinned. "As time passes, me and Tarrin will start to wear on one another, and we'll have to split up for a while. It's how we are."

"Oh. Well, please forgive me," the lady said with a deep curtsy. "I guess it was arrogant of me to think of you in frame with our customs."

"It's something of a universal failing, my Lady," Tarrin told her. "To anyone, his customs seem to be the best, so why shouldn't everyone else be the same?"

"Well said, honored one," the father nodded.

These two seemed to be quite a bit more aware of things than most of the other Sha'Kar. The woman was the very first to admit to her arrogance, and seemed a bit more open-minded than the other Sha'Kar. The father seemed to be much like his mate. "What are your names?" he asked.

"I'm Trevan Andiari, honored one," the man said with a bow.

"Tarielle Andiari," the woman said with a deep curtsy.

Tarrin noticed that peculiarity with the Sha'Kar. Female names always seemed to end with a vowel, either e, a, or i, and male names with n. Tarrin guessed that his own name seemed proper to them, since it also ended with n, and probably felt the same about the names of Keritanima, Dolanna, and Allia. Dar's name probably seemed unusual to them, and he wasn't sure if they realized that the rest of his group had names. All of them who spoke called everyone else the party his servants, and he'd gotten tired of correcting them.

"It's good to meet you," Tarrin told them.

"The honor is ours, honored one," Trevan bowed.

He wanted to talk with them some more, but they were effectively bulled out of his presence by the Sha'Kar who had yet to meet him. He did mark their names in his mind as Sha'Kar he intended to get to know, then returned to idle boredom accepting flowery greetings, shaking hands, and enduring attempts for the Sha'Kar to impress him into showing them more than just idle politeness. The tactic that the Andiaris had employed to garner his interest had to have been circulated among those who had yet to greet him, for most of them immediately congratulated Kimmie on her coming child, and tried to work around to asking Tarrin if he had other children.

After an almost insufferably long time, Tarrin finally ran out of hands to shake and greetings to accept. After all the Sha'Kar had greeted him, the fifty or so human Sorcerers finally shook his paw and bowed to him, and he got a chance to speak to them. They were very polite and lively, a lot like the Sha'Kar, but they lacked that haughty expression and the stiff frame. The humans were much more relaxed, more animated, and weren't quite so worshipful of him. They did show him respect, but their smiles weren't forced. He responded by being a bit more open with them than he had been with the Sha'Kar.

While Tarrin was greeting the human Sorcerers, servants cleared the tables away from the middle of the lawn, and Sha'Kar stood on tables to one side with instruments and began playing a light, delicately complicated song. It was strange music, with a complicated harmony, but it was quite lovely. Sha'Kar moved out into the clearing and began to dance, as those not dancing broke into large groups and talked among themselves. Sha'Kar would wander from group to group engaging in the many different conversations, and a group would often change all its membership over time as the originals left and new Sha'Kar joined to take their places. The dancing they did was very stately, very dignified, a kind of ritualized dance with a male and a female that was very structured. Everyone was moving in exactly the same manner, with exceptional grace and ability, a perfectly synchronized spectacle that moved in time with the music.

To his surprise, the music and the dancing and the food were starting to have an effect on Tarrin, and he began to relax a little. So far, nothing had happened that had outraged him, and the Sha'Kar had proven that though they seemed arrogant, they were very polite and didn't clamor around him harassing him with endless questions. Almost as if they were told that once they greeted him, to leave him alone. Tarrin found himself with only Kimmie for company, as all the others were out mingling with the Sha'Kar and the humans, trying to get to know them, as Keritanima told them to do. Camara Tal, Phandebrass, and Azakar were talking with the servants, Dar with the human Sorcerers, and Keritanima and Dolanna were circulating in the groups of Sha'Kar who were talking. Miranda was with Binter and Sisska at the fringes of things, and to his surprise, Allia was dancing with Allyn out in the lawn. She performed their dance flawlessly, and was actually smiling. She looked to be having a good time.

The music and dancing and talking went on well into the night, as Tarrin stayed at his table, not quite willing to go out there and get mugged by well-wishing Sha'Kar. His nerves probably wouldn't be able to take so many strangers surrounding him, reaching out to him, it would probably be a bit too much. So he and Kimmie sat at the table watching things go on, and Tarrin noticed that the Grand and his Council were staying well away from the Were-cats. They were down in the throng, talking to the others, and it was something not lost on Tarrin. The Grand didn't want to get anywhere near him just now. Tarrin knew that his presence seemed to unsettle the Grand, probably because of the Firestaff. The Grand hadn't so much as talked to him during the feast, and neither did any of the Council. He knew he wasn't finding anything out, but everyone else was down there, and they'd probably have a better chance at it than him anyway. The Sha'Kar were too overwhelmed by his presence to make much sense when he did try to talk to them, too busy trying to make themselves look important to say anything that Tarrin wanted to hear. He realized that if he wanted to find anything out from the Sha'Kar, he'd have to talk to them privately, where the rest of their society wasn't there watching on and making the person he was talking to concentrate more on impressing them than answering his questions.

As midnight came and went, the feast died down, until the Grand announced that it was over. To his surprise, Tarrin had actually had a decent time. It had been a little boring sitting at his table all night, but the music had been interesting and new, and Kimmie's witty conversation kept him engaged through the night. He thought it was going to be a chore, and the part about meeting everyone had been, but the rest of the time actually wasn't that bad at all. He left the feast with his friends and his host family in good spirits, a little tired though, and ready to go back and get some rest.

Tarrin and Kimmie talked about what they noticed and what they saw during the feast until they went to sleep, but they found that they'd seen more or less the same things. They were awakened in the morning when Allia came into their chamber, singing lightly to herself and looking very content, wearing nothing but a very loosely tied silk robe that threatened to fall off of her at any moment. Tarrin knew that Allia only sang when she was very happy, almost like when a cat only purred when it was content, for singing was a form of worship to Fara'Nae. It was not done when the Selani's heart wasn't in it.

"You're in a good mood this morning, sister," Tarrin told her as he sat up in the bed, dislodging his mate. Kimmie grumbled in her sleep, then rolled over and wrapped her tail around his waist.

"I had a wonderful time last night," she told him with bright eyes, covering the considerable distance between the door and the bed as she spoke.

"I saw. You and Allyn danced all night."

"He is a good dancer," she said with a smile.

Tarrin looked closely at her. The way her posture softened when she spoke of him told him more than he was ready to accept. He gaped at her. "You like Allyn?" he asked her.

She gave him a flash of irritation. "He is a sweet boy," she said. "He's very kind and attentive to me. I've never been courted before. I find the custom very pleasant," she added with a warm, slow smile. "I rewarded him for his attentions last night," she announced with a slightly satisfied look about her.

"You slept with him?"

"Yes," she admitted. "And he may be young, but he knows how to pleasure a woman," she sighed lustily.

Tarrin laughed, making Kimmie grumble more. "I didn't think you'd be taken with him that much," he told her.

"It's been nearly two years since I've had a lover, brother," she told him. "Humans are too unattractive and boorish to be a good lover. But Allyn is handsome and kind, he's very intelligent and engaging, he gives me all his attention, and he's an exceptionally good bedmate. I'm quite taken with him."

"You may find his attention wane a bit now that he's gotten what he's after," Tarrin chuckled.

"Posh," she sniffed. "I know how to keep him interested in me, brother. I've got him firmly in hand."

"If you two are going to keep me awake, at least speak in a language I can understand so I don't miss anything!" Kimmie growled from the bed.

"Forgive me, Kimmie," Allia said in Sulasian. "I was telling Tarrin about last night."

"Allia got tired of Allyn following her around, so she slept with him to make him go away," Tarrin teased, grinning at his sister.

"Posh. I slept with him to keep him from losing interest in me," she corrected lightly.

"He's just a kid, Allia."

"Young males are more energetic in bed, so long as they have enough experience," Allia said with a wicked little smile. "Besides, he's only two years younger than me."

"He looks a lot younger," Kimmie mused.

"The harshness of the desert does not show on him as it does on me," she said simply. "Had I been raised here, I would be a soft and fat as these Sha'Kar." She laughed. "Allyn was shocked once he had me out of my clothes. He has never seen muscle on one that looks as we before. He found it very sexy."

"So, Allyn has himself a buff studette," Kimmie grinned with a wink, rolling over on the bed so she was on her belly, facing Allia with her chin on her paws.

"A what?" Allia asked in confusion.

"A muscled playmate in bed," Tarrin translated into Selani.

"Oh. Yes, he does," she admitted shamelessly. "I have never shared a bed with someone so soft before. I thought I may be repelled by his weakness, but actually, I found it rather exciting."

"It's that aggressive warrior spirit in you, Allia," Kimmie winked. "You conquered him, so it was time to enjoy the spoils."

"The spoils were very enjoyable," Allia laughed.

"So… thinking of marriage?" Kimmie asked.

"Not quite yet, but I do like him, Kimmie," Allia answered honestly. "He is very kind and very gentle. He is just disobedient enough to be interesting, at least now that his awe of me is starting to wear away, and he has a clever and willful mind. And he is totally smitten with me," she said with a glorious smile. "I have never had a power like this over a man. It is almost intoxicating. If I asked Allyn to stab himself in the heart, he would do it without hesitation."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kimmie grinned.

"I am not planning on it. I am planning on going back to my room and enjoying my spoils a bit more, though," she said with an undisguised leer. "He should be recovered enough now."

"Take it easy on him," Kimmie laughed.

"Why'd you come here if you're not ready to get up yet?" Tarrin asked.

"Oh, Dolanna wants us to gather at lunch," she said. "I am not the only one sleeping off a long night. Dolanna got drunk last night."

"She did? It didn't show at all!" Tarrin said with a sudden laugh.

"She holds her composure very well," Allia told him. "But she probably has a headache this morning."

"Probably," Tarrin chuckled. Allia taking a lover wasn't a big thing, for Allia was no virginal maiden. She was as dirty-minded as many human sailors, if you were lucky enough to be as close to her as Tarrin was. But Dolanna getting drunk, now that was something very unusual, and a bit funny.

"Well, I am going back to Allyn," Allia told them. "I will see you at lunch."

"Go easy on him, Allia," Kimmie grinned.

"He is the one that has to go easy on me," pulling her robe aside and baring her left breast. It had a visible bite mark on it. Kimmie laughed like a little girl, pounding her feet on the bed hard enough to make the whole bed shake violently. "As I said, brother, he is quite an energetic lover," she added with a wicked smirk, then she started going into rather graphic detail of some of the other things that Allyn had done to her. Tarrin was used to this kind of talk from Allia, but Kimmie looked a bit startled that not only would she say some of the things she said, but that she used some of the very vulgar words that she used. She looked a bit shocked when Allia finished her lurid account of the night's entertainment, but Allia just smiled that wicked little smile and pulled her robe back up. "I will be back when I wear him out," she told them, then she started towards the door.

"Tell me she didn't know what half of those words meant," Kimmie said in a stunned voice after Allia closed the door.

"She should. I taught them to her."

Kimmie looked at him, then exploded into helpless laughter. "I never thought she was that dirty!" Kimmie said in glee. "She sure had me fooled!"

"None of the others really understand Allia, Kimmie. Keritanima comes closest, but even she doesn't understand some things the way I do, because Allia is a lot closer to me than she is to Kerri. Allia is nothing like what Dolanna or Dar or Phandebrass believe her to be. She doesn't talk very much, so they all think she's a quiet and reserved woman, like Binter and Sisska. She rarely speaks, but when she does, you listen to what she says. That's how the others see her. They know she's more open with Kerri and me, but they don't know that she usually won't completely let her guard down unless she's absolutely sure she's alone with us. That's why when they do walk in on us, Allia is still quiet and reserved, so they think she's just stuffy like that all the time. They have no idea what she's like when you get her behind a closed door."

"I'll say!" Kimmie laughed.

"When we're alone, Allia talks a lot, and she talks a lot different than she does when we're with the others," Tarrin told her with a smile. "There are things she'll say to me that she won't say to anyone else, because we're so close. As far as she's concerned, I could be in the room watching her and Allyn, and it wouldn't bother her a bit. That's how close we are."

"Well," Kimmie said, the texture of her scent changing in a most appealing manner as she looked up at him. "Allyn certainly has a vivid imagination. Maybe we should try some of those things."

"I'm not sure a few of them would be very comfortable," Tarrin said as he leaned down and kissed her, putting a paw on her lovely bottom and patting it fondly. "I'd break your tail."

"I can live with that," she giggled girlishly against his lips as she rolled over and pulled him down onto the bed with her.

Kimmie seemed to still be quite stunned by what she saw of Allia after they got up, bathed, and dressed. She asked a whole bunch of questions about Allia of him as they bathed, as they dressed, as they ate the light snack that Arlan's servants left for them while they were bathing. They were rather insightful questions, Tarrin thought, as Kimmie tried to dig under the facade that Allia held up the world and get at the woman underneath it. Tarrin told her that in reality, Allia was a rather outgoing woman, talkative and with a wicked sense of humor. She was fearless in her speech, and where Tarrin was concerned, there was no subject that was too personal. Tarrin had to guiltily admit that there were things he'd tell Allia that he'd tell no one else. Not Kimmie, not Jesmind, not his parents, not even Triana. That was how close they were, and he struggled for a long time to explain the intense bond of love that existed between them, a love so powerful, so deep, that it defied his every attempt to quantify it in rational terms. Kimmie seemed to understand how he felt about Allia after he couldn't explain it; his loss for words said more than any words ever could. Kimmie kept on him about how Allia acted when they were alone, and he told her that she was a clever, funny, outgoing, slightly mischievous woman. She didn't play pranks, but she had a deliciously wicked mind, and she had the intelligence to apply that evil bent in wonderfully mean ways. She was also very observant, often seeing to the heart of things long before anyone else, and was very compassionate and caring. He told her about how she always seemed to know exactly what to say in difficult or sensitives times, telling her about the many times that a single sentence from Allia defused his anger or made him think about what he was doing before he made a terrible mistake.

Tarrin was surprised by Kimmie's curiosity about Allia, but then again, it was like seeing a woman they'd never met before that had Allia's face walk through the door and talk to them. Tarrin knew that Kimmie had never seen Allia like that before, and he was pretty certain by her reaction that she had never in her wildest dreams thought Allia would behave as she did.

The others gathered in Tarrin's room a little after noon, Tarrin raising a Ward to prevent eavesdropping, and realizing that it was going to be a bit wearing to do it every time they needed to talk privately. So he exerted a little extra effort and wove up a very strong Ward that would stop eavesdropping as well as prevent a physical barrier to prevent Sorcerers from getting into the room using the Weave. He charged the Ward with more than enough power to make it last nearly a month, and then set it against the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room. He just finished up his work as his friends shuffled into his chamber, and he could see that more than one of them looked a bit worse for wear. Dolanna had dark circles under her eyes and looked a bit listless. Azakar flumped onto the floor on his backside, very hard, holding his head in his hands almost immediately. Dar kept yawning, and Tarrin saw that he'd put his robe on backwards and had forgotten to put on anything underneath it. Even Phandebrass and Camara Tal looked a little tender, both of them looking exhausted and scattered. For Phandebrass, that was no big deal, but it was in Camara Tal's case. She hadn't even combed her hair yet, and it stuck out at strange angles and had many stray strands escaping from the disorganized black mass. She and Phandebrass were wearing similar bathing robes, the Amazon's impressive bosom threatening to fall out of the loosely wrapped garment at any moment. Keritanima and Miranda were leaning against each other, both of them looking weary. Allia looked sleepy, the first time Tarrin had ever seen her like that, but then again, he knew that she'd not only had no sleep last night, but had also had quite a bit of exercise almost all the way through lunch. The only ones that looked like they'd not had too much fun last night were Tarrin, Kimmie, Binter, and Sisska.

"My, we're a happy little bunch this morning," Tarrin said with a chuckle, leaning over the raised part of the divan and looking down at Keritanima. "I never thought you'd get drunk, Kerri."

"I couldn't taste the alcohol in those drinks," she moaned. "I didn't think they'd do this to me."

"That is why I drank them," Dolanna agreed, rubbing her temples. "Had I known they were alcohol, I would have been more moderate in my enjoyment of them."

"None of you looked drunk when we walked back," Kimmie said.

"It did not really hit me until I got back to my room," Dolanna told her.

"Are you going to be alright? Zak? Dar? Phandebrass, Camara?"

"I'll be fine after a few months' sleep," Azakar grunted.

"I think I'm going to die," Dar complained in a pitiful voice.

"I have never had a hangover like this, in all my life," Miranda announced. "And I've done my share of drinking."

"Do you want to go back to bed, and we'll do this later?"

"Yes!" Dar, Azakar, and Keritanima said at once, then all three winced and held their heads.

"We made this bed, so we must sleep in it," Dolanna said in a quiet tone. "Things are too important for us to sleep away the day because of overindulgence. I guess we should start with what we have learned last night. Does anyone have anything important to disclose?"

"Well, the Firestaff is definitely here," Keritanima said. "I mentioned it in passing several times, and the older Sha'Kar all had the same reaction when I mentioned it. I don't think its presence here is common knowledge, but the older Sha'Kar definitely know it's here."

"I think Iselde knows something about it," Tarrin said. "She had a reaction when I told her why we're here. I need to go drag it out of her."

"Gently, Tarrin," Dolanna said. "We cannot let them know that we know, so we must be delicate about this."

Tarrin looked at his Selani sister. "Did Allyn have anything to say?"

"I asked him straight, my brother," she said. "He does not know if it is here or not. He did say that this island was enclosed in the Ward for protecting some forgotten artifact that nobody found when they came to the island, and he suspects that this might be where the Firestaff was placed. But he does not know."

"They searched the island when they got here?" Keritanima asked.

Allia nodded. "As I said, Allyn says that nothing was found."

"I did manage to pick up something," Miranda said. "From one of the servants. The volcano is off limits. Nobody's allowed to go up there."

"That could be where it is."

"The volcano is active," Dolanna said. "Did you not see the smoke? That it is off limits may be a rule of common sense. Let us not focus too strongly on one thing when there are many other possibilities left unexplored."

"I talked to some of the servants about their serving the Sha'Kar," Azakar said woodenly. "I couldn't believe what they had to say."

"What?" Dar asked.

"They serve because they want to," he said in disbelief. "One of them told me that when they serve well, the Sha'Kar reward them. I asked why they all seem afraid of the Sha'Kar, and he said it wasn't fear, it was the desire to serve. He said they don't torture the servants or work them cruelly, yet the ones that work outside are all almost malnourished and work from sunup to sundown every day. I think there's a split between how the inside servants are treated and how the outside servants are treated."

"Did anyone notice that all the servants at the feast were attractive?" Phandebrass asked. "I looked around. Not a single plain face in the crowd. All the ladies were pretty, and all the gentlemen handsome.

"And the outside servants were plain looking," Kimmie mused. "The Sha'Kar seem to be obsessed with beauty. Maybe they choose who does what job based on how attractive the person is. The uglier you are, the harder your job is."

"That is possible," Dolanna said, still rubbing her temples.

"Did anyone talk to the Grand or the Council?" Tarrin asked. "They avoided me all night."

"I did not see them," Dolanna replied.

"I didn't talk to them," Keritanima said.

"I doubt they would have wasted time on me or Allia," Dar grunted. "The only Sha'Kar that would talk to me were the younger ones, the ones that aren't da'shar."

"Did anyone count and see how many are older and how many are younger?" Tarrin asked.

"There are about two hundred older ones, and three hundred younger ones," Keritanima answered immediately. "Some of the younger ones are already da'shar."

"Iselde said about five hundred Sha'Kar came here originally. What happened to kill three hundred Ancients?"

"That book you read said they suffered a plague and a fire that destroyed their town once," Kimmie reminded him.

"The book said that the plague wasn't deadly to Sha'Kar, and no fire could kill a da'shar," he replied. "Unless the fire made something fall on a da'shar's head, anyway."

"That's possible, if they were in the houses as they collapsed," Kimmie said.

Dolanna shook her head. "With the magic they have available to them, I find that highly unlikely. It is a bit strange that three hundred would die, when this place seems very safe."

"Did anyone find out something about the Sha'Kar's customs that may help us?"

"I found out that they don't even look at anyone that isn't a Sorcerer," Camara Tal growled. "I think I could have walked around that feast absolutely naked, and not a single Sha'Kar would have noticed."

"They would have noticed, Camara," Kimmie grinned. "You may be human, but as some of my kind say, what a human you are."

"Some Sha'Kar find humans to be attractive," Tarrin told the Amazon. "You'd have had quite a few appreciative eyes."

"That may be useful to know," Camara Tal mused. "Maybe I could drag one of those older Sha'Kar into bed under false pretense, and once I got him where I want him, throttle what we need to know out of him."

"Delicately," Dolanna reminded her. "We must move delicately, Camara. The last thing we need to do is make enemies out of the Sha'Kar."

"I wouldn't want to," Keritanima said. "They may seem a bit arrogant, but they're nice people if you talk to them."

"They are also our brothers and sisters under the Goddess," Dolanna agreed. "Even if they oppose our mission, it is because of the mission, not because of us. We cannot forget that."

"So, we know the Firestaff is here, but not everyone may know it's here. We know that the Sha'Kar won't tell us, and the ones that probably do know are avoiding us. Anyone have any ideas?"

"I think moving slowly is the best course, dear one," Dolanna told him. "So long as the Ward remains active, in reality, we have all the time in the world. Let us not be hasty and make a rash decision that we will regret afterwards. We have only had one night to come to know the Sha'Kar. I do not think that is enough for us to understand them."

"I have to agree with Dolanna," Camara Tal said. "She's right about the Ward. If you're the only one that can get through it, then nobody else can get in here and take the Firestaff right out from under our noses. So let's take our time and do this right, in a way that lets us get what we're after and not make enemies out of the Sha'Kar."

"I think that's a reasonable idea," Keritanima agreed. "I haven't had enough time yet to do much of anything, and I can't think straight at the moment anyway. So me giving advice right now would be a bad idea."

"I am on very good terms with Allyn," Allia told them. "I may be able to find the answers to delicate questions if I ask him to discover the answers for me. It would not look as suspicious if another Sha'Kar were asking the questions."

Kimmie grinned knowingly at Tarrin. Good terms indeed. Very good terms.

"Weren't you dancing with him all night last night?" Dar asked her.

"He is a good dancer, and I felt more comfortable dancing with someone I know rather than strangers," Allia said without blinking.

"I think he has a crush on you, Allia," Miranda told her. "All that singing and poetry and Sorcery? He's definitely trying to catch your eye."

"I know he is, and if it is needful, I can use that to our advantage," she said calmly. "But I must admit, I find his attentions flattering, and I have found that he is actually a rather innocent and sweet boy whose heart is in the right place. So I would prefer it if none of you would ask something of me that would put him in danger or damage our friendship. I happen to like him, and I do not want to hurt him."

"Why won't—" Kimmie started in the manner of the Cat, but Tarrin stopped her by putting his paw over her mouth. Even if that wasn't how the language was communicated, it served to make her stop. Tarrin gave her a direct look, a look that communicated the fact that that was not a safe mode of communication in current company, and Kimmie's eyes flashed in sudden understanding. "What do you think the Grand and the Council are going to do when we start getting pushy about the Firestaff?" she asked, Tarrin realizing that it wasn't the question she meant to ask.

"I'm not sure yet," Keritanima said, giving her a strange look. "I don't know enough about them yet to guess."

"I hope it does not come to that," Dolanna said. "But I do think we need to appear that we are not going to be as patient as we will be. Let us tell them if they ask that we are giving Grand Syllis and his people three days to search their histories for clues to the location of the Firestaff. That seems a reasonable period of time for those who are in a bit of a hurry, gambling on old lore to shorten their journey."

"That does sound pretty reasonable," Tarrin agreed. "Three days would be all I could wait if I wasn't waiting on something else."

"It is important you play your part, Tarrin," Dolanna told him. "Be forceful with the Grand, and on the third day, be very demanding, and be contrary if he asks us to stay longer. After all, we are on an important mission, so it would look strange if we do not remain vocal and do not leave soon. We just need a valid reason to stay past our deadline, that is all."

"I can take care of that," Keritanima said. "Let's tie a note to Sapphire and tell her to fly back to the steamship. I'll write Donovan and tell him to break the steam engine on the third day, so we have a very valid excuse for staying here past our deadline. We can fume and rant and curse at Donovan for not having it working, all the while as he drags his feet on the repairs. I doubt the Sha'Kar have ever seen a steam engine before, so they'll have no idea how long it will take Donovan to fix it. If I even let them anywhere near the steamship, that is," she finished with a sly smile.

"That's brilliant, Kerri," Dar said appreciatively. "Sneaky and underhanded. Right up your alley."

"We all do our part," she winked at him.

"Since they can't see like we can, it would take them even longer to make the repairs," Azakar reasoned, then he closed his mouth and bowed his head.

"That's true. That'll give us even more excuse to delay the repair. Maybe it won't seem suspicious if we're still here a month from now, because our blind engineers can't see what they're doing and keep messing the engine up."

"A trifle outlandish, but it may do as a last resort," Dolanna said, then she yawned. "I am sorry, but I really need to go lie down."

"I think just about everyone here feels the same way, Dolanna," Camara Tal grunted in agreement. "Let's go back to bed and take this up again when most of us can think straight."

"I say, that's the best idea I've heard yet, it is," Phandebrass agreed.

They all got up—a bit shakily—and filed towards the door like men and women on the way to their own execution. Keritanima, Miranda, and the Vendari paused long enough for the queen to write her letter to Donovan. Binter helped Keritanima along after she was done, and Sisska decided not to be quite so gentle with Miranda, picking her up like a rag doll and holding her under her arm as she walked after her mate. Miranda didn't struggle, didn't even move, hanging limply in Sisska's massive arm and accepting the rather rough assistance.

"They must have served them different drinks than they served us," Tarrin mused as Dar, the last out, closed the door with a listless wave to them. "I didn't smell any alcohol."

"Me either," Kimmie agreed. "Why did you cut me off?"

"Because Kerri and Allia can understand it when we speak that way," he told her. "The amulets they wear let them hear it where nobody else can. Allia may not have told Kerri yet, and it's not our place to do it. Until I know Kerri knows, we say nothing about last night."

"Oh. Well, I guess it's good I haven't said anything like that that may embarrass us," she chuckled. "I wonder why Allia kept it a secret. She certainly wasn't shy about talking about it this morning."

"That was because she was talking to me," she said. "Allia won't hide it, but she's not going to cry it from the rooftops either. As far as she's concerned, it's nobody else's business but mine and Kerri's, because we're her brother and sister."

"Oh. I think I understand." She yawned and stretched. "What are we going to do today?"

"I think I'm going to take a nap. Until Iselde wakes up, there's not much for us to do but wander around. Where's Sapphire?" Tarrin asked, looking around.

"I saw her fly into the pool room a while ago," Kimmie said, looking in that direction.

A little nervous, Tarrin got up and went to check on her. He wasn't sure if Sapphire knew how to swim, and if she fell into the pool, she may be in trouble. He looked in and saw that she was just fine, sitting at the edge of the shallower side of the pool, staring at the water's surface intently. Tarrin knelt down over her and looked too, and saw that she was looking at her reflection in the water. She saw him in the water and craned her neck to look up at him, chirping to him in greeting.

"I was worried about you," he told her conversationally, patting her lightly on the head. "What are you doing in here by yourself?"

She looked down at the water again, staring at her reflection. "That's you," he told her, scratching her between the horns. "It's your reflection, little one."

Sapphire put on the most curious look of concentration. "Shahie," she hissed sibilantly.

Tarrin gaped at her. She was trying to speak! He could barely make out what she was hissing, but he was certain she was trying to speak her own name. Curious if he was right, he looked down at her reflection and looked into her eyes calmly. "Sapphire," he said very slowly, pronouncing the word carefully.

"Shashire," she repeated, Tarrin seeing that she was trying to manipulate the scaly lips that surrounded her maw. Wikuni had the same problem, but virtually all of them had a second set of inner lips that allowed them to speak with a full range of sounds. Sapphire wasn't blessed with that, and she was trying to learn how to move her lips to imitate the sounds that the humans and non-humans made, and it wasn't easy for her, for her scaly maw wasn't equipped with prehensile lips as most humanoids were.

"Sa-Fire," he enunciated.

Sapphire's eyes became intense. "Sha-Feer. Sha-Fair."

"I," Tarrin intoned slowly.

"Sha-Fire," she said.

"Saaa-phire," he called slowly.

"Sha-Stha-Stha," she hissed, then she growled in her throat. "Sapphire."

"That's it! You did it!" Tarrin said in surprise, laughing and picking her up. He twirled around in circles, holding the surprised drake out at arms length.

"Tarrin? What's going on?" Kimmie asked.

"Kimmie, come in here quick!" Tarrin shouted. "Sapphire just spoke!"

"What?" she gasped, then she absolutely raced into the pool room. "She spoke?"

"Saa-Fire," the drake said slowly, carefully, trying to learn how to make those sounds.

"By the river's draw!" Kimmie gasped in surprise. "She did speak!" Then she laughed heartily, stopping Tarrin and patting her on the head. "That's incredible, Sapphire! We didn't think you could do it because of the shape of your mouth!"

"Tha-rihn," she said sedately, trying to speak his name. "Kih-ngee."

"She needs a little work," Kimmie laughed. "But still, that's amazing!"

"We knew she was smarter, but I never imagined she'd try to learn how to talk," Tarrin mused, holding the little drake close. "But don't worry, little one. Me and Kimmie, we'll help you learn if that's what you want."

"Rrrrearn. Sapphire rrr-rrr-rrrrr." She hissed at herself in frustration.

"Put your tongue behind your teeth, like this," Kimmie said, showing her. "Llllllllearn."

Sapphire's tongue couldn't cut off all the air the same way Kimmie's tongue could, so the sound she made was rather rasping and sibilant. But it was an L sound. "Rrr-rrrngll," she sounded, then hissed again.

"She's impatient with herself," Kimmie grinned. "She's a lot like you. Go gently, little one. What you're doing isn't easy, especially since your mouth doesn't have a good shape for making the sounds we do. It's going to take you a while."

"Llllearn. Sapphire rr-rrwan-tah learn."

"Sapphire wants to learn," Tarrin mused, stroking her side gently. "Well, if you want to learn, we'll teach you."

Tarrin quite honestly forgot about everything else but the drake, sitting down with her and Kimmie on the bed and teaching her. They taught her all the sounds that she'd have to make using human speech, and let her practice them without piecing them together to form words. Sapphire learned incredibly fast, so fast that Tarrin wasn't sure if it was entirely natural, but then again, what had happened to her when the sixth sui'kun was born wasn't very natural either. Sapphire's mind was still growing, he could see that now, going from having enough intelligence to understand basic Sulasian to starting to become developed enough to begin to branch out on her own, trying to learn human talk. Perhaps what happened on that day had not been a bolt from the blue, but an opening in a levee that gradually allowed a dry lake bed to fill. When Tarrin thought that her intelligence had reached a plateau, it had actually continued to develop. But then again, with everything that had happened, he hadn't had time to teach her any new words, and hadn't been around her closely enough to see that her mind was continuing to expand.

Lunch came and went. Servants knocked on the door, but they weren't answered. Dinner came and went as well, and the two Were-cats continued working with the drake until she could make all the sounds she needed to know to speak. She had a very sibilant accent, due to the shape of her mouth and tongue, but she was understandable. And she could speak all the words she knew, knowing many more words than Tarrin and Kimmie taught her, they found out. She even had a basic understanding of the structure and grammar of Sulasian. All that time she had been sitting around listening to them, to their friends, she had done more than listen. She had been learning. And Tarrin suspected that Sapphire was more intelligent now than he was.

"Tarrin," she said confidently, mastering the word, looking up at him. "Right?"

"Very right," he said in wonder, staring down at her proudly. "You're amazing, Sapphire. I'm lucky you're my friend."

"Lucky," she nodded, a bit arrogantly. But he guessed she deserved a little arrogance. She was the only speaking drake he'd ever heard of. "Teach more?"

"As soon as we eat something. Aren't you hungry?"

"Hungry. Yes. Want beef."

"I can't Conjure anything for us right now, Sapphire," he said. "These Sha'Kar don't know I'm a Druid, and I don't want them to find out. So I can't use my Druidic abilities."

"Enemies?"

"No, they're not exactly enemies, but remember when I used magic to speak with you? How I said that you had to be careful around new people until you were sure of them?"

Sapphire nodded.

"Well, I'm not sure of the Sha'Kar yet, so I'm not ready to trust them."

"Understand. Keep silent."

"That may be a good idea," he said. "The Sha'Kar don't know that you understand human speech. They don't know how smart you are, and I don't think I want them to know."

"No understand them."

"They speak a different language than what I'm teaching you."

"Teach. Use magic." Tarrin stared at her in surprise. "Use magic Tarrin use on Kimmie. Use on me."

Tarrin was stunned. Even he hadn't thought of that! Kimmie gaped at the drake, then laughed ruefully. "Damn, but that's brilliant!" she said. "I never thought of doing that!"

"Sapphire go with Sha'Kar and listen. Can hear what Tarrin needs to know."

Tarrin gaped at his pet in awe. That was very, very clever. He should have thought of that!

"Outsmarted by our pet!" Kimmie laughed, flopping back on the bed. "But a pet no longer," she added. "Sapphire stopped being a pet the minute she was smart enough to understand us." She sat up. "Will the spell work on her, Tarrin?"

"Actually, it will," he said. "It's Priest magic, Kimmie. The only thing it requires is that the recipient of the spell be intelligent enough to understand, and Sapphire obviously is." He looked down at her. "It's going to take time."

"Dow-Dolanna say have time," she said calmly. "Camara say all time in world. Teach. Teach now, take less time. Teach later, take more time."

"She's got you there," Kimmie grinned.

"I don't have to do it alone," he told his mate. "All I have to do is cast the spell, and anyone can teach her."

"And the more people we tell, the better chance it has of getting discovered by the Sha'Kar," she said pointedly.

"That's a good point. Let's only bring in Allia, Kerri, and Dolanna. They know how to keep a secret."

"And Dolanna and Kerri can cast the same spell."

"They can," he nodded in agreement. "So can Allia, for that matter, once we teach it to her."

"Teach," Sapphire said impatiently.

"Let's eat first," he told her. "I'm hungry."

"Teach after."

"I'll start teaching you as soon as we finish eating, I promise," he said, scratching her between the horns in the manner she so favored.

"I just thought of something," Kimmie laughed. "We spent all day teaching her the hard way when we could have used magic in the first place."

"That wouldn't have helped her," Tarrin said. "The spell only aids in learning knowledge. Sapphire had to learn the skill of making human sound. There's a big difference. The spell can't teach things that depend on acting them out, like learning how to dance or speak. You can only learn things that don't depend on it, like languages or history or things like that."

"I didn't know that," Kimmie said, crawling out of bed. "Well, let's go raid their kitchen, and get back to work. I wonder if the others are up by now."

"As bad as they looked? I doubt it," Tarrin chuckled. "I'll bet my tail they'll all stay in bed until tomorrow morning."

"In Allia's case, she may have company," Kimmie sniggered.

"After two years without a lover, she may make up for lost time," Tarrin said absently, hoisting Sapphire up onto his shoulder.

After raiding the kitchen, Tarrin locked himself away with Kimmie and Sapphire and began. The Priest spell of learning still worked, and he cast it on Sapphire and started teaching her not Sha'Kar, but Sulasian. He and Kimmie took turns working with her, expanding her vocabulary to make her more fluent. Sapphire understood the need for it, the need to use the common language that all Tarrin's group used when speaking among themselves, and since she was already so far along, it would only take a couple of sessions to make her fully fluent. Late into the night they worked, far beyond when Tarrin and Kimmie both wanted to stop and go to bed, but the drake pestered them and demanded that they keep going until she was too tired to continue. So Tarrin and Kimmie took turns napping while the other continued to teach, Tarrin having to recast the spell every few hours as it started losing its potency.

By sunrise, Sapphire finally declared that it was time to stop. Then again, after nearly fifteen hours of constant teaching, much more than the two or three hour sessions that Tarrin usually employed, Sapphire was completely fluent in Sulasian. She had the same grasp of the language that Tarrin, being the native speaker, had, and the full day of practice had cleaned up her sibilant accent somewhat. She was still obviously going to have that accent, she always would, but it wasn't quite so bad. It didn't make her words unintelligible as it had when she first began.

"I am tired," Sapphire said. Tarrin looked at her. Even though he and Kimmie had taught her, it still felt a little wild that she could speak now. "We can go to bed now?"

"If you want," Tarrin told her.

"I haven't stayed up so long before," she hissed, backsliding a bit into her bad accent. "I didn't know it would make me feel so lethargic." Then she yawned, showing off her mouth full of pointy teeth. "Is there anything else you need to teach me about Sulasian?"

"Not that I can think of," Tarrin told her.

"Then we can go to bed." She looked at them. "And keep it down, will you? You two are worse than a pair of rabbits."

Kimmie blushed furiously. "Well, we thought you were a pet," she shot back.

"You're already going to lay eggs, Kimmie. Why keep at him? He's served his purpose."

"Our species enjoys the act," she told her.

"Obviously," she sniffed, unfurling her wings. "Please enjoy it a bit more quietly today, for the sake of a good sleep, at least," she said, then she flapped across the room to her small bed, and then curled up atop it. "Good night."

"Good night, Sapphire," they told her in unison as she closed her eyes.

"It's going to take me a while to get used to that," Kimmie said in the unspoken manner of the Cat, then she too yawned, showing off her impressive fangs. "What time is it?"

"Sunrise, or some time past it," he answered in the same way. "I should start calling her the little general. She certainly is bossy."

"She's not usually like that," Kimmie said. "I think she's just so hungry to learn, it's making her act like this."

"Well, let's get some sleep. I have the feeling that today's going to be a long day."


In a way, it was a long day for Tarrin. Waking up only after about four hours, he got up and took care of something that had honestly slipped his mind in Sapphire's revelation, and that was send her off to the ship with the letter to Donovan. Luckily for him she was already awake when he woke up, gnawing at some leftover roasted bird that Tarrin had brought from the kitchen and set on the table. It was much easier to explain to her what he needed her to do now that she could understand what he was saying so clearly, and agreed to do it for him without complaint or argument. "You are my friend, Tarrin," she told him simply. "Don't friends help one another?"

Sapphire was quite an individual, Tarrin mused after he took her outside and let her go, told her to come back whenever she felt ready, then started wandering the massive palace, looking for Iselde. He found her in a room on the fourth floor, a music conservatory, one of the few rooms that lacked the subtly overwhelming art and decoration prevalent in all the other rooms. She was practicing playing a stringed instrument that looked vaguely like a lute, but with nine strings instead of the usual four or five, depending on the type of lute. The room was very plain, with only two padded chairs with no arms and a stand that held parchments of what Iselde called sheet music, as the music was written on the paper as a series of dots on a quintet of horizontal lines.

Tarrin sat down in the other chair and listened to her play her instrument, and he was impressed. It had a rich timbre, something he wasn't used to hearing, and he realized that the lute's hollow construction gave it that musical quality. Iselde was very good with the instrument, playing a complicated song with a lot of counterpoint. He just sat there and listened intently for almost an hour, enjoying her practice, and then when she seemed to be done, she put aside her instrument and they talked.

Keritanima said they needed to know what the Sha'Kar were like, so Tarrin started with something very basic. He asked her what a day in the life of Iselde was like. She was only too happy to oblige his curiosity, and painted a typical day for him with her words, a day that gave him some insight into the minds of the Sha'Kar. The typical Sha'Kar didn't wake up until about noon. It wasn't that they were lazy, it was that they were descended from a nocturnal race, the Urzani, and still had instinctive tendencies to stay up at night. Humans were diurnal, sleeping at night, so the Sha'Kar split the difference. They rose around noon, and commonly went to bed somewhere between midnight and the false dawn. What some of Tarrin's friends thought was a late night at the feast actually hadn't been for the Sha'Kar.

Iselde would wake around noon or so every day and eat breakfast with her family. After that, she would go to Auli's house for lessons from Auli's mother, a respected teacher of Sorcery among the Sha'Kar, who was very picky about who she trained. Iselde was given a higher social worth because Auli's mother, Dayelle, was teaching her Sorcery. Of course, she lost a lot of it because she was friends with Auli, but Iselde was in her rebellious phase, where part of her wanted to shock her elders. After her daily lessons in Sorcery, she and Auli would go out and socialize with the other young Sha'Kar. Sha'Kar tended to gather in social circles of roughly the same age groups, where they had the most in common and had little trouble communicating with one another about things that older or younger Sha'Kar may not deem important or may not understand. In those social groups, standing was absolutely everything. In that respect, they sounded exactly like the Wikuni and the Selani. Both races, related to the Sha'Kar, considered social standing the highest priority in their cultures. To the Selani, it was a matter of honor, with those with the most honor holding the highest social positions. In the Wikuni society, it was a matter of both nobility and wealth. One had to have both to be in the elite of the social structure in Wikuna, and every Wikuni strove all their lives to gain both.

Tarrin realized that the Wikuni and Selani had not digressed too far from the basic tendencies of the Sha'Kar. They had changed some of those basic customs to suit their own needs, but they still existed in one form or another.

After Iselde and Auli would pal around for a while, Iselde would return to the manor for lessons from her uncle in the other aspects of what was considered a good lady in Sha'Kar society. He would teach her how to talk and how to act to others, and how to play instruments and play certain games of strategy that were marks of intelligence among them. A high-ranking social member in the Sha'Kar culture, Tarrin reasoned, had to primarily be a good Sorcerer. That seemed to be the most important thing to them. Below that were things such as manners, behavior, reputation, and intelligence. The ability to play musical instruments, sing, or dance were also considered very important, those knowing them considered a cultured and civilized individual.

Again, Tarrin noticed parallels with the Selani and the Wikuni. The Selani also prized games and competition, but not on game boards. They preferred direct challenges, tests of skill or strength or speed or cunning. Tarrin couldn't help remembering with a smile Var and Denai, constantly challenging each other over the most ridiculously petty things. The Wikuni also showed that trait, but the game they played was intrigue. It was a much more dangerous game than what the Selani did, but it was still there, a game whose skill of playing was a vital element of the Wikuni society. Among the Sha'Kar, the game was, surprisingly enough, chess. Tarrin had thought it was a Wikuni game, but he realized that the Wikuni had brought it with them when they split from the Sha'Kar.

After her lessons at home, she would eat dinner with her family, and then again go out with Auli after sunset to the almost nightly parties that some family held that particular night. Those parties were very organized affairs, more like a tea that Janine may hold, where Sha'Kar of different social circles would meet and mingle, and probably exchange information and rumors. Iselde would stay out until about midnight, when she would come home, bathe, read from the library for a while until she was sleepy, and then go to bed. And then get up and do it all again the next day.

It was an eye-opening description, something that showed Tarrin a great deal of the social customs and behavior of at least a Sha'Kar youth. The older members would have some different patterns, such as Arlan's endless quest to better his skills of Sorcery and improve the social standing of his house, but he knew that there would be some basic comparisons to make between Iselde's behavior and the behavior of other Sha'Kar.

As he thought, the Sha'Kar's life revolved around status in their society. Being trapped on the island and unable to get much if any information about the outside world, they had to find something to occupy their minds. And one can study or practice Sorcery so much without it becoming more of a chore than a lifestyle. So the Sha'Kar had concentrated on their society, turning it into the focal aspect of their lives. They weren't the first race Tarrin had seen that did that, for the Wikuni, Selani, Arkisians, Arakites, and even the Ungardt to a lesser degree did the same thing. That sense of society did make them compete for status, but it also acted to bind them together in a powerful way against any outside forces. They were all at one another's throats to improve their social standing within their society, but they would forget about their battles for status and unite against a common foe that threatened their social system. The Selani, the Wikuni, and the Ungardt all acted the same way. Ungardt fought one another just as enthusiastically as they fought outsiders, but if those outsiders harmed the Ungardt, even enemy clans would join together and wipe out the offender. Then they'd go right back to happily fighting each other.

Dolanna had been wise to push for caution. Tarrin had the feeling that if they threatened the Sha'Kar society, the whole island would turn against them.

"Would you like to come with me tonight?" she offered. "Samuaena Shelisa is sponsoring the party tonight, and she's a prominent lady. She always attracts a crowd. I'm sure there would be many people there to talk with you, honored one."

"I'm afraid not, Iselde, but thank you," he replied. "I don't do well in crowds of strangers."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not human, as you know," he told her, "but it goes past that. I have the instincts of an animal as well as the appearance, and that side of me doesn't like large crowds of strangers. They make me nervous if I don't feel I'm in control of the situation, and in my case, that can be dangerous for people around me. So I don't put myself in a position where someone accidentally startling me doesn't get hurt."

"I didn't know that. The books I have on Lycanthropes only talk about Were-wolves, and the basic condition. They never talked about that."

"I'm a rare form of Were-kin, Iselde, and we're quite a bit wilder than Were-wolves are. Cats are very strong-willed creatures, and that makes the instincts of them I have in my head very hard to control."

"You seemed to be well when you greeted everyone at the feast."

"I know, and I was surprised at it," he admitted. "But I think it was because they only approached from the front, and I had my friends around me. That always helps keep me calm."

"That makes sense, I suppose," she said. "I'd still like you to come to the party, honored one. I'll warn everyone to give you all the space you need."

"I'm sorry, but I'll probably be busy tonight, Iselde," he told her, deciding that now would be a good time to start setting his cards out on the table. "Remember, I didn't come here just to visit. I have to talk with my friends about where we're going to go after we leave here. We still have a job to do."

"You can't be thinking of leaving already!" she protested. "You only just arrived!"

"What I'm doing is very, very important, young one, and the Goddess herself sent me to do it," he said. "I'm not going to lay around and be lazy. I'd never forgive myself. I wouldn't be able to face the Goddess again."

Iselde looked a little torn, but she covered it up with a smile. "Well, I think you'll be here a while longer, so you can come to the party tomorrow," she decided.

She wasn't ready to tell him what she knew yet, and he decided that it may not be a good time to push her. Not until he knew her better and had an idea of how she would react if he did. Besides, they would have plenty of time, and there was no need to rush things.

"Three days, at least," he told her. "We did decide that we'll give your Grand Syllis and the Council three days to look through their books and see if they can find out anything for us. If they don't have anything by then, we'll be leaving."

"That may not be enough time, honored one," Iselde told him. "The books we brought from the towers are very, very many. It may take them two rides to go through them thoroughly."

"Well, they have three days," he said bluntly. "We're not the only ones looking for the Firestaff, Iselde. If the Zakkites or the ki'zadun find it first, it could be a disaster the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Blood War."

"I'm sure they won't find it, honored one," she said. "The Old Ones hid it very well."

"They didn't hide it well enough," he grunted. "If we could figure out roughly where it is, so could anyone else."

"You're a sui'kun, honored one," she said, as if that were all the advantage he needed. "Who could possibly find it before you?"

"You put too much faith in old stories, Iselde," he told her ruefully. "I may be a sui'kun, but I'm just as fallible as the next person. The only advantage I get from my power is that it makes me a little harder to kill, that's all."

"Well, the old stories were true ones, so I'll go on believing that you're special, honored one. Because you are." She looked up at a clock hanging on the wall, one of the few decorations in the room. Tarrin had seen very few clocks in his time, and this one was much smaller than any other clock he'd ever seen. "Where is Allyn?" she complained. "If he missed another practice session, Uncle Arlan is going to give him the rough side of his tongue!"

"That's what he was doing when we met you?"

She nodded. "He hates singing, and Uncle Arlan makes him sing. He would rather play his simbalar like me," she said, holding her stringed instrument out a little. "He's much better at it than I am, but Uncle Arlan says he's a better singer than a simbalar player."

"Well, I think he's not hiding from his lessons today," Tarrin chuckled. "I happen to know for a fact that he and Allia are getting quite fond of each other."

"He's not!" Iselde gasped. "Honored one, my brother is a notorious flirt! Please don't tell me that your friend is falling for his ploys!"

"They're not ploys, Iselde," he told her. "I can tell by looking at him. He's completely entranced by Allia, and she finds his attentions to be quite flattering. It makes her happy, so I don't want him to stop."

"I hope you're right, honored one," she said sincerely. "That Allia woman is one of the Lost. She's not one of us, and I'm afraid that my brother is going to treat her like she is. She may not understand our customs, and I'd hate to see frictions rise between us over it."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Tarrin said with a light smile. "Allia's customs are different, but she finds the Sha'Kar custom of courting to be quite fun. She's more than content to let Allyn continue courting her."

"As long as she doesn't take him too seriously, honored one, things should be alright," she said with a relieved sigh.

"I don't think that's much of a concern, Iselde," Tarrin told her. "Allia will enjoy his attention, might take him to bed once or twice, and it will probably pan itself out about there. She's having fun with him, and I don't want to ruin it for her."

"As long as she enjoys it, then I guess it's alright," Iselde agreed. "But if my brother starts annoying her, please tell me, and I'll make him stop."

"Trust me, Iselde. When Allia wants him to go away, he'll find out in no uncertain terms," he promised. "My sister isn't one to play word games or say what she doesn't mean. If she wants him to leave her alone, she'll tell him so. And if he doesn't, she'll break his arm."

Iselde looked a bit amused, but then her eyes widened when she realized he wasn't joking. "She would do violence like a human servant?" she gasped.

"Doing violence is a core aspect of the Selani culture," Tarrin told her plainly, recalling the books he'd read and the story the Goddess told him. The Sha'Kar were pacifists, defending themselves with magic when necessary, but never raising a physical hand against another. It was repugnant to them to do so. That was a far cry from the aggressive, combat-oriented Selani. "They're very much different from your people, Iselde, but in some ways, they're actually quite similar. One of those ways is their attitude towards doing violence. They only do violence as a means of self-defense, or in the act of hunting for food. The Selani don't attack needlessly or cause harm for harm's sake. Those are very wrong things to do, and no Selani would even think about doing violence to those who don't deserve it."

"I didn't know that," she mused. "Then again, I didn't know that the Lost would do violence either."

"Don't worry, Allia won't hurt Allyn in any way so long as she favors him. And she'll give him plenty of warning when she doesn't favor him anymore, so if he does get hurt it'll be his own fault."

"I knew the Lost had split from the true way long ago, but to be violent!" Iselde said in wonder.

"They live in a very hostile land, Iselde. When you live in a harsh environment, you become harsh yourself to survive in it."

"Our Elders always say that one must always behave properly, no matter the environment."

"It's easy to say that when you live on this safe island and have plenty of food. If you were starving and surrounded by dangerous beasts, I think your Elders would be changing their lessons a bit. Survival is always the primary goal, Iselde. That means sometimes you have to change in order to survive. The humans do it all the time. The Selani did it to survive in their desert. The Wikuni did it when they learned how to tame the seas with their ships. And your people did it when they adapted to life on this island."

"You speak like an Elder, honored one," she said soberly.

Tarrin chuckled ruefully. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Iselde," he said.

"What?"

"You're older than I am," he told her. "I'm only nineteen. You're what, fifty?"

"Forty-three," she admitted with a guilty smile. "Are all of your kind as large as you at your age? How old is Kimmie? Ten?"

"She's about a hundred," he answered. "I'm… unique, among my kind. It's a long story that I don't think I'd like to go over right now. Maybe later, but not now."

"A hundred? Your kind are long lived?"

He nodded. "It's a side-effect of being Were. We have very long life spans."

A Sha'Kar appeared at the doorway, and Tarrin saw that it was the same young Sha'Kar woman that had been wearing the see-through dress the day before, at the feast. She was very tall for a Sha'Kar woman, almost as tall as Allia, with a very lovely, fox-like face with sharp features and long wavy platinum blond hair. She was wearing a simple robe of light gold, almost the same color as her hair, tied so that it showed off the majority of her fairly large breasts. This one was the first buxom Sha'Kar he'd seen so far, and she made sure to advertise her blessing as much as she could.

"You're late, Iz!" the girl said in a seductively slow voice, using informal Sha'Kar. "Oh, honored one, I didn't mean to intrude," she said in formal Sha'Kar when she noticed him, giving him a deep curtsy, so deep that her bosom nearly fell out of her robe. "Please forgive me."

"It's alright. You must be Auli."

She flushed with a smile. "I'm Auli, honored one," she admitted. "Auliandra, but Iselde calls me Auli."

"Iz?" Tarrin asked, looking at Iselde.

"It's what she calls me, honored one," she said with a blush. "Sometimes she calls me Izzi too."

"Well, I won't keep you two from your party," Tarrin told them. "I need to go check on my mate anyway. She's probably wondering what happened to me."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the party, honored one?" Iselde pressed.

"I'm sure," he told her. "I have some other things to do, so you two can go on without me."

"The others will be disappointed," Iselde pouted.

"Izzi told you about me, honored one?" Auli asked in a worried tone.

"She did, but only the good parts," he replied with a smile.

"Good parts, honored one?"

"All the parts that scandalize the other Sha'Kar," he said with a sly smile. "Those are the good parts to me."

"Honored one!" Auli gasped, then she laughed. "You have a sense of humor! I didn't expect that in someone as exalted as you!"

"I'm full of surprises, Auli," he told her. "Now you two get along. I need to go see my mate now."

"Yes, honored one," they both said, as Iselde got up and they both curtsied to him.

"And have fun."

"Is that an order, honored one?" Auli asked with bright eyes.

"As long as you don't use it to get ridiculous, I guess it is," he replied with a sly look. "But if I hear you tried to set fire to the Grand's house, I'll lie through my teeth if they ask me if I said it."

Auli laughed merrily, then winked at him. "I like you, honored one," she said. "You're not half as stuffy as I thought you were."

"I'm full of surprises, Auli," he repeated, giving her that same sly smile. "Now go on."

The two of them curtsied one more time, then scurried out of the room. Tarrin could hear their excited whispering as they left, long after they probably thought he couldn't hear them. He heard them talk about him, how he was nothing like they thought he would be. He was glad they thought that way.

Tarrin was sure that Iselde knew something about the Firestaff he wanted to know, and he needed to get that information out of her. The easiest way would be to win her trust. As for Auli, well, girls like her often knew a lot more than they let on. Tarrin had a gut feeling that Auli was a lot smarter than her friends thought she was, and she probably had heard or seen things that would be important to him. She reminded him a little of how he was in Aldreth. Not the promiscuity, but the adventurous spirit, always going where she wasn't allowed to go and doing things she wasn't allowed to do. Tarrin had learned quite a few secrets of the villagers doing that, and he had a feeling that Auli had done the same.

Getting on Auli's good side seemed a wise move. There may come a time when what she knew would be important to him.

Tarrin got up and left the conservatory, paws behind his back and tail swishing lazily behind him as he padded off towards his borrowed room, feeling like it had been a very productive afternoon. He had quite a few observations to relate to Keritanima, and he had the feeling that he'd made progress towards securing Iselde's cooperation when the time came to ask her the difficult questions.

He hadn't seen or sensed the invisible eyes and ears that had been watching him, the watchers in the Weave, lost in the strong background magic that imbued the area within the Ward. Watchers that had seen and heard every word exchanged between Tarrin, Iselde, and Auli.

Chapter 14