Chapter 3

Tarrin had two new females in his life, and both changed his daily routines dramatically.

That wasn't to say that it was a bad thing. After abandoning certain misgivings and surrendering to the instincts of it, Tarrin found that he could enjoy time together with Kimmie. She was actually quite an affectionate female, comfortable with him in ways he didn't think a female would be comfortable with a male after such a short time. There was no love there, not like with Jesmind, but Kimmie had been so right when she explained things to him. That they could be good friends and mates at the same time. Tarrin liked Kimmie, and Kimmie liked Tarrin. He was attracted to her, she was attracted to him. It allowed them to share a physical relationship, and to his surprise, it really didn't interfere with their friendship, nor did it change how he felt about Jesmind. He had been born human, and had been a very naive and young boy when he was turned, long before he could gain any kind of carnal experience. That sheltered background and its teachings were scrambled by the instincts, warping many of his concepts by jumbling human-taught morality with the pragmatic, nonchalant approach of the Cat. Jesmind had done absolutely nothing to untangle his conceptions, since it suited her designs to keep him as he was. Triana had done much to try to show him, but really hadn't broken through to him. Tarrin knew that to a Were-cat, sex was a casual affair, but he had never really managed to drive that point home in his own mind. The one woman outside of Jesmind at that time had been Mist, and he'd been very uncomfortable with the idea of a casual mating even then. He'd only done it for her, not for himself. In a single day, Kimmie had completely rewritten the book of the complicated levels of relationships between Were-cats. Kimmie was his friend, first and foremost, just as clever and funny and wickedly smart as ever, and she acted in no way different towards him. At least in public. When she got him alone and she was in the mood, however, it was like she transformed into a completely different woman. But even during those times, she was still Kimmie, just a Kimmie showing a side of herself to him he had not experienced before. And after their ardor was satisfied, she went right back to being Kimmie again.

It was most definitely the strangest relationship in which Tarrin had ever found himself, and he found himself completely mystified by Kimmie after they agreed to become mates and she led him back down to his cabin. Even though both of them were turned, Kimmie showed that she had adjusted to the peculiarities of Were-cat culture much more easily than he had. Or, more to the point, she had been taught better than him. He was shocked that Kimmie could literally see him as two different people; as Tarrin, her friend, and as Tarrin, her lover. She seemed perfectly capable of separating the two sides of their relationship in her mind, something that Tarrin found a little more difficult.

Sapphire certainly didn't help. The little drake had completely taken over his life, it seemed, and her promise to be obedient went only as far as when he was watching her. It was almost like she was testing him, seeing how far she could push his authority, seeing how much power she held in their relationship. She wasn't vicious or destructive, just stubborn, often resisting his commands or intentionally pestering him when he was busy with something else. But despite the trouble she caused him at first, he found her presence to be very comforting, and was more than happy they'd found each other.

Tarrin settled into his two new relationships over the days as they got closer and closer to the mysterious continent of Wikuna, a continent that his sister Keritanima ruled. That idea still hadn't quite sunk in, even after all that time. To think that his sister Kerri actually ruled an entire continent! He couldn't even imagine having that much power. Even if he could imagine it, he was absolutely positive that he didn't want it. He saw the long hours that Keritanima worked, even out in the middle of the ocean, constantly going over reports or making decisions, decisions that affected the lives of everyone under her rule. That was a dreadful responsibility, and it was not something that Tarrin wanted. It reminded him of the vision he'd had of her, standing on a mound of skulls, crying. Maybe that was what the vision meant. That the duties of her station had changed her, saddened her somehow. They had certainly taken over her life. She was just as talkative and irreverent as ever, but he could sense the change in her. She wasn't the carefree, spontaneous girl he'd known in the Tower. She was different now, more methodical, maybe a little more ruthless. She was more mature.

In the five days since consenting to take Kimmie for mate, his routine had changed. Kimmie slept in his cabin now, but hadn't officially moved in. She came to him after he finished his time with Allia, then left before breakfast. She didn't hide the fact that they were lovers, but it was almost as if she wouldn't allow herself to take up residence with him, like it was some kind of violation of the strange rules females had concerning males and other females. After breakfast, he spent his time with Camara Tal, then with Keritanima and Miranda after lunch, but this was where Sapphire had usurped his schedule. She interrupted them constantly with demands for attention, demands for food, torturing the Wikuni sailors by chasing them around the deck, and being a general nuisance to the ship. She had integrated herself with Chopstick and Turnkey, taking over the social hierarchy by winning a pretty nasty little fight with Chopstick, who was the dominate between the two males. This didn't surprise Tarrin, because Sapphire had been a wild drake, where the males had not. She was smaller than them—if not by more than a shade—but she was faster, stronger, and more experienced in fighting other drakes than they were. She ruled the other drakes, and she and the two males would often tear around the ship in endless games of chase, or harass the sailors whenever Sapphire felt bored. The rest of Tarrin's schedule was generally unchanged, though he did spend slightly less time with Allia at night. He found it hard to concentrate on Allia when he knew that Kimmie was waiting for her to leave. Allia, the blessedly understanding woman she was, took it all in stride. Allia was his most intimate friend, and she better than anyone understood the power the instincts had over a Were-cat.

The morning was shaping up to be just like any other morning. Kimmie was sitting on the bed trying to sort out her dress—a bed that now fit him, after he used a combination of Sorcery and Druidic magic to alter its dimensions to fit his frame, as Chopstick, Turnkey, and Sapphire growled and snapped at each other as they fought over a piece of long rawhide leather Tarrin kept in the cabin to serve as a chew toy. Kimmie had had issues with the drakes at first, finding their presence disturbing, but had gotten used to them. They didn't sleep in his bed now, sleeping in a cushioned basket Tarrin had placed on the desk, but they did still sleep in the room at night. Now they curled up with Sapphire instead of him.

Or, more to the point, they didn't start in the bed. But they usually ended up there, nestled in the folds of the blankets between or on top of the two Were-cats. Tarrin thought that that was what irritated Kimmie more than anything else, rolling over and getting jabbed by the small, sharp little ridges and spines that grew from the backbones of the drakes.

"I know there's an arm in here somewhere," Kimmie growled to herself, holding up the crumpled mass of cloth. "The trick is going to be finding it."

"You should be more careful when you take it off," Tarrin suggested. "I'm getting tired of stepping on buttons."

"Maybe I should take it off in my cabin and come over here in a robe," she countered.

"That would work," he agreed. "Or just bring some clothes in here."

"No, I won't do that," she said. "I'm not mates with you, Tarrin. We're just mates."

"Someday I may actually understand the difference."

"You already do. Hey!" Kimmie snapped irritably when Chopstick bit the end of her tail. Kimmie snapped it around her body quickly and forcefully enough to drag the drake along with it, pulling it out of bed. It dropped to the floor and spat out a mouthful of orange-brown tabby fur, then chirped a couple of times and jumped back up onto the bed. "You bite my tail again, and I'll start biting you, you little creep!" Kimmie threatened the drake.

"He likes you, Kimmie," Tarrin said soothingly.

"That's the problem," she growled. "They'd be a lot less annoying if they didn't like me." She stood up as she solved the mystery knot into which her dress had become tied, then pulled the garment over her head. It was missing a few buttons on the front, thanks to Kimmie's impatience to undo them. She settled the brown wool dress into place, at least mostly, not bothering to thread her tail through the hole cut into the back of the dress for it. She would only wear it back to her own cabin, where she would wash up and change into something new. "I heard from one of the sailors last night that we should see the coastline of Wikuna today," she told him. "And then we'll travel north for a couple of days."

"We turned northwest not long after passing Twinfluke Island," Tarrin recalled. "We can't be too far from the city."

"I'll be glad to get off this ship," Kimmie complained. "I've never liked them. Something inside me objects to putting myself at the mercy of someone else, where I can't control my fate. But at least this one is spacious, compared to other ships. Once I was on a ship from Tor to Arkis, and the cabin I had was so cramped that I couldn't even lay down on the floor without my ears hitting one wall and my toes hitting the other. I gave up the cabin and slept up on deck with the sailors. At least there, I could stretch out." She chuckled. "And I'm not even tall for our kind. I'd have loved to have seen someone like you or Triana in that cabin."

"I doubt I'd have been able to get in through the door," Tarrin said mildly.

"Probably," she smiled in agreement. "What do you think Wikuna is going to be like?"

"I'm not sure."

"Do you know that only a handful of outsiders have ever been there? At least recorded visitors, anyway," she amended. "From what I've read, Wikuna's cities are cleaner, better organized, and more advanced than cities in the West. They've even built large, extensive sewer systems, and even have running water in some parts of their larger cities."

"You know something, Kimmie?"

"What?"

"You talk too much," he said bluntly, handing her a glass of water.

"Call it a personality flaw," she teased, then drained the glass. "You don't have to answer me, you know. Just let me prattle on."

"You're getting to be as bad as Phandebrass."

"I could never be that bad," Kimmie laughed. "I'm really fond of him, but he just talks and talks and talks. Sometimes he talks so much he forgets what he was talking about."

"That sounds like Phandebrass, all right," Tarrin agreed.

"But you know something? If you listen to him, you'd be surprised what you can learn. I think that man has forgotten more than you or I have ever learned. I learn more about a lot of things by listening to him ramble than I do when he's trying to teach me."

"I think that's the problem. He's learned so much, maybe his brain can't hold it all. It all just leaks out his mouth."

Kimmie gave him a look, then she laughed delightedly. "It's a pretty bizarre image, but it does make sense. In a twisted sort of way, that is."

"Phandebrass is a twisted sort of person."

"No argument there." She tied her hair behind her neck with a bit of leather thong. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"If you remember to show up," he chided.

"Blame Phandebrass for that. He gets so wrapped up in teaching me, and I get so wrapped up in his lessons, I forget what time it is. And he certainly won't remember."

"Try."

"I will, I promise." She rose up on her toes, but still had to pull his head down. Kimmie was much shorter than him. She gave him a quick, intimate kiss, then adjusted the bosom of her dress. "Alright, see you later," she said in farewell, then opened the door to his cabin and filed out.

Tarrin watched her leave, and couldn't help but be surprised how different she had made his life, and also how much it hadn't changed. He had no idea why he'd stressed so much over her.

Just as he was reaching for the door to close it, he felt a shift in the Weave. That made him smile; Keritanima had finally figured it out. That information was proceeded almost immediately by a scream from Keritanima's cabin, a squeal of delight. Her cabin door was at the end of the companionway, about twenty spans from his door, and the large, surprisingly ornate door opened almost immediately. Keritanima ran out of her cabin, and her eyes locked on him as soon as she looked up from the floor. "I did it!" she cried out happily as he stepped into the companionway. "Tarrin, I got my powers back!" She jumped up into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I did, didn't I?"

"It's just like before, Kerri," he assured her. "Once you do it once, you can do it again."

She glanced over her own shoulder, back to her cabin door, and he felt her will push against the Weave. It responded to her, although it was very resistant, and it finally gave up a flow of Air that she wove into a simple spell to close the door. "I can do it!" she said with a laugh, but then she blew out her breath. "But why is the Weave fighting with me?"

"I told you that it would happen," he reminded her. "I'll teach you a way to get around that later, but for now, I want you to go up on deck and practice, practice, practice. As soon as you're used to the new way to use Sorcery, I'll teach you how to weave without that resistance."

"As you command, Master," she teased as he let her back down onto the deck.

"Go," he ordered, pointing towards the stairs imperiously.

"I want to eat first."

"Have them bring you food. Go."

"Alright," she acceded.

Tarrin took up a place near the mainmast as he watched Keritanima sitting by the bow, weaving spells continuously, weaving many of the spells she knew to see how different it was to weave them without drawing in the power first. He watched her without much interest, just keeping an eye on her mainly, as he recited spell prayers back to Camara Tal. "Pay attention," she ordered. "You just mispronounced thalimasticia. You almost ended up setting your hair on fire."

"Sorry," he apologized. "It still annoys me that I can't figure out this language," he fretted. "It doesn't seem to have any kind of pattern at all."

"Sages and Priests have been trying since there were sages or Priests," Camara Tal told him calmly. "It works. That's all I know, and that's really all I care about. Now, recite the spell that changes stone into mud."

"I'll never use it."

"I didn't ask if you were ever going to use it. I told you to recite it."

"Alright," Tarrin growled softly, recalling the words of the spell, then repeating them back to her.

"Good. Now, recite the spell that neutralizes active poison." Tarrin recited that one absently, watching as Keritanima Transmuted a coil or rope into stone. "Alright, recite the spell that causes someone to see you as a friend." Tarrin repeated it mechanically, watching as Keritanima Transmuted the petrified rope coil into water, then scurried out of the way as it splooshed to the deck. "Good. Now cut off your hair and sing the drunken sailor song."

Tarrin stared at her flatly. "Why don't you try to cut off my hair, Camara?" he challenged.

"Just making sure you were still paying attention," she said with a wolfish grin. "I don't like it when my students are looking somewhere else."

"I'm trying to keep an eye on my student, Camara," he explained. "I'm sure she'll be alright, but I can't help making sure."

"This is my time, Tarrin," she asserted. "You're mine until lunch. Now forget Keritanima and recite the spell that lets you use a pool of water to view a distant area."

Camara Tal ensured that his attention didn't wander for the rest of her lesson, using barbs, harsh tones, and even poking him whenever his attention wandered to Keritanima. The bell rang announcing lunch, and to his surprise, Kimmie and Phandebrass actually managed to show up. They all sat in the dining room and ate together. The dining room was actually a pretty interesting room. It was above Keritanima's cabin, and had the same large windows across the back wall, showing the sea and the ships trailing the Queen's vessel. It also showed a darkening sky, as it looked that the ship was about to sail into some bad weather. The chefs had prepared a main dish with something called rice, some kind of boiled grain, upon which was smothered a rich tangy sauce with meat and various vegetables. They also had the usual soup, bread, fresh fruit (where they got it was something Tarrin had yet to figure out) and a desert called bread pudding.

"You're still alive," Camara Tal noted as Kimmie led Phandebrass into the dining room.

"Not for lack of trying," Kimmie grinned as she sat down beside Tarrin. "I saw the Queen using magic. Did you get your powers back, your Majesty?"

"How many times have I told you not to call me that in private?" Keritanima demanded. "My name is Keritanima, but you can call me Kerri."

"Sorry. Old habit," she said mildly.

"Say it," Keritanima prompted between spoonfuls of the rice dish.

"Kerri," Kimmie obliged with a light smile.

"If I hear you call me your Majesty when we're not in public one more time, I'm going to turn your fur green."

"Temper, temper," Kimmie teased.

"Were-cats don't have the right to tease other people about their tempers," Keritanima pointed out.

"Maybe not. But who's going to gainsay me?" Kimmie asked with an innocent look.

Keritanima looked at her, then laughed. "You're probably the most interesting Were-cat I've ever met, Kimmie. I don't think any of them have a sense of humor."

"Were-cats have a sense of humor, Kerri. It's just not the same as most other people's," Kimmie said calmly, picking up a spoon with an oversized handle. "I was turned, so I have a better understanding of the nuances of human personality. Wikuni may not be human, but they're similar enough," she added.

"That's almost an insult," Keritanima grinned.

"Centuries of contact between two peoples can cause them to act similarly," Dolanna observed. "Besides, Keritanima, the Wikuni truly are not that much different from the human race. Your society and culture is indeed similar to some human cultures, especially in the West."

"I say, that's an interesting observation," Phandebrass said. "I should study it, I should."

"How would we be similar?" Keritanima asked, a bit tartly.

"Your culture is very similar to the kingdoms of the West," Dolanna told her. "The Wikuni personality is dominated by greed, which is a common human trait. And you wear clothes," she added with a smile.

"Wear clothes? How is that a commonality?"

"Think about it, Kerri," Dar told her. "All Wikuni are covered in fur, or feathers. Why do you need to wear clothes?"

"Because we'd be naked if we didn't," Keritanima said.

"Yes, but since you have fur, who's going to see it?" Camara Tal pressed. "I'd just see some fur-covered curves. Not anything that would matter."

"We're not that covered, Camara Tal," Keritanima said.

"Yes, you can see the important parts," Miranda said with a grin at Keritanima. "A woman's nipples aren't covered in fur, or else she couldn't nurse. And neither is—"

"That's about far enough. Tarrin wears clothes," Keritanima interrupted.

"That's a practice mainly for your benefit, Kerri," Kimmie smiled. "When we're alone, it doesn't matter if we wear clothes or not."

"Of course it's not for you two. I've seen you sneaking into Tarrin's cabin lately," Keritanima winked.

"I'm talking about all Were-cats, Kerri," Kimmie said, unperturbed. "Were-cats have learned to wear clothes as a nod towards strange human customs, and it's a practice that's more or less caught on. But some Were-cats won't wear clothes when they're not in human lands."

"Which ones?" Tarrin asked curiously.

"Shirazi is one you'd know," she replied. "She says it doesn't feel right to hunt wearing clothes."

"We're drifting off the point here," Camara Tal said. "What it comes down to, Kerri, is that the Wikuni don't need to wear clothes, but they do. That shows a similarity between humans and Wikuni."

"Well, alright, I'll give you that," Kerri admitted. "Maybe there are some similarities between us and the humans."

"Maybe we should give up clothes," Miranda chuckled. "It would save me a fortune on my wardrobe."

"You're welcome to give them up any time you feel like it, Miranda," Keritanima told her acidly.

"It would be a liberating experience, I think," Miranda mused.

"I wouldn't want to be jiggling in the wind, that's for sure," Keritanima grunted.

The tone of her comment caused everyone at the table to laugh.

"Jiggling isn't for the weak," Kimmie said with a grin. "It took me a long time to get used to that part of Were-cat culture."

"Jiggling?"

"Nudity," she replied.

"I keep forgetting you're like Tarrin," Keritanima admitted. "You're a lot different from the other Were-cats I've met."

"I'm more or less unique," she replied. "I managed to keep most of my human mannerisms after I was turned. It drives the others crazy," she laughed.

"I saw how they acted towards you," Allia said, finally speaking. "It was almost dishonorable."

"I'm used to it. I'm the black sheep among the Were-cats. Triana respects me, Jesmind likes me, and Mist loves me. That's all I really care about."

There was a rumble of thunder. "Well, looks like we'll be staying below decks the rest of the day," Keritanima said, looking out the large windows.

They finished up lunch, and then Tarrin went with Keritanima when she went back to her cabins. To his surprise, Dolanna, Allia, and Dar also came along. "We need to learn about your powers, so we can better understand them," Dolanna had told him by way of explanation as she seated herself on the bed with Allia, and Dar sat on the cushioned chair in front of the desk.

"Well, I guess it won't matter much," he said. "Kerri's not the kind to get distracted. I think she actually does better when people watch."

"Our sister likes the attention," Allia pointed out with a slight smile.

"You mean she's a ham," Dar laughed.

"I'm a Queen. I'm supposed to thrive under pressure," Keritanima said tartly.

"You should have been born a performer, Keritanima," Dolanna told her.

"And miss out on all this luxury? No thank you," Keritanima replied.

Tarrin was confident that Keritanima was fully used to Weavespinner ways, so he sat her down and explained, in fine detail, the give and take nature of true Weavespinner magic, that in order to have the magic obey her, she had to give back to the Weave. "You make it sound like a religious experience," Keritanima accused.

"It is a religious experience, Kerri," he said firmly. "Using Sorcery is a way we worship the Goddess. You have to show her your love when you use her power. When you do that, the power will obey you completely. If you don't, it fights you and makes Sorcery much more demanding."

"I've never been all that religious."

"Do you love the Goddess?" Tarrin asked bluntly.

"Well, yes, of course," she replied after a moment. "She's proved she'll be there for me."

"Then that's all it takes. Will it kill you to show it, Kerri? That's all it takes."

"It seems so alien."

"No, it's you not wanting to show any weakness, not even to the Goddess," Tarrin said flatly. "Love is not a weakness, Kerri. It's probably the greatest strength you could ever possess."

"Where I come from, Tarrin, love is a liability," she said sharply. "Excuse me if I don't go all gushy on command."

Tarrin put his paws on her shoulders. "I've told you what to do, sister," he said in a reasonable tone. "Actually, I can't teach you any more about this. It's something you have to do for yourself. It's up to you to find your own harmony. And until you learn how to weave without resistance, I won't teach you anything else."

"That sounds like a threat," Keritanima said dangerously.

"It's reality. I won't teach you anything else until you learn how to use Weavespinner magic the right way, because the spells Weavespinners use that regular Sorcerers don't are too demanding. You won't be able to use them unless you can weave without resistance. And I can't train you in joining the Weave because we have to stop before we can do that. So I hate to tell you this, sister, but you've only got one option in front of you."

"I hate it when you're right," Keritanima growled at him, her eyes flashing. "Alright, I'll humiliate myself for the Goddess' benefit. What choice do I have?"

"Love is not humiliation, Keritanima," Dolanna said gently. "To think it so dishonors the love you have for your brother and sister."

"That's different," Keritanima said quickly. "They're my friends. They're here."

"Is not the Goddess always with you?" Allia asked. "Does she not comfort you? Did she not bring you peace of mind when you were taken from us? It is dishonorable to the Goddess to think she would see your love as you humiliating yourself. She is not like that, and you know it. You are just too arrogant to allow yourself to place yourself below another."

"That's cruel, sister," Keritanima said in a quavering tone.

"You get nothing but the truth from me, sister," Allia said calmly. "I still love you despite the fact that you are arrogant. Just as I love Tarrin despite the fact that he is not the same man I knew when I branded him."

Tarrin forgot sometimes just how observant and wise his sister was. She had seen right to the core of the matter. Allia knew Tarrin and Keritanima probably even better than they knew themselves. She was quiet and unobtrusive, but she proved again and again how she always knew exactly what to say when it mattered.

"Well, now that I've been dressed down by my own sister in front of Dolanna and Dar, I guess I can get started," Keritanima said in a hurt tone.

"Arrogance is not a bad trait in a monarch, Keritanima," Dolanna said calmly. "Actually, it is a job requirement. We do not think less of you for it."

"I don't think you're arrogant, Kerri. I always thought of it as confidence," Dar assured her. "I've wished sometimes I could be more like you."

"Well, someone appreciates me," Keritanima said with a toothy grin, though her eyes were still a little injured. "Alright, brother, exactly how do I do this?"

Tarrin instructed Keritanima in how she would have to use the power, just as Spyder had instructed him. "Sorcery isn't magic, Kerri. It's art. You have to breathe life into your spells the same way an artist breathes life into a sculpture, or a painting. You have to devote yourself to it like an artist would, and that passion, that love, is what makes the Weave respond. Artists love their work. You have to love to use Sorcery, and love the Goddess that gives you that honor. When you learn to do it, it will be just like anything else in Sorcery. You do it once, and then you can do it again. But it's also like other parts of Sorcery. You may be able to do it again, but it takes practice to master it."

"I, I think I'm starting to understand," Keritanima said. "I've always had a passion for Sorcery. All I have to do is show it. Sort of."

"Partially. Remember, the love you have for the Goddess has to be there. Give that love to the Goddess, and the Weave will respond to it. The passion and love you have for Sorcery makes the Weave yours to command."

"Now that makes more sense," Keritanima said confidently, closing her eyes.

It took her a surprisingly short amount of time. She failed several times at first, and then the Weave suddenly opened up to her favorably, and flows pulled from the stands quickly and easily. She opened her eyes and gave him a startled look.

"Was that so hard?" he asked in a gentle voice.

"It was, was beautiful!" she said in wonder.

"It is, isn't it?" he agreed. "Every time you use your power, you tell the Goddess how much you love her. And she replies by showing the love she has for you. You can't ignore that, no matter what you're doing. It never stops feeling good."

"I never thought it would feel like that," she said, a tear forming in her eye. "I loved the Goddess, but it never felt so, intimate as it just did."

"I know," he told her. "Now, do it again. And again, and again, and again. It takes practice to master, and I'll have to show you some techniques to make you weave spells faster and more efficiently. Your speed is abysmal, and you have about as much control as a newborn kitten."

"Well excuse me," she said, then she laughed.

Tarrin watched over her as she practiced, as rain started pattering against her windows and the ship began to rock in the storm. She managed to get a firm grip on the concept of give and take, removing the resistance the Weave had to her. She listened intently as Tarrin taught her the things Spyder taught him, about how to weave spells with blinding speed, about how to maximize control and efficiency for the best results. "My big problem was always pulling out too much power," he admitted. "I still do it sometimes when I'm excited, but when you overcharge a weave, it can make it less effective. No more, no less. That's how I was taught, and that's what you have to learn."

"Taught? Taught by who?" Keritanima demanded.

Tarrin blinked. He didn't realize he'd said that. "Well, I guess there'd be no harm in telling you now," he said to himself. "She only said not to tell you while we were learning, and to protect you. You've crossed over, so it can't hurt."

"Who, Tarrin? Who would know how to teach you anything?"

Dolanna suddenly went pale. "Spyder!" she gasped. "She still lives?"

"She's still around, Dolanna," Tarrin nodded. "She came to me and Jenna when we were at the Tower and trained us, or at least partially. She gave us some instruction, said she'd be back, and never did come back. I still wonder what happened to her."

"Who is this Spyder?" Keritanima asked.

"She's the Guardian," Dolanna replied. "She defends the last open gateway between our world and the other dimensions. That gateway is across the great bay on Sharadar's southern side, in an inaccessible place between two impassible mountain ranges and defended on the sea by an impassible reef. A place we have always called Haven."

"Sounds like a serious duty," Keritanima said.

"It is. She is the oldest of the katzh-dashi, but she has not been seen in five thousand years."

"They wouldn't miss her, that's for sure," Tarrin chuckled. "She's Urzani, the ancestors of the Sha'Kar. She actually looks a lot like Allia," Tarrin remembered. "She could be your great-great-great-great aunt, sister."

"I would not find being related to someone like that a bad thing, brother," Allia said mildly.

"She made me swear not to tell anyone what she was doing, because she was afraid Kerri may try to do some of it and get herself killed," Tarrin told them. "Now that Kerri's not in any danger anymore, I guess it's alright."

"You were trained by an Ancient," Dolanna said reverently, in Sharadi. "The old ways aren't dead after all!"

"They're not dead," he assured her in Sulasian. "Spyder taught Jenna a lot of history, and Jenna's been writing it down. Jenna's going to teach the katzh-dashi what they've forgotten. That's why she's still in Suld. It's what the Goddess wants of her."

"She is blessed."

"I know," Tarrin agreed.

There was a strange scratching at the door. Dar got up and went over and opened it, and Sapphire ambled into the room. She flapped her wings and got into the air, then flew up and landed on Tarrin's shoulder. "I wondered where you got off to," Tarrin told her, reaching up and petting her on the head. "You're dry, so you found some place to hide from the rain," he noted.

"She's probably hiding from Phandebrass," Camara Tal grunted. "I've noticed him trying to sneak up on her on deck while you've been with Kerri. She doesn't seem to like him. I guess that means she's smarter than she looks."

"He can try. He won't like what happens to him, but he can try," Tarrin shrugged. "He should ask Torm how it feels to end up on Sapphire's bad side."

"I've never seen an animal with magical powers before," Dar noted. "Only sentient beings."

"Is it magical?" Camara Tal asked. "There are some fish in the waters off our islands that can shock you. I'm sure they're not magical, because they're stupid as stumps."

"It's magical. I can sense it," Tarrin replied. "This kind of drake has some kind of innate magical ability, something so much a part of them that their instincts have adapted to using the magic. I can feel it when the power builds up in her. When she shocks someone, she has to recharge that power."

"I didn't know that. So, you can drain her?" Keritanima asked.

"She recharges very fast if she completely drains herself," he told her. "She can shock again in a matter of minutes, but it's not very strong. When she's fully charged, she can shock someone with some pretty impressive power, enough to paralyze them for a few minutes at the very least. Maybe even kill, if she hits someone in the right place."

"How do you know that?" Dar asked.

"Experimentation," he said with a short smile. "I had her shock me when she was fully charged. It was a pretty unpleasant experience."

"Why in the twenty seas did you do that?" Keritanima demanded.

"To see what she could do," he replied. "She can't really hurt me, sister. My body resisted most of the magic, but it was still enough to make my fur all stand on end."

"Is she charged now?" Keritanima asked.

"You should know that, Kerri," he chided. "Can't you feel it?"

"Uh, no."

"Then you're not paying attention," he told her. "Close your eyes and just feel. You should be able to sense it, even from over there. Her power is magical, so you should be able to feel it, the same as you can sense the Weave."

Keritanima was quiet a long moment, then she opened her eyes. "I think I can feel it, but you're interfering," she told him. "All I can really sense is you."

"You do interfere with the Weave, Tarrin," Dolanna agreed. "You are probably throwing off Keritanima's attempts."

"Fine then," he said, picking Sapphire up from his shoulder and setting her on the desk. "Stay right there, Sapphire," he told her, holding his paw out palm up towards her. She understood both the spoken and the gestured command—he'd taught her commands by paw gesture, in case he wanted her to obey him quietly—and sat down sedately on the desk and waited. Keritanima closed her eyes again, and smiled. "I can feel her now," she announced. "I don't know what her limits are, but she's really charged. That's a lot of magic, brother."

"She's fully charged," he nodded in agreement. "Surprising that something without any kind of training can have so much magical potential." He waved to the drake, and she jumped into the air and landed in his paws. He cradled her to his stomach, scratching her between the horns delicately with a claw.

"Tarrin, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Has the Weave been getting… well, thinner?" she asked. "I can see the strands all the time now, just like you said I would, and there seem to be fewer and fewer of them. Like the Weave is thinning out."

Tarrin glanced at her, then nodded. "As we move away from Suld, it becomes thinner," he confirmed. "That means it takes longer for us to use magic. Didn't you notice that when you were at home?"

"Of course I did, but I guess I never thought about the reason for it," she replied. "I had a lot on my mind, you know."

"I've noticed that," Dar said. "That it takes longer to weave spells. It's like the magic's sluggish."

"It is the fact that it takes longer for you to draw the same amount of power," Dolanna told him. "These thin areas in the Weave are not uncommon. They exist in the areas far removed from large Conduits. That is why the katzh-dashi built the Towers in Suld and Abrodar, young one. To be in the area where our powers are at their strongest."

"Are there any holes in the Weave?" Dar asked. "Places where you can't use Sorcery at all?"

"I have never found one, but some of the Lorefinders speculate that such a place may exist," she replied. "If there are any, however, they would be very, very small areas. Even halfway across the world from the Heart, there are strands. Very few of them, but they do exist."

There was a brightness at the windows. Tarrin looked, and saw shafts of sunlight penetrating the breaking storm. He noticed that the ship wasn't rocking as severely as before, either. "Looks like the storm is over," Tarrin noticed.

The ship then seemed to list to the side, and the view from the window began to change. The five ships behind theirs were sliding off to the left. "We're turning," Keritanima said, which explained to Tarrin what that meant. "We must be within—"

"Land ho!" a thin voice managed to reach them in the cabin, shouted from the decks above. "Thalin's Point off the port bow!"

Keritanima's eyes brightened, and she stood up quickly. "Well, everyone, why don't we go up on deck and let you get your first look at my homeland?" she offered.

"We'll be in Wikuna in three days, if the wind holds," Miranda realized. "I didn't realize we were so far north."

They all left Keritanima's cabin and went up on deck. The deck was still wet, and the water was cold on Tarrin's pads as he stepped into it. Tarrin wasn't the only one to take special precautions because of the rain; Miranda's tail was so long and bushy that the end of it occasionally hit the ground when she walked, so she made a special point of keeping it up high enough to keep it dry. They moved to the port rail, not far from the sterncastle, and Tarrin looked to the west, to Wikuna. He couldn't see much, just a strip of green past the four ships protecting their port flank, but the importance of it wasn't lost to him. There it was, a new continent. The land of Wikuna. He'd heard Keritanima describe it many times, but he found himself actually looking forward to seeing their cities and finding out what it was like there. Few outlanders had ever seen Wikuna, because the Wikuni were usually very careful about keeping others out of their ports. It was a well known policy of the Wikuni that they would attack any ship that approached their coastline, because of their very long war with the Zakkites. Zakkites would sometimes capture non-Zakkite ships and try to sail them to Wikuna, so the Wikuni solved the problem by simply attacking anything that wasn't a clipper or raker. Tarrin had heard much about life on Wikuna, and now he was curious to see how much of it was Keritanima's boasting.

"That's Thalin's Point," Keritanima announced. "It's a hook of land that extends out from the coast. The land on the other side of it is used mainly for farming."

"Wikuni farm?" Dar chuckled. "I thought that doing anything on land was too tedious for your people."

Keritanima ignored that. "We're about three days from Wikuna," she told them, "if the wind holds. I need to talk to Jervis. They're supposed to have that prototype in the harbor and ready for us to go as soon as we get there."

"We're not staying long?" Dar asked.

"We don't have much time," Keritanima replied. "We have to be off Vendaka at the summer solstice. I'm not sure how fast that new ship is going to go, so I want as much time as possible."

"How long would it take a clipper to sail from Wikuna to Vendaka?" Dolanna asked.

"About seven or eight days," she replied. "I'm guessing that this new ship will take twice as long, probably two weeks. The solstice is three weeks away, so we should be in position when we need to be there, as long as we don't dilly-dally around."

"I was hoping to look around for a day or two," Dar sighed.

"We'll be in port for at least a day, Dar," Keritanima told him. "I'll have to go over some things with sashka and talk to Jervis about some things in person, and I would like to sleep at least one night in a bed that doesn't sway."

"Too bad. I guess you'll have to go after Rallix when you come home," Miranda teased.

Keritanima shot a nasty look at her friend, then cleared her throat. "I think I'd like to go back to my lessons now," she said primly. "Since you're not a Sorcerer, why don't you go somewhere else?"

"Well, tou-chy," Miranda said with a cheeky grin. "Tarrin, could I bother you for a little magicking?"

"What do you need, Miranda?" Tarrin asked.

"Yarn. A new knitting needle too, I broke one of my good ones."

"I thought you were moving on to crochet."

"I need the yard for crochet, but I broke my knitting needle and I'd like a new one, just in case I have a relapse," she said.

Without much effort or thought, Tarrin Conjured a very large ball of yarn and a new knitting needle, exactly like the ones he'd seen her use, and then handed them to her. "Why thank you," she said. "I'll see all of you later," she said, then sauntered off.

"I think I will go to the galley," Allia said. "I find myself hungry."

"You just had to mention food, didn't you?" Dar complained. "I'll go with you. Don't you two do anything major until we get back," he told Tarrin, then the pair of dark-skinned beings hurried towards the stairwell below decks.

"May as well stay up here," Keritanima told Tarrin. "I'll dry us off a place."

Tarrin worked with Keritanima over the rest of the day as Dolanna, Dar, and Allia observed, refining her technique and giving her plenty of time to practice. She proved to be a very quick student, and her speed and efficiency increased almost every time she wove a spell. What was probably more important, with her experience came the ability to see what Tarrin was doing when he wove spells, something that she had not been able to do very effectively beforehand. She got used to the speed at which Tarrin wove spells after she started working at the same speed, and that allowed her to begin to see what he was doing. That meant that he could start teaching her some of the weaves that only Weavespinners could use, spells that required more power than most Sorcerers could safely manipulate.

The very first thing he taught her was how to summon Elementals. But before teaching her the spells, he trained her in Elemental etiquette, reinforcing to her the fact that the same Elemental spirit was going to answer her call again and again and again, so it was imperative that she treat her Elemental with respect. If she angered her Elemental, it may disobey her, or even attack her out of irritation. Fortunately, however, it was very hard to anger an Elemental that much. They gained power by being summoned, and were willing to endure the period of servitude necessary to gain that power in exchange. Elementals could not be harmed in any way, even if their forms were destroyed, since their animating force was an energy not of their world, and therefore could not be harmed while it was on their world. That was why Elementals were so willing to fight on a Sorcerer's behalf, because it knew that even if its material form were destroyed, it would suffer no real injury.

"Alright, I understand," Keritanima pressed. "Show me the spell."

"The spell is woven the exact same way for all four Elemental types," he told her. "The only difference is the Sphere you use. It's a two flow spell, but it's fairly complicated, and its patterns change depending on how much energy you want to grant the Elemental when you make its material form. So pay attention." Tarrin had never summoned a Water Elemental before, so he decided to use that as his example, and also to find himself a Water spirit. "I've never summoned a Water Elemental before, so I'll do that. It will let you see how to introduce yourself to the Elemental."

Tarrin turned and looked over the rail, then began. He wove the spell slowly to his seeming, but at a speed that would let Keritanima see what he was doing. He wove the spell very loosely, making it very spacious, and held it in that state for a long moment to let Keritanima look over the spell's design. "See it?"

"I see it," she affirmed. "It is complicated."

He nodded, snapping it down and then releasing it into the ocean. He felt the spell take form, and felt the link between the spell and that other place where the spirits of the Elementals lived open. He felt something come through, and then felt the weave fully activate.

An amorphous mass of water suddenly rose up from the relatively choppy surface of the sea, a column of water that came up over the level of the rail. It expanded and widened a little, but was still a pillar of rotating water, but two reddish spots appeared near its top. Eyes. Tarrin felt the Elemental connect with him, and then looked at it calmly as the others stared at the creature in fascination. "I'm Tarrin," he said aloud. "I thank you for answering my call. I didn't summon you for any specific task, though. I needed to show my student the right way to weave the spell, and how to treat her Elementals with honor and respect."

That made the Elemental warm to him very quickly. It communicated its understanding, was a little pleased that it would have to perform no tasks. It then asked a most curious question. Why after so long were the Elementals being invited back to this world?

"Because the magic that summoned you has only just been rediscovered," he answered it aloud.

It understood that, and then asked if it should do anything.

"No, you've already done what I needed you to do. Thank you for your service. You can go back home now."

He released his side of the spell, and felt the Elemental's spirit return to where it came from. The pillar of water shuddered, the two glowing spots vanished, and then the pillar of water simply fell back into the sea.

"That was amazing!" Keritanima said. "I could almost feel something passing between you and it!"

"There was. The Elemental will be linked to you by your thoughts," he told her. "It can communicate with you like that, from any distance. It's almost like the telepathy that Shiika has. Alright, your turn. Let's start with an Air Elemental. I want you to make it just like I did, but replace the Water flow with Air."

"Alright." Keritanima's brow furrowed as she began repeating the spell. Tarrin knew Keritanima's amazing ability to remember things she saw almost perfectly would mean that she would be able to duplicate the spell, and after a little practice, she would have it completely memorized. She wove the spell very loosely, moving much slower than she was capable of weaving to make sure she was doing it right. He didn't blame her; it was a very, very complicated spell, but the fact that it was only a two-flow spell made the risk of a Wildstrike more remote. Spells with one or two flows fizzled almost all the time if they failed. Only complicated spells with three or more flows tended to explode in a Wildstrike. The more flows used, the more the chance increased, Dolanna had taught him so long ago. Keritanima finished, and held it in its loose state easily as Tarrin studied the weaving she had done. He found it an almost perfect copy of his own spell. He did point out the few mistakes she'd made, and she corrected them quickly.

"Alright, it's ready," Tarrin announced. "Go ahead."

Keritanima snapped it down, then released it. It was a little different sensation because he didn't do it himself, but he could feel the spell activate, feel it breach into that other dimension where the Elementals lived. The air over them suddenly gusted and swirled, and two glowing reddish spots appeared over them, looking down. Keritanima wilted slightly after the spell took form, but that wasn't something to be surprised about. Summoning an Elemental was hard work, and she'd been using her magic steadily all day. Summoning the Elemental had taken the remainder of her strength.

"It worked!" Keritanima squealed in happiness, then she composed herself. "I'm Keritanima," she introduced. "Thank you for answering me." Tarrin could sense the communication going on between them. "No, I don't have any service for you to do. I'm sorry. I summoned you because I just learned the spell, and had to practice it. I know it seems like a silly reason, but it's better to know I can do the spell now, when it's not vital, than when my tail depends on it working." She paused, seeming to listen. "No, I'll be alright, I'm just a little tired. Thank you for asking. It seems that the spell was a complete success, so you can go back home now. Sorry to drag you away for no reason."

"You didn't drag it away, Kerri," Tarrin told her. "It responded willingly. It wouldn't mind if you summoned it over and over and over, most likely as long as you warned it you were going to do so."

She looked at the Elemental, and then she nodded. "Oh, I understand. Well, I don't think I need to practice to the point of summoning you again. Thank you for coming. You can go home now."

With a sudden gust of wind, the glowing eyes disappeared, and then the wind returned to normal. "How was that?" Keritanima asked him with bright eyes.

"Not bad," he complemented. "You were polite, you answered its questions, and you showed some consideration for its feelings. It probably went home not regretting answering you, and that's what you were aiming for."

"Good. I'm suddenly tired," she complained, leaning against the mizzenmast.

"It's a demanding spell, Kerri, and you've been using magic all day. I figured that it would wear you out. That's why we did this last."

"Smart thinking. Let's go below, so I can sit down for a while. And could someone tell someone to bring me some warm bread and a glass of wine?"

Tarrin spent the rest of the day more or less by himself, staring out over towards the drifting coastline of Wikuna, as it appeared over the horizon then retreated back out of sight. They passed a surprising number of smaller vessels, rakers and even some barges and fishing boats, the Wikuni plying trade with themselves or fishing up the evening meal. All the other ships stayed well out of the way of the squadron of clippers, often dropping anchor and raising sails to remain stationary as the formation sailed by, either out of respect or because of some kind of rule of seafaring which Tarrin didn't know. The lessons had gone well, but Tarrin was a little unsettled by Dolanna. She had watched it all, and had a very, very intent look on her face. She was learning about magic that she couldn't use, and he was worried that she was going to try to use it. If that happened, she was going to cross over the line, and either end up being da'shar herself or getting Consumed. Summoning an Elemental took a tremendous amount of energy, even though it wasn't a spell of High Sorcery, and it also required a command over the Weave and a control of the flows that only someone with a great deal of experience could manage. Only Weavespinners could use the spell, it was one of the many spells reserved for the upper tier of the magical order.

He thought about that a moment. Dolanna certainly could managed to ascend to da'shar. She was a very, very experienced Sorceress, and was capable of many things that most other katzh-dashi would consider impossible. Dolanna's ability to weave blindly had awed him for quite some time, because it was something that everyone else said was impossible. She had tremendous skill, and she also happened to be a very strong Sorceress as well. Dolanna was small, but her magical powers were formidable, comparable to the powers of those present on the Council. Dolanna could be on the Council. If there ever was a candidate for da'shar, he could think of nobody better qualified than Dolanna.

But Dolanna had been a skilled and strong Sorceress for a long time. So had many on the Council. It made him wonder why nobody had ever become da'shar before, why every single person who had faced the test since the Breaking had been Consumed. What made things different now? Why the change?

You are the reason for that, kitten, the Goddess told him. Remember when Spyder and Jenna told you about the sui'kun? About how the realms of magical ability increase with each new birth of a sui'kun?

"Yes, I remember that."

Well, kitten, you represent the resurgence of the high orders of magic, she told him. When you were born, the realms of the Weavespinners were reopened, among other things. Before you were born, no Sorcerer could face the test and become a Weavespinner, because the entrance into the Weave was blocked. If they can't reach the Heart before the moment of destruction, they fail. So they would fail, despite instinctively understanding what must be done to save themselves. They would seek me out, but the door to reach me was closed. When you were born, that door was reopened.

"That must have been hard for you," he realized soberly.

It was, kitten, harder than you will ever know, she told him sadly. But thankfully, I won't lose any more. You were the first new Weavespinner in a thousand years, but in just two short years since your powers were awakened, there are now four of you. And there are many who are primed and ready to face the test, like Dolanna, she affirmed. A great many, because they had so much time to train and practice and grow, and they have always been exceedingly careful to never allow themselves in a position where they may lose control. In time, I will goad them into the test.

"Should I do anything with Dolanna?" he asked. "I think she's going to try something foolish."

Leave her alone, kitten. She must make her own choices.

"That sounds ominous."

That depends on how you see the situation, she replied. Don't you think Dolanna is ready to face the test?

"If anyone is, she is," he said after a moment. "I don't know of any Sorcerer more skilled than Dolanna. Others may have more raw power than her, but she's so experienced, it's almost scary."

That's because when others were sitting in the Towers reading books and playing politics, Dolanna was out in the world, the Goddess told him. You always learn fastest by doing, and Dolanna has been out there doing since before you were born. Any time I needed a skilled, intelligent, courageous Sorcerer to perform a task, Dolanna was always on my short list of candidates. But don't you dare tell her that, she warned. She doesn't know how many times she's been acting directly on my orders, even when she didn't realize it.

"I won't," he said. "She's going to do it, isn't she? Try to use the magic I taught Kerri."

I won't tell you that, kitten, but I would suggest that you don't sleep too soundly tonight, she said plainly.

"I understand. I'll be there for her in case anything happens."

I appreciate that. I have to go now, kitten. Be well. I love you.

"I love you too, Mother," he nodded, and then he felt her retreat from him. He sighed and looked over the rail, out to sea, not reacting when Sapphire landed lightly on his shoulder from behind. "Well, little girl, it looks like I may have a problem tonight," he told her in a low tone as she rubbed her head against his neck.

She chirped in reply, then clambored down his arm and goaded him into holding her to his chest. He scratched her between the horns delicately with the tip of his claw and stared out towards the coastline of Wikuna. He was more than a little worried now.


It happened around midnight, as the ship stood motionless in a period of dead calm. Tarrin had been standing on the deck, staring up at the moon, with Sapphire on his shoulder and Kimmie standing quietly beside him. He hadn't told her what was going on, why he was so nervous, so she simply accepted things as they were and kept him company. He'd been admiring the moon when he felt that now familiar surge in the Weave, the surge of it finding a portal into the real world that presented no resistance to it.

Just as he had feared, Dolanna had tried to use Weavespinner magic, and now faced being Consumed as a result.

"Stay here," Tarrin told Kimmie, reaching up and taking hold of Sapphire and then quite deliberately placing her in Kimmie's paws. "Stay with Kimmie," he ordered her in a tone that would brook no disobedience, and then he hurried towards the stairs below decks. He literally jumped down the very steep flight of stairs, rushing towards Dolanna's cabin door as Keritanima opened her door at the end of the companionway, her face unsettled. Tarrin grabbed the latch of Dolanna's door, but found it locked. Not put off by that, he sank his claws into the wood frame of the door and ripped it off its hinges, getting it jammed in the doorframe, so he simply put a fist against it and shattered it like a china plate. He could sense the power reaching a crescendo in Dolanna—she was right on the verge of it, he had to get to her quickly and explain what to do! The shattering of the door released blazing light into the companionway, light emanating from Dolanna's body as Magelight writhed and swirled around her form. She had her eyes closed, and instead of screaming in pain or convulsing, she had her arms crossed her chest and had the most incredible look of absolute concentration on her face. Goddess, what a woman! She was actually not panicking! Tarrin was taken aback by that, more than he would have been surprised to see her in pain or in terror, as he himself had been, and then he realized that she was already forming the bridge into the Weave.

Dolanna knew what to do!

For the first time, he had a chance to see the actual process of crossing over, of ascendance into a new realm of power, up close and rationally enough to understand what was happening. He felt Dolanna's power form the bridge into the Weave, and then felt her consciousness retreat from her mortal form. That left her body behind, a body immobilized without its consciousness to guide it, then felt her escape into the Weave, drawn to the Heart like a tossed stone falling to the bottom of the pond. She left his range of senses, but it was but a heartbeat before the Magelight surrounding her suddenly shivered, then absolutely froze, as the power within her reached its maximum potential… and then simply stopped. It then seemed to quiver, and then blazed forth ten times brighter, casting blinding light into the companionway, a light of searing heat that didn't burn the deck, yet burned away Dolanna's clothes, leaving nothing behind but the amulet around her neck. Tarrin realized that she had found the Heart, and now the communion with the Goddess had shown her what to do, as she reached back to her mortal form and used the power built up inside her. The Magelight coalesced quickly, forming the concave star around her small body as he felt the power within suddenly begin to take shape, to form, to be woven. He read the flows of the weave, realized that it was the spell of Transmutation that would render Dolanna invulnerable to the heat that the power within her was generating. He sensed her weave it, a spell of such stunning complexity that not even Keritanima could have woven it with that one look at it, and then it was released. Tarrin sensed it sweep through Dolanna's small, slim body, altering the very nature of her, transforming her, though showing no outward sign of doing so.

As Tarrin watched, the amulet around Dolanna's neck changed, growing the leg-like extensions from the center star that made the center of the amulet resemble a spider, flowing outward and connecting to the triangles that surrounded it.

And then it was over. The bright light that enveloped Dolanna simply disappeared as Dolanna's consciousness was flung back into her body. Dolanna gave only a slight sigh, and then crumpled bonelessly to the deck.

She had done it, and done it without any assistance!

Tarrin stared at her in awe for a moment, then came to his senses and rushed into the cabin. He scooped up her small body carefully, gently, then set her on the bed as Allia, then Dar, and then Keritanima rushed into the room, stepping carefully over what was left of the door with their bare feet. All of them had obviously been in bed, for Keritanima was wearing a silk nightgown, Dar a pair of hastily pulled-on trousers not buttoned up in the front, and Allia nothing but a cloak thrown over her shoulders, a cloak she didn't exactly bother to pull around her. That made Dar militant about keeping his eyes away from that side of the room. "Tarrin, what happened?" Allia asked first, since she was the first to arrive.

"Dolanna tried to use the Weavespinner magic I taught Kerri," he answered. "She overstepped her abilities, and ended up crossing over."

"You mean she's like you now?" Dar asked.

Tarrin nodded. "I swear, I think she planned it," he growled, absently weaving a spell that reassembled the door, and then set it back in a repaired doorframe. "You should have seen the look on her face. I think she did it on purpose."

"She tried to cross over by herself?" Keritanima said in shock.

"Well, she did do it, so maybe she knew what she was doing after all," Dar noted.

Keritanima swore. "She asked me all sorts of questions about when it happened to me," she said in a tone that made it clear she realized the ulterior motive behind them. "How it felt, what I saw, what I did to save myself. I never dreamed she'd use what I told her to try it herself!"

"Don't be too mad at her, Kerri," Tarrin said, looking down at her. "I think she was ready. And after all, it was her choice."

Keritanima blinked, then chuckled ruefully. "I guess so. But then again, if anyone could have done it, it's Dolanna. She's about five times better than almost every Sorcerer I've ever met."

"It was foolish," Allia said, "but her courage shows her honor."

"Sometimes courage and foolishness are the same thing," Keritanima mused.

"And she didn't tell you because she thought you may tell her no," Dar reasoned. "She was determined to try, and as my mother always says, it's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."

"You have a very wise mother, Dar," Keritanima told him.

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled to know that the Queen of Wikuna thinks she's wise," Dar answered dryly.

"Was that an insult or a compliment?"

"You figure it out," he teased.

"Children, if you're going to fight, do it outside," Tarrin ordered, pointing to the door. "Right now, Dolanna needs rest. So stop disturbing her."

"Will she be alright, Tarrin?" Dar asked.

"She'll be fine, Dar, but she does need to rest," he answered. "She'll sleep like a log for quite a while, but when she wakes up, she'll be just fine."

"Looks like you picked up a new student, Tarrin," Keritanima chuckled.

"I think we should all go back to bed," Allia said. "It looks like Tarrin will stay with Dolanna for now."

"I was planning on it," he agreed.

"Wake me when you tire, brother. I will sit with her next," Allia told him.

Tarrin was about to say something, but he sensed a presence seem to enter the room. His ears picked up and he looked around, but saw nothing, smelled nothing, heard nothing. But he could feel that presence clearly. It was there, but it was like it was just outside the boundaries of his senses. He was about to say something, but felt another presence join the first. Both were close, very close, and both of them seemed strangely familiar to him. Like he knew who they were.

Tarrin realigned his thinking, shaking off the Cat-induced need to see or hear or smell, and expanded his senses into the Weave. When he did that, when the strand that crossed through the cabin came into the forefront of his vision rather than being a faint ghostly mirage dominated by the solidity of the real world, he sensed clearly that the presences he felt were within the strands. And they were very familiar to him for he got a clear assessment of them. It was Jenna and Jula.

Tarrin smiled slightly. "You can stop hiding, Jenna," he called towards the strand. "I can feel you in there. Come out."

Dar looked a bit startled when flows pulled from the strand, coming from the inside, and then they wove together into a very detailed Illusion. The Illusion blurred slightly as it came into focus, then it stabilized to show the image of Jula, wearing a frilly blue nightshirt with lace around the collar. She looked rather sleepy, and her dark hair was unkempt and standing up at the top of her head. "Tarrin," she said woodenly, rubbing her eyes. "I didn't think you'd ferret me out that fast."

"You too, Jula," Tarrin ordered.

Another Illusion wove itself out of the strand, and then solidified into the image of Jula. She wasn't wearing anything at all; obviously, both of them had come right from bed. "Father," she smiled. "We tried whispering, but it seems that it won't reach this far. Now I understand why the Ancients used the amulets."

"I take it you felt it, all the way over there?" he asked.

"We were in the Heart," Jenna told him. "We saw it all from that side, and decided to track Dolanna back using her star."

"Dolanna just appeared in the center of the Heart, and the eyes of the Goddess seemed to wake up," Jula told him. "They seemed to commune for a moment, then Dolanna vanished. We realized what happened pretty quickly."

"You were in the Heart, but you're both obviously in bed?" he asked curiously.

"Well," Jenna said with a blush, "we were talking about something."

"What?"

"Girl things," Jenna told him with sudden heat and a furious blush. "Butt out of it, Tarrin!"

"Alright, alright," Tarrin said in a mollifying tone.

"Is she going to be alright?" Jula asked.

"She'll be fine," Tarrin told her.

"Why did you have her cross over?" Jenna asked.

"I didn't. Dolanna did this on her own."

"We certainly didn't know she had this on her mind," Keritanima grunted. "If I did, I would have stopped her. If she would have failed, she would have blown this ship out of the water!"

"That's right, always assume the worst, Kerri," Jenna teased.

"You don't have to pay for this ship!" Keritanima snapped at her. "And let's not even talk about the sailors I may have lost! I can buy another ship, but I can't replace their lives!"

"Calm down, Kerri, you're going to disturb Dolanna," Tarrin told her.

"I think we all should go back to bed," Allia announced. "What has happened has happened. It is wasteful to stand around talking about it now."

"Yah, and this is not easy," Jula grunted, putting an illusory paw to her illusory head. "I never realized this could tire you out so fast."

"Weaving through the Weave itself isn't easy, Jula," Tarrin told her.

"It makes me wonder why you just didn't do that at Suld," Dar noted. "When you had that Circle going. To get the men out of range, I mean."

"I couldn't, Dar," Jenna told him evenly. "Weaving through the Weave itself is a Weavespinner trick. I can't use it in a Circle, because I can only use Sorcery and High Sorcery in a Circle. That's why the Ancients didn't simply abandon Sorcery after they crossed over. They had to keep their skills up, in case they ever had to Circle."

"I didn't know that," Dar admitted.

"Well, now you do," she said with a grin and a wink. "And I need to go. This really is tiring, and I had a long day already." She looked at Tarrin. "You need to come to the Heart occasionally," she accused.

"We're still moving, Jenna," he replied. "You know I can't do that unless we're stationary."

"You are now."

"And at any time, the wind could pick up and move us," he said. "You think I'm going to risk getting my body pulled out of the strand while I'm in the Weave? I don't know what would happen, but I'm sure it wouldn't be good."

"Alright, I'll accept that excuse," she teased. "But please, do come visit as soon as you stop, alright?"

"I will," he promised. "And I'll bring along Kerri."

"The more the merrier," Jenna smiled. "See ya." And then her Illusion dissipated like smoke.

"Be careful, father," Jula told him seriously. "And please, talk to Jesmind. She's going nuts because you forgot to talk to her today. She thinks you've forgotten all about her. I've never seen her this loopy before." She grimaced. "I can still hear her in the other room. She ran out of things to throw about an hour ago, so now she's clawing up the walls."

"I'll calm her down," he assured her with a nod. "How are you two getting along?"

"Well enough," she replied. "She's not my best friend, but I think she's starting to get used to me. I better go, before I get too tired to find my way back. Talk to you later, father."

And then her Illusion too dissipated.

Tarrin chuckled in spite of himself. He'd been so worried about Dolanna that he completely forgot to talk to Jesmind that night. She went that crazy because of one missed appointment? He'd hate to see what happened if he missed two in a row.

"What's your problem, Dar?" Keritanima asked.

"I never realized Jula was—" he said, then he blushed. "She didn't have any clothes on."

"You've seen naked girls in the baths all the time!" Keritanima almost shouted at him.

"Those were girls," Dar said. "That was a woman. And she looked a little like Tiella does when she's nude," he added with a little squirm.

"Oh, so that's how it is?" Keritanima suddenly grinned. "I knew you and Tiella were friends, but I didn't realize you were staring at her that hard in the baths," she teased.

"Yeah, and you don't get all fuzzy in the face when someone mentions Rallix, do you?" Dar countered.

The fur on Keritanima's face did start to ruffle slightly, then she glared at the young Arkisian. "How would you like to spend the rest of the trip in the brig?" Keritanima threatened in an ugly tone.

"How would you like it if I told Rallix all about how you feel when we get to Wikuna?" Dar retorted.

That was the wrong thing to say. Keritanima balled up her fist and socked Dar in the shoulder. Keritanima was slender, but she was rather tall compared to a human female, and her lithe body harbored surprisingly toned muscle. Keritanima exercised every day and kept herself in very good shape, so her punch was more than enough to stagger Dar back, wincing and holding his arm. "How would you like a bloody nose?" Keritanima snapped, holding up her fist.

"Children!" Tarrin barked. "Take it outside!"

Keritanima and Dar glared at each other, but they obeyed Tarrin and filed out of the room. Tarrin looked at Allia, who had a slightly disappointed look on her face, shaking her head, making her silvery hair sway. "Some day, those two will show the dignity of age," she told him in Selani.

"Not any time soon," Tarrin chuckled. "Actually, I rather like them like that. Them and Phandebrass make me feel young."

She gave him a mysterious smile, then pulled the cloak back onto one of her shoulders absently. "I'll see you in the morning, deshida. Remember, if you get tired, come wake me, and I'll sit with Dolanna. She's my friend too."

"I will," he promised. "Do me a favor before you go back to bed?"

"Certainly."

"Go up on deck and tell Kimmie I'll be busy here tonight. And tell Sapphire to come find me. She'll understand it."

"I will," she promised, opening the door. Keritanima and Dar were still arguing out in the companionway, but doing it in hushed tones. "See you in the morning."

Tarrin settled Dolanna into the bed, pulling the covers over her and putting a pillow under her head. About the time he was done, there was a scratching on the door. Tarrin opened it and let in Sapphire, then remembered to open the porthole of the cabin so Sapphire could get out. He Conjured a bowl of water and a little food for her, then shifted into cat form and jumped up onto Dolanna's bed. He settled himself down at the foot of it, tucking his paws under himself and closing his eyes. There was little to do now but wait, and that was time best spent resting. Dolanna really didn't need anyone to sit with her, but as many times as she'd sat with him when he was wounded or sick, he felt it was only right to be with her now, when she was the one incapacitated.

Sapphire vaulted up onto the bed and settled in beside him. She knew he was a shapeshifter, knew he was Were, actually without him having to tell her. She was an animal, and therefore could sense Tarrin's magical nature. She knew that the black cat was Tarrin, and cuddled up beside him and wrapped her long, whiplike tail around both of them. Tarrin accepted her presence, felt the strange heat that always seemed to radiate from her body, and found it pleasing. He drifted off to sleep, knowing he'd have plenty to think about and consider in the morning.

Chapter 4