Chapter 10

        The celebrations continued well into the night.

        The birth of a child was always worth celebrating, but the birth of a child for which the parents had waited for nearly ten years was truly a special event.  That it was the High Priestess of Neme's child, the highest ranking member of the order, was an even greater reason to celebrate.  The fact that it was the child of Camara Tal, who was something of a living legend on Amazar now even beyond the fact that she was the High Priestess, one of the storied Questers of the Staff and the friend and sworn defender of the legendary Tarrin Kael, was even more reason to raise tankards and toast the happy occasion.  The fact that said legend Tarrin Kael was the appointed godparent and protector of the child was even more reason to celebrate.  By the time the fact that it happened to be the granddaughter of the sitting High Queen was taken into account, people had forgotten what an incredibly joyous occasion it truly was, for they were all far too drunk to care.

        It was probably one of the strangest celebrations that Amazar had ever seen, due to the unique makeup of the guests of honor.  Sulina Tal opened the doors of her compound after the birth of the child, and the bells in the little chapel on the top of the hill tolled all night long to announce the celebration, and the citizenry of the unique town of Amazar flooded into the house of their High Queen and celebrated with the blessed family.  Sulina Tal hadn't formally planned such a celebration, but she had made sure to have plenty of wine, ale, stronger spirits, and plenty of food on hand to feed virtually the entire town.  Nobles, merchants, and the successful craftsmen happily rubbed elbows with the fishers and farmers and laborers of Amazar, all of them clamoring to meet the large group of outsiders who everyone knew were the group that had recovered the Firestaff and their families.

        For Tarrin, it was a chance to observe the Amazons interacting with one another, and he was fairly surprised.  He didn't like crowds and he didn't like strangers, so when the happy group of friends suddenly became a huge throng filling Sulina Tal's garden, he shapeshifted into cat form and laid down quietly at Camara Tal's feet.  She was sitting on a divan that had been brought out into the gardens so she could rest after the delivery, holding her little copper-skinned infant and accepting all the congratulations with a great deal of dignity.  He watched the Amazons talk to one another, and watched them talk to his friends, and found that Camara Tal's personality was something of a general template for the average Amazon.  Even the lowliest of them, the poorest farmer and the poorest fisher, carried herself with pride and grace, proud of who she was and proud of the island nation of which she was a part.  Though most couldn't manage the regal aire of Camara Tal or her mother Sulina Tal, it was as if each one thought herself a little queen.  Despite that, however, they did not act overtly arrogant or overbearing to the mainlander guests among them, though there was some sense of superiority that Tarrin had noticed that every human culture--and non-human, for that matter--seemed to possess.  The consideration that outsiders were alright, but they could never be as good as them.  Even the Were-cats were like that, but at least the Were-cats knew that it was truth.

        At least as far as they were concerned.

        The average Amazon, Tarrin noted, was a bit blustery, very much unlike Camara Tal.  Camara Tal didn't grandstand or show off.  She was good, and she knew she was good, so she didn't bother with trying to impress others with her ability or skill.  Camara Tal was actually humble as Amazons went, and that trait made the Amazons much like the Ungardt, who were also a very boisterous and boastful people.

        But the women were only half of the society.  Tarrin watched the men as well, and he carefully observed how the women treated them.  Tarrin only knew Koran Tal, and he knew that Koran Tal was a willful, stubborn man who happened to be very learned and very wise.  He had always wondered if Koran Tal was a typical Amazon male, or a rare exception.  It turned out, he saw, that as much as he could see, Koran Tal was an exception.  The males who attended were polite and gabby, as talkative as the females, but the males never strayed too far from the female who claimed ownership of him.  The female would often reach out and put a hand on her male, as if to assure herself that he was still there, or to ensure that he didn't stray too far.  Some males were totally silent, and moved with a quiet wariness concerning his female that hinted that he wasn't entirely happy with his situation.  On the other hand, there were a few females who seemed to not entirely like their males, so Tarrin guessed that went both ways.  He noticed that some men did in fact roam around unrestricted, often gathering into groups of males to talk amongst themselves.  All of them wore a simple golden bracer on the right wrist.  It took Tarrin a few moments to remember his talks with Koran and Camara Tal, and he finally recalled that those bracelets were something akin to wedding rings.  Those were the married men.  A female could own a male and not be married to him; for Amazons, marriage was a symbol of love between male and female for commoners, and political arrangements for nobles to create ties between houses, much as the marriage between Koran Dar--at that time--and Camara Tal had been.  An arranged marriage set up by their parents.

        Tarrin noticed curiously that Koran Tal did not wear a wedding bracer.

        Tarrin wondered idly just how males managed to learn the things they learned if their females didn't like them being out of their sight.  From the way Koran Tal talked, males freely indulged themselves in studies of philosophy, engineering, science, herbology, and many other fields of study that most in the West would call scholastic in nature.  Sciences, the realms of sages, Wizards, and scholars.  But at least the females realized that males would go crazy just sitting around the house all day.

        Some of them did do that, he recalled.  Some wives wanted from a man what Ulger had boasted was all that a woman was good for; to keep the house clean, care for the children, and make babies.  As he remembered, just such a divisive argument had been at the core of the trouble between Koran Dar and Camara Tal.  Camara Tal had wanted a house-husband, a husband to run the household and manage things and care for their interests, when Koran Dar had wanted much more from the world than to have his entire life revolve around his household.  The fact that Koran Dar had not really liked Camara Tal at that time had probably had a little to do with it as well.  Or, more to the point, loved to hate her.  He had admitted that from the first day he'd met her, there had been an intense attraction between them, but that base attraction had been seriously bogged down by two wildly different expectations of life.

        It was interesting to watch the Amazons interact with his friends.  All the females were all but smitten with Azakar, which made the Knight distinctly uncomfortable.  Azakar, who had once been a slave and had an intense hatred of the institution, had come to Amazar against his will.  He had not wanted to come to a place where men were considered property.  But Tarrin felt that the Mahuut's concepts of the Amazons had changed a little bit.  He had found out that though men were property, they weren't actual slaves.  There was a difference between the two, a difference that may not seem like much of one to one who didn't understand Amazon culture.  Granted, males had to obey females, and did some things that they didn't want to do, but there were laws and customs that prevented females from beating males, or putting them in dangerous situations, and from what he could see of them, he saw that most females took an active interest in the well-being of the males they owned, and more than simply an interest in their physical health.  To call males slaves was a poor choice of words.  Tarrin found that he rather liked the idea of calling them partners.  A female that wanted a companion bought a male.

        He was sure that there were exceptions to that idea.  He was fairly certain that there were some males out there who really hated their females, or were owned by females who didn't care for them or maybe even abused them.  But such things went on in every society, even Sulasia's, so to villify the entire Amazon culture for what existed in virtually every human culture would be sophistry.

        Azakar wasn't the only popular person in his group.  Many Amazons were rather drawn to Dar, because he was a handsome young man, but Tiella's wrathful look kept them from getting too adventurous.  Kargon, Darvon's nephew, seemed to be just as popular as Dar, and he was unattached.  But Kargon deflected their admiration with skillful delicacy and even aplomb, declining obvious invitations gently and carefully, and even managing not to insult the Amazons in the process.  Alexis, Jenna, Phandebrass, and Dolanna had attracted a sizable group of mostly males, but with a few females, probably discussing politics or magic or science or some other heady topic that probably wouldn't interest Tarrin at all.  Tarrin liked to learn, but only subjects that appealed to him, like the Dwarves.  He didn't learn for learning's sake, like Phandebrass did.  Keritanima, Rallix, and Miranda had the High Queen's attention, as well as a few older-looking females who had to be powerful nobles, and they were almost definitely talking about politics.  Sarraya, Chopstick, and Turnkey all attracted a great deal of attention, for they were very rare and exotic creatures, but not half as much as Ianelle and Auli did.  The two Sha'Kar seemed to consume all Amazon attention until they managed to greet the two women and talk with them, a fact that, Tarrin saw, didn't sit well with the flighty, impulsive, and somewhat self-centered Sarraya.   Auli had managed to defeat and upstage her at every turn, and now she was upstaged again.  It didn't sit very well with his Faerie companion.

        Others weren't very popular at all.  All the Were-cats didn't find themselves surrounded by the same group of people for very long, for the Amazons only wished to meet them, not engage in conversation with them.  That happened to suit the Were-cats just fine.  Besides, Tarrin had the feeling that the Amazons were just a little intimidated by Triana, Jesmind, Kimmie, and Jula.  Jasana wandered around the group more or less freely, with Tara and Rina tagging along behind her, and all four females kept a cautious eye on the roaming cubs.  The late arrivals kept asking about Tarrin himself, and were rather disappointed with the explanation that he didn't like crowds, and he happened to be the black cat curled up by Camara Tal's feet.  Allia and Allyn had remained for the first part of the celebration, certainly long enough to have a long conversation with Camara Tal and hold her infant daughter many times, but when the Amazons started getting loud and a little rowdy, they quietly withdrew to their room.  Tarrin was surprised they didn't leave sooner.  He was sure that the raucous nature of the Amazons would be grating to his sister, whose sense of honor wouldn't allow her to act so silly in public.  Selani didn't act silly in public.  They were more than happy to act silly in private, but never in public.  He was sure that to the Amazons, the Selani culture would seem tight-laced, inflexible, and very stringent.  But they didn't really know the Selani like Tarrin did.  Few outside of the desert did, for that matter.

        The noticable absence, of course, was Ulger.  Darvon had asked about the Knight not long after Camara gave birth, then he just chuckled when he heard what had happened.  Ulger, at that very moment, was probably up to his ankles in animal dung, laboring to clean out a stable with his bare hands and not wearing a stitch of clothing.  Tarrin had the idea that that Amazon woman would really make him pay for being such a braggart.  Amazons took affronts to their pride very seriously, and there was probably little that could irritate them more than a chauvanist male.  That Amazon would put Ulger into the place she believed he belonged, and it would not be very pleasant for the scarred Knight.  Not pleasant at all.

        Darvon didn't disapprove of what Tarrin had done.  In his words, "maybe that smart-mouthed overgrown child will learn when to keep his mouth shut for a change."  And as Dar has noticed, Tarrin hadn't killed him.  Just a year before, and Tarrin would have killed him.  It was a noted change in the Were-cat's personality over time, and a testament as to how relaxed he had become since the business with the Firestaff had been completed.  Relaxed enough not to instantly slaughter someone who had offended him.

        It was well into the night before any of the Amazons had even noticed that time had passed.  Tarrin was surprised at the endurance of these Amazons, both for drink and for revelling; Tarrin himself found the concept of a "party" to be boring and redundant.  One came, talked a while, and when there was nothing more to talk about, to him it was time to end it.  The Ungardt, legendary for their partying, got drunk at parties and often ended up fighting one another.  Shacèans also had something of a reputation for indulging in celebration, but they mostly just danced, sang, and listened to music during their parties, something with which Tarrin could identify just a little more.  But the Amazons were content to drink and talk, and drink and talk some more.  It was only well after midnight that a group of Amazons had finally struck on the idea that the party needed something over than voices to entertain it, so they had fetched instruments and started playing music.

        That shocked Tarrin, as well as most of his friends.  These Amazons were fantastic in their music.  It was lively and almost catchy, upbeat songs with a heavy beat of the four drums surrounding one musician, but possessing stunningly complicated harmonies and counter-melodies that made the songs both catchingly simple to the ear, yet remarkably complicated to play.  They made playing such complicated music seem easy.  Nobody in the rest of the world had ever equated the Amazons to being such a musical people.  The Shacèans were the ones who had that reputation.

        "My, that's quite lovely," Miranda mused as she sat at the edge of Camara Tal's divan, holding the newborn infant in her arms.  Tarrin had shamelessly abandoned Camara Tal's feet to lay on his close friend's lap.  Jesmind and Jula were letting Kimmie and Triana keep an eye on the cubs, who were by now so listless that they were about to fall asleep where they sat, as they took their turns marvelling at the baby over Miranda's shoulders.

        "I think they're just showing off for the guests," Camara Tal grunted wearily.  She was tired, but since she was the guest of honor, she was honor-bound to stay at least until the first guest retired.  It was some kind of Amazon custom, but Tarrin had the idea that maybe Camara Tal was proving her womanliness to the other Amazons by giving birth then managing to stay awake so long afterward without sleep.

        "It's quite a complex song," Jesmind said critically, almost professionally.  "That lutist could give any Shacèan bard a run for his money."

        "Don't you play, Jesmind?" Miranda asked.  "Tarrin once told me you had an interest in playing the lute."

        "Well, that was a long time ago," she said with surprising modesty...almost demureness.  "I got  so good at taking the human shape because I wanted to learn how to play the lute.  These paws of ours just aren't designed for such delicate movements," she said, holding up her huge paws with a rueful look on her face.

        "I'd say not," Miranda chuckled.  "The neck of that lute he's playing doesn't look much longer that Tarrin's fingers are wide.  "Well, did you learn to play?"

        "Of course I did," she said bluntly.  "I learned the Nyrian citar, the flute, and the harpsichord too."

        "Ah, so," Miranda said with a cheeky grin.  "The one with the Shacèan word for jewel for a name displays some Shacèan traits.  Maybe Triana knew what she was doing when she named you."

        "I doubt it," Jesmind actually laughed. "Sometimes I don't know what got up my mother's craw when she named me.  None of my brothers or sisters are named as oddly as I am."

        "Let's see, if I remember right, they're Shayle, Nikki, and Laren," she said.

        "Tarrin must talk too much," Jesmind said with a disapproving look at him.

        "Too much?  Do you know how long it took me to drag that out of him?" Miranda asked with a laugh.

        "Probably a long time," Jula surmised, giving her bond-father a warm smile.

        "Care to grace us with your talent?" Miranda prodded.

        "Me?  Play?  Phaugh," she snorted.  "I haven't even picked up a lute in fifty years.  I'm probably so rusty that I'd sound like a dying vulture."

        "Why did you stop, then?"

        "I had more important things to do," she said shortly.

        Miranda had touched on something that Tarrin had wondered from time to time himself.  Jesmind had braved the pain of the human form to learn how to play the lute, something she had wanted very much to do, and then she simply stops?  What had happened to make her give it up, especially after going to the trouble of learning how to play those other musical instruments?  It was something that Jesmind never talked about, and one of the few things which she wouldn't share with him.  Despite her love for him and his for her, they both kept secrets from one another, and that was one of her secrets.

        Jasana came over, leading Tara and Rina, and she had a strange look on her face.  "What is it, cub?" Jesmind asked her.

        "Umm, Mama?" she asked hesitantly.  "Did you know there's a big colorful bird over there that's watching us?"

        "There are many birds here on the islands, cub," Camara Tal told her.  "Many are very big and colorful, and a lot of them aren't afraid of humans.  Since we don't bother them, they have no reason to be afraid of us."

        "Well, Aunt Camara, do many of them have glowing red eyes?"

        Glowing red eyes?  Tarrin picked his head up off of Miranda's lap and looked around, and when he started looking for it, he realized that he could sense it.  The Phoenix was back, and Tarrin could feel it now, feel its presence in a way he hadn't noticed before.  Were he in his humanoid form, he could have pointed right to it, but he had no idea how he knew where it was.  He looked in the direction his senses told him to look, and he could just barely make it out.  It was sitting on the top of one of stone building that served as Sulina Tal's throne room, staring down at them with eyes that glowed brighter than the firelight that reflected off of its colorful reddish plumage.  From that distance, the bird was little more than a silhouette, an outline of avian form of which details were lost to him.  The bird was far away and not moving, so his eyes had trouble making it out.  But even from that distance, those glowing red eyes were quite visible to him.

        “I’ve never seen one of those out at night,” Camara Tal said in surprise, staring up at the bird.

        “What is it?” Jasana asked.

        “It’s a Phoenix,” she said with respect in her voice.  “They live on the volcano.”

        “We saw a Phoenix when were out earlier today,” Tarrin said in the manner of the Cat.

        “Well, it’s not bothering us, and we don’t usually annoy them, so let’s just leave it be and not worry about it,” Camara Tal said calmly, leaning back a little more on the divan.  “Can I have my daughter back now, Miranda?” she asked with a smile.

        “Oh, certainly,” she said with a cheeky smile.  “It’s better to admire someone else’s than to have your own anyway.”

        “Someday you’re going to change your mind,” the Amazon woman told her.

        “Not in this lifetime,” she said adamantly, putting Tarrin back down on the divan and then standing up.

        “That’s what they all say,” Camara Tal chuckled as the mink Wikuni sauntered off.

        The party continued well into the night, as the Amazons got steadily more and more inebriated, the musicians got progressively less and less formal, even going to the extent of playing some rather bawdy little tunes and engaging in impromptu “make it up as we go along” sessions that were probably even better than the organized music was.  Those of Tarrin’s friends who managed to stay awake during the majority of the night had a wonderful time, though Azakar, Dar, Tiella, Phandebrass, and Dolanna decided a little after midnight that they’d had just about enough fun for one evening.  Camara Tal remained on her divan, handing her daughter off to those who came up to see her so they could hold her, and taking a few quick naps while her husband or her mother or some trusted family friends or relatives watched over the newborn for her.  And through it all, sitting on the top of Sulina Tal’s throne hall, sat the Phoenix, doing nothing but watching.  Tarrin doubted that many of the Amazons even noticed the animal, for it didn’t really move around, except to occasionally lift its tail fan and display those odd eye-shaped markings on the long feathers in its tail fan.  Every time it did that, Tarrin got a strange feeling just behind his ears and he invariably looked up at the bird.  Those eye spots were the same shape as the animal’s own eyes, matching up in orderly pairs just like real eyes, and they too seemed to nearly glow just like the Phoenix’s eyes did, probably catching the light from the many torches just so to produce that effect.  It wasn’t outlandish, for the bird had many feathers that were iridescent, a few of them almost reflective, catching the light like a cat’s eyes and shining it back at the onlooker.  But it was decidedly eerie.

        Aside from those times when the bird had its tail feathers fanned out, Tarrin largely ignored it.  It wasn’t bothering him, so he wasn’t going to go and borrow trouble.  He’d done that more than enough during his lifetime, and he’d managed to survive it by sheer luck and phenomenal intestinal fortitude.

        He had no idea how Camara Tal managed to stay awake as long as she did.  When dawn began to stain the eastern horizon in subtle pinks and pale rose, she was still awake, and almost spry in her manner.  She hadn’t really gotten up from her divan during the night except to relieve herself or to stretch her legs, and as the night wore on, she seemed to get even more awake and alert, gathering up more and more energy.  But now, at dawn, she had abandoned her divan to dress, returning to her customary haltar and tripa skirt, and looking a great deal more comfortable for having put them on.  Tarrin had laid quietly by Koran Tal while she went to dress, as the proud father made silly noises at his awake and alert daughter, who was cradled protectively in his arms.  Most of the townsfolk were still there, but about half of them were laying around the garden, having finally succumbed to the effects of drink and carousing.  It looked like some kind of twisted battlefield to him, where the fallen had been defeated by those with more tolerance for wine, sleep deprivation, and the effort involved in dancing playing, or mingling all night.  Those that were still awake certainly weren’t as lively as they had been just an hour before, sitting quietly here and there in small groups, lingering over tankards of ale or goblets of wine or stronger drink, content to talk in a quiet, subdued manner that always seemed to grip people just before the rising of the sun.

        Tarrin and Jula the only Were-cats left.  Kimmie and Jesmind had long since taken their cubs to bed, and remained to make sure they stayed there.  Jula had more or less stayed near to Dolanna after Kimmie retired, but after Dolanna went to bed, she had decided that shifting into cat form--something she rarely did--and dozing next to her bond-father was preferable to either going to bed or trying to mingle with the Amazons.  Jula shifted into cat form a great deal more than she used to, since Jenna had made her one of the amulets that allowed her to keep her clothes when she shapeshifted.  Jenna had become something of an amazing producer of magical objects in the days since the end of the quest for the Firestaff, having created the Cat’s Claws and several smaller objects, like Jula’s amulet.  Tarrin himself had made a few magical objects, like the belts he and Jesmind had used to easily cross the mountains between Ungardt and the tundra on which Gora Umadar had been situated.  But his skill as a magical object creator paled in comparison to his sister’s.  Despite the fact that he was stronger than her, and had a much deeper understanding of Sorcery than her, Tarrin lacked the fundamental patience required to be a good magical object creator.  It made one stay in one place for days on end, meticulously building the objects flow by flow, requiring monumental patience, attention to detail, and expenditure of energy.  It was not something for which Tarrin was well suited, because unless he had a very good reason, he just couldn’t devote himself to something like that for such a long period of time.  He had made the belts out of desperation to reach Gora Umadar at the proper time, knowing that everything depended on it.  That was the kind of motivation Tarrin needed in order to make a magical object.

        Tarrin sat up and stretched his back languidly, then leaned down and pushed at Jula’s head with his snout to get her attention.  The smaller black cat opened her deep green eyes and looked up at him curiously, then closed them again and began to purr when Tarrin began to groom her.  Grooming was a mark of comfort and acceptance between cats, and it was a way in which Tarrin showed his fatherly concern for Jula, making sure she was well fed, well groomed, safe, and content.  Fatherly instincts didn’t really exist among cats, but Tarrin’s human instincts had blended with his cat ones in certain areas, such as the way he treated his children.

        “That puts a bad taste in my mouth just to watch it,” Koran Tal said with a sly smile as he bounced his infant daughter slightly in his arms.

        Both Tarrin and Jula gave Koran Tal a look of scathing disregard, one that made Koran Tal laugh, then went back to the rather important things that they were doing.

        When Camara Tal returned in her old clothes, she sighed and patted her belly, which was already returning to its taut flatness after months of distension.  “Not that I didn’t love having Shaul under my heart, but it’s wonderful to be able to see my feet again,” she remarked.

        “Since when could she ever see her feet?” Jula asked in the manner of the Cat.  “There seem to be two other things blocking her view.”

        Tarrin chuckled silently.  “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, daughter,” he chided as he washed her face.

        “I’m not too jealous,” she remarked.  She probably didn’t want to say that, but it was impossible to lie when speaking in the manner of the Cat.  Untruth was an alien concept to animals.

        “Look at it this way, cub.  When you’re like this, you have more of them than she does.  Your quantity overmatches her amplitude.”

        “That’s a disturbing observation,” she noted clinically.

        “Reality often is.”

        Tarrin finished washing his daughter’s face, then jumped down and shapeshifted back into his humanoid form.  He sat down on the divan and picked up Jula and then put her in his lap.  She purred as he used a single finger to stroke her fur.  “I usually don’t pry, but why are you still awake?” Tarrin asked Camara Tal curiously.

        “That‘s why,” she answered, pointing towards the stain of color on the eastern horizon.  “It’s custom to show an Amazon the first sunrise of her life.  It’s said to bring the favor of Neme on the child.”

        “This child’s going to have favor enough,” Jula remarked from Tarrin’s lap, leaning into his stroking finger.

        “I can’t disagree with that,” he agreed, patting her on the head.

        “Disagree--oh, Jula must have said something,” Koran Tal noted.

        Tarrin nodded.  “She mentioned that this baby’s going to have more than enough favor in her life as it is.  She may not need any more.”

        “Why would you say that?” Sulina Tal asked as she approached.

        “Because of all her aunts and uncles,” he answered.  “I’ll guarantee you that Kerri’s going to send something outrageously expensive as soon as she gets back home.  She might even deliver it herself.

        “That would be a long trip for her,” the High Queen disagreed.

        “It’ll be as fast as a thought,” Tarrin answered with a shrug.  “I’ve been here long enough to ground.  So has Kerri and Jenna and Jula.”

        “Ground?” she asked curiously, looking at Koral Tal.

        “It’s a term for when a Sorcerer can Teleport to a certain place,” he answered her.  “Some Sorcerers have the ability to Teleport from place to place, but they have to have a strong familiarity with where they’re going, or they have to be physically very close to it.  It’s called grounding, as in they ground themselves in the feel of the place.”

        “You can do that?” Sulina Tal asked in surprise.

        “Easily,” he answered plainly.  “I can Teleport back here any time I please.”

        “That would be wonderful if we could do that,” Sulina Tal sighed.  “If we were able to jump from island to island without needing ships, it would save me a whole chest of money every year.”  She looked at Koran Tal.  “Can you do that?”

        “Ah, not as yet, my Queen,” he answered with a slashing motion of his hand.  “It’s Weavespinner magic, and I haven’t yet reached that level of ability.”

        “Then what good are you?” Camara Tal said with a teasing push against his shoulder.

        “That’s a stupid question” he smiled in reply.  “Did you manage to ground in Abrodar?” he asked Tarrin.

        He nodded.  “It doesn’t take me very long.  At least not as long as some of the others.”

        “Probably an aspect of your unique abilities,” Koran Tal surmised with a thoughtful nod.

        “Who knows?” he asked with a shrug.

        “Alright, I just have to indulge myself,” Sulina Tal said with a chuckle as she stepped up to the divan.  “Would you mind terribly, Tarrin?  I’m dying of curiosity.”

        “Over what?”

        “May I?” she asked, reaching out with her hands.

        Tarrin nodded, feeling no real fear or trepidation at the idea of Sulina Tal touching him.  She was the mother of Camara Tal, and that gave her a little leeway in his eyes.

        Usually, they went right after his tail.  That was their first reaction, and that was what he thought she wanted to touch.  So he was a bit surprised when she instead stepped up to him and reached over and touched his ears.  They flicked a little bit when her fingers ghosted over them, then she pinched the pink skin and the black fur back gently between fingers and thumbs and rolled them between her fingers.  “I just can’t get over how these look,” she told Camara Tal with a smile.  “They’re absolutely adorable.”

        Adorable wasn’t usually a word associated with Tarrin in virtually any manner, and he found her use of it both amusing and just a tad offensive.  But then again, she didn’t know him, and she didn’t look like the type who would be overly intimidated by his customary dark expression.

        Jula jumped down from his lap and shifted back into her humanoid form, slashing her tail behind her a few times.  “I wouldn’t use that word around my father too much, your Majesty,” she said with a sly smile.

        “What word?”
        “Adorable,” she answered.  “Were-cats aren’t the cute and fuzzy type.”

        “Amazons are attracted to cute animals with bad tempers,” she answered her.  “That’s why jungle cats are our favorite pets.”

        “No wonder Camara Tal likes Tarrin so much,” Jula chuckled.

        “If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you, Jula?” Sulina Tal asked.

        “Me?  I’m thirty-five,” she answered.

        “But, isn’t Tarrin only twenty?” she asked in confusion.  “I remember Camara telling me that.”

        “He’s my bond-father,” she said with a smile.  “Something like my foster father.  The fact that I’m older than him doesn’t make any difference.  He’ll always be a father to me.”

        “Well, I can understand that, but Jasana looks like she’s eight.  If--”

        “Were-cat children age differently than we do, mother,” Camara Tal told her.  “Jasana is about to turn three, but she has the same physical maturity as a human child who’s seven or eight.  Kimmie’s twins are only about eight or nine months old, but they’re the same as a two year old human.”

        “Strange.”

        “Only to you,” Tarrin told her, looking towards the eastern horizon.  “If you want to go somewhere special, Camara, you’d better get moving.”

        “Nowhere special, Tarrin,” she said, shifting Shaul Tal a little in her arms.  “I just want her to see the sun rise.  We don’t have to be on the mountaintop or anything.”

        “It would be a better view up there,” he said, looking towards the volcano.

        “By the time we got up there, the sun would be halfway towards noon,” she chided.

        “Hmph,” he snorted, standing up.  “Do you want to go?”

        “You’re gonna--” she started, then she laughed. “Sure, why not?”

        “Oh, are we going to see magic?” Sulina Tal asked.  “As in not those third-rate tricks Koran uses?”

        Koran Tal looked decidedly insulted.

        “Jula,” he called, and she moved in and herded them around the divan. “What are you going to do?” Camara Tal asked curiously as she sat down on the divan.

        “Something I’ve done several times,” he answered, calling on the power that surrounded him at all times, power that collected in the strands near him, yearning to join with him, part of the distinct aura that surrounded a sui’kun.  He wove a simple spell of Air, forming a solid platform beneath their feet, and then lifting it up off the ground slightly.  The Amazons who were still awake looked in surprise and started talking excitedly when the invisible platform rose over their heads, for they couldn’t see what was picking up the five of them and the divan.  Tarrin expanded the area of the platform, then curled up its edges to keep anyone from falling off, as the three Amazons with him looked down at the nothingness that was solidly under their feet.

        “Clever,” Koran Tal noted as Tarrin pulled the platform carrying them high into the air, shielding them from the wind by simply wrapping the platform completely around them and ensuring it was porous, allowing fresh air to get inside of it.

        “Goddess!” Sulina Tal said in a rising crescendo as Tarrin whisked them high over the town, as the wild elation he always felt at flying started to rise up within him. She threw her arms around Koran Tal and held onto him tightly as Tarrin moved them towards the volcano at high speed, for the sun was just about to rise, and their increase in altitude made that moment of breaking the horizon closer on hand.

        “Do you do this often?” Camara Tal asked with a slightly quavering voice, her eyes plastered on the jungle that was whizzing by beneath their feet.

        “Not nearly often enough,” he answered her as raced the dawn towards the volcano, locking his attention onto a wide area of the lip of the volcano’s peak, a place that looked stable enough to hold them and which was on the upwind side of the smoke, which would blow it safely away from them.

        In a matter of moments, he had them right where he wanted them, landing them on the lip of the volcano.  The lip was about fifteen spans wide, with a cliff on one side and a similar cliff on the other.  The only difference was that one was a fall to rocks far below, and the other was a fall into a concealing haze of smoke.

        “My, that was, unexpected,” Sulina Tal said with a hand on her stomach.  “I think I’m going to be sick.”

        “Well, you’re not going to get a better view,” Jula noted as she looked towards the brightening sky to the east.  “This is as good as it gets.”

        “At least until the wind changes,” Koran Tal noted, looking at the wafting smoke which the wind was pushing away from their back.

        “I won’t let that happen,” Tarrin told him, coming around to stand behind Camara Tal.  He put a paw on her shoulder.  “Well, Camara, here you are.  It’s not much of a birth present, but I figure it’s something no one else ever thought to give you.”

        “Just having all of you here for the birth of Shaul was present enough, my friend,” she said sincerely, patting his paw as she turned her eyes towards the sunrise.  “Things are just there, but friends are forever.”

        “Indeed,” Koran Tal nodded, sitting on the divan beside her.

        As sunrises went, it was definitely not the most spectacular that the world had ever seen, but it was actually a quite lovely one.  The red disc of the morning sun stained the sky to the east with shades of pink and red and orange, colors that seemed to seep across the sky like liquid, covering over the dark blues on the western side of the sky as the sun progressively got closer and closer to rising.  The light illuminated a few high cirrus clouds not far from the horizon with bright shades of red, almost making them look like pools of blood in the sky, and then the hazy edge of the sun appeared just over the horizon.  A couple of puffy cumulus clouds that were drifting by to the north of them took on the color of pink skin as the light permeated them, which turned reddish as the sun peeked over the horizon.  A sudden gust of wind heralded the appearance of the sun, blowing into their faces as the sun crept higher and higher, trying to free itself from the line at the edge of the world which formed the horizon, struggling to rise high into the sky and cast down its life-giving light onto the world.

        “There it is, my daughter,” Camara Tal said with amazing tenderness, pointing to the sun with her free hand.  “It’s the dawn of your very first day, over a world that changed for the better for your arrival.  A world with so much to offer you.   A world of endless possibilities, and if Neme wills it, a world that will remember your name for the rest of time.”

        They watched as the sun climbed free of the horizon, and rose into the sky with majestic slowness, casting its warm light over the land and the sea, casting its light upon those who stood on the edge of the volcano and observed it.  They were silent for most of the event, taking it in privately, each lost in his or her own thoughts.  It was serene, with only the hissing of the volcano far below them and the sound of the wind in their ears to break that silence as the sun rose free of the horizon, at least until a keening, shrill cry touched Tarrin’s ears.  Both his and Jula’s ears picked up and swiveled towards that sound, and they turned to see shapes emerge from the smoke behind.  Phoenixes.  One after another appeared from the smoke, carried on their brightly plumed wings, soaring out to greet the rising of the sun.  As Koran Tal had mentioned in passing, the Phoenixes seemed to enjoy the morning, for that was the time when he said he’d seen them flying about.  Their large wings caught the blowing wind and held them aloft without needing to flap, and they circled higher and higher over the volcano.  They rose hundreds of spans over them, then, seemingly as one, they all seemed to notice the interlopers on the volcano.  They wheeled over and dove in quick succession, causing Camara Tal to call out briefly in alarm and cradle her infant protectively against her breast, shielding her from possible attack.

        But the Phoenixes didn’t attack.  One by one, they swooped close to them, glowing red eyes taking in the scene as they passed, then they simply banked away and returned to circling on the thermals produced by the volcano, again gaining altitude.  It was as if, in that one pass, they had seen everything that they had wanted to see, realized that the people on the volcano were no threat, and went back to what they were doing.

        “Well, that was certainly interesting,” Jula noted with a chuckle as they all watched the Phoenixes circle higher and higher, riding the rising air from the cauldera.

        “I think my granddaughter’s going to have a very exciting life,” Sulina Tal mused aloud.

        “When you’re in this family, that’s a given, your Majesty,” Jula told her.  “There’s no such thing as a boring day when you’re related to Tarrin Kael.”

        They stayed up on the volcano for about a half an hour longer, watching the Phoenixes more than the sunrise, and then Tarrin quickly and easily brought them down, putting them right where they had started.  Most of the Amazons had either gone home or had been hauled off by the servants, clearing the garden, and those servants were now cleaning up the mess caused by an entire night of partying.  Nearly everyone else was in their rooms, sleeping, except Allia and Allyn.  They stood under the copula on the tiny island in the center of the garden, dressed in their customary desert garb, talking to a surprisingly clean Ulger.  The Knight was wearing a pair of simple leather beeches and a vest not unlike the ones that Amazons of both sexes favored, and both garments were cut and sewn in an Amazon style.

        “Tarrin!” Ulger shouted at him as he landed them in place.  “You and me are going to have a very long talk about a few things!  Do you have any idea what that demonic Amazon woman made me do?”

        “Rather unpleasant things, I’d imagine,” Tarrin answered him bluntly.

        “Unpleasant?  Unpleasant!?  If you weren’t a brother, we’d be discussing this on the field of honor!” he shouted hotly, but he had a strange kind of little smile on his face.  “How could you do that to one of your own?”

        “I’ve done worse to people I like a lot more than you, Ulger,” Tarrin said with a flat stare.

        “So, what did happen, Ulger?” Jula asked curiously.

        “It was classic!” Sarraya’s voice suddenly cut in, as the little Faerie faded into view from just beside the scarred Knight.  “She made him clean her stables with his bare hands!  Then he had to scrub the floors in her house, then he had to whitewash the walls around her garden, then he had to polish all her china!  Then she made him wear a little apron and serve drinks to her guests at a little reception she had just before dawn this morning, after they left the High Queen’s party!”

        “A little apron?” Tarrin asked.

        “A little apron,” she said with a hearty laugh.  “And nothing else!”

        “Well, actually, that part wasn’t too bad,” Ulger admitted shamelessly.  “Amazons don’t think scars look bad, I got a few complements, and even got asked out on a date.  But I’ll get you for having to clean those stables, Tarrin!” he warned.  “I had to clean them naked and without tools!”

        “It builds character, Ulger,” Jula teased.  “I know how you Knights prize character.”

        Sarraya exploded into laughter, wobbling in her hover while doing so.  Ulger gave her an absolutely unholy glare, which made her laugh even harder, but she did prudently meander unsteadily out of his immediate reach.

        “You’d better be happy you’re over there, Jula,” he told her lightly.

        “Anytime, anywhere, Ulger,” she teased him lightly, showing him her claws.  “I’m not the weak little girl you used to escort around.  I’m a big girl now.”

        “He used to guard you?” Tarrin asked in surprise.

        “A few times,” she answered.  “He was paired with me once when we went to Tor.  I never had a permanent Knight.  I wasn’t too likable back then.”

        “I wish we could create Illusions,” Sarraya said with an evil little laugh.  “You should have seen how nasty he was when he finished with the stables.  He looked like he was wallowing in manure!”

        “What did you do, spend your time watching Ulger?” Jula asked her.

        “I drifted back and forth,” she answered.

        “She’d better be bloody glad she can fly, or she’d be a dead bug,” Ulger said sulfurous.

        “He has absolutely terrible aim,” Sarraya said tauntingly as she flitted over towards Tarrin.  “I lost count of how many things he threw at me, and he never even got close.”

        “I only have to hit you once,” Ulger taunted back.

        “As if that’ll ever happen,” Sarraya said flippantly as she reached Tarrin, then sedately alighted and sat down on his shoulder.  “I didn’t even turn invisible!  He could see me, and he couldn’t get within a pike’s reach of me!”

        “You’re an evil little woman, Sarraya,” Tarrin told her.

        “Yes, I know.  Don’t you just love me?” she replied with an evil tilt to her voice.

        “Tarrin, are you finished with Camara?” Jesmind shouted from the door of the little room-building which was theirs.

        “Are we done, Camara?” he asked her.

        “I’d say, unless you want to watch me sleep,” she said with a yawn.  “I feel half dead.”

        “No wonder, giving birth and then staying up all night.”

        “When are you going back?” she asked.  “The official part is over.”

        “Oh, I don’t know.  Maybe a couple of days.  I would like to visit a while, you know.  I didn’t come just to be Shaul’s godfather.”

        “Good.  I’ll see you later this afternoon, then?”

        “Most likely,” he told her, leaning down so that he was looming over the Amazon, and then putting a massive paw on her shoulder.  He put his nose close to the little infant, and he took in her scent, branding it into his memory as he did with those of his other children.

        “Sometimes I forget how tall you are, my friend,” Camara Tal said with gentleness, putting a hand over his paw.  Her hand looked like a child’s over his black furred paw.  “Maybe we’ll be lucky, and Shaul will be as tall as you.”

        “She’d stand out,” Tarrin said with mild amusement.  “Trust me, being this size has as many drawbacks as it does advantages.”

        “Amazons like big,” she told him.  “Every mother hopes her children are taller than she is.”

        “And I take it Koran is taller than your other husbands?” Tarrin asked in a flash of insight.

        “Among other things,” she said with a bright smile.  “Koran’s height was just a pleasant added bonus.”

        It was strange to see Camara Tal acting so…cuddly.  Tarrin knew her better than the others, and knew that at heart, Camara Tal was a nurturer, a woman who strove to better those around her.  That would make her an outstanding mother, and it was probably one of the main reasons her goddess had called her from her life as a warrior to serve.  But the usual manner in which she nurtured was a confrontational style, urging those around her to better themselves by challenging them.  Camara Tal was a forceful woman, and that showed in her personality more often than not, but it often concealed her supportive nature.  Often, the others weren’t aware that she was working her magic on them, quietly and inobtrusively nurturing them, challenging them, making them better for her efforts.  Tarrin had a feeling that much of the ongoing war between Camara Tal and Phandebrass had less to do with Camara Tal’s endless irritation with the addled Wizard and more of her seeking to see just how smart Phandebrass was, prodding him and stimulating him.  Be that as it may, much of the sniping between them was genuine.  Camara Tal would help Phandebrass better himself, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t get annoyed with him.

        Tarrin guessed that Shaul Tal’s arrival had mellowed out his friend, but he doubted it would last long.

        Not very long at all.

        Tarrin looked over to where Jesmind stood in the doorway, waiting for him, then squeezed her shoulder gently.  “I think I’m going to bed, Camara.”

        “I’m going that way myself.”

        “Then I’ll see you later.”

        They watched as the Were-cat wordlessly padded across the courtyard just after Sarraya flitted off his shoulder, and then took his mate’s outstretched paw just before disappearing behind the gauzy curtain.

        “That, is one interesting man,” Sulina Tal said with an appraising look towards where he had gone.

        “Mother, you have no idea,” Camara Tal chuckled.

        “He doesn’t talk much, does he?  And he’s not one for manners.”

        “You have to know him, mother.  He isn’t open with strangers.”

        “Well, I think I’ll have to fix that,” she announced.  Koran Tal looked to his wife, and they both laughed.  “What’s so funny?”

        “You’ll find out, mother,” Camara Tal said with a slight smirk.

        “And I thought Ulger’s night was entertaining,” Sarraya snickered.  “I’m not going to get bored around here, that’s for sure.”

        Jula looked at them, and had to suppress a smile.  Nobody understood her father, not really.  Not like she did, or Triana did.  Not Camara Tal, not Sarraya, not even Jesmind.  They didn’t understand.

        And she doubted the others ever would.

        Jula’s understanding of Tarrin’s personality was rooted in her rather dark past, a past that, much like Tarrin’s, was never forgotten, but also never held against her.

        But unlike her father, Jula’s dark deeds had been ones of choice rather than instinct.  She had been one of the higher-ranking members of the ki’zadun, and had reached that position with a very keen understanding of the emotions and motivations of others.  If one understood what an adversary wanted, what he felt, then it was that much easier to use that information against him and gain power over him.  She had always been a very strong person, even when she had been a street urchin scratching out a living on the rough, unforgiving streets, a place that had taught her the harsh reality of life, the reality that the strong abuse the weak, the rich exploit the poor, the clever outsmart the dim, and the powerful rule the subjugated.  Jula had grown up being the weak, and she was not going to remain so.  She vowed to herself that she would be strong, she would be powerful, and she would be the one doing the exploiting and the ruling, not the other way around.

        Being found by a Sorcerer had been the only real means the young girl had ever had a chance to pursue that quest, for had she not been found by the katzh-dashi, Jula firmly believed that she would be dead.  Pretty young girls often didn’t last long with their freedom or their sanity intact.  One vile shopkeeper in particular had had something of an obsession with her, and had tried many times to capture the young girl to satisfy his own perverted desires.  But he had faced in Jula a very smart young lady who happened to be one of the fastest runners in the city, and her fleet feet had kept her out of a slave’s collar and a horrid end in some dank cellar where her screams would not reach the streets above.

        Her dangerous background had made her a difficult Novice to train, for she was violent with the other Novices, and she had an almost uncontrollable impulse to steal, even things that would have been given to her had she simply asked for them.  But all that changed the instant she touched the Weave for the first time, for she had finally found the means by which she could gain her dream of mastery and power, which she felt in the deepest parts of her mind would give her the security and sense of protection she had always craved.  She went from the most unmanageable Novice in the Tower to its most dedicated pupil, for in Sorcery she had found the power she felt would give her her protection.  She was the brightest star in the Initiate, a strong Sorceress who had strong access to all six Spheres, something that was not very common.  Most Sorcerers were very strong in three or four Spheres, were weak in one or two, and often had no access at all to at least one.  It was why Sevren could not heal, for example, for he had virtually no access to the Divine Sphere.  But Jula had the power to be one of the most versatile Sorcerers, and proved that she had a quick and retentive mind, vital assets to a Sorcerer who needed to learn complex methods of weaving flows, of concentrating on several things at once while monitoring the weave at the same time to ensure it wasn’t doing anything it wasn’t supposed to do.

        It was in the Initiate where the ki’zadun approached her.  The one to approach her was none other than Amelyn, the revered and slightly feared Mind Seat on the Council, a woman whose grasp of Mind weaves was so profound that many whispered that Myriam Lar was naught but Amelyn’s puppet.  But Jula didn’t know it was Amelyn at that time; she had thought that it was another Sorceress whose identity Amelyn had assumed, and continued to assume throughout Jula’s involvement with the ki’zadun.  Amelyn, who did indeed have a total mastery of Mind weaves, could use her formidable magic to probe the minds of all the Novices and Initiates and find those, like Jula, who would be receptive to the idea of working for an organization like the shadowy, powerful ki’zadun.  Jula had been enthralled of the idea of gaining real power, the kind of power that would make others fear her, and had readily--eagerly--agreed.

        Throughout her entire career, Jula had never known it was Amelyn who was her mistress, but she had known most of the other mid and high level officers within the Sulasian branch of the ki’zadun, and among them she gained impressive power in a very short time.  The bright star of the Initiate became a full katzh-dashi, and her power only grew by the month, by the year, both in Sorcery and in the ki’zadun.  Jula had taken the one skill she had learned on the hard streets, the ability to read the emotions and attitudes of those around her, and used it as a base to develop the fearsome capability to manipuate others.  She used these abilities skillfully to gain a very high and very feared position, turning minor officers against one another, tricking others into false alliances which she betrayed the instant it served her interest, and ingratiating herself with her superiors both by her dependable reputation to get things done and her ability to quietly manipulate others, even those of higher station, even those who knew Jula was a dangerous schemer and took precautions against her.  Often, she had used their own precautions against them to trick them into doing what she wanted.

        Though she would probably never manipulate anyone again, she could still read much more emotion in a glance or a look, and could interpret subtle shifts in body language much better than just about anyone else who knew Tarrin.  Even the dangerous Keritanima and Miranda weren’t as good at it as Jula was, but unlike them, Jula kept this information to herself.  She had a keen awareness of the many states of emotion that surrounded her during their gathering in Amazar.  Delicate things, such as Azakar’s obvious discontent, which hid a strong fear of what he had once been, and a strange mollifying undertone that sickened the Knight.  The slave’s mentality had been beaten into him, and even now, a proud, capable Knight, he still wrestled with powerful internal demons that made him follow without question, made him avoid attention to himself, made him knuckle under even when he knew that those who gave him the orders were wrong.  Or perhaps Haley’s cheery nature and a wittiness that probably rivaled Keritanima’s or Auli’s, that seemed to become strained whenever Dolanna was nearby.  Haley had powerful feelings for their diminutive leader, the woman they all obeyed, even Jula, but did not want to act on them and also didn’t want Dolanna to know he had them.  There was a poignance about him whenever she left him, as if he was both glad she were gone, and longing to again be around her, but it was such a subtle thing that he himself probably wasn’t aware of it.

        She had a long time to observe Tarrin, and she felt that she knew him better than he probably knew himself.  She knew that even now, so long after becoming Were, that the battle still raged inside of him, and probably would continue to rage until the day he died.  He had achived a balance between Cat and Human, but it did little to rectify the clash of personalities between the Tarrin she had come to know when he had been stripped of his Were nature and lost his memory, and the Tarrin who replaced that young man when he regained both his lycanthropic nature and his memory.  That younger Tarrin raged against the powerful, instinct-dominated personality that had supplanted it, but lacked the strength to overcome it most of the time.  But it did sometimes show itself, such as when they were flying to Amazar on Alexis’ skyship, or when he held one of his children.  The fractured dichotomy of her father’s mind was as clear to her as a dress on a pig would be.  Lurking beneath that gruff, sometimes surprisingly harsh exterior was the same optimistic, good-natured, kind and gentle young man that he had been before Jesmind’s bite had altered his life, and had also in its own way written modern history.  Tarrin was a very touchy person, whose past experiences--regrettably at Jula’s own hands--made him intensely distrustful of strangers, who, if they tried to get on his good side, he immediately suspected of having ulterior motives.  His size and his entire demeanor were terribly intimidating, often making those who had never met him unsure of themselves or flustered in his presence, and Tarrin would sense that and immediately impose himself on them to the point where they would do little more than mewl at him like an adoring sheep.  That was the wrong thing to do.  Tarrin’s Cat instincts would see that as submissive weakness, and he would not respect them.  Tarrin respected strength, but only strength that did not directly challenge his own.

        It was very easy to get at the gentler Tarrin within, if one only knew how to approach him.

        That was what amused Jula about Sulina Dar’s proclomation.  Jula had observed her, and knew that she was a very imposing, commanding woman, who was admittedly quite clever, but had fallen into the cunning trap that seemed to ensnare anyone in a position of great authority, and that was the expectation that she would be obeyed, that she would prevail.  It was an arrogance that rulers often needed, for that arrogant stance often parleyed into confidence in those who served, and that confidence made them better at going about their own duties.  That would not work with her father.  One had to impress him with one’s strength and resolve, but not seem too powerful.  One had to prove one’s worth without making it apparent that was what they were doing.

        It sounded difficult and complicated, but it actually was quite easy.  Camara Tal had done it, and Phandebrass had done it, without even trying.  Tarrin had first respected them, then he started to like them.   After that, he accepted them into the fold of his friends, those he trusted, and after a while, he would open up to them.

        Then again…maybe Camara Tal did understand.  That may be why she thought her mother’s proclomation was so funny.

        But if anything, her father was anything if not surprisingly dynamic, even if he never seemed to change.  He was indeed mellowing with time, as the sense of  peace that had come to him after the entire affair of the Firestaff was over took deeper hold of him…but the more he changed, the more he would stay the same.

        Outwardly, at least.

        Jula took immense personal pride, and not a little bit of humble amazement, in the fact that Tarrin had accepted her--and even more than that.  He didn’t just tolerate her presence, he actually cared for her, about her, and loved her in his own paternal manner.  To him, she was one of his children, and he loved her the same way Triana loved him, the same way he loved his blood children.  She had never been loved before, and even now, so many months after the realization of it sank in, she was still almost bewildered in how it made her feel.  Strange, she often thought, that all the power she had held, all the might over others, was nothing compared to the simple knowledge that with Tarrin and the Were-cats, she felt loved.  All her life, she had been searching for security, thinking that power would give her what she sought.  But in the end, the simple love a bond-parent held for a bond-child had showed her that all she had ever wanted, all she had ever needed, was what she had searched so long for, was love.  The first time she had believed it in her heart when she heard Tarrin say that he would protect her, despite the fact that at that moment he despised her, had been the beginning of a drastic and irrevocable change in the blond Were-cat, a moral epiphany that rearranged the very foundation upon which her life had been based.

        Oh, yes, she loved Tarrin, but it wasn’t the same love that Jesmind or Kimmie had for him.  It wasn’t exactly like Mist’s love, either, though both of them based their feelings on a foundation of towering respect and gratitude for the things he had done for them.  He loved her like a daughter, and she loved him like a father, the father she had never had.  She was an adult, but with him, near him, she felt safe, knowing that he would protect her from anything that threatened, that with him she would have total security and peace of mind.

        A childish, immature reaction, and she knew it.  But it was there nonetheless.

        It was more than that, though.  Jula liked Tarrin as much as she loved him, for he was a very intelligent man--much smarter than anyone, even Tarrin himself, suspected--always ready to challenge her mind or expand her horizons.  He was her mentor, her teacher, but she was an ear that understood things better than the other Were-cats, for she was also a human-born Were-cat with the gift of Sorcery, carrying her own number of personal demons.  They were much alike, much more alike than any of the other Were-cats were to him, and that commonality allowed them to communicate more intimately than he did with most of the others.

        Like so many others around the enigmatic Were-cat, she had found her place, had found happiness and contentment, and like many of the others, it had been Tarrin who had caused it to be.  By deed or word, by accident or intent, his paws had reached within their lives and reshaped the ugly, formless clay they found there and molded it into something the owner found incredibly pleasing.  It was just the way he was, making the lives of everyone around him better, often without either trying or intending to do so.

        It was just life around Tarrin Kael…and she wouldn’t want any other life.

        Being around Tarrin was a state that often required a little work.  Her father was an uncomplicated person, but some of the things he liked to do caused him to be by himself, such as when he studied about the Dwarves.  When he wasn’t studying about his favorite subject--Dwarves--there happened to be quite a few others around that often found themselves competing with one another for his attention.  Jasana was intensely competitive with Tara and Rina, who had just started to realize that getting attention from their father over Jasana could often be a full contact sport.  As if to mirror her offspring, Jesmind was often just as competitive--and combative--with the other adult females in the household.  This sometimes annoyed Kimmie and Jula, because she was his mate, and she got all sorts of private time with him at night.  She was a jealous woman, though, and wanted all his free time and all his attention, which sometimes made it hard for the others to spend any quality time with him.  The gathering in Amazar showed just how many others shared the very small world that was the inner circle of Tarrin’s friends, which was itself rather amusing, given how anti-social Tarrin could be sometimes.  That someone that unfriendly could have so many friends was an indication of the complexities of his personality.  So, if it wasn’t Jesmind or his children, Tarrin’s friends and family often found themselves jostling elbows with the others to get his attention.  Tarrin often didn’t notice all this competition around him, but he also never failed to have time for friends and family--at least when he wasn’t in a bad mood.

        This trip had been a rich opportunity for Jula, and the others, to get time with Tarrin when it was abundantly clear to everyone around that nobody had an absolute claim on his time.  Everyone had had the opportunity to spend time with him, from those who numbered among his closest friends and family, like Keritanima and Allia, to those who had only just been more or less inducted into the unusual, exciting world that revolved around the enigmatic Were-cat, like Auli and Haley.  There was the obligatory time spent with Camara Tal, given that the reason that they had all come together was because of her, but after that initial night, Tarrin’s time was not monopolized by any one person, and Jula had found a way to be with him almost all the time.  Tarrin split his time up more or less evenly between all his friends and family, but Jula had managed to tag along with him almost the entire time.

        She had been a constant companion to him for the four days that they had been on Amazar, quietly accompanying him on walks with friends, talks with sisters, quiet time spent in the beautiful garden with his children, games played with Haley and Auli, arguments overheard as the Sha’Kar and the Faerie snipped at one another behind a veil of playful banter; Auli was toying with Sarraya, but the Faerie didn’t know that.  She had managed to spend more time with him than anyone else, even Jesmind, even when she said or did nothing, when she was little more than a silent shadow.  She was there when he took his children out with their mothers to look at the city, she was with him when he sat in the stone building with Camara Tal, her husband, and her mother, as they talked about many different things.  She was there when he sparred with the same Amazon who had won a night’s service from Ulger--if you could call it a spar, for Tarrin thrashed her so utterly the woman looked like a rank amateur, and she was with him when he, Darvon, and Kargon got to ride along on an Amazon raker as it raced across what they called the Bloody Strait to the island of Tringa, some ten leagues off Amazar’s northern coast.  She was there when he traded amazingly insightful debating arguments with Phandebrass--Kimmie had been informally teaching Tarrin about Wizard magic--and she was there when Keritanima, Jenna, and Alexis were talking about leading, while at the same time quietly trying to teach Tarrin some of the tricks of their trade.  That amused Jula; Tarrin would never be a formal leader of men.  No Were-cat would, for it went against their basic natures.

        Sometimes it was funny to her.  Everyone was clamoring around him like friendly puppies, and Tarrin was totally oblivious to it.  He saw them and took the time to acknowledge them, but he had no idea how serious everyone was to get and keep his attention.  He had no idea how important he was to the others, and the others probably didn’t realize how important he truly was to them.  He was the hub of this strange wheel, the single being around which the others gathered, the only one that could keep them all together.  He had managed to bring the ultra-powerful into that same circle with the mundane mortals, beings like a dragon, a Demon, and even a god, none of whom happened to be with them, but all of whom were spokes in the wheel that formed the complex interconnected relationships surrounding her father.

        Jula could see it quite clearly.  But then again, she had always been particularly adept at working out the emotions of others.  It was ridiculously easy for her now, with her ultra-sensitive nose and eyes much more attuned to minute shifts in movement, even ears that could detect the faintest shifting in the rhythm of a person’s heart, given there wasn’t too much background noise interfering.  By taking what she knew and applying it to the information provided to her by her acute senses, she could read most people like a book.

        It had been a pretty interesting four days.  Sulina Dar had been trying to ingratiate herself to Tarrin, but without much success.  He was cordial to her, but everyone around could tell that she got his fur up.  Tarrin didn’t hate her, but her attempts to get on his good side had had the opposite effect…just as she predicted.  Tarrin himself spent his days in quiet, happy companionship with family and friends, relishing in their being together once again.  Many of them visited with Tarrin, but not all at once, and that was what was making him happy.  Those who weren’t present did make their presences known, however.  Sapphire was unable to come because of a serious dispute between dragons in her desert realm that required her undivided attention and her continual presence, but she sent several expensive gifts to Camara Tal to display her joy at the Amazon’s happy occasion.  The mysterious Shiika, continuing to involve herself in the lives of people who weren’t entirely happy about it, also sent a gift, one that gave everyone more than a few apprehensions.  It was one of Shiika’s Hellhounds, Demonic animals from the dark dimension of the Abyss, intelligent dog-like animals that could breathe fire.  The Hellhound had a nasty disposition and a serious attitude problem, but it displayed unswerving loyalty and obedience to Camara and Koran Tal, and looked upon little Shaul Tal with almost puppy-like adoration.  Shiika had obviously fixed the animal to be faithful to its new masters.  Tarrin wasn’t the only one worried about this “gift,” but Camara Tal seemed to have a strange affection for the evil brute, something that, given that she was a Priestess, was rather surprising.

        One thing was certain, however.  With that powerful animal there, Shaul Tal was going to be very well protected.  They just had to teach the Hellhound to distinguish between antagonist and visitor, a distinction it had trouble making the first few days.  It made that mistake with Tarrin.

        Once.

        Needless to say, the huge dog-like animal, with its utterly black pelt and burning, glowing red eyes, gave the Were-cat a very wide berth afterwards.  At least after Camara Tal put it back together.

        Camara Tal named the massive Hellhound Ember, and despite the reservations of Dolanna and some of the others, she defended her new pet quite vociferously, even after it managed to scorch half the garden and burn down the copula on the island in the pond.  None of them quite understood what Camara Tal saw in the big dog-like creature, but she really liked it.  Perhaps she didn’t really need a reason, or perhaps the fact that the Hellhound was the size of a pony, far larger than any other dog on the islands, was all the reason she needed.  Amazons liked big, and that Hellhound was bigger than any dog was ever going to get.

        The Goddess also put a hand in and provided a gift.  It was a little shaeram, one that would grow with its infant owner, a magical device that would function like any other shaeram, and would also protect Shaul Tal from fire until she crossed over and became a da’shar.  Given that her new pet and protector could breathe fire, they all agreed that the Goddess’ gift was as practical as it was welcome.

        But now, after five days, things were getting a little disjointed.  The Hierarchs had called Triana away, and she had left, returned, left, then returned once again, endlessly busy with whatever it was she did for the Hierarchs.  It had been universally agreed that it was time to separate Auli and Sarraya; Auli had been toying with the Faerie the whole time they had been together, but Ianelle had warned them that her daughter was about to finish whatever it was she was preparing to do to Sarraya.  A few examples of Auli’s idea of a good joke was enough to worry Tarrin…if she did that to Sarraya, the Faerie would dedicate the rest of her life to making the Sha’Kar’s remaining days as miserable as possible.  Auli might think it to be great fun to lead Sarraya around by the nose, but she didn’t realize how vindictive a Faerie could be when one felt it had been humiliated.  Faeries were capricious, impulsive beings, but they had a terrible single-mindedness when it came to paying back past wrongs, and they could be mercilessly cold while doing so.  Faeries had been known to even kill during the course of gaining revenge, but never directly.  It would just be some convenient lethal trap left for the hapless victim to encounter, which often managed to kill innocent bystanders in the process.  Getting Sarraya and Aulia apart was a matter of quiet urgency, one that would require a way to get them apart without making it apparent that they were being split up, else Sarraya would get offended and Auli may go ahead and carry out her plan while she had the opportunity.

        Darvon wanted to get Ulger off of Amazar as well.  The Knight took his night’s servitude surprisingly well, but had been flirting with the Amazons over the last few days.  That was relatively harmless, but he didn’t seem to fathom that he got a woman’s attention, then he would become a permanent resident of the islands.

        And then there was the fact that for many of them, days away from their affairs meant a great deal of work to be done when they got back.  Keritanima was happy to be there, but quietly admitted to Tarrin that her desk was going to collapse from the weight of all the paper before she had a chance to clear it off.  Keritanima was a very busy woman, being a queen of one of the largest and most organized kingdoms on Sennadar, and was just as worried about the work piling on her desk as she was happy to be ignoring it for a few days of delightful reuinion.  Jenna had the same problem, as did Alexis, but those two were projecting back to their Towers to manage things through their Councils and secretaries.  For Jenna, that was Duncan, the ever-silent worker in the background who quietly managed the Tower with effortless ease but also with incredible attention to every little detail.  Alexis had a similar servant named Tasil, a Nyrian Sorceress who was almost as good as Duncan, but not quite as reserved and humble.  Jenna was at a little bit of a disadvantage because Ianelle, the First of the Council, was also with her, leaving the Council to do things on their own.  In Suld, that meant that there was more argument and bickering than there was leading.  The Council--at least the original Council of Seven--was still somewhat annoyed over the abdication of Myriam Lar and the ascendance of Jenna, and they didn’t like sharing their power with the six Sha’Kar representatives of Ianelle’s Council who had been merged with them.  The Sha’Kar, on the other hand, felt that the humans were beneath their power and capability, in the typical Sha’Kar arrogance, and thought that they should be running things themselves.  That required Jenna to keep a tight leash on everyone involved.

        So, for various reasons, and certainly not because anyone wanted to do so, it was decided by general acclimation that it was just about time for everyone to go home.  The only one that seemed excited about the idea was Triana, but that was because she had laid claim to the next few years of Tarrin’s life to train him in Druidic magic, and she was literally chomping at the bit to get started.  Everyone else was a bit reluctant at the idea, no more so than Tarrin.  Tarrin liked having all of his friends and family around him, all at the same time.  But then again, he was one of the rare few on Sennadar who would never be more than a thought away from anyone.  Tarrin’s power to Teleport gave him the ability to be almost anywhere he wanted to be.

        They would be leaving the next morning, but not all together.  Jenna was going to Teleport everyone who wished to go back to Suld, and from there they would travel wherever they wanted to go.  Tarrin was Teleporting his family back to his home.  Allia was going to use the device that Jenna made for her to return to the desert.  Alexis would be returning aboard her flying ship, bringing anyone who wished to return to Abrodar back with her.  Keritanima intended to Teleport home to Wikuna rather than tag along with anyone else.

        So, the final night there turned into something of an informal party, but not one to which the entirety of the city was invited.  The Royal compound’s doors were closed, and the tight circle that formed the core of Tarrin’s family and friends celebrated a final night together before time and necessity caused them to once again part ways.  It was a diverse celebration, as those who were most boisterous were tempered by the quiet dignity of those who were most reserved.  Of course, a gathering couldn’t go by without Phandebrass and Camara Tal getting into an argument, nor could a gathering go by without Sarraya pulling some kind of prank on someone and end up spending the rest of it in some out-of-reach area, waiting for the victim to get over his indignity.  There was all the food they wanted, Conjured by Tarrin and Triana and Haley, and Sorcery provided all the music they wished, thanks to Dar’s newest trick, sound-only sustained Illusions, Illusions that Dar could weave and then release, but the clever Arkisian could extend by recharging the matrix of their weaving, and Illusions that Dar could control by programming into them what he wanted them to do.  He could literally cause the sound Illusions to play any music which he could remember, even sounds he could only imagine, and they were quite remarkable.  So remarkable, in fact, that every Sorcerer in the group had to grill Dar on the formula of the spell, and how he went about programming it, recharging it, and altering it as he did.

        Dar may not have been as experienced or as powerful as Tarrin or Jenna or Ianelle, but when it came to Illusions, there was no Sorcerer more skilled than Dar.  Dar could do things with Illusions that made the vastly educated Ianelle gawk like a first-day Novice.

        And through it all, Jula was right there, not two steps from her father, just being around him…and happy to be there.

        But nights could not last forever.  Much quicker than anyone really wanted it to, the sun rose, and the fact that it was a new day could no longer be denied.  It was the day that they would all leave Amazar, that they would all once again split up and return to the places that they called home.

        Jula watched the foot-dragging with a clinical interest that came in one who had gambled her very life on being able to guess at the emotions and actions of others.  She could tell that nobody wanted to go, not even those who were more or less outsiders, like Kargon and Ulger.  But they had gotten swept up in the mystique of Tarrin and his inner circle, where the fantastic was commonplace and things like Demons and dragons and gods weren’t anything to get one’s knickers in a twist over.  They had been seduced by the strange chemistry that existed between the members of the group, a group that was so unbelievably diverse that its differences formed the cohesive bonds that made them a congruous whole.  It was a group where one could belong, no matter how strange, how outlandish, how exotic, or how different one could be.  In such unusual company, anyone would want to belong.

        As she had managed for the entire time they were on Amazar, Jula managed to be beside her bond-father when he said his farewells.  They were not sad or somber; in a way, they didn’t seem like farewells at all.  After all, he talked to all of them about once every other day or so on the average, so it wasn’t like he wouldn’t see them or talk to them again for a long time.  But there was a certain tension about the goodbyes, for she could tell that it wasn’t the parting that bothered him, it was the splitting up.  To know that when he saw one or talked to one, it would be just that--one.  It wouldn’t be all of them, and that was how he always preferred his friends and family…together.

        It didn’t take very long.  A round of hugs, promises to see everyone, to contact them soon to make sure everyone got to where they were going safely, and that brushed the last obstacle to departure out of their path.  Tarrin was never one to dawdle, even when it came to doing something he preferred not to do.  There was no valid reason to remain, and so it was time to go.

        Time to go.  They all looked unhappy about it, but it was a necessity--well, everyone but Triana.  She almost had a spring in her step as she sauntered up to him, knowing that after they got back to Aldreth, she had exclusive rights to her bond-son, to begin his training in the mysterious arts of Druidic magic.  Real Druidic magic, on a level which most Druids could not manage, magic that, Triana boasted, would make Tarrin forget all about Sorcery.  Jula rather doubted that, but she had the feeling that she’d get a chance to see how wrong Triana was going to be.  Jula was very good at lurking in the background, and she was confident she’d manage to sneak into a few training session here and there, enough to get a taste of what her father was learning.  Jesmind too seemed just a bit content with the idea of going home, but Jula had the feeling that her happiness at getting Tarrin back wouldn’t last very long.  Magical training was very intense and exhausting, and her mother was going to be taking much more of his time than the time in which they actively trained.  No, Jula thought that Tarrin’s training wasn’t going to sit well with Jesmind, not one bit.

        Perhaps a trip to Suld wouldn’t be a bad idea.  A very long trip to Suld.  Jesmind would not be a very good housemate once the reality of Tarrin’s education struck her.  She was welcome in the Tower, if only just.  Many there still reviled her for her betrayal, but Jenna accepted her, and that was all that really mattered to her.  She didn’t care what the others thought about her anymore.  Jenna’s approval was all that mattered…and with Tarrin under Triana’s tutelage, Jula was going to need to take her lessons in Sorcery from Jenna.  Or perhaps Ianelle, if she was busy.  Jenna was always happy to give her bond-sister a lesson or two, one of the very few that got exclusive, private lessons from the Keeper.

        Who needed the approval and friendship of the Sorcerers, when she was the sister of the Keeper?

        Sometimes being related to the Tarrin Kael had certain material advantages.

        And so, the quite enjoyable reunion on Amazar was about to come to an end.  For everyone involved, it had been a wonderful experience--well, perhaps everyone but Ulger and Sarraya.  Camara Tal and her family had been outstanding hosts, the weather had been beautiful, the island gorgeous and exciting, and there had been no nasty surprises.  Camara Tal had a new infant daughter and a monstrously big, evil-tempered brute of a Hellhound for a pet, Tarrin got to be with all his family and friends once again, and they had a chance for the spouses of the inner circle to get to know them just a little better, find their places within the group.  Allyn and Tiella, Rallix and Koran Tal, they did rather well, showing no intimidation, holding their ground, finding friends and friendship, coming to enjoy the beautiful experience of being a member of one of the most elite social circles in the entire world, a circle to which even kings and queens could not belong without the right connections, a circle which, if one was a member, opened almost any door in the world and made virtually everyone else quite hospitable.

        A social circle that included Demons, and dragons, and even gods.

        Jula watched as Tarrin gave Camara Tal a warm embrace, then reached down and put a single finger on Shaul Tal’s forehead.  She could tell that Tarrin was wistful already, starting to miss the togetherness even before they were apart.  A temporary emotional reaction, to be sure, for the Were impulse for isolation would override that desire for companionship eventually.  A few warm words of farewell were exchanged, Tarrin patted Koran Tal on the shoulder fondly, then fixed Sulina Tal with a direct, challenging stare, just daring her to try to be too friendly with him.

        Sulina Tal was rather bitter about that particular failure, she could tell.

        And then there was nothing else standing in their way.  It was time to go.

        Jesmind and Kimmie, Jasana and the twins, they gathered around Tarrin with Jula and Triana, knowing that the closer they were to him, the easier it would be for him to perform his spell to take them home.  But a keening cry froma above brought them all up short.  Jula looked up with the others to see a solitary Phoenix circle over them, and then land on the roof of the stone building that served as the throne hall for Sulina Tal.  It stood on the edge of the building and looked down at them with those glowing red eyes, then raised and spread out its impressive fan of tail feathers, displaying those strange eye-markings on the longest of its colorful plumed feathers.

        It was strange.  The way it was moving, the way it was watching them, it was almost as if it had known that they were leaving.  Had it come to see them off?

        No, that couldn’t be.  Jula knew that Phoenixes weren’t all the myths made them out to be.  They were actually just birds, birds with strong magical powers, but still just birds.  It was just coincidence.  The Phoenix was probably just drawn to the aura of power that surrounded sui’kun like Tarrin and Jenna.

        That was probably it.

        Jula watched the Phoenix as Tarrin took his attention from it, rose his paws, and wove the spell to return them to their little slice of peaceful bliss a day’s ride east of Aldreth.  It was time to go home.

©2000, James Galloway. All Rights Reserved.