Weavespinner

by James Galloway

  After that, Triana taught him something that he'd wanted to learn for quite a while, and that was a few of the spells she used to communicate with others. She taught him the spell she used that opened that window of sorts in the air and let people see and hear back and forth between it, and she also taught him the three variations of spells that Druids used to send messages to one another. There were three different versions to satisfy specific needs. The first was a simple message that reached through the All and was placed in the mind of the recipient, a mental message that was only one-way. Druids conversed most often using that spell, for it was the easiest to cast and was considered the most polite form of communication. The second method was similar to the first, but it didn't go through the All. It had the All create a direct link between the two Druids, and that allowed a message to pass between them without the chance that a strong Druid may eavesdrop on it as it passed through the All. The third version of the spell was similar to the first, but it created a message that was audibly heard, so a Druid could pass information to both the other Druid and any people that happened to be with him.

  "Won't we reject that kind of communion?" Tarrin asked when she explained how it worked. "Were-cat minds don't like contact with others."

  "The All acts as a buffer," she answered calmly. "The Cat doesn't object to the All, because it's always been connected to it. Remember, cub, the magic that makes us Were is Druidic in nature. The Cat doesn't reject a part of itself. All the information comes through the All, so it's as if the All was the one talking to us."

  "Oh. I didn't think about that," he admitted.

  "I see. You have to stop thinking like a Sorcerer, cub."

  "I was trained as one, mother."

  "I can't help it if they've ruined you," she snorted. "You just have to unlearn those lessons."

  "If I unlearn those lessons, I won't be a very good Sorcerer."

  "This is a problem?" she asked pointedly.

  Tarrin laughed. "You're biased, mother."

  "You're right. I am. Now do it again, just as I showed you, and step it up, cub. We're running out of time."

  After practicing her spells for a while, Tarrin yawned. He wasn't really that sleepy, and his nature allowed him to stay awake as long as he pleased, and sleep whenever he wanted and for as long as he wanted. But sitting in one place for so long was starting to get to him. He needed a break. "What time is it?" he asked.

  "About an hour before dawn," Triana answered. "They're going to come looking for you in a while, cub, and we're not done yet."

  "I'll be with him, Triana," Sarraya reminded her. "We can work on it in the desert. Trees only know, we won't have much else to do," she said acidly. "Except maybe run from big lizards and try to avoid getting stung by poisonous beasties."

  "I hope I'm not included in that," a voice came from the doorway. They all looked, and Sapphire strode into the hall calmly, still in her human shape.

  "I wondered when you'd show up," Triana said.

  "Little things bore me, biped," she sniffed. "Now that you're done with the basic instruction, I can bear it."

  Sarraya gave the dragon a very long, very hard look. "She's not a human, is she?" she asked.

  "How observant of you, sprite," Sapphire said dryly.

  "Sarraya, this is Sapphire. Sapphire, this is Sarraya," Tarrin introduced.

  "The dragon?" Sarraya asked. "She doesn't look all that impressive."

  "That will do, bug," Triana said sharply.

  "Looks can be very deceiving, insect," Sapphire said, somehow managing to sound very polite and urbane while loading the word insect with vast amounts of scorn, as if the only reason she acknowledged the Faerie was because Tarrin introduced her.

  "Hmph," Sarraya sniffed.

  Tarrin moved quickly to step on any kind of feud. Sarraya was picking on the wrong female. "Sapphire's going to go with us to the desert, then go on to her home on her own. So she'll be travelling with us at least a little ways, Sarraya. Remember that."

  "How go the lessons?" Sapphire asked Triana.

  "He'll be good enough until I can sit him down and give him some real lessons," she replied. "At least he won't blow anything up by accident."

  "Can he blow them up on purpose?"

  "That was never his problem," Triana said with a slight smile. "Blowing things up is something of his specialty. He's very good at it."

  Tarrin flushed.

  "When the time comes for that, I think I might like to take my turn with him," she said absently. "His abilities are stronger now. He might be capable of using some of the magic I know. As might you, Triana."

  "I'd be willing to sit down and trade spells, Sapphire. I think we could learn a few things from each other."

  "It would please me to do so," she nodded. "It's not often that three Hierarchs that don't know one another's abilities meet. To waste the opportunity to expand each other's knowledge would be a crime."

  "What about me?" Sarraya said indignantly.

  "What about you?" Sapphire asked. "Since I am not so impressive, surely there is nothing that I can teach one such as you," she said in a level tone, but her eyes shone with amusement. "I will be back presently. I find that some of the food your bipeds cook is actually quite good. The cook Golin agreed to give me a few recipes."

  Sarraya glowered hotly at Sapphire's back as the dragon sauntered into the kitchen, but Triana's humorless chuckle drew her eyes away. "And that, bug, is why you should learn to think before you open your mouth."

  "Oh, shut up!" Sarraya snapped waspishly.

  There wasn't much time left before dawn, but it was time enough. They broke up their lesson and Tarrin returned to his room to rest a while. He was a little too wound up to sleep, and he really didn't feel like it anyway. So he just sat down in a comfortable chair by the fireplace and stared into the fire for a while, thinking about what was going to happen over the next few days. He was hopeful that his idea was going to work, for it would protect everyone without putting anyone in too much danger. Grandfather wouldn't mind the opportunity to give his warriors a little exercise, and he was actually looking forward a little to going back to the desert. He had always wanted to go there with Allia, and now they were going to get their chance. The only place in the desert where he'd spent enough time to be able to Teleport was that ruined dwarven city in the northwestern regions, quite a distance from Amyr Dimeon, which was his goal. But that wasn't a problem. An Air Elemental could get him there in a day, maybe two. All he had to do was get them to that city. He thought back to that city, and the great happenings that had taken place there. It was where he and Jegojah had fought for the last time, and where Faalken's body was now entombed in the marble crypt he had made for him. It was where Jegojah had given him the information that had allowed him to defend Suld. In a real sense, it was where everything that had led up to where he was right now had begun. Perhaps it was fitting that he returned there, to that somber place, a city left behind by the brave Dwarves who had sacrificed their entire race to save the world.

  Two months. It was all going to be over in about two months. The morning outside was surprisingly crisp, as the late summer--actually early fall now--had a bite to it not normal for that time of year. About now in Aldreth, all the crops were either in or in the process of being harvested, and the trees were just getting ready to change colors. There would be colors on the trees on the foothills and low mountains north, and there would be snow on the peaks of the high mountains behind them. Everyone would be hard at work right now. Father would be bringing in his crops of barley and whey, and running around procuring the fruits and other vegetables he needed to do his fall brewing. Mother would be getting on him about hunting up enough to restock the basement cold room for the winter; the Kael household almost never resorted to eating the farm animals. They did slaughter an occasional pig or sheep for ham or mutton, but the sheep were for wool, not meat, wool that mother was probably spinning into cloth and yarn right now, taking off the thin summe
r coats and getting them nice and ready to fill out to protect themselves from the coming cold nights.

  It would be a little harder on his parents without him and Jenna there. Tarrin did most of the hunting, freeing his father to pursue his love of brewing, and Jenna was quite good at spinning the wool, which left mother with plenty of time to tend the sheep. But now that the Sorcerers had fixed father's knee, he should be able to hunt up a full storeroom in a short amount of time; this time of year, there were so many deer and elk infesting the area around Aldreth that they had to shoo them out of the yard to get to the sheep pens in the morning. They were slowly migrating south, moving out of the mountains as fall took hold in them and moving slowly towards the more hospitable forests in the Frontier to spend the winter. As autumn progressed, they would move farther and farther south, and the Kael cold storeroom would be filled to the ceiling with deer and elk meat, carefully dressed and packed to maximize storage space. They wouldn't touch those stores usually, using it as an emergency reserve for when the hunting turned lean, and the food they could buy from Aldreth became more and more expensive and less plentiful.

  Well, in two months, if he was lucky, he'd be heading back there. He wasn't going to live on his parents' farm; he was a grown man now. No, there was a little clearing in the Frontier, not far from the Keal holding, that had a nice little stream flowing along the edge. It was where he'd always wanted to build his own house, because he spent a great deal of time in that meadow. It was a crossroads of sorts for the many trails he'd followed in pursuit of game, or just wandering around where he knew he wasn't allowed to be. It was the heart of the territory that that young hunter had considered his own, and it would serve him now as the heart of his territory as a Were-cat. From Watch Hill to the Broken Gulley some two days east of the Kael farm in the Frontier, from the foothills of the SkydancerMountains down to the NamelessRiver some two days south, that would be his claimed territory. A very large area, but he was a very large Were-cat, and he would have no trouble protecting his claim. He could have as big a territory as he could defend, and he could defend a big swath of land.

  Strange that he would be thinking of after now. He'd never really allowed himself to do that before, but then again, things had never looked so optomistic. He had the Firestaff, and what was more important, he had a tremendous advantage now. They couldn't catch him, they couldn't take it from him, and everyone else he cared about would be well protected. His sisters and friends would be in Dusgaard under the protective banner of his grandfather, and his mates and children would be entrenched firmly under the watchful eyes of his sister, who was just as formidable as him. For the first time in a very long time, he felt very confident that things were going to turn out alright.

  Very soon now, he'd have the peace and quiet he so craved. It made him very calm, as the Cat within finally found contentment in enduring just another couple of months, and it would be a couple of months that would actually seem quite pleasant. No running for his life, no armies chasing after him. Just peace and quiet, a holiday of sorts to wait out the year and get past Gods' Day. Provided, of course, that everything worked as he hoped.

  There was a knock at the door. It annoyed him slightly, and he was too far away from the door to be able to catch the scent coming under the door to identify whoever it was. "What?" he called.

  "Can I come in?" a voice called from the other side. Much to his surprise, it was Jesmind, and she was being strangely polite. Usually, she'd just barge in. Obviously, his anger with her was making her rather tractable. He still was angry with her, but he was about to leave, and he felt that she deserved at least the chance to say goodbye.

  "Alright," he called.

  She opened the door and stepped in. She was dressed as she always was, in clothes she favored. She liked canvas breeches because she felt they were tougher than leather, and she always did like loose shirts of linen or cotton, light and breathable, with short sleeves. She closed the door behind her and padded up, and he could tell from her scent that she was a little irritated over something. Seeing her reminded him of how angry he was with her, how inexcusably she had acted while he had been human. But on the other hand, he was about to leave for about two months or so, so it would be necessary for them to talk now. Talking through the amulets was an option, but it just wasn't as good as face to face communication. Seeing her reminded him of how much he loved her, but right now that love was stained with an oily film of annoyance and anger.

  "How is Jasana?"

  "Locked in her room," Jesmind said flintily. "After the thrashing she got, she won't think about coming out for a while."

  "Is she going to be alright?"

  "She'll be fine," she assured him. "She'll whine and cry for a while, but when she realizes that no amount of conniving is going to make us change our minds, she'll start doing things our way."

  "It's about time," he said bluntly.

  "It was overdue," Jesmind admitted. "I guess it's both our faults. We knew how she was. We should have done something about it sooner." She sat down on the bed, bouncing on it slightly. "Mother told me what you decided. I think it's a good idea."

  "I'm hoping it's going to work," he sighed. "It's putting some people at risk, but the risk is spread out. This way, Jenna doesn't catch it all, and Kerri won't catch it all."

  "Mother said we have to stay here. Mist isn't very happy about it."

  "She'll get over it. Keeping Mist where Jenna can protect her is what matters right now."

  "I can understand that. If they can't get to you, they'll come after those you care for."

  "And that's why Kimmie, Mist, and Eron are staying in the Tower with you and Jasana," he affirmed. "I'm keeping my whole extended family right where my sister can defend them if it comes down to it."

  "Strange that I'll be seeking protection from a little slip of a human girl," she chuckled ruefully. "If she wasn't who she was, I wouldn't even notice her."

  "It's not protection, Jesmind. It's more like deterrence," he answered. "They've gotten into the Tower before, no matter what the old Keeper or even Jenna have done to stop them. Not even the Ward managed to keep out Jegojah. But with Jenna and the Sha'Kar here, it's going to make any attempt to get at you very dangerous, and it will take a great deal of planning and careful preparation. That will be even harder with the Knights roaming the grounds, ready to kill anyone or anything that isn't where it's supposed to be."

  "Kerri came to check on Jasana, and she said that some of her Marines are going to be stationed here to help," she told him. "She still had that garrison here from the battle. She never pulled them out."

  "I remember that," he mused. "Shiika still has some of her Legions here too, to help garrison the city. They're not needed anymore, but they're waiting for Kerri and Shiika to hammer out the agreement for the Wikuni to carry them back to Arak. Jenna should ask to borrow them."

  "That should be funny," Jesmind smiled. "Every time Jenna talks to Shiika, she's pulling out her hair by the time it's over. Those two don't seem to get along very well."

  "Actually, they're rather fond of each other. But Shiika's been after Jenna to build a Tower in Dala Yar Arak, and Jenna can't commit to that right now, so it's causing Jenna a little stress. Shiika's been very persistent."

  "She's a Demon and an Empress both, Tarrin. I guess she's really used to getting her own way."

  "Maybe you, me, and mother should go pay Shiika a visit and straighten her out," Tarrin said with a grim smile. "I think we've managed it with our little empress. Another shouldn't be too much work."

  Jesmind laughed. "I never thought I'd be mixing in the same circles as kings and queens," she admitted. "It's weird."

  "I guess I never really did either," he sighed. "Things just kind of got out of control."

  "Mother said you're a prince, my mate. Is that true?"

  "In a very loose sense, Jesmind," he told her. "My grandfather is an Ungardt clan-chief. That's not exactly a king, and the Ungardt don't really pay
much attention to titles. Everyone just does what needs to be done and that's that. Grandfather's only real duty is to resolve disputes between clansmen, and when there's a war, he's the commander of the army. The rest of the time, he sails around in his ship to make money for the family. He doesn't really need to do anything else, because the clan knows what to do, and they do it."

  Jesmind was silent a long moment. "How long are you going to be gone?"

  "Two months," he answered firmly. "If everything goes as we hope, I'll be back right after Gods' Day."

  "Mother said Sarraya, Allia, and that dragon are going with you."

  "I'm just giving Sapphire a ride to the desert," he told her. "She'll be setting off for home as soon as we get there. But Sarraya and Allia are staying with me. I'm going to need their help in the desert." He stared into the fire a moment. "Besides, I'll need Sarraya's help with the things mother taught me."

  He scented a change in her scent, and looked up to realize that she was standing right beside his chair. She looked down at him with her heart in her eyes, and his anger with her suddenly had serious competition from the desire to pull her into his lap. Had he not been about to leave for two months, he probably would have been less likely to want to do that. He was angry with her, but he didn't want to leave her again on bad terms. That was the mistake they'd made the first time. She knew why he was upset with her, and she'd have plenty of time to think about it while he was gone. He'd fully expect her to make it up to him when he came back, but for right now, perhaps a cessation of hostilities would be better for both of them. He looked up at her, a carefully neutral expression, keeping his scent restrained.

  It didn't take her long. She slid herself into his lap and wrapped her paws around his neck, laying her head against his shoulder. Jesmind was a very affectionate female, if one could strip off all her bark. Such a display from her wasn't unexpected. He gathered her up and held her close, taking in her scent like it was the sweetest perfume, just enjoying the moment. A moment without fighting, without anger keeping them apart, a sincere and intimate exchange between two people who loved one another very much.