Weavespinner

by James Galloway

  "Amen," Camara Tal agreed.

  It was much later. Tarrin sat on the couch in his mate's apartment, with Jasana and Eron sharing space, sleeping in his lap and Tara sleeping in his arms. Jesmind sat beside him, with half of her daughter's body splayed over her lap, stroking her hair gently. Mist and Kimmie were on the other side, Kimmie holding their other daughter. Triana stood behind them, and Jenna, Keritanima, and Allia sat on the chair on the far side, with Sarraya hovering in the air over them. This was the core of his family, his sisters and the women in his life, and it seemed appropriate to him that they would share this special time together after the wonderful reunion.

  They had spent hours cramped into this small room, trading stories and catching up with one another. Tarrin heard all about the mobilization from five different viewpoints, and the initial attack that had turned into a terrified rout when they reached the battlefield. They heard about his and Jesmind's trek across Ungardt, and their trip through the mountains. Jesmind still had the belt he'd made her, and she showed it off to them, demonstrating the camoflaging Illusion that Tarrin had set into them. But when the story reached their confrontation with Val, things got fuzzy and indisctinct. Tarrin still had trouble remembering that, and both Jesmind and Jasana as well were very unsure of exactly what happened. The only thing they did remember was that Tarrin had goaded and annoyed Val into losing his temper, and that had been the one thing that had let Tarrin get the best of him.

  Tarrin had enjoyed that time, time spent in wonderful conversation and companionship with his dearest friends, but the march of time had caught up to them. After several hours in that room together, appetites grew, children got restless, and there were some official affairs to attend. Keritanima had to return to Wikuna for a while, taking Rallix, Miranda, and the Vendari home, but coming back alone some time later. Camara Tal and Koran Tal bid their goodbyes so they could make arrangements with Ianelle, who had business to complete, about her Teleporting them to Abrodar, which but a ride and a half's journey to the isles of Amazar. Tiella had urged Dar away, and Dolanna told him with a smile that Dar had decided to throw caution to the wind and propose marriage to her. They had had crushes on one another for a while, and they'd been kissing in corners ever since Tarrin left with Jesmind. Tarrin liked Tiella, and she was one of the few women strong enough to handle the young Arkisian. They were a good match, and he knew that their union would be a happy one.

  It seemed that everyone was getting married or having children around him. He held his baby in his arms, smiling down at her, and feeling his older children sleeping against him. He had never been so happy, both for him and for all his friends. Very few things could bring more joy into one's life than a new love, or a new child. He was happy that his friends and sisters were discovering that for themselves. Jenna had no beau, and he doubted that Dolanna would ever settle down, but there was always hope, and it would be the end of the world when Miranda got married. But thanks to the Goddess, there was time to wait for it to happen. He was patient. It would happen, and he would be there to celebrate with them.

  But it may not be easy to relax around here much longer. Everyone was told Tarrin was dead, and now he was alive. Sevren was just one of a large group of katzh-dashi that had tried to get in to see him, and Phandebrass had already started making a nuisance of himself asking Tarrin a million questions about what had happened to him and what he remembered and such. Tarrin was fond of the addled Wizard, but he was quickly getting on Tarrin's nerves, and he didn't want to be upset right now. Besides, he thought it best if he simply withdrew quickly and quietly from the Tower, to avoid making a scene and causing Jenna problems.

  He'd take care of that tomorrow. Jenna was going to Teleport them to Aldreth. He was going to see his parents, and then he was going to do what he'd been dreaming of doing for nearly two years now.

  Make a home for himself.

  Tara looked up at him with serious little eyes, her expression intent, and then she reached out for him with those tiny little paws, needle-like claws extending out from the tips of her fingers.

  "I think she likes you, cub," Triana said in a thick tone, her paw on his shoulder.

  "I think she'll like anyone who can feed her," Tarrin chuckled with a smile, looking down at her. "You feel up to a trip tomorrow, mother?"

  "Where are we going?"

  "Aldreth," he said. "It's the middle of winter, and that's going to make building a house rather unpleasant, but I need to get started. My parents' house is too small to hold all four of us." He looked sharply at Triana. "I can't believe you left Jula behind, mother!" he accused.

  She actually flushed. "I think I have enough of an excuse, cub. It's not everyday you're told that the cub you thought was dead is really alive. I'll make it up to her, I promise."

  "I swear, what do you all have against that poor girl? Isn't it bad enough that she's always just an afterthought to everyone? Now you have to go and start leaving her behind?"

  "I said I was sorry, cub!" Triana snapped waspishly.

  Tarrin grinned at her. "Mother said she'd go get her, so I guess everything'll be alright. Besides, as long as she's here before we leave, that's all that matters."

  "You're leaving already?" Keritanima asked.

  He nodded. "There's no reason for me to hang around here, mother," he told her. "Everyone I care about, I can see whenever I want. I don't have to be around them. That, and I'd like to get away from here for a while. I don't like how much attention I'm getting."

  "That's no reason to run away."

  "I'm not. It's just that I've been waiting to go home for a long time now, mother. I don't want to hang around here when I could be home."

  "I can understand that," she said, patting his shoulder. "I'll help you with your house, cub. I'm a very good carpenter when I have need to be."

  "You're good at everything when you need to be," he told her.

  "True," she admitted shamelessly, which made Tarrin chuckle.

  "When I feel comfortable enough to use my magic, I can help you with that."

  "No, cub. Let me take care of it."

  "I guess I'll let you," he told her with a smile.

  "It's going to be hard fixing up my place," Kimmie sighed.

  "You're coming home with me," Mist told her. "My house is only a couple of days from Aldreth. We're more than close enough."

  "I guess I can't really say no," she said mildly. "I may need some help with the twins."

  "You'll have to tell the others," Keritanima told him.

  "I think they'll understand," he said, looking at his daughter again. "I do want to say goodbye. I think they'll get mad if I sneak out without seeing them again."

  Keritanima laughed. "If you'd have done that to me one more time, I'd have cut off your tail."

  "Are you sure that leaving tomorrow is wise?" Allia asked. "You are only just restored. Should it not be wise to remain near Jenna so they can ensure you have no complications?"

  "I'll be fine, sister," he told her. "I'm not sick, and I'm not wounded. It'll be a little while before I feel comfortable using magic again, but that's the only side effect of all this." He reached back and touched his braid absently. It was hard to forget it was there now, knowing that it was the instrument by which his body was regenerated. "And if I do have a problem, I'm just a call away from help. Distance doesn't really mean anything anymore."

  Allia chuckled ruefully. "You must teach me how to do that."

  "You'll be a while before you reach that level, sister. But you will. And when you do, you'll have three eager teachers to teach you everything you want to know." He looked at her. "Are you going back to the desert, or are you going to stay here?"

  "I guess I will return to the desert," she said after a moment. "But it will be a long journey."

  "Not as long as you think," he smiled. "Ianelle knows a Sha'Kar who studied the ruins of Mala Myrr. She said that he can Teleport you there. I'm sure you can get home from there."

  "Easi
ly. My clan lands are just south of it," she nodded. "But it will be hard to part from you, my brother. Especially after the last three days."

  "I'm just a call away, sister," he said, touching his amulet meaningfully. "And since I'll be stationary, I can project out to see you any time you want."

  "It will not be the same."

  "No, it won't, but we can meet face to face any time you're in Mala Myrr."

  "Then I will have to make sure I am there once every month," she smiled. "I can bring my father and my tribe to meet you."

  "I'd be happy to meet them, deshaida."

  "Jenna's going to have to Teleport me out to Aldreth," Keritanima noted absently. "I can root myself in the place and then come see you whenever I want."

  "That won't be a problem," Jenna told him. "And I'll do something to help you fix your problem, Allia. I think I can create an object that will let you Teleport to a fixed position whenever you use it. I can set it so it Teleports you between Tarrin's house and the desert."

  "I would be very grateful if you could," Allia told her with a smile.

  "We'll see what we can do, but it'll have to wait. I have a mountain of paperwork, and the falling out's already started.

  "What falling out?"

  "Shiika sent me a bill," Jenna said harshly, clenching her fist. "She's charging me for the mobilization of her troops!"

  That made Tarrin laugh ruefully. "Clever Shiika," he mused. "Tell her you'll pay a copper bit a year until the debt is paid in full."

  Jenna laughed. "I'll send a copper bit in the reply and tell her that that's all she's going to get!"

  "She can't seriously think that you'll pay that," Keritanima said.

  "Of course not. I have no idea why she sent it, but she had to have a reason. I need to figure it out, so I'll know what she's really after."

  "She really ruffles you, doesn't she?" Tarrin asked.

  "We never should have let her on that throne," Keritanima fumed. "Why didn't you kill her when you had the chance? She's a nightmare!"

  "Finally found a monarch you can't bully, eh?" Tarrin grinned.

  "Oh, shut up!"

  "I think she doesn't like Shiika," Triana mused to Tarrin.

  "I think she doesn't like the fact that Shiika is a worthy adversary," Tarrin told her. "Kerri doesn't like challenges. She likes everyone to just fall down as soon as she comes onto the floor."

  "Ooohh!!!" Keritanima growled at him. "Why don't you mind your own business!"

  Jasana stirred on his lap, and then settled back down. "Keep it down!" Jesmind admonished her. "You're going to wake up the children!"

  "Sorry," she said contritely. "I need one of those."

  "You can't have mine," Kimmie said immediately.

  "I mean a baby of my own," she said. "I'd like to have an heir, though he'll never really sit on the throne."

  "I think he will," Jenna said. "Wikuna would go to pieces unless there was an Eram sitting on that throne to keep order."

  "For now. In a few decades, after everyone's used to the system, they won't need me anymore."

  "You'll get tired of babysitting Wikuna sooner than you think, Kerri," Jenna told her. "Face it. You're going to end up with a constitutional monarchy."

  "When did she learn those big words?" Tarrin asked.

  "Hush, brother," she said snippily.

  "Well, I think it's time to put Eron to bed," Mist said, standing up. "And if we're going to Aldreth tomorrow, we may want to leave before the Sorcerers wake up." She collected up her son, and Tarrin put a gentle paw on his chest before Mist carried him out of his reach.

  "She's right," Jenna said. "If we want things to stay quiet, then we'll have to get up pretty early."

  They broke up after that, and the children were put to bed. Tarrin stayed up a while with Triana, Jesmind, Mist, and Kimmie, sharing time with his Were mate, girlfriends, and bond-mother. They spoke of nothing important, only enjoying time together before things changed in the morning. Then Kimmie went off to feed her babies, Mist went with her, and Jesmind, who had had such an emotionaly exhausting day added on to three days without sleep, literally fell asleep on the couch, leaning up against Tarrin. Tarrin put her to bed, but was not tired himself. He'd been sleeping--in a sense--for three days, and he wasn't tired.

  He wandered the hallways alone, going to all the old places he knew so well. The dining hall where he'd eaten as a Novice. The kitchens where he, Allia, and Keritanima had met so many times to pass information. He went to the baths, another of their talking spots, spending much time down here getting waterlogged as they talked about what was happening and what they were doing. He returned to the Chamber of the Heart one more time, recalling the battle with Jegojah, then wandered out to the training field where Allia trained him in the Dance, and he had forged a strong bond with the Knights. He had spent so much time here. He had hated it when he was here, but now he felt strangely sad to be leaving. Though it had never seemed very welcoming or comfortable, the Tower of Six Spires had served as his temporary home, and now it was the domain of his sister, Jenna. She was the Keeper, one of the sui'kun, a symbol of the new golden age of magic that was dawning, an age when the Weave was whole, and magic was again at its full power in the world.

  But that was Jenna's world, and Jasana's world. It would not be his world. He was going to be taking a vacation from it for a while, and he had no intention of setting foot off his land for the next hundred years. He would go home and establish his territory, build his house, and then just live. No running around saving the world, no long missions to far-flung locations. The biggest worry he would have would be catching dinner or weeding his garden. No more fighting with progressively more and more dangerous enemies. He may have to chase off some Goblinoids, but he could live with that. They'd be little more than some light exercise. No, he was done with all that. He'd go home and raise his daughter, watch his son and twin girls grow up with her, and he would be happy.

  And that was all that mattered.

  He wandered aimlessly along the halls, halls he and Auli and Dar had skulked when he was human, their minds bent on mischief. He wandered down to the storeroom where they'd discovered that Jasana had turned him, then he wandered up to the door of Jenna's office, an office where he had had more than one confrontation with Myriam Lar, the old Keeper. As he wandered, he remembered old friends, old places. Abraham Kern, captain of the Star of Jerod, probably wandering the seas with absolute impugnity with that black cat sitting on his steering deck. Haley was probably still tending his inn in Dayisè, and Renoit was still herding his troupe about the coastal cities on that horrific bright pink ship, Dancer. Ariana was being a queen in Amyr Dimeon, and Var and Denai had to have their hands full by now raising their child. Given their mother's personality, that child was going to be an absolute monster. Arren was the king of Sulasia now, and he had already established his authority and won over the hearts of the people with his kind and conscientious rule. His grandfather had died, and that made him sigh. Anrak Whiteaxe was at best only an occasional part of Tarrin's life--he'd only seen the man twice in his whole life--but he was still family, and his presence was sorely missed.

  And then there was Faalken. He said a silent prayer when he thought about him, dead now well over a year, and still such a strong force in his life. He would live that life the way Faalken would have wanted him to live, a life filled with little care, filled with laughter, and filled with love. He would honor his friend, honor him every day for the rest of his life, and the next boy child he had would carry his dear friend's name. There could be no better way to honor Faalken's memory than to name his child after him.

  Now he understood what possessed Ahiriya's parents to name their redheaded daughter after the goddess of fire. He wondered absently if Ahiriya had been pleased by that.

  He walked along, and Camara Tal silently fell into step beside him. They walked along in silence for a long moment, then she chuckled ruefully. "We've come a long way, haven't we?" she asked. />
  "I think we did, Camara," he answered. "I'm going to miss you."

  "I think we'll see each other again," she told him with a smile. "We want you to be there when I give birth. We want you to be the child's godfather."

  "I'd be honored."

  "I'm glad to hear that. I talked to Triana a while ago."

  "Oh? What did she tell you?"

  "That you and the other Were-cats are leaving in the morning."

  "We are. I want to get away from here. I get the feeling if I hang around here too long, they're going to find something else for me to do."

  Camara Tal laughed. "Well, you'll just have to run while you have the chance, then."

  "That's the general idea. Make sure they give you a shaeram before you leave."

  "I already have one."

  "Where are you going, anyway?"

  "The kitchens. One of the rather annoying effects of being pregnant. Cravings."

  "Kimmie went through that," he chuckled.

  "I'm going to miss those kitchens when we go, but I want to get back home as fast as I can. If only to show my family I'm bringing Koran back. And that I'm pregnant, of course."

  "When are you leaving?"

  "Tomorrow," she answered. "I went to Ianelle as soon as Triana left us. I came to protect and help you, Tarrin. You don't need me anymore, so it's time for me to go home."

  "That's such a wonderful word," he said dreamily. "Home."

  "By this time tomorrow, my friend, you'll be there," she told him with a smile. "And this will all be over."

  "It wasn't all bad," he said after a moment. "I've made friends to last a lifetime."

  "Then no matter how bad it seemed, it was actually a good thing," she said calmly. "Things come and go, Tarrin. Homes change, people change, and time itself will invariably change. But friendship and love, those last as long as we want them to. With a little work and devotion, they can last forever."

  "You know, you're quite the poet sometimes, Camara," he said as they turned down a side hall, heading for the kitchens.

  "You can't help but wax philosophical sometimes when you're a Priestess, Tarrin," she chuckled as they went. "It's part of the training."