"That contradicts what you just said."

"Sorcery is full of contradictions, young one," she smiled. "It obeys its own laws, and many of them are illogical to us. We can only obey them, without necessarily understanding why they exist."

"I guess so," he sighed. "And I was getting interested in it, too."

"I am pleased you are showing interest in Sorcery again," she said. "You should come to our lessons, dear one. We miss your company."

"I may start coming now," he said. "I seem to be missing out on a whole lot."

"And we will welcome you," she smiled. "Reniot is beckoning to me. I will talk with you later, dear one, Allia."

She walked away, leaving a huge riddle in Tarrin's mind. He knew that the katzh-dashi had priestly abilities, because the Goddess had told him so. But she told him that they weren't given priest's spells. She had specifically stated that. But Dolanna said that they could. So who was lying? Dolanna seemed to have proof that she could use a little priest magic.

Why would the Goddess lie to him? She had never outright lied to him before, and the realization that that seemed to be the case stung deeply. He knew that he didn't need to know everything, but to find out that she had misled him hurt a little bit.

I never lied to you, Tarrin, the Goddess' voice echoed in his mind. The katzh-dashi are not granted priest spells.

"But-" he started, causing Allia to look at him, but the Goddess cut him off.

I said the katzh-dashi are not granted priest spells. The magic they use is the type of priest magic that doesn't require my favor to use. I have to personally approve any spell I grant. The priest magic they use is the kind that doesn't require my direct blessing. It's the magic that they gain just by being in my service, the magic that any priest gains in service to a god. So, to answer your question, we both told the truth.

"You're splitting hairs."

True. Because if I told you the truth, you'd start experimenting. I don't think my heart can take it if you start doing that, so I kept the temptation away from you. Even now you're considering ways to get around the Oath.

Tarrin blushed guiltily.

Exactly. I'm too old to have my constitution tested by an upstart young Were-cat, she said lightly. So, to protect your faith in me, no, I did not lie to you. Are you happy now?

"I guess."

Kitten, sometimes you are so high maintenance, she chuckled, and then the sense of her was gone.

"I take it you were talking to someone?" Allia asked curiously.

"The Goddess decided to argue a point of view," Tarrin replied, touching his amulet reverently. "She told me once that she doesn't grant priest spells. Dolanna comes along and tells me that she can use some priest magic, and that made me wonder who was right. I don't think the Goddess likes it when I start doubting her, so she's always quick to step on those kinds of thoughts."

"It must be nice to be so loved."

"Knowing that someone can hear what I'm thinking all the time sometimes feels more like I'm being babysat."

"You are," she teased lightly, giving him a dazzling smile.

"Well thanks alot," he grunted, flicking her lightly on the backside with his tail.

Tarrin mulled over what he'd learned for a while after Allia went to go get something to eat, laying in cat form on a rope coil near the bow. But as usual, he could find no answers, and abandoned the idea in favor of taking a nap. The summer sun casting its warmth down on him had destroyed any chance he had of thinking seriously, its welcome heat lulling him into a quick nap.

He was shaken out of that nap when the ship under him shook violently, nearly spilling him off the rope bundle. Tarrin got to his feet and jumped down, and saw that everyone was running around crazily. Had they hit one of those underwater rocks that they said were liberally spread through the area? That's what he thought happened until the lookout boomed from the crow's nest, "Ship dead astern! It's hooked us!"

Shifting into his humanoid form, he saw what happened. A sheer rock face was only about thirty spans off the port side, and the ship behind them was still only partially visible behind it. They must have passed right by it as it hid inside a hidden cove, and like a ambushing hunter, it surged from its hiding place to pounce on the unwary prey. He could see a chain trailing from the bow of the ship, and after he jumped up onto the steering deck, he saw that a ballista bolt was lodged in the stern of the ship with a chain secured to it.

The angler brought along its own fishing line.

The ship shuddered when a huge winch on the other ship, a caravel, began reeling them in.

"Do you want me to throw off that harpoon?" Tarrin asked the steersman quickly.

"Leave it," Camara Tal said as she and Dolanna came up on the steering deck. The Amazon was holding a large wooden shield in her hand. "Get under cover, fool!" she snapped at the steersman. "They'll be raking us with arrows any second!"

"Just let them reel us in," Dolanna told him. "When we are close enough, they will abandon their bows and board. We will deal with them then."

"Why? We can get them now."

"We cannot risk any damage to the ship," she said. "A single day's delay could spell disaster. It is best for them to board, where we can deal with them man to man without damaging the ship."

"Won't they damage the ship?"

"Not until after they board us and see what we're carrying," Camara Tal grunted. "You don't risk sinking a ship if you don't know what it's carrying." She grabbed Tarrin by the arm. "Let's get under cover. We don't want them to get a good look at our secret weapons until it's too late."

"We're going to fight them man to man? They outnumber us!" Tarrin protested.

"We have you, me, the Selani, the Knight, a Wizard, a Druid, and two Sorcerers. That evens the odds," Camara Tal told him with a bright smile.

"Good point," Tarrin acceded as they rushed off the steering deck behind the steersman.

Allia and Faalken were at the base of the sterncastle. Faalken was still adjusting his hastily donned breastplate-he hadn't had time to put on any more armor-and had his sword and shield near him. Allia was carrying those two slender short swords she favored, and she silently handed him his staff. "Where is the bug?" Camara Tal demanded shortly.

"I'm here!" she called from above, landing lightly on Tarrin's shoulder. "What do you need me to do?"

"Don't do anything until about half of them are on our ship," Camara Tal told her as the first wave of arrows peppered along the empty deck. All the performers were under cover, and Tarrin could see Dar near the bow, hiding under a hatch. "And don't do anything that'll screw up the ship. We're letting them board to avoid damaging the ship, so don't blow it by burning us down to the waterline."

Phandebrass came up from below, a drake on each shoulder. He was wearing a series of pouches and satchels all over his person, and a wild cacophony of scents were issuing forth from those bundles. "I say, I'm ready, Dolanna," he said seriously, all hint of the lilting, befuddled quality gone from his voice. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing until they are engaged with boarding," Dolanna told him. "And avoid damaging our ship."

"I have just the spell," he said confidently, taking what looked like a steel rod out of one of his satchels.

"Let's get out of sight. They'll pull alongside in a minute, and I'd rather not be here for them to shoot at us."

They crowded onto the staircase leading below, with Faalken at the top with his shield strapped to his arm to protect Dolanna, who stood just behind him. Tarrin was behind the Amazon, and Allia was just behind him, holding onto the end of his tail. Phandebrass and his drakes were at the end of the line, nearly at the base of the stairs. "I say, Knight, what's going on up there?"