He was in his cabin. Keritanima sat on the edge of the bed, Allia stood at her shoulder, and much to his eternal relief, Miranda sat on a plush chair that had not been in his room before, right at the head of his bed. She had a blanket in her lap and was dressed in a soft blue dressing gown, and on her face was a look of profound relief. The scents of his other friends were still strong in the room, hinting that he was being visited often, as was the smell of some kind of hot broth.

That was an expression shared by all three women. Keritanima's hands were on his shoulders, pushing him down, and Allia had a hold of one of his paws. Both of them looked just a little haggard. "You put yourself right back down, brother," the Wikuni princess said sternly, but the tears in her eyes gave away her concern. "Don't you ever do that again!"

"Wh-what happened?" he said in a bare whisper. "I, don't remember very much. Only seeing Miranda laying on the deck. Everything after that is a blur."

"Brother, let us just say that you avenged Miranda," Allia said gently.

"As you can see, I'm just fine, Tarrin," Miranda told him, a voice that sang like music in his ears. "A bit weak and a little tired, but otherwise fine." She took a sip of that broth he had smelled earlier. "Kerri's been babying me almost as much as you. She won't let me walk ten steps by myself."

"And if you do, I'm going to chain you to your bed," Keritanima said with a steely expression at her maid.

"What happened?" he asked again.

"Zakkites," Keritanima replied. "Six of them. They came out of a fogbank and hit us before we even knew what was going on. They were about to sink us, but you showed up and destroyed them with Sorcery." She shuddered. "You nearly killed yourself, Tarrin. If I hadn't been there to cut you off from the Weave, what's left of you would be in a little jar. Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"Azakar," he recalled blearily. "I never saw Azakar. Is he alright?"

"We had to fish him and a few others out of the sea," Miranda replied, drawing a glare from Keritanima. "He was thrown overboard after the first assault."

"Sisska?"

She's fine," Keritanima assured him.

"Binter is tending to her," Allia told him. "She is still recovering from her ordeal. Binter agreed to allow me the honor of defending Keritanima until he can resume his duties."

"That couldn't have been easy," Tarrin said weakly. "I'm really thirsty, sisters. Can I have something to drink?"

Keritanima picked a cup of broth up from a small table, and Tarrin sensed her touch the Weave. It began to steam slightly, heated by her magic, and she allowed him to take small sips. The liquid was flavored with chicken, and tasted sweeter than any wine ever could.

The door opened, and Dolanna and Faalken entered. Their entrance cramped the small cabin somewhat, but Tarrin's eyes were locked on Dolanna. She looked very tired and wan, with dark circles under her eyes. Faalken was literally supporting her. She smiled at him warmly, and that made Tarrin feel an entire world better for some reason, as if their fight had never been. "Dolanna, you look terrible," he told her.

"I look much better than you," she said in a weary tone, but her eyes danced and she gave him a glorious smile. "After the fight, there were many people to tend. You among them."

"How bad was it?" he asked quietly.

"By some gift of the Goddess, only two people were killed," she replied. "The Zakkites struck during the breakfast meal, and most of Renoit's people were in the galley filling their plates. Most of the injuries were very serious, but the conditioning of these people allowed them to live more than long enough for us to render aid."

"It pays to be in shape, it seems," Faalken noted, as Miranda took another sip of her broth.

"We did pick up a few survivors from the Zakkites. All of them are slaves," Dolanna told him. "One is an Aeradalla."

"What is that?" he asked.

"A race that is reputed to no longer exist," she said in a tired voice. "Some call them the Winged Ones, winged, human-like beings that were thought to be long dead. She has refused to leave until you recovered, even after I healed her of her injuries."

"Refused? How long have I been asleep?"

"Nearly two days," Allia told him.

"They had her in their soultrap," Dolanna told him. "It was her life force that was making the ship to which she was bound fly. That is how Zakkite skyships defy gravity, by consuming the life force of flying creatures. She managed to get free of it before what was left of the vessel sank."

Tarrin sipped up the rest of the broth, then laid his head wearily back on the pillow. Just the act of raising his head had completely exhausted him.

"Tarrin, do you remember what happened?" Dolanna asked intently.

"No, not really," he said. "Just seeing Miranda laying on the deck. Everything after that is a blur."

"Let us hope that you can recall what happened," she said. "You and I absolutely must discuss what you did."

"Why, what did I do?"

"Tarrin, you created strands," Keritanima told him in a gentle voice. "You made them, but they're just like any other strand. It's like you reached out and put new threads into the Weave."

"That is exactly what he did, Keritanima," Dolanna assured her. "It is something that is supposed to be completely impossible, and yet you did it." She leaned against Faalken a bit more. "If you can remember how you did it, then the possibilities may be boundless. We could repair the thinned sections of the Weave and restore it to its former state. Maybe even reclaim some of the power of the Ancients."

She smiled and patted him on the arm. "But that can wait. Right now, you need rest, and your sisters need to sleep. Neither Keritanima nor Allia has left this room since we put you here."

"And she made me sit here when I wasn't in my own bed," Miranda said with a caustic little look at the princess.

"I was not about to leave him alone, Dolanna," Allia said. "He always knows when we are near, and it makes him rest better."

"It's that nose of his," Miranda said with a cheeky grin. At that moment, there was nothing more beautiful in the world to him than that quirky little cheeky grin Miranda had.

"Come on, children," Dolanna ordered. "Let us let him rest."

"And you're going to bed too," Faalken told the Sorceress. "You've been up almost as long as them. You won't be any good to anyone if I have to drag your unconscous body around by the hair."

"Right now, my friend, I am too tired to put up much of a fight."

"That's good, because I wasn't looking forward to knocking you over the head with a belaying pin," he said adamantly. "You push yourself to hard, Dolanna. Now then, I'm going to take you to your room and put you to bed. And if I see you out of that room until tomorrow, I'm going to borrow a nice heavy blunt object from Renoit and bash it over your head."

Miranda grinned, but she had the sense not to laugh. Faalken escorted Dolanna out of the room, forcefully. Only after the door closed did she laugh.

"I heard that," Dolanna's voice came through the door.

Keritanima giggled, and Allia smiled. "Bed sounds like a good thing, but I want-"

"Go to bed, Kerri," he told her. "I'll be alright by myself for a while. You too, sister."

"Alright, my brother," Allia said in a gentle voice, "but if you should need anything, just call for us, and we will be here."

"Go on, I'll catch up in a minute," Miranda told them as they kissed Tarrin goodbye. She stood and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, ignoring Keritanima's heated look and dismissing her with a wave of her hand. Tarrin's sisters filed out of his room, and Miranda sat down on the edge of the bed. She stroked his unbraided hair back from his face tenderly, looking down at him with serious, sober eyes and a gentle smile. "You saved my life, Tarrin," she told him calmly. "You did more than that, actually. I could feel Death coming for me, but you fought her off. You brought me back from the edge of death. I don't even know where to begin thanking you."