The man to the right, that had moved out of the way, suddenly sprouted a dagger in his neck. It was a little thing with a handle designed for throwing, but it was good enough. The man gurgled once before sagging to the ground, trying to hold in his lifeblood with his hands. Tarrin glanced back to see Miranda, back on her feet and with two more of those little daggers in her left hand, and a third coiled back in her right, ready to be thrown.

"He'll kill any man who comes over the bodies, and I'll kill anyone who stands around," Miranda warned in a loud voice.

"She's only got three daggers!" one of the men bolstered the others.

"Yes, but which three of you want to die?" she challenged in a calm voice, rearing the dagger back just a little more.

It hung there for a moment. The alley was too narrow for them to rush in all at once, and the bodies piled up between them and the Were-cat made trying to get close enough to use their swords suicidal. They were a little taken aback that the Were-cat had deflected a quarrel shot at point blank range from a heavy crossbow, one of the most powerful missle weapons made. And they couldn't just stand there, or the Wikuni would kill three more of them with her daggers.

That made the men in front turn and flee, but the men behind, shielded from the daggers and hungry for the reward, refused to give ground. They pushed at each other until one man screamed and went down with a sword in his belly, and that started a short, nasty fight between the former allies as the men in danger actually attacked the men keeping them from retreating. Tarrin and Miranda wisely ducked around the corner of the alley and peeked around it, watching the short melee from the safety of cover. Five more men died at the hands of their own, until they finally managed to move their brawl to the mouth of the alley, where they simply scattered.

Tarrin blew out his breath, then winced when Miranda placed a torn piece of her dress over the bleeding cut in his arm. "That was nervous," she said calmly, putting pressure on the wound to control the bleeding.

"That was fast thinking," he complemented.

"I'm paid to think fast, Tarrin," she replied calmly. "It's something of a job requirement. Is this alright?"

"It burns like fury, but it's not deep," he replied, putting his paw over the cloth.

"Let me get my dagger, and we'll get out of here," she said. "I don't think we want to go out the same way they did. You think you can jump us over that wall?" she asked, pointing to the wall blocking the alley.

He looked at it. It was only fifteen spans high. He groaned audibly. "I could have done that in the first place," he said contritely. "We never had to get mixed up with them."

"We didn't have time to do it before," she assured him. "And I wanted to get a look at them. What happened with, whatever it was you did?" she asked.

He blew out his breath. "Something I have to talk to Dolanna about," he said. "I tried to use Sorcery, but-" he shuddered. "I never had a chance. I was completely overwhelmed, almost immediately. That's never happened like that before."

"Let's talk about it later. Let me get my dagger, and let's get out of here."

"Where were you hiding those?" he asked curiously. The light, rather revealing dress she was wearing didn't exactly support little folds and gaps where daggers could be hidden.

"You don't want to know," she winked as she approached the dead man with her dagger sticking out of his neck.

Shirt off, Tarrin held very still while Dolanna sewed up the cut on his upper arm by the light of the lantern sitting by his bed. It had missed his brand by a few fingers, fortunately, but he was more worried about Dolanna. She sewed up the cut with no regard for her own safety, and he was keenly aware that a single pinprick could turn her Were. That needle had his blood all over it, and it only took the tiniest drop to begin the change. Tarrin marvelled at how fearless Dolanna tended to be around him, fully aware of the incredible danger he posed to her, and that never failed to endear her to him more and more. That she could be so selfless, so confident that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her touched him deeply, and reminded him again and again how important the small, dark-haired Sorceress was in his life.

She hadn't been as angry as he thought she would. Keritanima was another story. She had all but exploded when she found the note, and even now he could hear her berating Miranda in the next cabin, shouting at the top of her lungs.

"I did not see anything wrong with you going out alone, Tarrin," Dolanna said calmly in a lull of Keritanima howling. "You are a grown man, after all, and Miranda has the sense to not lead you astray. I trust your judgement."

"I appreciate that, Dolanna. You think you can explain that to Kerri?"

Dolanna gave him a light smile, then went back to her work. "Probably not. She is blinded by her love for both of you. How did they track you down?"

"By my stupidity," he said with a grimace. "I was playing with Miranda, and I forced her to shout my name. I guess someone that's not friendly overheard it. When we ducked into an alley to see if we were being followed, we had no idea it was a dead end. We had to fight."

"An honest mistake," she said calmly, cutting the thread and tying it off. "After so long on the ship, and after all that has happened, I cannot fault you for not being more careful in the city. Just let this remind you to be careful in the future."

"There's no problem with that," he grunted.

The door opened, and Allia entered. She looked a little annoyed for some reason. She stopped when she saw Dolanna patting blood away from the sutured cut in Tarrin's arm. "What happened?"

"Me and Miranda got bushwhacked in the city, by men with silvered swords," he said.

"Are you and Miranda well?"

"We're fine. I got this little cut. Miranda came back without a scratch."

"How many did you defeat?"

"Six or seven," he said. "I wasn't exactly counting. I didn't kill all of them. I left two of them alive."

"You must count," she chided. "You cannot sing of your honor without knowing exactly how much honor you have accrued, and leaving a defeated opponent alive is more honorable than killing. Any child can kill, but a true warrior of honor can defeat foes without killing."

Dolanna snorted slightly.

"Why are you back? Aren't you supposed to be raising the tent?" Tarrin asked her.

"They will not permit the circus to set up," Allia announced. "Renoit tried to get them to change their minds, but they did not. They said that the circus would distract the soldiers from their duty."

"A silly choice," Dolanna said an absent voice as she started wrapping a bandage around Tarrin's arm. "The circus would put the citizens in better morale."

"Guess they're worried more about the soldiers than the civilians," Tarrin said. "What are we going to do now, then?"

"I do not know. I will have to talk to Renoit," Dolanna replied.

"I know Kerri's happy about that," Tarrin chuckled. "I saw the costume she was wearing. If she were human, she'd be beet red from head to foot. I think I saw less fur when she was naked."

Allia giggled. "I think Renoit put her in it just to annoy her," she said in a conspiratorial tone. "I thought she was going to bite his nose off when he handed it to her."

"We need to talk, Dolanna," he said calmly. "About a few things."

"Such as?"

"Well, for starters, they've got people looking for me and my sisters," he said. "Jander, the Wikuni at the mission, was really helpful. He said there are armed men hunting for all three of us, and if this is any indication of what kind of reception we'll get," he said, patting the bandage on his arm, "I think it'd be a good idea for all three of us to stay out of sight."