"That's a relief," Jenna said sincerely.

Tarrin looked to Sapphire. "I know you were just waiting for me to recover, my friend," he said. "As you can see, I'm well now. What do you intend to do?"

"I intend to return home," she said calmly. "Since you are going to the desert, I guess I will leave with you tomorrow. You'll cut a great deal off of my travel time."

"You're more than welcome to come with us," he told her honestly.

"I need to get home. I have no doubt that my brood has destroyed our caves with their revelling in my absence, and I must be there to set things right."

Tarrin chuckled. "I guess young ones are young ones, no matter what species. They all seem to have this knack for upsetting parents."

"Truly," she agreed with an impish smile.

"Well, I guess that's about everything," he said. "What we need to do now is get ready to leave. And don't make a secret out of it," he told them. "We want them to know that we're leaving, remember that. Jenna, I need to start with you as soon as we can."

"I will handle the arrangements, my Keeper," Ianelle told her.

"I appreciate that," she nodded.

"I have just the Knight in mind, son," Darvon told him. "He's an overly clever young Senior Cadet that calls himself Fox. He's half Ungardt, just like you, and he's a born troublemaker. I think he can do the job nicely."

"He'll need a crash course in how I behave," Tarrin said.

"I can handle that," Keritanima told him. "Me and Dar need to go see him to tailor the Illusion to him anyway." She took on a thoughtful look. "Darvon, do the Knights still have those Trollskin gloves?"

Darvon looked at her, then laughed. "That's quite clever, your Majesty," he said. "Yes, we still have them. And if we put them on Fox, then he can have a little help convincing people he's Tarrin."

"My thoughts exactly," Keritanima nodded with a wicked little smile.

"I can help with that," Triana told them bluntly. "Bring him to me. I'll make him as tall as Tarrin, and then the Illusion will only have to change his features. I've noticed that Illusions that change height have trouble dealing with the physics of movement."

"Can you put him back, Mistress Triana?" Darvon asked.

"As easily as I grow him, I can shrink him," she said confidently. "It won't be too pleasant, but it'll work."

"That will make the Illusion much more convincing," Dar said professionally. "It's a good idea."

"I already know how Allia acts, so I think I can handle being her," Auli added. "I hear about nothing but Allia from Allyn anyway. If I didn't know her by now, I never will. And since I'm about her size, you shouldn't ahve to do anything to me to make it believable," she said quickly.

"You'll be fine as you are, girl," Triana said to her absently.

"I say, I need to make a few preparations, and break down my lab," Phandebrass said.

"I'll be staying here, Tarrin," Kimmie said. "I'm getting a bit too round to be travelling just now."

"I didn't want you to go," he told her. "I'd rather have you and our child out of harm's way from now on. I think Jula can serve well enough as the party's resident Were-cat."

"Me?" she said in surprise.

"You," he told her. "They may need our unique abilities before it's all said and done, and you're also a Weavespinner, daughter. I'd rather have that kind of power protecting my friends. Is that alright, mother?"

Triana looked to Jula. "Only for a short time," she said bluntly. "Jula is still a child."

"I know, but I don't think a couple of months alone will hurt her too much."

"I don't like it, but it's necessary," she said sourly. "I'll be stopping by to check up on you, girl, so don't think you'll be out of reach of my arm," she warned.

"Yes, Triana," Jula said obediently.

"Mist won't like it, but I'm going to have her stay here," Triana said. "It'll be easier to keep an eye on the cubs if they're together, and she can replace Jula as a babysitter."

Jula flushed a little at that, but wisely said nothing.

"If I want to get Sarraya back here by midnight, I have to start getting things done now," she announced, standing up. "It won't take me long to stretch this human, but I have a few other things to do before I can leave."

"Yes, we have much to do," Ianelle agreed. "Keeper, I'll be at your earliest convenience."

"I'll let you know when we're done," she said.

They broke up then to prepare for tomorrow. Tarrin did pause to talk lightly with them, with Dolanna and Dar and Camara and Koran Tal, answering a few questions and assuring them that he was alright. He wanted to spend more time with them, tell them all about what happened to him, but they all had too much to do now to waste time on idle chitchat. Things were starting to come to a head, and everyone knew it. When they all left the Tower tomorrow, nobody doubted that their leaving wouldn't cause shockwaves through all of Sulasia, all of the West, that could possibly lead to another war. Only this war would be fought in Ungardt, and the odds were going to be stacked most decidedly in the other direction. Tarrin wouldn't need to assemble an alliance of different peoples to stand against that. The Ungardt would use their rugged, hostile homeland as all the ally they would need to protect it.

Summers were very short that far north. Very soon now, as summer wound down into autumn, the first snows would fall, and not long afterwards the countryside would be a snow-choked quagmire, hostile to any kind of large-scale action. Ungardt weather was never very good, and all those elements would combine to make any idea of forced invasion very costly. Any attackers would be faced with two overwhelming opponents if they invaded Ungardt. The Ungardt people, and the Ungardt winter. Both were equally formidable, and equally merciless.

And if things worked as he hoped they would, they would all be bashing their heads against the proverbial rock to get to him, and he wouldn't even be there. If everything was done right, every eye in the world would be affixed to Ungardt. That meant that since he'd be in the desert, he'd be relatively safe. As if he wouldn't be safe enough. Even if he did tell everyone where he was going, he doubted they could do anything about it. The desert was even more hostile to an invading force than Ungardt, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Not over this. The Firestaff was too valuable, too precious, too dangerous to take any risk whatsoever. With Tarrin leaving, Jenna could seal the Tower to protect his mates and children, and anyone who tried would find themselves facing an army of Sorcerers and fanatically loyal Knights. Anrak Whiteaxe, his grandfather, would use every resource at his disposal to make his friends unassailable in Ungardt, and Tarrin would do the same in the desert to make the Firestaff just as unreachable.

If everything worked as he hoped, them leaving and diverting the attention of his enemies to the fortress kingdom of Ungardt would prevent them from getting any kind of hold in any one place. And if he could keep them off balance and guessing for just a few short, critical rides, then he would slip completely beyond their reach. The Firestaff would be safe in the desert, Gods' Day would come and go, and then he could finally end this madness. He would put the Firestaff somewhere safe, wherever the Goddess told him to leave it, and not worry about it for another five thousand years. He could then return to Aldreth with his mate and children, with Mist and Kimmie close by, and settle into the life of wonderfully ordinary domesiticity that he so desired.

All they needed was a little luck.

To: Title EoF