Jenna handled her grief by trying to piece together the story. His other sisters and friends dealt with it in other ways. Allia spent nearly every waking hour in the Goddess' courtyard, and nobody knew what she was doing in there, but they all understood that she was observing Selani customs and rites that dealt with the loss of a brother. Keritanima had little time to mourn with the demands of governing Wikuna, but she would return to the Tower every evening and spend quiet time with Allia, the two drawing strength from one another. Dolanna spent those days with Jenna, sharing her need to discover what had happened. Dar had sought comfort from friends, and then, to everyone's surprise, he found solace in the arms of Tiella, who had long harbored a crush on the Arkisian Sorcerer. Camara Tal had put off her departure for Amazar to counsel their tight group, showing the tenderness and compassion that made her a Priestess, a surprising side of her that the others rarely experienced. Sarraya spent all her time with Kimmie, hovering around her twin daughters trying to help her, but more often than not just getting in the way. Azakar remained at Dolanna's side, not wanting to leave her, as if he feared the moment he left she would be attacked. Miranda stayed by Keritanima's side as well, offering gentle comfort and a shoulder for her to cry on when the emotion of it overwhelmed her, and whenever anyone saw her when she wasn't consoling her friend, her hands were feverishly busy with embroidery pulled from the shoulder satchel that was never very far away from her. Even Phandebrass had been affected by Tarrin's death, putting aside his studies and beginning to write down all his memories and observations about the enigmatic Were-cat, chronicling his tale, a tale of a reluctant hero who more often that not was worse than the evil he battled, but in the end had somehow carried the day. Phandebrass became quite enthusiastic about the idea of writing it all down, but he too did not know how it ended, and as was his nature, when confronted with a mystery, the addled Wizard found a new focus in his life to solve it. So he joined Jenna and Dolanna in the quest for discovering the truth.

But it was a mystery without answers. The only ones who were there were Jesmind and Jasana, and they had already exhausted any attempt to get any information from them. Not even Phandebrass would press the grieving pair, understanding the terrible loss they had experienced, and not wanting to aggravate their pain. For them, the loss was most keen. Tarrin had died retrieving his daughter from Val, and Jesmind and Jasana would never be able to forget that he had died for them, and that would invariably cause them to feel guilt for his loss.

Three days, though it had seemed like an eternity. Three days of steady cold rain, as the skies wept along with them, three days when Jesmind did not eat, did not sleep, only sat in that chair facing the fireplace, her unblinking eyes lost in the licking flames. Those three days had already shown on her, as her face seemed slightly gaunt and dark circles had appeared under her striking eyes. Jasana sat on her mother's lap, thumb claw in her mouth, with a hollow expression on her face, clinging to her mother out of reflex more than anything else. Jesmind did not hold her daughter, did not even register her presence, her empty eyes lost in the dancing of the fire before her. Keritanima and Allia were with her, as were Dolanna and Dar, and wherever Keritanima and Dolanna went, Miranda, Binter, Sisska, and Azakar were never more than a few paces away. They were helping Triana keep an eye on the non-responsive Were-cat. Triana had warned them that this kind of response was very unpredictable, and at any moment she could snap out of it and fly into a rage. So they had to keep a very close watch on her, to get Jasana away from her if such a thing happened. Keritanima was reading from a book, though her heart was not in it. Allia was sitting on the floor, her eyes closed, trying to find peace within herself through meditation and introspection, though it had been an elusive thing. Binter and Sisska stood silent watch, ready to face the Were-cat female and hold her down if necessary to give their charges time to escape, and Azakar stood behind Dolanna's chair as she watched Jesmind carefully, though her own eyes also had dark circles beneath them.

The door opened, and they all looked to see Dar enter. Tiella was with him, holding his hand. She had been friends with Tarrin, and the three days since his death had caused her to become interested in his life and those he had left behind, wanting to help in any way she could. None of them knew her, and that made her very quiet and a little intimidated when in their company. Dar sometimes forgot the very odd mix their tight circle really was, and some of them were not entirely friendly. Allia could be especially intimidating, though Keritanima, Camara Tal, and the Vendari were no less so. Dar brought her in, keeping a tight hold on her hand. "Any change?" he asked.

Keritanima shook her head. "Believe me, if Triana's right, you'll know it when there is one," she told him.

"How is she?"

"There's no way to tell," Miranda answered. "She's starting to get thin. I hope she comes out of it soon."

Jasana climbed down from Jesmind's lap and silently shuffled over to Allia. The Selani opened her eyes, then opened her arms to the Were-cat child. Jasana climbed into her arms and laid her head against her shoulder, and Allia wrapped her arms around the little Were-cat female protectively. Dar leaned over and looked at her, giving her a gentle smile. "Hey, cub, how are you feeling?" he asked in a sweet, gentle manner.

"I'm okay," she answered in a dull, weary voice. "I just miss Papa, that's all."

Keritanima and Allia looked at Dar in surprise. That was the first time Jasana had offered any kind of voluntary information without breaking into a storm of weeping.

Dar sat down on the couch behind Allia and put his hand on Jasana's head, ruffing her strawberry blond hair, and Jasana actually gave him a weak, sad little smile. "Don't worry, cub. Your mom's going to be alright soon."

She looked about ready to say something but her ears picked up, and she looked towards the door. "The shining lady is back," she said with detached interest.

Dar and Dolanna looked towards the door with Keritanima. "The Goddess?" Keritanima said. "She's been missing since-" she cut off quickly, not wanting to upset Jasana. "Where is she, cub?"

"With Aunt Jenna," she answered.

"Well, it's about time," Keritanima growled. "Maybe now she can tell us just what in the bloody hells happened."

"I am sure that is exactly what Jenna is asking at this very moment," Dolanna said calmly.

The door opened, surprising almost everyone, and Kimmie and Mist came in. Each one of them was holding one of Kimmie's infant daughters, and Eron tagged along behind his mother, batting lightly at the tiny little black-furred tail dangling from under his mother's arm. "Kimmie," Keritanima greeted. "How are you?"

"Tired," she said in a weary voice, and it showed on her face. Her usually light and gentle expression was drawn, and she too had dark circles under her eyes. "These too don't seem to want to sleep at the same time."

"One's bad enough, but you got two," Keritanima teased.

"It's a burden I'm happy to accept," she replied with a sad smile, sitting down beside Dar. Mist handed her her other daughter, and Eron tried to climb into Allia's lap with his half-sister. Allia gave him some room, but Eron didn't want to sit still, and Jasana made no reaction to his attempts to get her attention. He quickly gave up on the idea of getting Jasana to play with him, and instead ran across the room and jumped up on the back of Jesmind's chair.

"Eron! Down!" Mist snapped at him, and he immediately gave up.