He spent the rest of the afternoon with Jasana in her apartments, and though Tarrin had a good time, he wasn't so sure about Jesmind. She was there, and she kept staring at him in a way that made him uncomfortable. She wouldn't really talk to him outside of noncommittal grunts or dismissive looks, and he had no idea what was bothering her. But something obviously was, and he reminded himself several times over the afternoon that technically he was still angry with Jesmind, so he didn't want to try to find out. Showing too much interest in her mood may make her think he was making a peace offering.

After a very pleasant day, he and Dar went down and got some dinner, and ended up wandering around the grounds aimlessly and talking. He told him about much of what he discussed with Jula, including touching on her idea to make Auli go away. Dar found the subject to be quite interesting, and thought Jula's idea was both amusing and possibly workable.

"I'm glad I finally heard Jula's story," he said as they walked around the hedge maze. "She won't talk to anyone, so she's been a real big mystery here in the Tower."

"Why would anyone want to know things like that?"

"Only a very few people here trust her, Tarrin," Dar told him. "If she wasn't in Jenna's favor, they'd probably run her off. They remember that she betrayed the Goddess, and many of the katzh-dashi feel that that's an unforgivable offense."

"I trust her."

"You didn't at first," he said mildly.

"But she's my daughter."

"That had nothing to do with it," he replied. "You watched over her as a daughter, but you didn't trust her. I didn't think even you could forget who she was and what she did, but you surprised me. After the battle, I realized that you'd completely accepted her. I was happy for that. Jula was a very lonely woman, even among the other Were-cats. The Sorcerers couldn't forgive her, the Were-cats wouldn't forgive her, and she was stuck with both groups. I really felt sorry for her."

"Didn't you try to talk to her?"

"I did, but she wouldn't talk to anyone," he sighed. "Only you. From what I hear, now she's been accepted by Jesmind and Jasana, so at least she had someone to talk to while we were gone."

"Well, she's not alone anymore, so I guess things all worked out," Tarrin shrugged.

"Ugh, I'm a mess," Dar grunted, scrubbing his hair with his hands. "Let's go take a bath."

"Sure."

The baths weren't very busy, since it was sunset and people had better things to do. There were only a few Sorcerers and servants using the baths, and since it was after hours, there were no Novices to hand out towels or clean up the bathing chamber. When there were no attendants, towels were stacked on a large shelf near the stairs, and the two of them helped themselves to towels and moved towards the closest available benches.

"What do you do every day, Dar?" Tarrin asked, finally remembering to do so."

"Well, right now, I've been working with the Lorefinders," he answered. "Since I can read Sha'Kar. I've been working with them and a few of the Sha'Kar to teach them the language."

"What do all the other Sorcerers do all the time?" he asked. "I don't really see what they do all day."

Dar laughed. "Believe it or not, not a whole lot," he replied. "Being a katzh-dashi isn't a very strenuous occupation. Most of them spend most of their time studying Sorcery or history. Being katzh-dashi is about learning things, and that's what most of us concentrate on. There are some who like to go out in the field and gather information, or search for new Novices, and some have just started concentrating on Sorcery used in combat. They call themselves the Swords of the Goddess," he said with a roll of his eyes. "I think they just like blowing things up."

Tarrin laughed, then handed Dar the soap. "What, don't all the Sorcerers learn battle magic?"

"Of course they do," he nodded. "That's what makes all this talk of War Sorcery such nonsense. Like I said, I think they just like marching around and looking important, and exploding targets in some vain attempt to impress people."

"Who knows, maybe they'll actually be useful," Tarrin speculated.

"Maybe as the ones crazy enough to go first," Dar snorted. "Those kinds of nuts can have it."

"If that's what they want, who are we to gainsay them?"

"I have better things to do with my life than throw it away like that," Dar grunted.

"Have you seen Tiella?"

He nodded. "She's out of the Initiate. She decided to stay with the katzh-dashi, so she's in indoctrination."

"What's that?"

"The period between being an Initiate and a full katzh-dashi," he answered. "Where you learn about the politics of the Tower and the customs and such, and where they teach the kind of Sorcery that they don't want the freelancers to know. The Initiate concentrates on magic, and since you don't have to join the order after finishing the Initiate, they don't teach those things there. They save that and the really advanced magic or dangerous magic for those they can keep an eye on."

"What kind of magic?"

"Almost all the Mind magic," he said as he washed the soap off himself. "They don't teach Mind weaves to people that may go out and use them on people to get rich or control people. The only Mind magic they teach in the Initiate is mostly how to defend against it and how to recognize mind-affecting magic used by the Priests and Wizards."

"I guess that's a good idea," Tarrin shrugged. "What else do they teach in indoctrination?"

"Healing," he said. "Anything that takes four or more spheres too. The Initiate is about teaching Sorcerers enough not to get themselves killed. They save the advanced magic for those who are willing to devote their lives to its study."

"Don't they teach-what do they call it-oh, Circling in the Initiate?"

"They do, because what harm can it do?" he asked in reply. "You can only Circle with other Sorcerers, and they're not likely to find others out in the world. There are few enough as it is, and those that leave after the Initiate often don't advertise the fact that they're Sorcerers. Most of the world still blames us for the Breaking, so it's never healthy to advertise the fact that you're a Sorcerer."

"I guess not. How have the other Sorcerers handled the Sha'Kar?"

"Pretty well, actually," he said with a chuckle. "All the humans are falling all over themselves to learn Sha'Kar as fast as they can. All the Sha'Kar are a bit overwhelmed by all the attention they're getting."

Tarrin pulled the braid over his shoulder and untied the thong. It had been a while since he'd taken it out and washed all his hair. He'd been considering cutting the thing off. It was very heavy and it pulled at the back of his head uncomfortably, and when it was wet it gave him a headache with its weight. He wasn't sure why he hadn't done it yet. Maybe because it was the only thing he had outside the brands that reminded him of everything he'd forgotten. Without it, it would be easy to pretend that it had only been a few rides since he left home, instead of two years and more. "Think about it, Dar. How would you feel if living legends suddenly showed up at your doorstep?"

"I guess travelling with you numbed me to that kind of thing," he chuckled. "I'm used to outrageous things now." He dunked himself under the water's surface, and then came up and slicked his black hair back from his face. "I need a haircut."

"I need one more," he said, waggling the end of his long, long hair at Dar.

"If you cut that off, people would scream," Dar smiled. "You tried once before, but it lasted about a day. Kimmie gave you one offhanded remark, and you regrew your hair by suppertime."

"You make it sound like they controlled me," he noted.

"Not in the slightest, but Kimmie and Jesmind could make you do things when nobody else could," he amended. "Because you loved them. That let them get away with more than anyone else could have possibly gotten away with."