"Jenna made them agree," Koran Dar laughed. "She may be young, but that's one steely little girl sometimes. She's definitely your sister."

"I guess that's a complement," he said uncertainly.

Koran Dar laughed heartily. "Yes, it is. It's funny that she gave this to you. You're the reason she's not carrying it anymore."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because sometimes, Tarrin, the best advice can come from the most unexpected sources," he replied with a smile. "Your reasoning made me think about things. I love Camara very much, but before now, she was never willing to concede anything to me, because of her pride and her social standing in Amazon society. I guess I was never willing to concede anything to her either, because I've always been very indignant about how I'm treated in our society. We were both too stubborn to give a finger, and it cost us years of potential happiness," he sighed. "But then you come along and revealed to me just how she felt about me, and how much she wanted me back. It made me realize just how much I wanted that very thing. We got together a few days ago and put everything on the table. She made some concessions, I made some concessions, and we realized that we've wasted fifteen years on petty bickering and foolish pride. If we'd been honest with each other and done this fifteen years ago, we could have been very happy."

"I'm glad to hear that, Koran Dar," he said.

"I guess I shouldn't let you call me that," he chuckled. "At least don't do it when Camara's around. My married name is Koran Tal."

"You take her name?"

"Women are dominant in Amazar," he reminded him. "In our society, the man takes the woman's family name."

"Huh," Tarrin mused, mulling it over. "Well, I'm happy things worked out for you, Koran-uh, Koran Tal."

"Thank you," Koran Tal said with a smile. "Now then, let me go get that dragon back in here and arrange for a meal to be sent up here. Remember, stay in bed for a while, no excitement, and if you can, see if you can take a short nap. A little sleep will speed along your recovery."

"I will," he said, accepting the hope charm from the Amazon man and holding a moment. "I think I'm going to carry this with me. Maybe it will help me out."

"What wish would you put on the hope charm, Tarrin?" he asked. "It won't do anything unless you do."

"That's easy, Koran Tal. I wish that everything works out alright. That nothing bad happens because of the Firestaff, and after all this is over, we can all go home and live happily ever after."

"That, my young friend, is the best wish I've ever heard," he said seriously, reaching over and putting his hand on Tarrin's shoulder. "I'll pray to the Goddess for that, Tarrin."

"Me too," he said, then he yawned. "I don't think me taking a nap is going to be a problem. I do feel a little sleepy."

"Then lay back and rest, and try to get a little sleep. But not too much," he warned. "I'll tell Sapphire to wake you when the food arrives. After you eat, then you can sleep as long as you want."

"Alright," he said. "Thanks."

"It's nothing," he said with a smile. "I'll see you later."

Tarrin watched him leave, then felt the bed tilt in a new way, now rolling over and over like an alligator rolling food to death. It was starting to get strangely entertaining to have the bed feeling like it was spinning, almost like he was flying. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, letting the spinning of the bed act almost like the rocking of a cradle.

Tarrin's breakfast with Auli was more or less cancelled by his confrontation with the Were-cats, but he did manage to meet her for lunch. After a nap, a meal, and another short nap, he had awoken free of the dizziness and mild disorientation that had restricted him to bed. By noon, he felt right as rain and ready to get up, and after Sapphire made him walk a straight line up and down five times, she allowed him to get up and go about.

It was a meal both of quiet relaxation and subdued tensions. Tarrin liked Auli a great deal, but it was a little strange to be there and talk with her with Sapphire hovering over him. He knew that there was no way around that, but he was pretty sure that she'd be discreet if she happened to overhear anything that was private. Auli completely understood why he wasn't there for breakfast, and just laughed and told him better late than never. They took their plates outside and ate in the summer sun in the gardens, where the magic kept the air pleasantly cool and the sun was delightfully warm. Tarrin and Auli weren't the only ones out enjoying the perfect cloudless day, as many Sorcerers also sat with plates or books in their laps, doing their eating or their studying out in the beautiful day. Beautiful days weren't very common in Suld, for the summer days tended to be cloudy, and rain wasn't uncommon during at least some part of the day. At least usually. That summer and the one before had been unusually dry, not quite a drought, but rather a dry stretch that had gone on for two years. The rains weren't as heavy or plentiful as usual, and the winter snows hadn't piled up even half as much as was normal, even though it was more than cold enough to keep it on the ground.

Tarrin always enjoyed spending time with Auli, and she didn't disappoint him. He just listened to her prattle on about this or that, complaining about the punishment her mother had given her for what she'd done, complaining about how boring it was in the Tower, and then suppressing laughter when she mused aloud about the things she could do to liven up the place a little. She behaved herself immaculately, not even putting a hand on him in passing. She kept him entertained and happily distracted all through lunch.

That was the enjoyable part. There had been a little discomfort for him at first, since she was who she was. All he could remember at first was that night, and he wasn't sure if he should treat her any differently than he had. She solved that by treating him the same way as always, so he tried to do the same with her. The desire for her was still there, it had not gone away, but he found after spending some time with her that it was easy to control.

The meal went along fine until his hunter's senses warned him that he was being watched. He didn't look around, but he realized that one of the Were-cats was watching him, and from the burning sensation on his neck, he was pretty sure that it was Jesmind. He didn't do anything about it, but he was a little distracted from then on as he tried to figure out where she was without giving away the fact that he knew she was there. He knew that was going to be very hard, because he'd come to find out that if a Were-cat didn't want to be seen, they usually weren't seen. They were masters of stealth, just like the cats of which they were part, and there was really no way to find her unless he made a show of it. Furtive scans of the area produced nothing, and that was about the most that he could do. So he kept one eye on the area around him and his ears attuned to Auli's chatter, making sure that the Were-cat didn't jump out and attack the Sha'Kar.

Things did get very tense when two of the Were-cats showed up in the gardens. It was Mist and Jula, and to his surprise, they was herding along two Were-cat children. One of them was Jasana, but the other, he realized, had to be Eron, his son. Tarrin had never seen him before, and he was amazed at how much he looked like a little version of himself. He had the same hair, the same face, and the same lanky frame that Tarrin had, but he had black fur on his arms and feet and little cat ears poking out from his wild, unkempt blond hair. He was chasing after Jasana, who was taunting him over her shoulder as she skipped along, while Eron tried his best to chase her down without tripping over his own big feet. Eron looked to be about two, maybe three, and though he was much more agile and physically developed than a human toddler, his ungainly movements showed that he was still rather clumsy, still mastering the nuances of moving himself around.