"You've been here before?" Jenna asked in surprise.

"I was once on the Council at this very Tower," she said with a nod. "I was the Divine seat."

"Well, I'm sure we can sort things out. Do your people speak Sulasian?"

"Only some, and it is the Sulasian of a thousand years ago," she said with a rueful smile. "I'm sure we have terrible accents, but we will adjust."

"Well, you're going to have to learn," Jenna said with a frown. "Only about twenty of the Sorcerers here have managed to learn Sha'Kar. All of the Council does, as well as some of the more prominent Sorcerers among us. But all of them are learning as quickly as they can."

"We will help them along, and they will help us along with Sulasian," Ianelle said. "Sha'Kar was always the common tongue within the walls of the Tower."

"Until we can get the language barrier out of the way, I'll assign those katzh-dashi that have learned enough Sha'Kar to communicate to you to act as translators. Please don't be offended, but your translators may not know which form to use. If they speak to you informally, don't take it the wrong way."

"We appreciate it, honored one, and don't worry. We fully understand that Sha'Kar is a second language for them, and we will be very patient. May we settle in now?"

"Please, don't let me stop you," Jenna said with a warm smile. "You know where the Council chambers are?"

"Yes, honored one."

"When you get settled in, let me know, and we'll seat both Councils and have a conference. It's going to be nice to speak to you face to face for a change."

"Speaking in the Heart has its own charm, but there is much to be said for face to face conversation," Ianelle agreed. "It shouldn't take us long to move our trunks into the towers and assign chambers. Two hours, I would say. May I call on you then?"

"Ianelle, you're the First. You can call on me any time you feel it necessary," Jenna told her calmly. "My door is always open for you."

"You honor me, honored one," Ianelle said with a curtsy. "By your leave?"

"You don't have to ask me for permission to withdraw, Ianelle," Jenna smiled.

"You are the honored one, Keeper," Ianelle said brusquely. "To us, you are a queen. We will treat you as one."

Jenna fretted. "I was afraid of that," she said. "Well, if that's the way it is, then that's the way it is. You're dismissed, Ianelle. I look forward to getting to know you."

"And I you, honored one," she said, giving her one more curtsy, then scurrying off to bark commands to the Sha'Kar.

"Queen, eh?" Tarrin said with a smile.

"That's right," she said primly, tossing her hair a bit. "So you'd better treat me like the queen I am, or I'll throw you in the dungeon."

"Yah yah yah," Tarrin retorted, slapping her lightly on the arm. "To me, you're just my little sister."

"Well, come on then, big brother," Jenna said with a smile as she took his hand. "Let's go in. Jesmind is bouncing off the walls to see you."

"Why didn't she come out here?"

"She didn't want to cause a scene," Jenna winked.

"Is she really that upset?" Tarrin asked nervously. From what he'd heard of Jesmind, she was emotional, short-tempered, and somewhat high-strung. He'd been worrying about meeting her for a while, because he had no idea what she was going to do when he met her face to face.

"Not really," Jenna laughed. "She just didn't want to bring Jasana out here. She was afraid that Jasana may cause a scene."

Jenna paused to greet the others warmly, and that told Tarrin that she knew them. Dolanna and Dar bowed to her, reminding him yet again that Jenna was now technically over him, that she was very much different from the little girl that still existed in his memory. Keritanima didn't bow to her, but from the way they talked, it was obvious that they knew each other. Keritanima was a queen herself, and Tarrin wasn't sure what kind of protocols existed for when one monarch met another, and those monarchs happened to be friends. If there were any.

It was times like this that Tarrin felt his loss of memory most keenly, looking at Jenna, watching her talk to the others. They all knew each other, they all knew so many things that he'd forgotten. How did Jenna come to know Keritanima? When did they meet? Were they friends, or were they just being nice to each other? He saw Jenna hug Allia like a sister, and saw the happiness in Allia's eyes. When did Allia meet Jenna, and why was she so friendly with her? Allia rarely showed that kind of emotion, he'd come to find out. She was a very cool, reserved woman, only showing emotion when she was with him-when her uncertainty and pain over what happened to him was evident in her eyes-and when she was with Keritanima or Allyn. But even then she didn't show much if there were others around. When she was alone with Tarrin, or with Keritanima or Allyn, she acted alot differently than she did any other time. But she would show emotion to Jenna. That meant that she truly favored his sister… but when did they meet? How long had they known one another?

He wanted to know. It drove him crazy that all those things that had happened were buried in his mind, and it was being denied to him. It was an entire lifetime of experiences and adventures locked away, and even though there were things there that he probably wouldn't want to remember, what he would gain would more than make up for what it would cost him to remember. He felt lost like he was, surrounded by people who knew everything, while he floundered around behind them, depending on them for almost everything.

And if any one thing ate at him more, it was that. Tarrin was a fiercely independent young man, having been cut loose from his parents' watchful eye when he was twelve. They had trusted him to be careful, and he hadn't violated that trust more than a few hundred times. But they'd never caught him. He hated having them hovering around him, but he hated the fact that he had to depend on them even more than that. To someone like him, who was so used to doing for himself, being by himself, managing to make it by himself, being dependent on another was humiliating, aggravating, and intolerable.

There was very little that could be done right now, but he'd feel alot better after he established a little space for himself. Once he learned his way around the Tower, he'd feel more secure. And he knew that there was a fight coming over it, but he was going to demand his own room. He liked the Were-cats, but their stifling overprotectiveness had just gotten too irritating. It was a big Tower, and he was sure they could find him a room somewhere to himself. And since it was the Tower, they'd have absolutely no reason not to give him that room. It was one of the safest places in the world, the Tower was. He would be surrounded by Sorcerers, Knights, and servants, all of whom would keep him from getting lost and keep a wary eye out for intruders. Triana would have no valid excuse to giving him his own room. And if she refused, well, there were ways around that. He wasn't quite so intimidated by her now. She said she loved him, and he could use that as a weapon against her if necessary.

Holding Jenna's hand, his sister led him away from the Sha'Kar gathering with the others. Tarrin looked around and saw that though there were Sorcerers and servants standing around the Sha'Kar, there wasn't a large greeting party there. He asked Jenna about that, and his sister chuckled before she responded. "It was Ianelle's orders," she told him. "She doesn't want any fuss raised at all over their arrival. The Council did want to have a ceremony, but Ianelle refused."

"It's because she's trying to break the younger Sha'Kar of their habits," Keritanima told him. "She doesn't want them getting any idea that they're special or anything like that. Ianelle's even making them carry their own trunks, without using Sorcery or anything," she added with a snicker. "Ianelle can be brutal."