Compared to the Novice rooms, this was luxurious.

"I wonder if mine is this nice," Allia mused. There was a door between the washstand and bookcase on the right wall, the door leading to the central storeroom which this room and the next one over shared.

Tarrin leaned his staff in the corner and set his two packs down on top of the chest. "I'd hope so. Those windows may be a problem."

"Why?"

"Jesmind."

"Ah. I'm sure that you can figure out a way to defend them. And they let you out as easily as they let her in."

"Can't argue with that," he agreed as they opened the door to the storeroom.

It was large for a closet, with shelves lining the walls between the two doors. Two large chests sat against each wall, each chest flanked by two smaller ones, the same style and size chests as the one at the foot of his bed. A pole ran under the high shelf on each side of the closet, and several curious metal and wood hangars hung on them. Tarrin had seen hangars before, but only in the inn back at Aldreth. They were a relatively new innovation, from Shace. They'd been making wardrobes with hanging poles in them. They were primarily for dresses, to hang them to air them out and keep them from wrinkling.

"They certainly give us plenty of room," Tarrin noticed.

"I guess they think that we'll be living here for years," she replied as they opened the far door.

Allia's room looked so much like Tarrin's that he wondered for a moment if they hadn't gotten switched around in the closet. There was one difference, however. Allia's carpet was a darker shade of blue, and had a solid brown border instead of a geometric pattern border. "I'd say that it is," Tarrin noted calmly.

"Truly," she agreed. "It's quite nice." She put her packs on the floor and sat down on the bed tentatively, pressing down on it with her hands. "This one is almost as soft as the sleeping pillows I have back home," she said. "And I'm rather glad that I'll have you only a call away."

"It's going to be strange sleeping without Dar in the room," he grunted.

"He should be in the Initiate by the end of the month," she said. "You won't be separated long."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I've talked with him a few times since you were gone," she told him. "Nothing long. Just seeing if he'd heard anything about you."

Tarrin chuckled. "And you didn't kill him?"

"No," she said frostily, crossing her arms and taking a very imperial pose. "I'm not quite as bloodthirsty as that, thank you."

Tarrin laughed. "I think Dar appreciates your restraint."

She gave him an unflattering look. "Let's go get something to eat," she said. "I'm hungry."

"Me too," he agreed.

"I wonder when they'll give us the new clothes," she mused as they went out her door.

They already knew how things worked for Initiates in the main tower, from seeing them move around. Unlike Novices, who ate in the hall at definite times, an Initiate was allowed to take whatever food they wanted from the kitchen at any time, and they had their own special dining room, or they could take their food and eat it anywhere they wanted. That was because an Initiate's classes were not nearly as structured as a Novices, and the Initiate may spend two weeks taking a class at dawn, then move to an afternoon instruction, and so on. An Initiate's training was dependent more on the availability of an instructor than anything else, so the Initiate had to be able to receive instruction whenever it was available. Initiates also had more freedom than Novices. Once they were raised to the Blue, they were allowed off the Tower grounds, but had to remain within the city.

After invading the kitchens and fixing plates of breakfast, they took them out to thedining room and enjoyed a quiet meal. There were four other Initiates there, two wearing green, one red, and another light purple. It looked like the one wearing purple wanted to challenge the two, who were still wearing Novice white, about eating in the dining room reserved for Initiates. But the young woman seemed a bit intimidated by the two Non-humans.

"I wonder if they forgot about us," Tarrin chuckled as they finished. "I mean, with this princess coming in, I think the Keeper kind of messed up Master Brel's taking care of us."

"I don't really care if they remember or not," she replied in Selani. "Just so long as they remember to give us Initiate red."

"I guess so."

"I don't really mind it. It's refreshing not having everyone stare at me and go out of their way."

"No doubt," he agreed. "Maybe this Wikuni will give everyone something else to look at for a while."

"Why are you talking?" she challenged with a grin. "You've only been back two days. I'm the one that had to deal with it for two months."

"Who do you think was dealing with it before I left?" he retorted.

"Point taken, deshida," she said with a smile.

"I'm so glad, deshaida," he said in a neutral tone.

After eating, they walked back over to the North Tower, then they went to their rooms and unpacked. There was more room than Tarrin knew what to do with, but the fact that he wouldn't be keeping his Novice clothing gave him even more room. The room was on the third floor, so Tarrin spent some time looking out the windows, elbows on the windowsill. The room faced out into the gardens, and the riot of color and the smells drifting in from the window reminded him of the outside world, stirring the Cat inside him.

There was a knock at the door. "Yes?" Tarrin called.

A young man in a yellow shirt entered, holding a bundle of red shirts. "I was to drop these off to you," he said. "And pick up your Novice white."

Tarrin gave him a curious look. His eyes were a bit wild, and from the smell of him, he'd received a bit of a shock. "What's the matter?" he asked as he motioned him to come in and grabbed the hem of his shirt.

"That Selani," he said nervously, in a low voice. "I dropped off her shirts, and she took off the one she was wearing right in front of me!"

"She's like that," he chuckled, pulling off his own and folding it quickly and neatly in his paws. "You get used to it." He put on one of the new shirts, seeing that it fit well enough, then handed the young dark-haired Initiate his stack of white shirts.

"Thank you," he said, taking them. "I was supposed to tell you to be at Master Brel's office door at sunrise tomorrow," he instructed. "He said that you have the rest of today to settle in."

"Alright," he said. That was fine with him, for he wanted to see his parents.

That took a while. The only one that knew where they lived was the Keeper, and she was busy with the preparations to receive the Wikuni. By lunchtime, he finally tracked her down in her office. "Keeper, I have a favor to ask," he said as Duncan let him inside.

"Why bring it to me?" she asked. "I'm busy."

"Nobody else knows where my parents live," he said.

"Oh, my," she groaned. "Tarrin, I am so sorry. In all this chaos, I totally forgot to send that message. I meant to do it yesterday, but I got word that the Wikuni was coming in not long after you left my office."

"That's alright, Keeper," he said with sincere compassion. "I knew you were busy, and I don't think they could have seen me yesterday anyway."

"Yes, well, that doesn't excuse me," she said in a stern tone, full of self-incrimination. "I'll send the message right now. I'll have them come to your room."

Tarrin returned to his room to wait, and to dread and think about their arriving. So much had happened over the two months, so much time for them to think about the entire event. He honestly had no idea how they reacted to it, or how the time to think about it may have changed that original perception. His own memories of that fateful night were fuzzy, hazy, indistinct. He only knew the generalities of it. But in a way, that was bad enough. Knowing that he almost killed his own mother still sent a rush of hot shame through him when he pondered it, but the time with Janette had managed to partially heal that festering wound on his soul. All that he had left was to find out what his parents and sister thought about him now. Whether they would embrace him or spurn him. Either way, he felt that he could handle it. Losing his family would destroy him, but he would face up to it like a man. Like a Kael.