"Who was that?" Jegojah asked.

"An Aeradalla, with ties to the throne," he replied.

"Many strange friends ye have, Were-cat, yes," Jegojah smiled.

"I wouldn't trade them for an army of normal friends," he said adamantly.

"Well said," the undead warrior said with a nod.

Tarrin settled himself, then cast out a distance. "Keritanima," he called.

The answer was almost before he finished speaking her name. "Tarrin!" she said happily. "How are you? Are you alright?"

"Hold on," he said in Sha'Kar. "I'm going to tell you to do something strange, and please don't argue with me. This is very, very important."

"Well, if I have to," she said in a lilting, amused tone. "I'm not much used to taking orders from base commoners, you know."

"Just say that again when we're face to face, Kerri."

"I'm not that stupid, brother," she laughed. "What's so serious that you'd order me around?"

"Kerri, I need you to guide me," he said. "Touch the Weave and hold as much of it as you can. I know you and I know your touch, so I should be able to find you. Just keep at it for ten minutes. If something doesn't happen in ten minutes, let go of the Weave and contact me."

"That sounds pretty strange, but I'll do it," she replied. "Alright, I'm ready. Whatever it is you're going to try to do, go ahead."

Tarrin broke the connection and looked around. The nearest strand that he could touch was, fortunately, on the other side of the square. "I'm going to go over there and talk to Kerri in a very secure way, Jegojah," he told the undead warrior. "I'll be asleep until I'm done, just so you know."

"Very well, Jegojah will watch over ye, yes," he said, standing up.

It felt odd, it sounded odd, that Jegojah would be watching over him, but things were just like that in Tarrin's life. He padded over and sat down, placing his body directly within the small feeder strand that would be his gateway into the Weave. "If I don't wake up within thirty minutes, go find Sarraya," he told Jegojah. "She'll be able to wake me up."

"As you say," the undead warrior said, taking up a watchful stance and scouring the surrounding cityscape with its eyes.

Tarrin joined with the Weave easily, almost as easily as standing up, and sent his consciousness into it. He first went to the Heart, felt the basking radiance of the Goddess on his soul, but he ignored that as best he could as he searched the thousands of small stars and strands for a sense of Keritanima's presence. It wasn't easy with so many of them, but his intimate familiarity with his sister allowed him to discern which of those thousands of stars was hers. Every Sorcerer, even himself, was represented in the dark void of the Heart by those stars, and now that he knew which was hers, he could use her star to guide him to her physical body.

He marveled a moment at how quickly he had picked up on this strange ability. Perhaps the goddess was tinkering again. He had only done it once, with Jenna. But he had been in the Heart before, and he knew about the stars, so it seemed only simple logic to conclude that using one's star to find the Sorcerer's location within the Weave was possible. Tarrin couldn't discern physical location, for the Weave didn't restrict itself to mortal reality. It transcended that, going into time as well as space, and to find Keritanima, he had to find her location within the Weave. The star was but a representation of her, but he could use the sense of it to find Kerri in the vast network of the Weave. Something like giving him her scent, and that would allow him to track her down.

It didn't take long. He had the sense of her now, and he could feel her imprint in the Weave, since she was in direct contact with it. He felt her radiant presence from a distance, and he moved through strands until that sense of her was directly before him. This was the place. He wove together that projected image of himself, and then pressed his consciousness into it.

He opened his spectral eyes to find himself standing in a luxuriously appointed cabin. The cabin was rocking slightly, and the bay windows at the rear of the cabin showed him a vast panorama of empty ocean. Keritanima was aboard her ship, travelling towards Suld. She was sitting in a lushly padded chair, staring at Tarrin in shock. As was Miranda, who was standing beside Keritanima, holding a bundle of yarn in her delicate hands.

"Tarrin!" Keritanima squealed, jumping out of the chair.

Before he could do anything, he raised his arms in defense against her. "Kerri, no!" he said immediately. "This is an Illusion!"

It did no good. She bounded across the cabin and hurled herself at him, arms outspread-

– -then crashed unceremoniously to the carpeted deck, passing through his phantasmal body.

Miranda started giggling behind her hand, then broke into outright laughter when Keritanima rolled over and looked up at Tarrin's rueful expression. He missed his sister, missed her desperately, but just seeing her like this was almost as good as being with her. He'd see her again for real, see her soon, but for now this was good enough. It didn't make him feel lonely, as he feared it might have, instead it reminded him of his beloved sisters in positive ways. His love for his sister bloomed from inside him, causing the Weave surrounding them to shimmer in an unusual fashion.

"Tarrin, why didn't you warn me!" Keritanima complained, pulling herself to her feet. "And how are you doing this?" she asked curiously.

"Don't try this, Kerri," he warned immediately. "It's something you can't do. Yet," he added. "I can't stay like this very long. It costs me a great deal, so let's cut through all the happy chatter and get to the point."

"That's Tarrin, all right," Miranda laughed. "You look… taller. Much taller. Is that really you?"

"It is," he grunted. "I'll explain what happened the next time we're together. For real," he added. "Kerri, do me a favor and Ward this place as tightly as you can. Make sure that a mouse can't even hear what I'm about to say."

"Hold on," she said. She was still in contact with the Weave, so she started quickly. Tarrin could actually see the weaves take form, then solidify to create a Ward of impenetrable qualities, something that stopped sound, passage of living beings, even defeated magic. She layered it against the walls, floor, and ceiling of her cabin, and the speed and expertise which she demonstrated when weaving it showed him that she was very experienced in Wardcraft. It had probably been a very handy trick back at home, where everyone and his brother was a spy.

"Very nice," he complimented.

"I've had alot of practice," Keritanima smiled that toothy smile, sitting down again. "Now, what's so important that you'd start showing off new tricks that you know I'm going to try to learn?"

Tarrin grimaced. He forgot about that. She would try to learn, no matter how many times he told her not to.

"You've been keeping up with what's going on in the West?" he asked.

"As far as Sulasia goes, yes," she replied. "I'm ferrying over ten thousand Vendari and a few divisions of regular troops. I'm also bringing over some cannon to help the Sulasians."

"Then you're off to a good start," he grunted. "They're going to need more, sister. As many as you can get there, as quickly as you can." Tarrin then repeated what he learned from Jegojah.

"How can you trust that old bonesack?" Keritanima challenged. "He may be lying."

"He has no reason to lie, Kerri, and think about it. It explains quite a few things, and it makes sense. Has anything I said surprised you, outside of the end of it?"

"Well, no," she admitted. "We knew that someone was stirring up trouble in Tykarthia, but we couldn't figure out why. And we knew old King Armond had been assassinated, but we could never find out who did it."