"Wherever, and feel free to eat as much as you want," he told her.

In pairs, the other Were-cats came out of their temporary shelters and sat down to eat as Tarrin, Kimmie, and Jesmind did the same. Jeri was yawning about every other moment, often yawning in the middle of chewing. Singer didn't look entirely awake either. Regardless of that, the eight Were-cats showed the Aeradalla that Were-cats could eat, forcing the winged woman to pile anything onto her plate that she even thought she may want to eat. All of them seemed to forget the simple fact that Tarrin could simply Conjure more, as much as was needed. Instead of thinking about that, they all quickly claimed the majority of the food spread out on the table, and went about the task of eating it in relative silence.

After the meal was nearly over, as only Rahnee, Tarrin, and Thean continued to eat, Jeri yawned again, widely. Kimmie glanced at the youngling and chuckled, putting her chin on her paws and looking at him. "Sleepy, Jeri?" she asked.

He nodded woodenly. "I didn't sleep at all last night," he complained. "Rahnee kept me up, and even after we were done, I still couldn't sleep."

"That's not my fault," Rahnee told him with a nudge.

"I know, it's just that this is all so interesting," he said. "I've never been in an army before. I've never marched off to war before."

"Neither have I," Thean said absently, taking a long drink of water from a flagon. "We usually steer clear of things like this, cub."

"I know the law, Thean," Jeri said defensively. "But I still can't help but get excited at the idea."

"What's so exciting about two groups trying to kill each other?" Singer asked.

"Not that, Singer, the other things."

"What other things?"

"Meeting alot of humans in their land," he told her. "Seeing Centaurs and Were-kin and humans all working together. Going to do something that really matters, even if I have no idea what that is."

Ariana chuckled. "If you have no idea what we're doing, why did you come?" she asked him.

"Triana told me to come, so here I am," he said simply.

"Who is this Triana?"

"My mother," Jesmind answered. "You could more or less think of her as the ruler of the Were-cats. We don't have any organized rulership among us, but Triana is the oldest and strongest of us all. So when she says do something, you do it. It doesn't matter what it is or how stupid it may seem, you do it anyway."

Thean chuckled, and Singer nodded. "Nobody disobeys Triana. We're not that crazy."

"She's your queen, then?"

"That kind of formality is beyond us, my dear," Thean told her patiently. "But if you want to know who the top cat is in our race, you need look no further than Triana."

"We obey her because she'll kill us if we don't," Rahnee told the Aeradalla bluntly. "Were-cats don't take orders well. It takes someone like Triana to get us to gather and work together like this."

"Well, if she's not here, how do you decide who's in charge?"

"If you want to pin that kind of title on someone, look right over there," Thean told her, pointing at Tarrin. "He's the closest thing to leader we have right now."

"Why is that?"

"The same reason we obey Triana," Thean smiled. "Tarrin can thrash anyone sitting at this table. In our society, that makes him the dominant, so we'd obey him if he ordered us to do something."

"Forgive me for saying it, but I don't understand at all," Ariana said with a shake of her head.

"We're very simple people, Ariana," Thean said patiently. "We're part animal, so those animal instincts play a big role in how we behave and relate to others. Strength and power are the keys of dominion in our animal instincts, so that carries over to how we interact with one another socially. The biggest, strongest Were-cat is the dominant, and that makes him or her the leader if we cooperate like we're doing now. We obey because we acknowledge that strength. If two Were-cats were of generally equal strength, they'd probably fight to establish who was the dominant. Like Rahnee and Jesmind there," he said, pointing. "If me and Tarrin weren't here, it would come down to them. Since they're of similar size and age, they'd probably have to fight to determine who was the stronger. The winner would be the dominant, and everyone else would obey her."

"I see you put yourself right behind Tarrin," Ariana said with a grin.

"It's simple truth, Ariana. It's not something we brag about," he said mildly. "I know I'm stronger than everyone here but Tarrin. If he weren't here, I'd be the dominant, so I'd lead."

"You mean that's all there is to it? Whoever's strongest rules? No considering things like intelligence or ability?"

"Not usually," Thean chuckled. "Strength and power are usually much more important than age or wisdom. Though we do consider wisdom to be an aspect of power, it's physical strength that Were-cats consider most."

"That's twisted, Thean."

"That's how we do things, my dear. Since you're not a Were-cat, you don't have to worry about it, now do you?"

She laughed helplessly. "I guess I don't at that," she agreed. "You Were-cats are an unusual breed."

"Thank you," Thean told her with a smile. "We like to stand out."

Ariana glanced at him, then laughed again.

After breakfast, and after Tarrin banished the remnants of the breakfast and furniture he had created, the others gathered near the cart track leading to Aldreth. Nobody carried much more than what they were wearing, which gave the scene an eerie sense that they were doing nothing more than taking a quick trip to the village. The reality was that nobody was coming back here for quite a while. Tarrin paused to look back at the small farm that had been his home, still was his home, would always be his home, and quietly reflected on the changes it had brought to his life. He had found a daughter he didn't know he had, and he had patched things up with Jesmind-more or less. He'd met Kimmie, whose insightful observations of Were-cats and himself had caused him to have serious thoughts about the future. Truth be told, her idea of forming something of a rotational system of mates wasn't that bad of an idea. But what was probably most important of all, the farm, being there even for a few days, it had been good for him. He'd had a chance to rest, to recover, to spend a couple of days without worrying too much about what was coming. It had been something he had needed.

He thrusted a finger into Jasana's nose. "You stay out of it this time," he warned her sharply.

"Yes, papa," she said demurely, putting her paws behind her back.

Reaching out, Tarrin made the connection with the Weave, then drew in its might. His paws limned over with Magelight as he drew in the power of High Sorcery, and he raised them as the first framework of the Ward began to form around the farm. He wove it with flows of Divine, Air, and Mind, the normal elements of a blocking Ward; Divine to grant the Ward its unique powers, Air to form the physical barrier that would prevent people from crossing it, Mind to establish the parameters of who was allowed to cross it and who was not, and only token flows of the other Spheres to allow the Ward to attain a size and power unreachable with standard Sorcery. Had Tarrin used a killing Ward, like the one surrounding Aldreth, it would have been built from nothing but Mind and Divine. Tarrin wove it together with an ease that belied the complexity and difficult process of forming such a large and strong Ward, and then he spun off the seven flows from a nearby strand, pulled them to form a new strand, and then attached it to the core of the Ward. That gave the Ward an endless supply of power, and would render it permanent.

The air around the farm shimmered when the Ward was released and became active, and then it quickly vanished.