It was almost as if the Weave didn't want him to touch it.

It was so infuriating! He could see it! He knew where it was, he knew how it felt. But he couldn't come into contact with it! It was almost like he was a ghost, incapable of interacting with the Weave in the same plane. But he knew it was possible, he knew he could do it! The Sha'Kar woman could do it, why couldn't he? It made no sense!

"You knew this was going to happen, Tarrin," Sarraya said from a safe distance. "It's time to calm down and have dinner. You can work yourself into a frenzy tomorrow."

He glared at her.

"Don't give me that look, young man. I'll spank you."

"Shut up," he snapped. Then he dropped himself to the sand. Hard. Almost without thinking about it, he reached within, making contact with the All, and Conjured forth a large honeymelon. He used a single claw to cut the thick outer skin, then split it into two halves. He breathed in and out deeply while he was doing it, a stress-relieving exercise that Allia had taught him at the same time she taught him the trick to ignoring chronic pain. It helped considerably, allowing him to get over his pique, allowed him to bury the frustration and aggravation for a while. He'd stew over it again later, but that was because he needed to do it. He had to analyze his failures so he didn't make the same mistakes, to help him succeed. That was what his mother had taught him, and despite the many changes in his life, the simple lessons given to him by his mother still had more merit than almost anything else he'd learned. He scooped the seeds and core of the melon out with two fingers and claws, casting them to the ground near the rocks. It was bait for later.

"Calm now?" Sarraya asked.

"I'm not throwing this at you, am I?" he retorted.

Sarraya giggled. "No, as a matter of fact, you're not," she agreed, flitting down and landing on the sand before the melon. "Is this mine?"

"If you don't want to conjure your own," he shrugged. "After I eat this, I'm going to see how many mice I can catch."

"Eww," Sarraya said with a shudder. "Don't talk about things like that while I'm eating."

"Don't turn your nose up to it until you try it," he said, taking a bite out of the melon. "Odds are they won't be that tasty, though. They'll probably be as tough and stringy as a ten year old rooster."

"I said not while I'm eating!" Sarraya protested.

He glanced at her, and was about to say something, but another voice suddenly arose from between them. "Tarrin?" Allia's voice called. "Tarrin, are you there?"

Without hesitating, his heart soaring a bit from hearing that voice, Tarrin put a sticky paw on his amulet immediately and willed that she would hear him. "I'm here, Allia," he replied. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing is wrong, but Dolanna wanted me to contact you to make sure you were alright. There have been some… unusual fluctuations in the Weave." Allia had to struggle for words because such a concept was a hard one to phrase in Selani. "She wanted to know if you were feeling the same things."

"What is she saying?" Sarraya asked. Tarrin quickly repeated Allia's words, and Sarraya chuckled. "No wonder. I'm surprised they felt it all the way over there."

"I know what was causing it, sister," Tarrin said. "It's not something I want to say like this. Dolanna warned us that there may be unfriendly ears eavesdropping." He glanced at Sarraya. "Just tell Dolanna that it's nothing to worry about. It shouldn't happen again."

"I'll tell her. How are you, brother? I have worried for you."

"I'm alright, sister," he replied sincerely. "Alot has happened to me, but I'm still here, and I'm still on the move. I miss you."

"It's not right that I'm not there to guide you throught he desert," she said in a surly tone. "I worry about you, because all you have is that flighty Faerie." Allia had to use the Sulasian word for Faerie because no such word existed in Selani.

"What did she say about me?" Sarraya demanded.

"You don't want to know," he told her dismissively. "Where are you, Allia?"

"Right now, we're only a couple of days from Suld," she replied. "We are all well. Most of us are getting very unsettled from being on the ship for so long, but it'll be over soon." There was a pause. "Dolanna is here. She wanted to know if you've been teaching Sarraya the special tongue we use when speaking privately."

Careful, careful Allia. She didn't even want to use the word Sha'Kar, even while speaking Selani through the amulet. It made him wonder why she was speaking Selani. Probably because someone else may be able to hear her on the ship, someone that wasn't a close friend.

"Actually, I haven't," he said, a bit sheepishly. "So much has happened here, sister, that was the last thing I would have thought to do."

"Dolanna says that it is no excuse. Sarraya needs to learn. You have to teach her."

"Alright," he sighed.

"She said my name. What did she say?" Sarraya demanded. "You're getting on my nerves, Tarrin!"

"I'll tell you in a minute!" he snapped at her. "Now shut up and let me talk!" He turned his attention to the amulet again. "Is everyone else alright? Is Dar alright?"

"Dar? I haven't seen much of him. He's gotten a bit introverted since you left, probably because he doesn't really feel comfortable around us without you here. But he is alright, I can tell you that."

"Allia, he's your friend! You shouldn't allow him to feel that way."

"I know, but I haven't been one much for conversation lately either, my brother. Having you parted from me has caused me more pain that I was prepared to endure. I wish for nothing now but to have you and Kerri with me again. I want my family back."

"Allia, you have no idea how much I want that too," he said emphatically. "We should cut this short, sister. I want you to do something for me."

"What?"

"When you get to Suld, be very careful," he told her. "I mean more careful than even Camara Tal intends to be. And you have to keep an eye on Dar. Keep him safe, sister. He's going to need someone like you to protect him."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's just a feeling, but it's a very strong one," he answered. "I've come to trust those feelings here lately. So far, they haven't led me wrong."

"Sometimes the heart knows what the mind is not ready to accept," she said sagely. "If the feeling is that strong, then I will honor its intent. I'll keep a special eye on Dar for you, brother. He will find no harm while I watch over him."

"Good. That makes me feel much better. I haven't felt much from Jula lately. Is she still with Triana?"

"I don't trust her, Tarrin," she said heatedly. "Better that we get rid of her, one way or another. But she's still here, still being taught by your bond-mother."

"Good. I was starting to wonder. She hasn't had any spats of anger or humiliation for a few days now. That's unusual."

"She's been behaving. Triana has had no reason to punish her."

Tarrin chuckled a bit. "I guess that explains it. Any word from Kerri?"

"She contacts me every couple of days. Right now, she's working to change around her government so they'll run smoothly while she's gone. She's gotten the cooperation of the nobles." Allia laughed brightly. "She said that they all about went up in flames when they found out that she intends to put a Vendari subject-king on her throne to run Wikuna while she's away. I think a few of them had ideas to try to rebel or take over the kingdom while Kerri was gone."

Tarrin laughed. A Vendari on the throne meant that he would follow the absolute letter of the law. And he would be totally unbribable. If Kerri left her kingdom in the care of a Vendari, she was absolutely guaranteed to still have a throne when she returned.

"Other than that, she said that the nobles are actually starting to warm a little to her new system. She sat down with some of them yesterday and showed them how their noble houses could use the new system to their advantage, and make money. That made them all more amenable to her ideas."