James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

Annoyed he opened his eyes and glared at her. "What?" he demanded in the unspoken manner of the Cat.

"There's no need to get snippy," she said frostily. "I just wanted to know how your parents are doing."

Although the strangeness of it seemed to be lost on her, it was not lost on him. He did not speak. And her response was more than merely understanding what was in his eyes. She had been snippish in response to his own blunt demeanor. Such a reaction could only come if she understood what he'd said. Giving her a strange look, he rose up into a sitting position. How could she have understood? Only other cats, or a Were-cat, could have understood his words.

The shaeram . She'd found it in the courtyard, where the statue of that Goddess stood. And both of them had been amazed to find it, considering that it wasn't there the day before. Could it have been some kind of gift from that Goddess to Allia? Something to let her understand Tarrin when he was a cat?

There was one way to find out. Giving her a direct look, he said "Stand on one foot and sing the drunken courtesan song."

"And what insanity possesses you to think I'd act a fool for your amusement?" she countered with a smile. Then she blinked, and her expression went from mild amusement to one of incredulity.

"Yes," he replied to her unspoken question. "Don't ask me how, I don't know. I think it's that amulet you found in the courtyard. I think it's letting you understand me."

She reached into her shirt and drew out the ivory medallion. "Amazing," she said. "It's as if I hear you speaking in your own voice! But that's impossible, you being the way you are now."

"I am speaking in my own voice," he told her. "Well, sort of. It's my unspoken voice. It's just that you can hear it."

"I can hear it fine," she said, staring at him.

"Take off the amulet," he said.

She nodded, and removed it. "Alright," she said. "Try now." Tarrin asked her how old her father was, but there was no reply. "If you're talking, I can't hear it," she told him after a moment. Then she put it back on. "Tarrin?"

"It's the amulet," he affirmed.

"My," she breathed, then she stared at it. "There is no way that this found its way to me by sheer accident," she said firmly. "I can almost smell someone's hand making things like they are."

"Yes, but who would put it there?" Tarrin said. He secretly had suspicions, of course. That Goddess in the statue was probably the guilty party. She was the only one, outside of Allia herself and Jesmind, that knew about Tarrin's ability to communicate in the unspoken manner of the Cat. But Allia's devotion to Fara'Nae would probably make her reject the necklace if Tarrin told her where it really came from. And her having it would open up entire worlds of new possibilities. For one, if he didn't miss his mark, he could speak to her in the manner of the Cat while in humanoid form, allowing him to talk to her without speaking. The use of it went beyond mere words.

So, to make sure she kept it, a little bit of creative manipulation of the truth was in order. Tarrin couldn't lie while speaking in the manner of the Cat. Lying was alien to the Cat, so it had no place in its language. But that didn't stop him from spinning the truth on its edge.

"I'm sure that the goddess that gave it to you wanted you to have it, Allia," he told her, stressing the word goddess while underplaying the possibility that it was some goddess other than Fara'Nae. "Else she'd never have put it there for you to find." The key to a good lie-or manipulation of the truth, in this case-was simplicity. The simpler things were, the more easily they could be accepted as honest words. That was why Tarrin didn't elaborate, allowing her to digest his statement and draw her own conclusions.

"It certainly wasn't there the day before," she said in support. And it's so lovely ," she sighed, looking at the carved ivory symbol. "You're right, my brother," she said after a moment. "It was left there for me on purpose. I'll not question a gift freely given, even though I know it wasn't from the Holy Mother." She gave Tarrin a sly look. "And I suspect that you know where it came from," she pressed, sitting down beside him and grabbing him by the tail. "It's from that other one, isn't it? The one they made me swear obedience to this morning?"

Tarrin laughed ruefully. "I'd imagine so," he told her. "This is her domain, after all. If anyone put it there, it was her."

"Yes, you're right," she said. "I guess that's not all that hard to figure out, is it? She knows about you and me, and she gave me this to help me talk with you." She patted it, then slid it back under her shirt. "I'll have to talk fast to the Holy Mother, but I think she won't mind. She gave me permission to take that oath, after all. I get the feeling that the Holy Mother has some kind of agreement with this Goddess of the Sorcerers over me. I think they're sharing me somehow."

"Why not?" Tarrin shrugged. "If your Holy Mother is sure that this other goddess will take good care of you, and won't try to steal you, then I don't think she'd mind all that much. From what you've told me of her, she seems a very practical goddess."

"The Holy Mother is very practical," Allia said. "It's what makes her such a sensible goddess, and it's a reflection of the way we Selani live. Practicality is very important out in the desert. Without it, we would quickly die."

"I imagine so," he agreed. "I think you're in a pretty unusual situation, Allia. You've got the Holy Mother looking out for you, but since you can do Sorcery, that also puts you under the influence of this goddess of the Sorcerers. I guess it's not all that strange to think that they made a deal. I don't think they want any friction between each other, you and the Sorcerers, or upset your beliefs."

Allia laughed. "Here we sit, daring to speculate on the motives of the gods. I'm surprised we haven't been struck dead."

"Men have been doing it for as long as there have been gods to talk about," Tarrin shrugged, or as best he could in cat form.

"Truly," she agreed.

"I'm going back to sleep," he told her. "I'll see you later?"

"Later," she replied.

Tarrin saw her again about sunset, coming out of the main Tower's entrance that led to the kitchens, and also the entrance that Initiates and Novices were supposed to use. Her hair was damp; she'd been in the baths. "Tarrin," she called, her expression a bit irritated, "you would not believe who I just saw."

"That Wikuni?" he asked.

She nodded. "I can't believe that anyone would act like that. If she were Selani, her parents would have killed her!"

"What did she do?"

"She threw a temper tantrum in the middle of the kitchens," she replied. All because the cook wouldn't bake her a fresh loaf of bread, no less! She was completely out of control. She even threw knives at the cook!"

"Wow," he breathed. "Did the Keeper spank her again?"

"What?"

Tarrin quickly related the short tale of his meeting with the Wikuni, which made Allia laugh. "No, the Keeper wasn't there," she replied. "One of the Council did come down and speak very firmly to her, though. I think she listened about as much as a rock would have."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Tarrin grunted.

"Where are you going?"

"To get something to eat," he replied.

"I'll come with you," she said.

The night air was crisp and cold, the ever-present wind of the Keen howling over the battlements of the wind-swept fortress. Built of gray stone over two thousand years ago, the forgotten structure clung perilously to the cliffside of God's Crag, a massive mountain south of the main crux of the three Petal Lakes, the point where the three lakes joined. The six towers of the outer walls and main keep had stood against the stiff, constant wind for more years than most things on the world had lived, and had withstood the merciless pounding in such a way that made the use of magic obvious. Built long ago by a forgotten king to protect the flow or iron from the rich mountains that surrounded the Petal Lakes, Castle Keening served a new master now. The mines to the east of Castle Keening were long ago abandoned and collapsed, and those to the north were supplied by lakebarge and raft instead of the forgotten overland routes that the grim, foreboding castle had once defended from raiding bands of Waern, Dargu, Bruga, and Trolls.