James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

Keritanima nodded. "I'll be busy getting into Allia's good graces, and resuming our friendship."

"Then I guess we have a plan."

"For now. Did you talk to my cat?"

He nodded. "He'll come find me if you tell him to."

"Good." She brought her bushy tail around her body and began combing it out. "Now then, there's just one more thing."

"What?"

"I need my back brushed," she said with a toothy grin. "Be a dear and smooth my fur."

To: Title EoF

There were a great many things to do, and it was starting to feel to Tarrin that they were running out of time.

He was sitting in the small training chamber, nervous and uncertain, waiting for Dolanna to arrive. He had no idea how it was going to go. Perhaps a day of staying away from the Weave had corrected the problem he was having, but he wasn't so sure about that. He had tried to find Tiella before coming to the chamber, but she hadn't appeared in the baths, nor did he see her in the hallways as he wandered about. Novices had set schedules, so it was certain that she was somewhere specific, and that she would be there again tomorrow. Keritanima said she would find out where she was, and that made Tarrin a bit uncertain. How would an Initiate with no direct contact with Tiella be able to find her? True, she was a Princess, and she was good at finding things out, but he wasn't so sure that she could find Tiella in a day, and not leave tracks that she was asking.

He'd been so intent on finding Tiella that he didn't get a chance to talk to Dar. That would be handled after class, because Dar would be easy to track down. Initiates were given much more freedom than Novices but still only had so many places that they were allowed to go, and since Tarrin was Dar's friend, it wouldn't arouse suspicion if he asked around to find him.

Tarrin was still a bit unsure about Keritanima's ideas. He'd never seen spying and intrigue, so he had no idea how she was going to manage all the things she said she would do. He did like her plan, however, so that told him that she must know what she was doing. But he had trouble conceiving of something that he couldn't see or touch. That was an aspect of the Cat growing to hold a position in his mind, and he knew it, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. It was either give the Cat some room, or have it drive him mad. It wasn't altering his imagination, but it did have the effect of, as Dolanna put it, grounding him in his senses. Anything he couldn't see, couldn't smell, couldn't experience, they seemed misty and intangible, and it was a struggle to overcome the Cat and ponder them.

But fortunately, pondering Keritanima's plans wasn't necessary. Not with Keritanima there to carry them out.

The door opened, scattering Tarrin's thoughts, and Dolanna entered. To his surprise, she wasn't the only one. Ahiriya, the Fire Seat, filed in behind the diminutive Sorceress, dressed in a red robe that set off her pale skin and fiery hair. That set Tarrin's mind whirling, and one of his paws began to tremble. To have to perform for Ahiriya was one thing, but it would become very clear very quickly to her and the Council that he was hampered. If he was still injured inside, or whatever it was.

"Good morning, Tarrin," Dolanna said pleasantly. "This is Ahiriya, a member of the Council. Often, they prefer to sit in with an Initiate and his instructor to ensure you are receiving proper instruction."

"Dolanna, this is not a good idea," he said quickly, almost desperately. "I didn't-"

"That's Mistress Dolanna," Ahiriya said in an icy tone, glaring at him.

"Don't push me, woman," Tarrin said to her in a cold voice that promised violence.

"Tarrin, mind your manners!" Dolanna said in shock.

"Save it," Tarrin told her bluntly. "I'm not going to do tricks for the Council, even if I could."

"You go too far, Initiate," Ahiyira said in a tightly controlled voice. "I think a few days of penance is in order."

"I'd like to see you try," Tarrin said in an ominous tone, his eyes lighting from within with their greenish aura.

Dolanna, who knew him so well, understood immediately what that meant. "Mistress Ahiriya, perhaps it would be wise for you to leave for now," she said in a calm voice.

"I'm not letting this impertinent whelp get away with such outrageous disrespect," Ahiriya said in a hot tone.

"Yes, but if you keep going, he will most definitely cause me to Heal one of you," Dolanna told her in a blunt voice.

"You wouldn't dare attack a member of the Council!" Ahiriya said in shock, staring at him.

Tarrin laid back his ears, extended his claws, and growled at her.

"Oh my," Dolanna breathed, backing away from him.

If anything convinced Ahiriya that he was serious, that could. She backed up to the door, keeping her eyes on him, then opened it behind her. "We'll talk about this later, Initiate," she promised in an ugly tone. Then she backed through the door and closed it.

The instant the door was closed, Tarrin's ears rose up to their normal position, and he stood up straight from the crouching stance he assumed. He looked at Dolanna, his face sober, then he gave her a slight smile and winked.

"You staged that?" she asked in a gasping voice. "Tarrin, what on earth are you doing?"

"I don't need an audience today, Dolanna," he told her. "I have, I have a problem. I need your help."

"What is it?"

"The fight with the Doomwalker, it…injured something inside me. I can't control Sorcery. Every time I touch the Weave, the power just floods into me, and I can't stop it."

Dolanna looked at him for a moment. "Floods into you? I taught you how to control it, dear one. It is no different."

"Yes, it is," he replied, sitting down. "The touching still feels the same, but the instant I do, it's like the Weave tries to reach out and grab me. When it does grab me, it tries to flood me with power. I can't resist it, Dolanna. It's way too much for me."

"I was told you caused your mother's hair to grow out," she said. "That is something that even I cannot do, Tarrin. I would not know where to begin. So you can still use your power."

He nodded. "But if I hold onto it for more than two heartbeats, the Weave realizes I'm in contact with it, and then it tries to burn me alive. And there's more."

"What?"

"I can almost see the Weave now, Dolanna," he told her. "Even without touching it, I can sense it around me. And if I concentrate, I can almost see the strands. Ahiriya touched the Weave when I threatened her. I could feel it."

Dolanna nodded. "I knew, because I was in touch with the Weave myself," she told him with a rueful smile. "I really thought you meant to attack her."

"I wanted her out of here," he said bluntly. "The Council will find out in time, but I don't want the pressure of having to explain all of this with her looking over my shoulder. I…I can't talk about things with strangers around. You're the only one in this Tower wearing a shaeram that I trust."

"I appreciate your trust, dear one, but there are many here worthy of it," she told him gently. "I understand that you and Sevren have a friendship. Could you not trust him?"

He chuckled ruefully. "Well, he did save my life, so I guess I could. But I don't know him that well."

"And what of Jula? She stood vigil for you when you were injured, and she has befriended your parents."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I was there also," she said. "Jula likes you, dear one. She told me that she met you before you entered the Novitiate, in the baths, and you impressed her."

Tarrin remembered indeed, how she braided his hair, and how she joked about it. She didn't seem like a Sorceress. "Well, maybe," he said. "But we're getting off the point, Dolanna. Can you help me work around this, this problem? Or at least tell me what's wrong?"