James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

Tarrin chuckled. "Wikuni Marines squaring off against the Knights of Karas? That would be a war."

"I was curious about something," she said.

"What?"

"I noticed that all the Knights are branded, just like you and Allia. What's going on with that?"

"Oh," Tarrin said with a rueful chuckle. "Allia branded me so I could be her brother," he began. "Well, the Knights consider me and Allia to be part of them, and if you know anything about the Knights-"

"Where All Are One Under Karas," she quoted the Knight parable, the one core ideal which identified the Knights as a group. "So they saw your brands, and decided that if you two had to wear them, so did they."

Tarrin nodded. "Now every Knight who passes training is branded in the Ceremony of Spurs. They have the holy symbol of Karas on one shoulder, and the standard of the Knights on the other."

"I'm sorry to say it, but you warrior types are weird," she said in a serious voice that made Tarrin burst out laughing. "Well, you are," she said in a defensive voice as Tarin reclaimed control of himself. "I'd never let someone put red-hot steel on my shoulder just to feel like I belonged."

"You wouldn't do it even if it meant that you attained what you dreamed of attaining for years?" he asked.

"Well, in that case, I probably would," she acceded.

"The Knights wear those brands like badges of honor now," Tarrin told her. "They're all very proud of them. And, I've been told that a priest of Karas is always on hand to help out, just in case. I get the funny feeling that they cheat a bit by having the priest deaden the feeling of the cadets just before they're branded."

"I'd rather be knocked out," Keritanima grunted.

"You may have to endure it," Tarrin mused.

"What? Why?"

"Because Allia really likes you," he replied. "I've caught her almost calling you deshaida a few times. And if you want to visit her clan someday and be accepted, that means you have to be sister to the Selani in all but blood. That means you accept the brands."

Those amber eyes became lucid and calculating for a moment, then faded back into the vapidness of the Brat Princess. "Well, I hope it doesn't hurt," she said.

"It does, trust me," he said with a shudder. "The pain is part of the ceremony."

"You're not making me look forward to this," Keritanima said with cool disdain. "Besides," she said in Selani, "it's not something the one without honor would do." There really wasn't a Selani word for brat , because such individuals didn't exist in their society. They were killed long before a word could be created to describe them.

"Who knows?" he said.

"Humans are such weird creatures," Keritanima said seriously.

"I'd have to agree," Tarrin said with a smile. "I used to be one of them, you know."

"I'd never have guessed," she teased.

They finished their lunches in relative silence, watching the Knights give Binter a bit of exercise. Tarrin felt a curious closeness to the Wikuni sitting beside him. She was much like him, a lost soul, someone very out of place with her situation, and he remembered what the Goddess had to say about her. He'd always liked her before, at least after he met the real Keritanima, but he realized that his feelings for her had deepened. It wasn't a romantic attraction, it was much what he felt for Allia. She was becoming close to him, like another sister. Their circumstances had brought them together, but that togetherness had formed what he hoped was a mutual bond of trust and friendship, and love.

He put his paw on her shoulder, and she looked up at him. She was about to say something, but when she looked into his eyes, her own softened considerably. Just for a moment, the Brat Princess dissolved away, and Keritanima looked up at him and smiled, then brushed her bushy tail up against his back. "It would honor me greatly if I could call you my deshaida , Keritanima," he said formally in Selani.

"The honor would be mine, Tarrin," she replied in Selani. "And it would honor me if I could call you my deshida ."

"I would find great honor in it," he replied sincerely, squeezing her shoulder.

"Yes, well," Keritanima said, her voice just a bit flustered, "I'm glad you think so." He could see her soft eyes hardening again, as she regained her composure and returned to her assumed personality. Keritanima had to stretch it to talk with him civilly as the Brat, but there was no way she could maintain her facade when such honest emotion passed between them.

"Are you ready for our little gathering?" she asked idly, getting herself under control.

"I'm always ready," he told her.

"Good. It's about time for us to get back. What are you doing?"

"Being as inactive as possible," he said with a wicked smile. "I think I may go find my staff and go challenge your Vendari bodyguard."

"It's your teeth," she said with an evil smile.

"They grow back," Tarrin shrugged.

"Well have fun with those weird warrior things," she said with a teasing look in her eye. "I'm going to go learn about real power."

"Enjoy," he told her as she stood up. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Oh, I guess so," she drawled. "You've proven that you're worthy enough to spend time in my august presence."

"I'll just bask in your aura, Kerri," Tarrin said dryly, standing up.

"I'll have to go get my aura polished, then," she winked. "You need a tan."

"You're so kind to me."

She laughed, then put her hands on her shoulders, rose up on her toes, and gave him a short lick to the cheek.

"Isn't this a bit out of character?" Tarrin asked quietly.

"Of course not," she said flippantly. "The Brat really likes you. It's why she tolerates your impertinence. Besides, she's amused by your wicked ways. You're always entertaining."

"Witch," Tarrin grinned.

"Count on it," she said with bright eyes, then she stepped away. "I'll see you tonight, Tarrin," she said. "Have fun. Oh, and thanks for the present. We'll talk about it tonight."

"I'll try, and you're welcome," he told her, then he watched her saunter away.

He chuckled again. Keritanima was quite a woman.

I told you so, the Goddess' voice echoed in the depths of his mind, her tone amused and teasing, and then it was gone just as quickly as it came to him.

"You stay out of this," he said aloud, in a playful banter. But there was no response.

Tarrin glanced at Binter again. Oh, yes, he'd like a match against that monster of a Vendari. He had the feeling that he may need some experience fighting larger opponents. The Gods only knew what would jump out of the wall to attack him next.

Tracking down his staff wasn't easy. They'd taken it from the battleground, and he had to ask around for almost an hour until he found out who had taken it. It ended up in the laboratory of a katzh-dashi , a small, plump little man with a balding pate and a rotund face. He smelled heavily of spices and garlic, and the lingering traces of the smells of many, many types of plants were trapped in his brown robe. His laboratory was in the Northeast Tower, a small area that was dominated by a row of huge glass windows that ran along the right wall. Lining that entire side of the room were rows and rows of plants, flowers, and vegetables, all growing in long wooden troughs filled with sod. The entire room smelled of earth and plants and life, and it twinged the animal within him in the most curious way.

"Ah, I wondered when you would show up," the little man said in a gentle voice from where he was pruning an amazingly little tree in a brazed brass pot. "You want your staff back?"

"Please," Tarrin replied directly. "Why did they bring it here?"

"I wanted to study the wood," he replied. "I specialize in plants and botany. Ironwood is exceedingly rare. It only grows in the northeast corner of Sulasia. Do you know that it's so bouyant that a staff like that one can support the weight of a grown man?" he asked, pointing to Tarrin's staff. It was laying on a long table near the door, an open book with scribbled notes sitting beside it. "And it doesn't die. The wood in that staff is still alive, even after being cut away from its parent tree. If you planted that staff in the ground and left it, it would grow into another tree."