Weavespinner

"You'd better," Keritanima told him tearfully as he and both his sisters shared a common embrace. "I hate letting you go, brother."

"We all have our own things to do, Kerri," he told her. "And we'll never be truly apart. I'm always just a touch away."

"That is the only reason I can let you go, my brother," Allia told him thickly.

"And you were going to sneak away without saying goodbye to me? I'm crushed," the Goddess said. They all turned to look at her, and then she stepped aside. Behind her, wearing a new pair of leather trousers and a simple linen shirt, was Jula.

Tarrin opened his arms to his bond-daughter, and she flew into them with tearful eyes, hugging him tightly. "I can't believe it!" she sobbed. "I'm so glad you're alright, father!"

"I'm fine, cub," he said to her gently. "And you got here just in time. A few more minutes, and Mother would have had to bring you to Aldreth. I hope Triana leaving you behind didn't upset you too much."

"I was until Mother spoke to me," she said. "She told me to be patient and wait, and she'd come for me. She came for me," she said in wonder.

"I'm sorry about that, cub," Triana said with sincere regret. "When your Goddess spoke to me and told me about Tarrin, I completely forgot myself. I think I said some pretty nasty things to the Hierarchs before I left."

"You did," she giggled. "They were very mad at you."

"Why did you go there?" Tarrin asked them.

"They wanted to test me," Jula said. "I'm an adult now, father. I don't have to stay with you. But if you don't mind, I'd like to. I'll help you settle in and help Jesmind with Jasana. If you don't mind."

"We don't mind at all, cub," Jesmind told her with a gentle smile. "But you may be usurped by Kimmie and Mist. They're going to need a little help."

Jula looked over to them, then saw the tiny bundles in their arms. She squealed in delight and rushed over to them, looking into the tiny bundles with unbridled joy. "Twins!" she said in wonder. "Kimmie, you had twins!"

"Yes, two are more or less considered twins," Kimmie said with a sly smile. "This is Tara, and Mist is holding Rina. And we very well may ask you to stay with us a while, Jula. You know how precocious Were-cat children are. We just might need your help."

"I'd be happy to babysit for you," Jula said.

"I say, congratulations on your adulthood, Jula," Phandebrass said with a smile. "It was well earned, it was."

"Thank you," she said with a slight blush.

They gathered around Jula, welcoming her and congratulating her, but the Goddess had come up to Tarrin. She looked up at him with boundless love in her eyes, and she held out her hands to him. He took them in her paws gently, lost in the love he felt from her, totally adoring her. "Just as I promised you, kitten," she said, looking up at him with a glorious smile. "You have your reward."

Jula laughed brightly, but the Goddess fixed her with an icy stare. "Not a word!" she snapped at the female.

"Yes, Mother," she said meekly, but she was gri

"What did you do, Mother?" he asked susiciously.

She pulled her hands from him and put her hands behind her back, striking up a pose of thoroughly insincere i

Tarrin laughed helplessly. "Alright, if you want to surprise me, I promise I'll be surprised," he told her. "Just for you."

"Oh, good!" she said brightly, then she literally leaped forward and grabbed him by the neck. She pulled him down, and then gave him a loving kiss on the cheek, a kiss that burned with throbbing power that reminded him that she was very much a god. "Remember, you promised to be surprised," she told him. "Now go on, kitten. You need to get on your way."

Tarrin sighed, then he nodded. "Alright, gather around me," Je

"Any time you want, Dola

He felt Je

It was not a goodbye. It truly was only until tomorrow.

And then they were gone. And a chapter of Tarrin's life had come to an end.

Aldreth was freezing.

They arrived just at dawn. Je

"Well, let's go crash breakfast," Je

They trudged up to the farmhouse, and an entire lifetime of memories swirled up around him. He had been born in that house, and all of this had ultimately started right here. On the Kael farm, that isolated farmstead that held the distinction of being the furthest east of any human settlement in Sulasia. Home to a pensioned Ranger and his Ungardt princess bride, and had been for the last twenty years. This was where he grew up, this was where he learned how to fight and how to hunt. This was where he began, and in a way, this was what he was. The fact that he was one of the most powerful magic-users on Se

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