, what she heard had horrified her.  That was a good sign.  If she was that horrified by what she heard, she wouldn't continue her descent into their decadent lifestyle.
	"Tarrin," Kimmie called after they turned to see who came in.  "What happened--"
	Kimmie cut herself off as Tarrin stalked right by them, then stopped.  He sent out his awareness into the room and carefully inspected that Ward that he had absently raised not long ago, a Ward that, by some grace of the Goddess, he had set to defeat attempts to spy through the Weave as well as prevent eavesdropping.  Its integrity was good, but it was weakening as the charged magic he set into it began to wane.  Tarrin reset the weave slightly, spinning a small strand out from the nearest strand and anchoring it to the heart of the Ward in a manner that he had seen around them, a manner he had actually used before.  The strand, connected to the core of the weave, would supply it with an endless supply of magical energy.  It rendered the Ward permanent.
	Dolanna sensed what he was doing, her eyes speculative as he turned and looked at them.  He didn't look at her too long, however, staring at his mate.  "You told her?"
	Kimmie nodded solemnly.
	"What do you think, now, Dolanna?" he asked bluntly.  "What do you think of the Sha'Kar?"
	"I find it hard to believe that it happened, dear one," she sighed forlornly.  "Had Zarina not been here to confirm it, I would not have believed it to be.  But I cannot deny the truth.  I think that not all Sha'Kar are like that, but still, it is something that I cannot condone."
	Tarrin was inwardly escstatic.  At least Dolanna  had seen the truth, and for one, she wasn't willing to explain away or try to defend the Sha'Kar for that heinous act.  Dolanna was with them.  That was one.  Now, they had to convince the other two.  Tarrin continued on with relief evident in his voice.  "You may be right," Tarrin admitted.  "But I'm not taking any chances now.  Not after the talk I just had with the Council."  Tarrin told them about his meeting, how they had shown little concern of the two Druids, and then the bombshell that Tarrin had quite accidentally dropped among them.  "You should have seen how they reacted to that, Dolanna," he told her earnestly.  "I thought they were going to faint!  When I see Phandebrass again, I'm going to kiss him for his nitpicking ways.  If he hadn't have been prattling on about that, I wouldn't have said it to the Council."
	"I don't think he'd like a kiss from you, Tarrin," Kimmie teased with a grin.  "But if this is that serious, then we need to find out what really happened to the other Sha'Kar.  If we do, and the Council knows we know, they may suddenly get very cooperative."
	"That's exactly what I was thinking," Tarrin told her with a nod.  "But now that they know that I know something about it, I think they're going to watch all of us like a hawk.  They're not stupid.  I think they know that I saw their reactions when I mentioned that.  They'll suspect that I suspect something, and they're going to watch us very carefully to make sure I don't follow up on it.  If I were them, I wouldn't lay off until  was convinced that the explanation I gave for it was completely believed."
	"You have a suspicious mind, dear one.  Not everyone is like that.  But in this case, we cannot be too careful," Dolanna admitted with a serious look.
	"And whatever we do, we'd better do it fast," Tarrin said.  "Somehow, I get the feeling that the Council isn't going to sit on this for long.  The instant they get a whiff that I'm not completely content with their explanation, they very well may come after us.  We need to keep them from knowing what we're doing, but because it is so serious, we'd better find out quickly.  The longer it takes, the more dangerous it's going to get for us."  He looked at the nervous girl.  "Are you well, Zarina?" he asked her.
	She jumped a bit.  "I am well, Master," she replied instantly.
	"I have much work with her ahead," Dolanna said, glancing at her.  "But there is hope for her."
	"I hope you don't mind me dropping her in your lap, Dolanna, but I couldn't think of anyone else better suited to help her than you."
	"A appreciate your confidence in me, dear one.  And your trust," she added with a sober look.  "I know she is important to you."
	"Her and that redhead are the two greatest treasures on this island.  Probably even greater than the Firestaff.  At least from a Were-kin's point of view."
	"There's another one?" Kimmie asked in surprise.
	"The redhead that serves in this house," he replied with a nod.  "I haven't claimed her yet because she's right where I can keep an eye on her.  But this one, this one needed to be where I could keep her safe," he said, reaching down and lifing Zarina's chin with a finger.  She stared up at him with wondrous eyes, shocked that anyone would think she was worth anything.
	"Do you think it was wise to tell the Council what she is?" Dolanna asked.
	"What can they do?" he shrugged.  "They're happy I'm taking them with me, and I think that since they're not trained, they don't feel they're a threat.  Syllis calmed right down when I told him I'm taking them back and they need to be properly trained.  I think he thought I meant that they had their power already before I said that."
	"Possibly," Dolanna agreed.
	"They can figure out that this one is the first, but they don't know who the other is, so she's safe," Tarrin continued.  "All things given, though, I think I'll be tracking Arlan down today and telling him he's losing a servant.  I think it'd be smart to put them under our wing now, so they're not wandering around out there with wolves stalking them."  He withdrew his finger from Zarina's chin, but she continued to look up at him with those fawn-like eyes.  "We need to tell the others what's going on," he told them.  "I'll leave that to you, Dolanna.  I, need to go see Allia."
	Dolanna's expression darkened.  "She does not know yet?"
	He shook his head.  "As strangely as she's been acting since we got here, I'm not sure what she'll do, Dolanna.  If she loves that Sha'Kar boy enough, she may turn against us."
	"That would be unthinkable!" Dolanna gasped.  "She is your sister, Tarrin!  Think about what that means to her!"
	"What it means to a Selani," he corrected.  "She hasn't been acting like a Selani, Dolanna.  She's been acting like a Sha'Kar."
	That put a worried look on her face, and she nodded.
	"Bring the others in, Dolanna, and explain things to them," he told her.  "Make sure you do it here.  Remember, the instant you set foot out that door, you're going to be watched.  Everything you say out there is going to be on the Council's table before you take in another breath."
	"If that is so, is it wise to tell Allia where it can be overheard?" Dolanna asked.
	"They already know why I was so outraged, so it's not a secret, Dolanna," he said.  "They also seem to know about Allia and Allyn, so again, it wouldn't be a stretch that I would confront her over this."  He blew out his breath and clenched his fists.  "I can't put it off any more," he announced.  "I'll be back soon.  Pray I don't come back alone."
	Tarrin left the room, grim and foreboding.  The fact that he had no idea what was going to happen worried him more than anything else.  Before coming to the island, Tarrin could have predicted exactly how Allia would have reacted to such news, almost predicted exactly what she would say.  But things were so crazy now.  She was so...so taken with Allyn, and he'd affected her behavior so severely, it was like she was a different person.  Not knowing his sister's mind was the one thing that worried him more than anything else.  More than the Firestaff, more than the Council and the Grand, even more than Kimmie's safety.  Allia could be extremely volatile if she was approached the wrong way.  Tarrin prayed fervently that she hadn't changed that much.
	He found her in the room she had been given, and as he expected, she wasn't alone.  She and Allyn were still in bed, sleeping, when he opened the door without knocking.  Again, another indication that Allia was not herself.  The Allia he knew would have been awakened instantly the moment he put his paw on the door handle.  But she still slumbered peacefully, splayed out on the bed with Allyn's arm thrown over her chest.  He looked at them, then remembered that the Elders were watching, so he laid a Ward over the room that would make their conversation a private one, then he stepped inside to get it overwith.
	Tarrin felt his heart pounding in his chest.  He didn't want to do this.  Allia was happy.  Despite what he knew, despite everything that was going on, Allia was quite happy with Allyn.  And now he had to try to drive a wedge between them, and that pained him.  She had always been there for him, always supported him, even in his darkest moments.  He didn't want to have to do this.  He didn't want to have to tell her the truth.  But he just couldn't leave this alone.  Allia had to know, had to decide for herself how she wanted to see it.
	Tarrin took in a deep breath.
	"Allia."
	Her eye snapped open, and she whipped up to a sitting position with all the speed and reflex of a desert-born warrior.  Those beautiful sea-blue eyes focused on him, and then she did the one thing he never expected.
	She laughed.
	"Tarrin!" she said in relief.  "I haven't been startled like that since I was a sand-eared child!  What brings you to my door this early in the morning?"
	Her light mood vanished when she saw the grim look on his face, the stiffness of his posture.  The fact that his tail was stock still behind him and his ears were partially back told her much.  Tarrin was extremely uncomfortable, and that drained away her smile.
	"Mmff," Allyn groaned, his hand seeking Allia out.  "Come back to bed, my heart.  I can't sleep without you near me."
	"Get up," Tarrin said in a nasty voice, his ears laying back as he regarded the Sha'Kar male.
	That got Allia's attention.  She gave him a penetrating, slightly hostile look as Allyn sat up in bed and saw the Were-cat, his expression slightly startled.  "Oh, honored one!" he said.  "I didn't know you were here.  How can we serve you?"
	That word caused Tarrin's back to coil.  Serve.  His fury with the Sha'Kar was starting to get to him again as he looked at Allyn.  Had Allyn ever punished a servant like that?  Did he know what went on?  Did he approve of it?  Allyn's reaction to what Tarrin was about to say was almost as important as Allia's, for his reaction would influence hers.  He was sure of it.  If Allyn was indifferent to the actions of his bretheren, it may make Allia more hostile towards him.  If Allyn was also outraged, then perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as Tarrin feared it would, and it may give him hope that maybe not all Sha'Kar were as bad as he thought.  But if Allyn denied it, then Allia might believe him, and that was where things might get very unpleasant.
	Tarrin's hostile posture was not lost on the Sha'Kar youth.  He leaned back and clutched the blanket with one hand, as his other sought out Allia's and clasped it.
	"What troubles you, my brother?" Allia asked in slightly worried concern.
	Her calling him brother made him wince.  Was she truly his sister now?  In a few moments, he was going to find out.
	"What troubles me isn't easy to say, Allia," he said in a flat voice, glaring at Allyn.  "It's not something you'll want to hear.  I'm sure of it."
	"Then it's best not to dance around the issue," she said calmly.
	She was right, of course.  So he did.  Without emotion, Tarrin related her the tale of finding Zarina, and going back to her estate to have a talk with her master for the abuse they were inflicting on her, and then he watched her eyes carefully as he quite callously described the torture that the male had inflicted on the girl.
	Tarrin was taken aback.  There was no reaction.
	"I don't see what's wrong with that," Allyn yawned.  "Sometimes a servant needs to be punished.  It's not like it does them any permanent harm.  It's just a spell that induces cooperation."
	Allyn had no idea how close he came to death in that moment.  Tarrin's eyes exploded into their unhly greenish aura, the visible mark of his anger, and he reflexively extended his claws and opened his stance, his feet trembling to send him forward to rip off the boy's head.  Allia saw that quick and extreme shift in Tarrin's mood, and quickly rose up on the bed, standing nude between him and Allyn, arms out wide.
	"What has gotten into you, brother?" she demanded in Selani.  "The use of pain as a teaching tool is an accepted practice among us.  You know that!  If the spell did the girl no true harm, then there was no harm done!"
	He couldn't believe it.  His eyes drained away of their aura as he stared at Allia in abject shock.  But then his anger returned in full fury, and to his horror, now it was directed at Allia.  "You would protect those who torture?" he demanded.  "You would protect people who use the gift the Goddess gave us to inflict harm like that?" he hissed.  "It's the first rule, Allia!  Never use Sorcery to harm another except in self defense!"
	"It's not as if you haven't done much worse with your own power," she shot back.  "Should we count the number of people who have died at the hands of your Sorcery, brother?  Fifty?  A hundred?  A thousand?  Ten thousand?"  She glared at him.  "I supported you and loved you because you are my brother.  But can you stand there and accuse in moral purity when I know how much worse you are than them?"
	There was nothing she could have said that could have been more devestating to him.  The wounds that those actions had inflicted on him had never healed.  They were raw, open, they still plagued him, and Allia knew it.  She had struck at him with words that were like daggers, seeking to tear him apart.  She knew him so well...so she knew exactly what to say to inflict upon him the most harm.
	Tarrin's eyes blasted back to their green radiance, and he bared his fangs at her.  Her attack on him in his most sensitive area had caused his fury to boil out of him like the volcano not far away would boil out lava and ash.  How could she?  How could she say that to him, when she knew how much that hurt him?  How could she have changed so much in three short days? He glared at her viciously, her protected status in his mind degrading more and more by the moment.  His sister would never have said that to him.  The woman he loved would never have been so cruel!  Who was this woman?  Whoever she was, it couldn't be Allia!
	"Leave, Tarrin," she said coldly.  "When you can come back and see things rationally, as they truly are, instead of how your past flavors them, we'll talk about it.  But until then, leave us."
	Tarrin hissed in a furious voice, his injured soul bare on his face, twisted by his mask of suppressed rage.  "I will not leave!" he said in a tight, deadly voice.  "Who are you, sister?" he demanded with hot eyes.  "My sister would never have said that to me!  The woman I know and love would not shrug me off like my opinions and concerns didn't matter!"
	"My love for you is the only reason I'm not trying to take off your head," she replied cooly.  "I think your fears are misguided, and maybe unfounded.  That you would come in here and accuse my Allyn of such things in front of me is dishonorable.  You know that to insult the honor of my lover is the same as insulting mine!"  She glared at him.  "Custom forbids me from killing you to avenge my honor, so to lay bare your greatest secret is suitable vengeance to satisfy my honor.  There are many kinds of pain, brother.  Inflicting that pain is the satisfaction of your slight on my honor."
	"Is that so?" Tarrin said in a low, very dangerous tone.  "So, there is nothing wrong with securing their cooperation, is there?  So long as it does no true harm?"
	"There isn't."
	"So be it."
	Tarrin raised a paw, and then clenched it.  He had a good memory, and remembered how the spell was done.  He wove that same spell and then released it.
	The target was not Allia.  It was Allyn.
	The Sha'Kar youth suddenly sucked in his breath, and then shrieked in mindless agony, clutching at his stomach.  He convulsed on the bed, kicking Allia's shins so hard that he swept her feet out from under her.  She tumbled on top of him, but was violently thrown aside as his wracking convulsions pushed her away, as he continued to scream in mindless agony, his feet slamming down onto the bed so hard the entire bed shook with each blow.  Allia jumped atop him and grabbed his arms, trying to pin him down, but the pain-induced power of his arms was too much for her.  She got clear of him, looking at him in terrible concern, and then turned a seething, furious face on her brother.
	"Stop this!" she shouted.  "Stop it now!"
	"I'm only using pain as a way to teach, Allia," he said in a deadly cold voice, his expression utterly emotionless.  "It is perfectly acceptable.  You said so yourself.  After all, I'm doing him no true harm."
	She glared at him, her eyes hot, as Allyn continued to shriek behind her.
	"Are my fears misguided now, sister?" he demanded.  "Am I overreacting?  This is what that Sha'Kar did to that girl.  Is this acceptable in the eyes of the Selani?  Is this an honorable way to teach?"
	"You lie!" she accused, tears forming in her eyes.  "It cannot be!  Release him, brother!  You're killing him!"
	"I am doing him no true harm," he hissed.  "It's a spell that induces the nerves to believe there is pain. Nothing more, nothing less.  This is only half of what I could do to him, sister.  Do you want to see the spell at its full power?"
	"Let him go!" she demanded, reaching down over the bed and coming back up with one of her shortswords.  "Don't make me force you stop, Tarrin!"
	With the opening of his paw, Tarrin let go of the spell.  Allyn stopped screaming, stopped writhing, sucking in his breath between racking sobs, coughing and nearly retching on the bed.  "You'll find him to be completely unharmed, sister," Tarrin said in a cold tone.  "As I said.  I did him no true harm."
	"How could you?" she demanded, tears forming in her eyes as she threw the sword aside and literally dived down to Allyn, cooing gentle words to him as her hands checked him for injury.
	"How could you!?" he shouted back at her.  "Am I something to just throw aside now that you have him?  Do I matter to you at all, Allia?  The sister I know would have at least considered my side of the story.  She wouldn't have just dismissed me like I was nothing!"
	"Does your jealousy of Allyn make you so vindictive?" she shouted at him.  "Are you angry that I finally found someone other than you?  Does it infuriate you that I'm happy, Tarrin?" she demanded.  "Did you have to come here and try to destroy my happiness?"
	"I was hoping that Allyn would agree with me," he said in a voice that could not conceal his regret.  "I was very happy that you are happy, Allia.  Believe me, the last thing I wanted to do was come in here and jeopardize that happiness.  I wanted Allyn to be with us, to be part of our family.  But this is something that just could not be left alone.  My honor wouldn't allow it."
	"You lie," she hissed through clenched teeth.  "You have no honor, brother," she sneered.  "May the Holy Mother wipe the brands from you!"
	That was it.  She said he had no honor.  Among the Selani, that was about the worst thing that one could say.  She had told him that he was now nothing in her eyes, and if she could, she would take his life.
	She had rejected him.  Utterly, completely, and irrevocably rejected him.  To her, he was now nothing.  Only an empty shell that should be deprived of its life at the earliest available opportunity.
	The sadness of that washed away his anger, left him feeling cold and empty inside.  His sister...gone to him.  No more long talks, no more laughter and sharing secrets, no more of her soothing presence with him to make all the bad things stay away.  All of that was over now.  She had made her choice, and she had chosen against him.  In a manner that had burned the bridge behind her.  Now that it was said, there was no going back.
	His tail drooping, his shoulders slumping in defeat, he bowed his head and stared at the floor.  He could hear Allyn's labored breathing, hear Allia's tightly controlled breaths as she tried to contain her anger.  "I'm sorry you feel that way, sister," he said in a quiet tone.  "I really am.  But know this.  If you are not with me," he said, his eyes erupting with incadescent white light as he raised his head to look at them, "then you are against me."  He raised a paw, limned over with Magelight.
	It hung there for a long moment, as Allia stared at him in steely resolve, not showing any fear of him, despite how easily he could destroy her.  "By all rights, I should strike you down here and now," Tarrin continued.  "Both you and him.  You know too much about me, and that information could get me killed if you decided to give it over to the Sha'Kar.  But I won't do that.  You may not love me anymore, but I love you.  I can't hurt you.  Not now, not ever."  He allowed the Magelight to dissipate, his eyes returning to normal, and then he turned his back to them.  "If you ever loved me, Allia, then keep your silence.  Out of respect for what we once shared, if anything else."
	There was nothing more to be said.  The space between them was like a wall to him now, separating them, and he could feel it growing wider and wider.  He walked away from her, walked away from his life, feeling like someone had just torn out his soul.
	Sacrifice, he remembered the Goddess said.  That he may have to sacrifice, that the Elder Gods wanted to make sure that he could make the hard decisions that must be made.  There had been no harder decision than that, no sacrifice greater.  Tarrin had just destroyed one of the most important cornerstones of his very existence.  He had turned Allia against him.  There was nothing worse that could possibly be done.
	Allia watched him go, her mask of fury breaking after he longer looked upon her.  She began to cry softly as she held Allyn's head, putting her cheek against his fine hair, her eyes locked on the small, almost unnoticable dark spots on the floor where Tarrin had been standing.
	The water of his tears.

	They knew it had gone badly.
	They came to visit him, but it was as if here dead.  He sat on a divan, his expression blank, his body rigid and motionless, head in his paws and hunched over.  He didn't hear their words, didn't register their presence as the dark, black reality of what had happened assaulted his mind, assaulted his soul.  Not even Kimmie could rouse him from his black depression, something that had Dolanna so concerned that she couldn't bear to leave his side.  There was nothing but the pain of his loss, nothing but the echo of Allia's voice in his mind.
	You have no honor....you have no honor...you have no honor....
	He had no idea how long he was like that.  The light glowing from the walls eliminated any sense of time.  He only became dimly aware things had changed when he felt Kimmie's inhumanly strong arms pick him up, and then set him gently down in the bed.  He felt nothing, saw nothing, only the hole inside him, the loss of something that had mattered more to him than life itself.  It consumed his consciousness, threatened to suck him down into its unfathomable depths.  Were it not for Kimmie's closeness, her touch, her sweet voice in his ear murmuring to him, and the memory of the life she carried inside of her, he very well may have let go and drowned in that sweet unknowing blackness willingly.
	That had been what had finally made him claw his way out of that black pit of despair.  Kimmie's closeness to him reminded him of the world outside, her gentle touch on his shoulders and face and neck recalled him from the emptiness inside, and her murmuring about how beautiful their child was going to be, how strong, how much joy it would bring to both of them, it was enough to bring him back from the emptiness.
	Tarrin registered his senses.  He was laying on his back in the bed, and Kimmie was sitting on the edge, staring down at him with concerned eyes, her paw stroking his face as her other held onto his own in a crushing grip.  Her expression didn't match the gentle composure of her voice, as her worry and fear were clearly stamped on it, and her scent betrayed her wild panic at seeing him that way.
	"Tarrin," she said with a relieved, gentle look as his eyes fluttered, and he looked up at her.  "Are you alright?"
	He sighed. "No," he said honestly.  "Kimmie, she--"
	"Don't talk about it," she said with tenderness, putting a finger over his lips.  "We know.  I'm so sorry, Tarrin.  I know how much she means to you."
	Tarrin sat up, and accepted her gentle embrace.  He held her close for a long time, letting her scent drown out everything else, feeling her closeness, allowing her to comfort him.  He was surprised to hear that she was crying, felt the wetness of her tears on his shoulder.  She sniffled ruefully. "Here I promised myself I wouldn't be all weepy for you," she told him.  "Some comfort I am."
	"Kimmie, you're exactly what I need right now," he told her in a powerful voice.
	She held him a while longer, and then pushed out so she could look at him.  "She, she went to see Dolanna.  She tried to give her side of the story, but--" she looked away.  "Dolanna was very cold to her.  She showed her Zarina and really let her have it.  Dolanna said that it was like she was doing everything she could not to look at the girl or face the facts.  Dolanna said it was like she was possessed or something.  Maybe she didn't mean to hurt you, my mate," she told him delicately.  "Maybe it was just her anger talking."
	Tarrin heard her words, and something just clicked.  It was a realization, or at least a hope of one, something that he realized may come back to help him later.  If he did things right.  But it did little to soften the newness of his pain.  No matter what he was thinking, the raw wound Allia had opened in him would not close itself so quickly or easily.  He still needed time to recover from it.
	"No amount of anger would have made her say what she said to me," he sighed, feeling that hole begin to gnaw at his insides again.  "She said I have no honor, Kimmie.  That's the worst thing you can say to anyone who understands Selani custom."
	Kimmie gave him a compassionate look.  "Well, I'll always be here for you, Tarrin, whenever you need me.  I love you."
	He looked into her beautiful blue eyes, and then kissed her gently on the cheek.  "You have no idea how honored I feel when you say that," he told her.  "I'm not good enough for you, Kimmie.  You should find some male that can love you with all his heart."
	"A third of your heart is worth more than the hearts of all the other males put together," she said fiercely.  "I'll take my piece of you and be happy with it."
	"A third, eh?" he asked with a gentle smile.  "What happened to half?"
	"Mist gets the other third," she said with a teary grin.  "We're your females, Tarrin, we're the mothers of your children.  And you're our man.  Jesmind, Mist, and me, we all love you.  We love you so much that none of us can give you up.  It's why we decided to share you."  She gave him a tender look.  "I know we can't replace what you've lost, but we can at least help the pain go away," she told him.  "Let our love fill up what was taken away, my mate," she said in a whisper.  "Let me take away your pain."
	He looked at her with defenseless eyes, and she leaned down and kissed him with such exquisite tenderness that he could not help but be moved by it.  If only for a moment, Kimmie's deep love for him did fill the void inside, did smooth away the gaping wound in his soul.  He surrendered to her in that embrace, allowing her to do as she wished, for he knew that he could trust her.  Trust her as much as he once trusted Allia...and still did.  No matter how she felt about him, she would always be his sister, and he would always love her.
	And if he was right, maybe that trust was justified.
	He surrendered to Kimmie's kiss, surrendered to her touch, and then surrendered up to her his soul as she laid him back down on the bed.  In that moment, he knew her love had conquered him.  He knew in that moment that it was possible to love two women, equally and passionately.  He would always love Jesmind, and her place with him would always be secure as his first mate.  It was something that Kimmie herself understood, and accepted.  But Kimmie was now his love as well, and when the time came, his sorrow at leaving Jesmind would be mixed with his joy of joining Kimmie.  He could only hope that Mist would understand.
	He had realized the hidden love he felt for his devoted mate on the same day his sister had rejected him.  In the balance of things, they should have been equal.  But inside him, one could never replace the other.
	But if Tarrin was right, one would not have to try.

	Kimmie's tender attentions had done a great deal for his state of mind, but none of them could miss the haunted look in his eyes, the defensive set of his stance as he regarded them.  They were all there, all gathered in his room...all of them except Allia.  Keritanima looked deeply embarassed and hurt as she sat on the divan with Miranda, who looked stunned.  The others, who weren't as close to Allia as Tarrin and Keritanima, still looked on with profound compassion and sorrow.  Allia had been one of them, a member of their rather unusual family.  But she had decided that a life with Allyn and the Sha'Kar was worth more to her than those she left behind.  And so she too had to be left behind.
	Tarrin summed up that mood with one three words.  "Allia left us."  They looked up at him in compassion and concern, but he wrapped himself in his duty to the Goddess, in his mission.  Sacrifice.  "But it doesn't change what we have to do.  We have to move on.  I'm sure Kimmie and Dolanna told you what happened when I visited the Grand."
	"We can't leave her behind, Tarrin," Camara Tal said fiercely.  "And we sure as the Abyss can't let her walk around now.  Not knowing what she knows."
	"Leave Allia alone, Camara.  She's made her choice.  She has to live with it now."
	"She'll put us all in danger!" the Amazon argued.  "If she tells that boytoy