The two of them looked around, and both stared quite a while at Jegojah. But the Revenant said nothing, simply standing off to the side with Denai, both of their weapons drawn. But they shook that off eventually, coming up to Tarrin.
"Tarrin," Ariana smiled, "may I present Andos, King of the Aeradalla. Your Majesty, this is Tarrin, the man who saved your life."
"He's alot taller than you said, Ari," Andos said, craning his neck to look up into Tarrin's eyes.
"I told you he was tall, Andy," Ariana laughed. "You just didn't want to believe me."
"Andy?" Tarrin asked curiously.
"Ari and I grew up together," Andos said with a grin. "I've never been able to get her to stop calling me that."
Tarrin looked at Ariana, and the woman blushed slightly.
So that was what this was about.
"What did you need to talk to us about?" Ariana asked quickly.
"I want to borrow about fifty of you for a while," Tarrin said bluntly. "An army is threatening the city of Suld, and a group of Aeradalla scouts would help keep the city out of their hands."
"That's what this is about?" Andos asked. "We don't get involved in the affairs of the humans, Were-cat. I appreciate you healing me, but I have to think about my people."
"This is about your people," Tarrin told him. "If that army takes Suld, they'll destroy the Tower of Six Spires. That will banish the Goddess of the Sorcerers from the world, and if that happens, the Weave will tear. That means that the magic that sustains your city will be disrupted," he said with a casual bluntness that made the Aeradalla flinch. "I'm not asking for an army. I only need fifty, and I don't expect any of them to fight. All they have to do is scout."
"You get to the point," the king of the Aeradalla said, a bit wanly. "No casual smalltalk, not even a hello. Right to the point."
"It saves time," Tarrin told him.
"How can I be sure of what you say?" he asked. "You're out here, alone, in the desert. How do you know all of this?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"If you're going to get any help out of me, you'd better make me understand," he challenged. "I won't even put fifty of my people in danger for no reason."
Tarrin could respect his morality, but his stubbornness was getting on his nerves, and he found himself mightily offended that the Aeradalla would think he was lying. He had become like Triana in that regard. Triana expected to be obeyed, if only because she was who she was. Tarrin found himself being irritated by this Aeradalla for exactly the same reason. Tarrin was the stronger. He was larger, and he knew he was right. He had fully expected the Aeradalla to submit out of hand, and it had been a bit of a surprise when he hadn't. And the sense that the Aeradalla seemed to think that Tarrin was lying made it even worse. Were-cats did not lie, and to even be accused of it was reason to fight to the death. Tarrin felt his dominance to be under challenge, and that provoked him to respond.
He drew himself up to his full, imposing height, then stared down at the much smaller Aeradalla like a parent scolding a child with his eyes. "I'm not used to being second-guessed by anyone, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that your intentions are good," Tarrin told him in a strong voice.
"What does that mean?" Andos asked, his own hackles starting to rise.
"It means that you just avoided getting killed," Denai said lightly.
"You're not serious!" Andos gasped.
"Quite serious," Var agreed.
"I don't play, Andos," Tarrin said in a flat voice. "I'm not used to being ordered around. I'll give you lattitude because I don't think you're used to it either, but don't question my honesty. If I even think you're accusing me of lying, I'll rip your wings off right here and now."
The Aeradalla paled slightly and almost took a step back. But he held his ground.
"I know because Jegojah over there-" he announced, pointing to the Revenant- "has personal knowledge of what's going on. He told me, I asked my Goddess to confirm it, and she did. What's going on in the West is very real, very serious, and if we don't put a stop to it, it's going to cause another Breaking. And what's worse, it will put the Firestaff in the hands of those that would use it to bring destruction to the entire world."
Tarrin saw that he had the man's attention now, so he patiently sketched out the basics of the enemy's plan. He watched Andos' eyes shift from surprise, to comprehension, then to horror when the ultimate goal of that plan became apparent. "I'm not asking you to fight this war. All I want is fifty Aeradalla to help scout out the enemy army and deliver messages too vital to be sent any other way. Once the fighting starts, they can leave. After all, they'll have done everything they'd been asked to do, and they wouldn't be needed anymore."
"You give a very convincing argument," Andos said, his eyes thoughtful, traces of his fear diminishing with his comprehension of the situation. "In fact, convincing enough for me to agree with your need. But I'm not going to order anyone into that kind of danger. I'll put a call out among my people for volunteers. Anyone wishing to help can do so, but I'll not make anyone go. Is that satisfactory?"
"That's good enough," Tarrin agreed.
"Well, you have one volunteer, Tarrin," Ariana broke in. "It's the least I can do for everything you've done for me."
Tarrin nodded in her direction. "It's too dark for you to go back now. You can leave in the morning."
And then he turned and walked away from them. He wasn't entirely sure he could be civil to Andos so long as he felt that the Aeradalla was challenging him.
Tarrin left them to stew over him on their own, sitting by the fire and staring into its depths, absently twisting the manacle on his wrist. He had said what he needed to say to Andos, and he didn't want to cause a scene by disemboweling a man he'd just asked for help. That seemed slightly counter-productive. He hadn't been quite as nice as he wanted to be, and things hadn't gone very well. It was more reasons to be a little aggravated with himself with the way he handled his request, but there was little he could do about it now. The moment was over, the damage was done. All he could do now was hope that Andos was too intimidated to go back on his promise to ask for volunteers.
Jegojah clanked to a halt and sat down by the fire beside him. "Abrupt, ye were, yes," he told him bluntly. Jegojah wasn't one to mince words, and Tarrin rather liked him for that.
"He offended me," Tarrin replied. "It was all I could do to be that civil."
Jegojah cackled. "A king, ye remind me of one, yes," he said. "Always expecting obedience. And power, ye give it off like heat from the fire, yes."
"Call it a racial quirk," he said calmly.
"Were-cats, they are all like ye?"
"Not all," he replied. "But we're all of a similar mindset. Any Were-cat would have stripped Andos of his skin if they thought he was accusing them of lying."
"That, it isn't the point, no," Jegojah elaborated. "A king, ye are, Were-cat, but a king in mind only. The regal command, it emanates from ye."
Tarrin looked at him, then chuckled ruefully. "If you're asking if all Were-cats are arrogant, I'd have to say yes," Tarrin told him with a dry smile.
"Jegojah, he meant no offense, no."
"None taken. I guess we are a pretty arrogant lot. Though I wouldn't call them that to their faces."
Jegojah cackled. "Jegojah, he thinks that that would be a bad idea, yes." He looked up at the setting sun, setting over the abandoned ruins of the city. "Jegojah, he thinks ye go about asking help the wrong way."
"Probably, but I really don't want an army from the Aeradalla. Just some scouts, to ferret out the opposition when they start to march."