"That sounds pretty easy."
"It is," he assured her. "And there's something else you need to know."
"What?"
"You have access now to High Sorcery," he told her. "You can use that power by yourself, without a Circle. I just want to warn you not to experiment too much with it. If you have to use it, go ahead, but only use it if you don't have any other choice."
"Does it work the same way too?"
"No, it's different. You have to draw in the power of the Weave to use High Sorcery, much like you'd draw power to use regular Sorcery. When you need to use it, you shouldn't have any trouble making it happen. Just remember that it's going to tire you out, so only draw what you need, and use it quickly. You don't play or show off with High Sorcery. It's only to be used when it's needed."
Jenna flushed visibly.
"I know, that's how you got into this," Tarrin said with a slight smile. "Showing off for your friends, and you lost control, didn't you?"
Jenna blushed furiously.
"I thought so," he chuckled.
"I couldn't help it!" she said in a plaintive tone. "I just love using Sorcery so much! I can't believe that I was ever afraid of it!"
"But now you know better," he said calmly.
"You have no idea how much I know better," she blurted.
"That's a healthy attitude," he told her. "It would have happened eventually, so don't kick yourself over it. The Goddess explained it to me. You and me, we're what they used to call sui'kun. For us, losing control as we did was an absolute certainty. If it hadn't been then and there, it would have been somewhere else. It would have eventually happened to both of us, no matter what."
"Well, that doesn't make me feel any less foolish," Jenna admitted.
Tarrin laughed. "Don't worry about it, sister. You survived it, and that's what was most important." He assensed himself, and found that he was still feeling very strong. He didn't want to wear himself out doing this, in case he had to defend the camp with Sorcery, but he felt that he had plenty more time. "There are some thing you can do now, if you'd like to learn."
"What kind of things?"
"Things only you and me and one other person can do," he smiled. "We are Weavespinners, Jenna. We have access to things that other Sorceres can't even imagine. Would you like to learn?"
"Oh, yes!" she said happily. "Teach me, Tarrin! Please?"
"Alright," he smiled. "What I'm doing now is part of something that you can do now. We can separate our consciousnesses from our bodies and make them enter the Weave. Before I came to see you, I entered the Weave, and used it to find you. Then once I did, I created this Illusion and put myself into it. My real body is back in the desert, but I can't see or hear or smell anything back there, because my consciousness is here, with you, in this Illusion."
"So, I can send myself directly into the Weave?"
Tarrin nodded. "You did it once before, remember? When you lost control, you found yourself flying, and then you were in this huge black void, surrounded by stars and strands, and you saw yourself looking into this brilliant light that seemed to have eyes. Those eyes looked down at you, and you suddenly felt better than you ever had in your life, as if someone had touched your soul."
Jenna's eyes began to well up with tears. Tarrin's explanation had obviously conjured up fresh memories of that experience.
"It was so beautiful," she whispered. "I thought it was a dream when I woke up, but a part of me told me that it couldn't have been."
"That was the Goddess, Jenna," he told her gently. "You sent yourself into the Heart, into the core of the Weave, and you looked into the eyes of the Goddess. Wasn't it wonderful?"
"It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" Jenna agreed emphatically.
"Well, you can go back there any time you want," he told her. "All you have to do is send yourself into the Weave."
"How do I do that?"
"It's a matter of concentration," he told her. "It helps if you're in physical contact with the Weave, but it's not absolutely necessary. I have to be in physical contact with it to do what I'm doing now, because I used my powers across a thousand leagues, but to just join with the Weave and go to the Heart doesn't require it."
"How do I do it?" she asked, more urgently.
"You just close your eyes and relax," he told her. "Relax and use the tricks father taught you when shooting a bow, about emptying your mind of stray thoughts. Then you reach out and feel the Weave, with all your senses. And when you do that, when you can feel every little thing in the Weave all around you, you simply let yourself merge with it. When you do that, your consciousness joins with the Weave, and you can travel all over it with your mind."
"Can, can I wake up when I want to?" she asked.
Tarrin nodded. "You can always wake up any time you want, just by wishing it," he assured her. "You can also find the Heart any time you want, because you'll always be able to feel it when you're joined with the Weave. It will guide you to it whenever you want to go there."
"I want to try it," she said immediately. "I want to go back to that place."
"Not right now," he told her. "I need to ask you a few questions first."
"What?"
"Did Mother have Grandfather stop the fighting with Tykarthia?"
"No, Mother didn't do that," she answered him. "A few days ago, a Wikuni ship stopped us and sent over a man with some papers for Grandfather. When he read them, he told the Wikuni to tell the other Ungardt clan chiefs what was going on. Then the Wikuni left, and their ship sailed off. Yesterday, three of their big-what do you call them, clapper ships?"
"Clipper ships."
"Clipper ships, they joined Grandfather's longship and they're going with us to Suld. Mother said they're escorting us, to make sure nothing tries to sink us on the way."
"Good old Kerri. She doesn't miss anything," Tarrin chuckled.
"You mean that Wikuni girl sent the ships?"
"That Wikuni girl is the Queen now, Jenna," Tarrin smiled. "She sent them to protect you, because you're the same as her little sister now."
"I didn't know that," Jenna fretted. "If I did, I'd have been nicer to her."
"When did you meet Kerri?" he asked curiously.
"It was when we visited you at the Tower," she replied. "I thought she was a mean jerk. She was really nasty to Mother."
"That was an act, to confuse her enemies," he told her. "Kerri's really nothing like that. She's a total sweetheart."
"Well, that's how she seemed to me," Jenna huffed.
"That's how she wanted you to think of her, so you felt the right way," Tarrin told her with a light grin. "When are you going to get to Suld?"
"I think Father said we'd get there in a few days," she answered.
"Good. Just be careful when you get to Suld, Jenna. And I don't want you going to the Tower. It's too dangerous there."
"Mother wants to spend the time there with Master Tomas and Mistress Janine," Jenna told him. "Mother doesn't want to go to the Tower either."
"That's a good idea," Tarrin agreed. "You'd have Janette there to play with."
"I like her. She's a nice girl."
"She's a wonderful girl," Tarrin said warmly. Memories of his Little Mother never failed to cheer him up. "She means alot to me."
"I can't see why."
"Because she saved my life," he answered honestly. "If Janette hadn't have found me, I'd have died."
"You never told me about that."
"I will someday, but not now," he todl her. "I can't do this for very long, because it tires me out very fast, and I can't afford to get exhausted right now. I'll have to abandon the Illusion in a minute."