Thean chuckled, and Singer nodded. "Nobody disobeys Triana. We're not that crazy."
"She's your queen, then?"
"That kind of formality is beyond us, my dear," Thean told her patiently. "But if you want to know who the top cat is in our race, you need look no further than Triana."
"We obey her because she'll kill us if we don't," Rahnee told the Aeradalla bluntly. "Were-cats don't take orders well. It takes someone like Triana to get us to gather and work together like this."
"Well, if she's not here, how do you decide who's in charge?"
"If you want to pin that kind of title on someone, look right over there," Thean told her, pointing at Tarrin. "He's the closest thing to leader we have right now."
"Why is that?"
"The same reason we obey Triana," Thean smiled. "Tarrin can thrash anyone sitting at this table. In our society, that makes him the dominant, so we'd obey him if he ordered us to do something."
"Forgive me for saying it, but I don't understand at all," Ariana said with a shake of her head.
"We're very simple people, Ariana," Thean said patiently. "We're part animal, so those animal instincts play a big role in how we behave and relate to others. Strength and power are the keys of dominion in our animal instincts, so that carries over to how we interact with one another socially. The biggest, strongest Were-cat is the dominant, and that makes him or her the leader if we cooperate like we're doing now. We obey because we acknowledge that strength. If two Were-cats were of generally equal strength, they'd probably fight to establish who was the dominant. Like Rahnee and Jesmind there," he said, pointing. "If me and Tarrin weren't here, it would come down to them. Since they're of similar size and age, they'd probably have to fight to determine who was the stronger. The winner would be the dominant, and everyone else would obey her."
"I see you put yourself right behind Tarrin," Ariana said with a grin.
"It's simple truth, Ariana. It's not something we brag about," he said mildly. "I know I'm stronger than everyone here but Tarrin. If he weren't here, I'd be the dominant, so I'd lead."
"You mean that's all there is to it? Whoever's strongest rules? No considering things like intelligence or ability?"
"Not usually," Thean chuckled. "Strength and power are usually much more important than age or wisdom. Though we do consider wisdom to be an aspect of power, it's physical strength that Were-cats consider most."
"That's twisted, Thean."
"That's how we do things, my dear. Since you're not a Were-cat, you don't have to worry about it, now do you?"
She laughed helplessly. "I guess I don't at that," she agreed. "You Were-cats are an unusual breed."
"Thank you," Thean told her with a smile. "We like to stand out."
Ariana glanced at him, then laughed again.
After breakfast, and after Tarrin banished the remnants of the breakfast and furniture he had created, the others gathered near the cart track leading to Aldreth. Nobody carried much more than what they were wearing, which gave the scene an eerie sense that they were doing nothing more than taking a quick trip to the village. The reality was that nobody was coming back here for quite a while. Tarrin paused to look back at the small farm that had been his home, still was his home, would always be his home, and quietly reflected on the changes it had brought to his life. He had found a daughter he didn't know he had, and he had patched things up with Jesmind-more or less. He'd met Kimmie, whose insightful observations of Were-cats and himself had caused him to have serious thoughts about the future. Truth be told, her idea of forming something of a rotational system of mates wasn't that bad of an idea. But what was probably most important of all, the farm, being there even for a few days, it had been good for him. He'd had a chance to rest, to recover, to spend a couple of days without worrying too much about what was coming. It had been something he had needed.
He thrusted a finger into Jasana's nose. "You stay out of it this time," he warned her sharply.
"Yes, papa," she said demurely, putting her paws behind her back.
Reaching out, Tarrin made the connection with the Weave, then drew in its might. His paws limned over with Magelight as he drew in the power of High Sorcery, and he raised them as the first framework of the Ward began to form around the farm. He wove it with flows of Divine, Air, and Mind, the normal elements of a blocking Ward; Divine to grant the Ward its unique powers, Air to form the physical barrier that would prevent people from crossing it, Mind to establish the parameters of who was allowed to cross it and who was not, and only token flows of the other Spheres to allow the Ward to attain a size and power unreachable with standard Sorcery. Had Tarrin used a killing Ward, like the one surrounding Aldreth, it would have been built from nothing but Mind and Divine. Tarrin wove it together with an ease that belied the complexity and difficult process of forming such a large and strong Ward, and then he spun off the seven flows from a nearby strand, pulled them to form a new strand, and then attached it to the core of the Ward. That gave the Ward an endless supply of power, and would render it permanent.
The air around the farm shimmered when the Ward was released and became active, and then it quickly vanished.
"What did you just do, lad?" Thean asked curiously.
"I put a Ward around the farm," he replied. "It will only allow Were-cats to pass. It'll last until either me or Jenna removes it."
Jesmind nodded approvingly; he told her he was going to do that to protect their home while they were gone. "Clever, lad, clever," Thean chuckled. "Jenna is your sister, right?"
Tarrin nodded. "She has magical powers similar to mine. She's the only one other than me who matters that could remove the Ward."
"I've never quite understood Wards," Thean told him as they started towards the village. "They seem very much out of character for the nature of Sorcery."
"We have time," Tarrin told him. "I'll explain them to you."
There wasn't any sense of urgency as the eight Were-cats and the Aeradalla walked to Aldreth, for they had left in plenty of time to get there before dawn. It was almost seemed like something other than what it was, for everyone's spirits were generally high. It didn't seem like they were marching off to war. Jesmind did glance back towards the farm on any number of occasions, but she did seem to be at least a little happy about the idea of travelling. Were-cats liked to wander around sometimes, and the years of staying in one place had probably gotten her to at least partially like the idea of taking a trip. Tarrin watched her, and told himself that he should go out of his way to make his mate happy and entertained. He knew she was going against her will, so he should make that up to her.
The festive mood changed when they passed the treeline and looked out on Aldreth. There were so many Woodkin there! They had camped on the open fields to the north of the village, and there had to be a thousand of them! Most of them were Centaurs, a veritable army of them, all of them already awake and breaking down the frugal camps they had erected for the night, getting ready to move out. There were considerable numbers of humans interspersed with the Centaurs, but Tarrin knew that they were Were-kin in human form. Some of them had erected tents, which were being packed up in preparation to move. The village was just as busy as the camps outside of it, as the villagers scurried about, wives carrying things to their husbands as they checked their gear or saddled horses or helped someone who was leaving prepare for his journey. Standing in the middle of it all were Garyth, Jak, and Sathon, as Garyth shouted commands and suggestions to his villagers as Sathon seemed to advise the portly mayor on what was best to take and what was best to leave behind. To Tarrin's surprise, two more Were-cats stood near to Sathon, and Tarrin recognized one of them as Shayle. The other turned around, and he recognized that grayish-furred, slight Were-cat as Nikki. Triana's other two daughters, who were supposed to be in the area, had really been in the area after all. They had come to the village first, just like everyone else, but for some reason they had stayed there.