Jenna picked up on his hint immediately, and her expression turned slightly relieved. "Is she going to see you off?"
"I doubt it," he answered. "She was just waiting on me to get better, then she was lingering because of what happened to me. Now that I'm better and all that's been settled, there's really nothing holding her here. It's not like her to be sentimental enough to go see me off."
"No, I guess it's not," Jenna said with a smile. She understood perfectly.
"I need to go tell her goodbye," he said absently. "Before everything starts getting crazy."
"I'll go with you, brother," Allia said after Jenna inobtrusively elbowed her in the ribs, reaching down and picking up her pack. "I've been meaning to ask her a question, and this will be my last chance."
The look that passed between them was understanding. Tarrin was going to leave, using seeing Sapphire as the excuse he'd need to disappear for a few moments. Dar said goodbye with his eyes, and Jula put a paw on his upper arm in a warm touch of farewell. Tarrin bridged up into the Weave, and Whispered in such a faint and tightly focused manner that only Jenna and Jula would be able to hear him. "Jenna, go get the imposters and have Dar put the Illusions over them, then either you or Ianelle Teleport with them into the room where Sapphire is. Make sure you fill them in on everything we just said, so they don't look confused. Just make sure you do it fast. I can stall a little with Sapphire, but it's going to look strange if we're in there for an hour."
"They're already waiting," Jenna told him in a similarly tight manner. "We knew we were going to have to pull a switch, but we hadn't had the chance to get with you and work out the details. Jesmind was with you, and, ah, we didn't want to disturb you," she said delicately. "This is going to work well enough."
"Did mother get the human ready?"
"He's a little stiff, but he's ready," Jula answered. "Triana stretched him like taffy with Druidic magic. He's as tall as you now, and he's a very clever and fast-thinking human. He'll do fine pretending to be you."
Tarrin nodded to Jula, then looked at Allia. "Well, we'd better get moving," he told her. "Where is Sapphire?"
"The small formal dining room," Jenna answered.
Tarrin nodded again, then reached within, through the Cat, and made a connection to the vast energy of the All. His intent was all he needed for the All to do what he needed, and that was use the spells of sending messages that Sarraya and Triana had taught him but hours ago. Sarraya, we're leaving, he cast his thought into the All, directing it to send that message to Sarraya. Come find me, and make sure you're invisible. Don't let anyone know you're there.
I'm on the way, came her immediate response, like her own thoughts filtering into his mind through the All. Triana had been right, the Cat did not reject that strange communion. Because it was a communion with the All, not with the mind sending the messages from the other side of it.
"I forgot, I need to tell Darvon we're going to be leaving soon, or the Knights are going to slow us down as they try to get organized," Jenna grunted. "I'll be right back."
Jenna gave Dar a short look, and he seemed to understand. "I'll go with you," he said. "I know that without you here, the Were-cats and Allia are just going to try to get me in trouble," he said, giving Tarrin a friendly grin.
"I know, they're all just big bullies," Jenna teased.
Her pack on her shoulder, Allia stepped up with Tarrin as he separated himself from Triana and Jula. "I'll be back in a little bit," he said, but they all knew that he was actually saying goodbye.
"See you in a while," Jenna said with a look that warned him to be careful.
The silent look that passed between Allia and Allyn was intense, and Allia's hand flicked in the Selani hand-code. Tarrin was a bit surprised that she'd been teaching it to Allyn already, but then again, it was something he'd have to know to fit in with the Selani. She spoke brokenly in hand language, probably only using the gestures she'd taught to him, but it was enough to get her message across. -Leaving. Be careful. Love to you.-
His response was a bit unsteadily formed, but legible to Tarrin's eyes. -Will do. Love to you. Return soon.-
Tarrin suppressed a sigh. He knew that leaving Allyn was not what Allia wanted, but the circumstances left little choice. Allyn's disappearance would be too hard to explain, and he'd only be a hindrance to them in the desert. This was not the time to take Allyn into the desert for the first time. Even with Allia, Tarrin, and Sarraya looking after him, he didn't know enough to not be an extreme danger to himself.
They parted from the others and walked silently down the hall. Tarrin could tell that Allia was suppressing the urge to turn and look back over her shoulder.
Sapphire was right where Jenna said she would be, in a large, richly appointed dining room. It was one of the formal rooms where Jenna would entertain royalty, and it was furnished to accommodate the rich. A deeply polished mahogany table was surrounded by what had to be twenty plush upholstered and cushioned chairs, the mahagony chairs similarly polished and with red velvet covering them, complete with shined brass tack rivets holding the velvet onto the wood. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling by a golden chain, a brass contrivance with a multitude of small crysals hanging from it like icicles, each crystal glowing with a soft, pleasing magical light. Four small service tables were set in each corner of the room, stacked with expensive porcelain china, delicate crystal goblets, and gold-plated silverware, all arrayed neatly or stacked in ivory and gold plated boxes on shelves beneathed the burnished cherry tabletops which were covered with delicate lace throw cloths. The room had no other furnishings, but two huge tapestries adorned the walls on either side of the door, one of them a massive depiction of a shaeram, and the other an impressive depiction of the flag, crest, and Lion device that were the symbols of Sulasia. Sapphire was seated at that very grand table, fingers rapping on the polished mahogany of the table idly as she seemed to be waiting. She stood up immediately when Tarrin and Allia came in, and the Selani closed the door behind her. "I was getting worried," Sapphire said. "Is everything going alright?"
"It seems to be," he said, then he quickly and efficiently Warded the room against eavesdropping, and hid it from any Sorcerers that may be looking for such a thing. "We can speak freely now," he told her.
"You're quite good at that," she said appreciatively, as he could sense her probing his Ward.
"I've had enough practice," he said dryly. "We're leaving as soon as Sarraya gets here, and they bring in the people that are going to pretend to be us," he said. "You waiting alone gives us a perfect excuse to disappear for a bit, and that's all we need to pull the switch."
"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," she agreed. "How long?"
"Jenna said she has Auli and this human Triana prepared waiting. She just has to get to them, have Dar put the Illusions on them, and then they'll be Teleported into the room. Sarraya should be here by then. She can move very fast when she needs to."
"Very good," Sapphire nodded complacently.
Sapphire wasn't one for idle chat, and for that matter, neither were Tarrin and Allia. So they waited in general silence for several moments, Sapphire's fingers continuing to rap rhythmically on the table after she took her seat once again. That silence was broken when the door cracked open, and the incessant buzzing of Sarraya's tiny wings beating the air heralded her arrival. The door closed on its own, Druidic magic, Tarrin sensed, and then the Faerie's slight weight touched his shoulder as the sound of her wings ceased. "I'm here," she announced. Tarrin couldn't see her, but from the way Allia and Sapphire's eyes seemed to fix on his shoulder, he knew she must have returned to visibility.
"Did anyone see you?" he asked.