"About what I did to Fox?" she asked, and he nodded. "I told her I'd teach her that."
"Have you talked to mother and father lately?"
"Yesterday," she nodded. "I told them that it may be a good idea to disappear for a while, so they agreed to pack up and go visit a few old army friends in Torrian."
"Torrian? They rebuilt it?"
"They're in the process," she said delicately.
"I guess they would. It's been, what, three months? Four?"
"About four," she affirmed.
"How far along are they?"
"They're doing rather well," she answered. "The army's been sent there to help out, and between them and the citizens, things are going up pretty quickly. They're taking this chance to rearrange things a little bit. You know, give the city a little better layout. And Arren wants to put up a stone wall this time."
"Oh, that reminds me. How much can you influence the nobles about a king?"
"Who did you have in mind?"
"Arren."
"Ooh, that's a good choice," she said with an enthusiastic nod. "They're not going to like it, but I might be able to ram him down their throats. They're all thinking they have the best chance. That's what's making this all so messy," she growled. "No house wants to support a potential from any other house. And without that, there's no way any one man can get enough support to get the throne."
"You may have to take steps," Tarrin warned.
"I think you're right," she said thoughtfully. "If I don't step in and do something, I'm going get stuck with it, and I hate it. I'll be regent over a kingdom torn apart while the nobles all fight with one another."
"You may have to step on a few people."
"Then I'll wear some iron-shod boots," she grinned. "I've learned how to step on people, brother. The first thing I learned was that they're going to hate me no matter what I do, so I may as well do things my way."
"Kerri taught you that, didn't she?"
"She didn't have to," she told him. "I learned that the first time I butted heads with the Council, and they hinted that my power extended as far as they'd allow it to go. I wasn't about to let that happen, so I let them have it. I think that shocked them, to see this little girl come in there and bite their heads off. I think that was when they realized that I didn't think that the appointment was for show. It took me a while, but I finally got them under my heel. I can do the same thing to the nobles. After I make a few ugly threats, then threaten to keep the crown for myself, they'll probably be amenable to my choice for the throne."
"Think you can get away with that?"
"Probably. I'm pretty popular in the city right now, so they'll all probably think I have a chance of winning the people over. If you can win the people of Suld, you have a good chance of keeping the throne, no matter what the nobles think. They know that any monarch that sits on that throne does it because the people of Suld are content with him."
` "Kerri said much the same thing," he nodded.
"I'll need to get a good running start at it," she mused. "Have some people drop a few stories and rumors here and there."
"What for?"
"To get the people of Suld thinking about Arren," she answered. "It won't matter how much I want him on the throne if the people won't accept him. I have to make sure they've heard about how kind he is and how devoted and caring he is for his people, and how good a job he's doing overseeing the rebuilding of the city. Did Kerri suggest Arren?"
"She did mention him, and I happen to agree," Tarrin affirmed. "You know, you picked up on this pretty fast, Jenna. Making all these clever plans and being political and all. You sound like Kerri."
"I should. She had to teach me alot about politics," she laughed. "Her and Alexis. I still make way too many mistakes, but at least I can keep things from becoming a total disaster."
"That's all we can really ask for, Jenna," he said thoughtfully, looking out over the plain, which was now colored red from the setting sun behind them. The stones out in the scrub caught the light better than the plants, making the plain look like there were small pools of blood around the plants, like the plants were bleeding. "It's all so different now, isn't it?"
"Yes, but I'm not sad things turned out this way," she said sincerely. "I may not like some of my duties as Keeper, but in a strange way, it feels like I belong here."
"I do too, about being a Were-cat. Almost like I was born into the wrong family."
"Well, then, I'm very glad someone messed things up then," Jenna grinned. Then she sighed. "It's almost over, isn't it?"
He knew exactly what she meant. "Not quite yet, so don't let your guard down. I'm not going to relax until afterwards. I think I'll sleep a few months-at least as soon as the Goddess tells me what to do with the Firestaff-and then do absolutely nothing for at least ten years. Well, the doing nothing will come after I get my house built."
"Where?"
"Out in the Frontier, in a nice meadow with a little stream running through it," he answered. "I used to go there alot when I wandered the forest. That's going to be my new home, and I have no intention of leaving it for about ten years."
"Then all the excitement will be gone," she sighed. "I'll have my boring duties, and you'll be lounging around out there in the Frontier avoiding all this work."
"I think I've done my part. Now it's your turn," he said shamelessly.
She laughed. "I guess so. Well, I'd better get back. Goddess only knows what kind of mischief they're getting into without me there to babysit them. You have anything you need passed along?"
"Not really. Just tell Jesmind, Kimmie, and Mist that I'm alright, and I'm thinking about them. Tell my children I love them, and try to keep them out of trouble."
"That's not easy," she giggled. "But I'll do my best. I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright. Good luck."
"I think I'm going to need it," she fretted. "Bye Tarrin. Talk to you tomorrow."
"Have fun."
She gave him a slightly hostile look, and then her image vanished as he felt her consciousness retreat back into the Weave at the unimaginably fast speed of thought itself. She was returning to her body, where it sat, physically connected to a strand of the Weave, and probably under guard.
Things sounded a bit dicey in Suld, but if there was one thing he'd learned about Jenna during his amnesia, it was that she was a very capable young lady. She may think she made alot of mistakes, but the truth was, Keritanima and Alexis had trained up a young but gifted Keeper. He had no doubt that she would handle things, and she would do it smoothly and efficiently. Between what she had learned from Keritanima and Alexis, and the maturing information that Spyder had put in her head, Jenna was a remarkably detail-oriented and organized ruler, with a maturity and intelligence to handle these kinds of problems, and the cool, level-headed training she received from her parents only helped those things along. She would make good decisions, because she wouldn't rush into them, she would look at a problem from several sides before deciding on the most practical and efficient solution, and she knew when to ask for help from advisors. She had the perfect balance of confidence and a willingness to accept aid that made her an excellent ruler.
He felt confident that before Gods' Day, Arren was going to be sitting on the Lion Throne of Sulasia. And he didn't once doubt that they couldn't have chosen a better man.
They had no trouble at all as they continued to move, shifting to a more southeasterly direction the day after he talked to Jenna. The plain made it easy to see the more dangerous predators well before they got close enough to be a threat, and they moved through a strange void of Selani. They saw a few Scouts from a distance, but that was all. The Scouts were ranging out to find the best grazing for the animals, and their presence meant that tribes would be moving in to take advantage of the scrub bloom around them within a matter of days, if that. They saw several signal fires built atop rock spires during the nights, beacons to guide the tribes to good grazing.