Harriet's fists loosened and her shoulders slumped. "Yeah...I am, huh," she answered. "I never thought very far ahead." She blinked her eyes to one side. Her voice suddenly regained some energy. "I wanna change the subject. What the hell is that picture painted on your body about, anyway?" She pointed to the wamasu marks on Julan's body.

"I'm curious about that, too, actually," Rhazii called out from behind them. "Did you say you got a spear through your leg earlier? What happened?"

[hr]
Fendros stood up from his chair and stepped over to a clay jar on the kitchen bench. Taking the teapot from the table and a spoon, he went about making some more tea as his sister suggested.

"I'll start with the solution you probably won't like so we can get it out of the way quickly." He spoke over his shoulder as he retrieved the kettle from the stove. "We work out what we lied about and what we told the truth about, then tell your family what was the truth and what were the lies, and then be upfront that we cannot share more than that. We stick to our boundaries and they either accept the reality of the situation or they do not. We can at least promise to keep in touch and to visit every now and then."

Fendros finished pouring boiling water into the teapot and set it upon the table again. The spout steamed gently in front of them both. He sat down on the table, this time leaning on his forearms and weaving his fingers together. "Another idea I had was something just as an aside. It's possible that if they won't listen to you about your soul not needing to be saved or some such, they might listen to a priest from the clergy of the Eight Divines in Leyawiin. There's a chance whoever is in charge there is...more open minded." He pressed his middle and index finger onto his temple. "The Reclamations priest here in Cheydinhal was very helpful to us. It would be a similar situation. I know it's no guarantee, but it's an option."

As he took in another deep breath, Fendros seemed to brace himself before continuing. "The only other idea in my head that felt like it would hold water was..." He hesitated and then looked directly at Ahnasha. "Your family is no expert on lycans, right? If the problem is saving your soul, then perhaps it would be a much more plausible lie to say that [i]I'm[/i] a werewolf and you are not. It's been no secret to them already that my family worships the Reclamations, not the Eight. Perhaps they would be willing to cross that bridge, so to speak." he swallowed nervously. "What do you think?"