Tarrin chuckled. "It's a long story. I'll tell it to you sometime."
"Do you love her? I can tell by looking at how she watches you that she loves you."
"Yes, brat, I love her," he said seriously. "And yes, I've told her. She and I, we're mates. I guess we always have been."
"That's good. You know, Jasana is adorable. What's she like?"
"She's shy around strangers, but she'll get very talkative and bubbly once she gets used to you. You'd better watch her," Tarrin chuckled. "She's the most devious little thing I've ever seen. She's almost ruthless when she's trying to get something she wants."
"Then she's just like we used to be," Jenna grinned.
"Who says I've changed?" he challenged.
Jenna laughed, patting him on the arm. "Who says I have either?"
"You did."
"Well, I guess I'm just as capable of lying now as I was back when I was a girl," she teased. "Is she really as powerful as she feels?" she asked seriously.
"She'll be able to spank both of us together when she comes into her power," Tarrin told her with a bit of fatherly pride. "I think she could even give her a run for her money."
There was no need for him to explain who her was. Jenna nodded knowingly and chuckled. "I'd pay to see that little contest."
"I think I would too," he agreed. "Until then, I'm keeping a handle on her. I need to start training her, because she's already used her power. You can help me with that. You're strong enough to choke her off if she starts doing things I've told her not to do."
"I think I could. She's strong, but she doesn't have any idea what she's doing, does she?"
He shook his head in agreement. "At least not yet. It's going to be a bit dangerous when we start teaching her, because then she will know what she's doing. She's so powerful, if she tries to resist, I don't know if I can control her."
"Experience matters alot more than power, Tarrin," she told him. "Mother taught us that."
"I know. Let's both hope that she's right."
"Since when have you ever known mother to be wrong?" she asked with a grin.
Tarrin chuckled. "There, feel better now?" Tarrin asked, patting her on the shoulder.
"Actually, I do," she admitted, holding up a hand that was no longer trembling. "I guess if I think about something else, it doesn't sneak up and smack me."
"Try to keep that in mind. Ready to go on now?"
"I think so," she replied as he stood back up.
They continued. Tarrin followed the scent trail left behind by the other Were-cats, which was very easy for him to track because they were so fresh and so unique. They went high up into the Tower, near the top, into hallways no Novice or Initiate was usually allowed to enter. Hallways with plush carpeting and glowglobes almost every twenty paces, even with tapestries and artworks hanging from the wood-panelled walls. These were the luxury accommodations for the elite of the Tower's political power structure, and visiting dignitaries and other high-station visitors. They spent half their time staring at the lavish decorations, and Tarrin could feel that the carpet under his feet was very plush and soft, feeling almost new.
He was a little uncertain of this. Tarrin wasn't used to this kind of...grandeur. It didn't suit him. He was a simple Were-cat, and wasn't sure if he'd feel comfortable in such lavish surroundings. His worst suspicions were confirmed when the trail led to the end of a hallway at the terminus of a spoke passage, ending in a pair of large double doors. Doors made of a burnished mahogany wood, inlaid with what looked like mother-of-pearl in a swirling, symmmetrical design.
"Nice. The doors to our rooms aren't half that grand," Jenna said, in a slightly accusing tone.
"Blame Triana," he told her as he put a paw on the door, hearing the voices of the others inside. He turned the doorknob resolutely, then pushed the door open.
What was beyond that door looked more like some king's private apartments. It was carpeted with the finest Eastern rugs, and there was a massive glass-paned window on the far side of the chamber, overlooking the Sea of Storms. The large room had a fireplace on the right wall, and facing it were three large sofas in a semicircular pattern that held his parents, mate, daughter, and Were-cat friends, which surrounded an ebony low table that Keritanima would call a tea table. His parents sat on the center couch with Kimmie, who sat closest to Jesmind. Jesmind sat on the couch facing the door with Jasana in her lap, and they sat alone. Thean and Triana sat on the couch whose back faced the door, with Jula sitting nearest the fireplace, staying near the commanding matriarch. All three had turned around to see who had opened the door. There were doors on both left and right walls, leading to other rooms, but this entrance chamber was strangely devoid of other furniture. Only the couches, and the short, wide table that stood between them. There was a large tapestry on the wall behind the couches, a tapestry of the Tower of Six Spires itself, the large central Tower with its six surrounding spires, with the White Moon, Domammon, hovering behind the central Tower. The tapestry was so detailed that the Skybands and the stars were not only present in the depiction, they also actually looked to be in their proper places. As if the maker of the tapestry studied the night sky to place every star in its appropriate place on the tapestry. The maker even got the color patterns of the night-shining Skybands correct.
"It's about time," Triana snorted, looking over at them. "I was about to come and get you."
"Sorry it took so long," he said dismissively. "We had our talk, and it's over now."
"Any news?"
"Not really," he said carefully. He wouldn't lie to Triana, but he wasn't going to spill everything either.
Triana seemed to pick up on that, and nodded. "We got Darvon to send runners to Allia, and to Dolanna. Camara Tal isn't in the Tower right now, and the trees only know where that crazy Wizard has gotten himself off to now," she grunted.
"What about Kerri?"
"She already told everyone not to bother them while they're torturing the traitor," Triana shrugged. "She'll get the message after they're done making the woman squirm."
"I doubt they're torturing her, mother," Tarrin retorted.
"I don't," she said bluntly. "Well, don't just stand there in the doorway looking like a fool. Come in."
"We got cheated when it comes to rooms, mother," Jenna said, looking around.
"Then move up here," Triana told her. "Nothing's stopping you."
"I think they'd object."
"Girl, think about just who you are and who you're related to. You could go around and stick forks in the backs of every Sorcerer's knees, and they'd slap you on the wrist. They won't lift a finger to stop you."
Jenna looked at Tarrin, who only shrugged, and she laughed. "I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right," Triana said in a dangerous tone. "Now come in before I come over there and make you come in."
Tarrin pushed Jenna into the room, then closed the door behind him. Tarrin and Jenna sat down on Jesmind's couch, Jasana deciding to sit in Jenna's lap as Jesmind seemed to instinctively sidle up against her mate, getting close to him. "We're not going to stay long," Triana told him immediately. "You're probably tired and hungry, and I'd like to catch up with Thean. I'm sure that we'd all like to hear what's happened to you since we last talked."
"That's a very long story, mother," Tarrin told her in dismay.
"Not everything, silly," she corrected. "Just what happened once you got to Aldreth." She looked towards the door. "I got someone to go down to the kitchens and get you some food. You can talk until it gets here. Then I'm going to see my cubs eat, and then I'm taking Thean with me when I go."
"I am a little hungry," Tarrin admitted.
"And I think we should go look at the other apartments around here," Jenna told her parents. "If Tarrin gets a place like this, then we should too."
"The Wikuni's apartments are up here, and the Selani lives with her," Triana shrugged. "It only makes sense that all of you get moved up here. At least then you're all clo
se to each other."
"It makes a certain amount of sense," Tarrin agreed. "What do you think, mother, father?" he asked.
"I think it will spoil him," Elke Kael said, nudging her husband in the ribs. "I just got all the fat worked off of him."
"But it is a good idea," Eron agreed, a bit hastily.
"Yes, it'll put a few dozen flights of stairs between you and the kitchen," Elke said flintily.
"Ooh, I forgot about that," he winced.
"That kitchen should close," Elke complained. "It's getting to where I have to drag him out of there by the hair. He knows all the cooks on a first-name basis."
"I can't help it if I love to eat, dear," he said mildly.
"If you love it any more, you're going to be as fat as those poppinjays that run around the city in those ridiculous outfits," she snorted.
"Your mother thinks that panteloons and doublets are a bit silly as a fashion," Eron winked at his son.
"I'd have to agree," Tarrin told him.
"Did Elke conceive you all by herself, or did I have anything at all to do with it?" Eron complained.
"I think I'm the wrong person to ask. I wasn't alive when it happened," Tarrin told him smoothly.
"He's got you there, Eron," Thean chuckled.
"I guess I'm just too artistic of a soul," he sighed. "At least I can see the art in it."
"Then whoever made them must be the definition of a tortured artist," Elke said with a snort.
"You're getting off the point, and you're eating into what little time we have," Triana told the pair flatly. "Go ahead, cub. I want to hear what happened after you got to Aldreth."
Tarrin and Jesmind exchanged glances, and then she chuckled. "Just what parts should we leave out?" she asked.
"Like what?" Triana asked.
"Oh, like the things that aren't too dignified," she replied.
"I know you two. I don't think anyone here would be shocked to hear that you got into at least one fight. It wouldn't be you if you didn't."
They looked at each other again, and then they grinned at each other. "One," Tarrin admitted. "But it was all her fault."
"It did what I wanted it to do," she said smugly.
"Alright, now I'm interested," Elke said. "Spill."
They looked at one another, and then Tarrin began. He spoke plainly and simply, glossing over certain emotional tirades that consumed him when he first saw Jesmind and his daughter. He told them that he was very angry, and left it at that. Then he continued on to talk about what it was like to be there for three days, and that was when Jesmind described the fight she instigated to his parents. "He needed a release for all that emotion. I gave it to him. It didn't do my jaw any good, but it did get him to work it all out." After that, he described meeting Sathon and the Centaurs, and then their campaign. He didn't really feel like going into detail about that, only saying that they had taken Watch Hill, and he deliberately left out what happened at Torrian.
But Triana only glared at him. "The truth, cub," she demanded. "I know what happened. I just want to hear you say it."
Tarrin sighed, leaning back against the couch. "Do I really have to, mother?" he asked wearily.
"Yes, you do. Better to hear it from you than from idle mouths when the rumors reach Suld."
Giving Triana a somber look, he sighed again and told them what happened at Torrian. His voice had no emotion, and it was apparent to everyone there that speaking about it made him very uncomfortable. He didn't go into elaborate detail, he only recanted the events as if reading them off a proclamation.
His parents turned a bit pale when he told them about burning Torrian to the ground, and Jenna stared at him in shock. "It was the only way," he said, looking into the fire. "There were too many of them, and they knew the plan. They would have killed us all."
"You burned Torrian? The entire city?" Eron asked in shock.
"Right out to the walls," he said in a grim voice.
"What about the people?" Elke asked.
"They survived," he told her immediately. "They were protected from the fire. They lost everything they own, and I mean everything, but they survived. I left Arren enough gold to rebuild the city and pay every citizen back for what I destroyed. It was the least I could do after that."
"Are you sure there was no other way, son?" Elke asked.
"Mother, you taught me the rules of war yourself," he said defensively. "They outnumbered us at least five to one. They had catapults, they held the city wall, and they knew our plan. Tell me how the battle would have come out if I'd have allowed them to fight it."
Elke was silent, and then nodded her head.
There was a polite rap at the door, and then it opened. Four older women wearing servant's dresses entered, each carrying a very large tray holding assorted meats, breads, and pastries. It was the food that Triana had arranged to be brought. Tarrin's stomach jumped at the smells coming from those trays, and he almost stood up to take them from the women as they entered the room. They set the trays down on the table and curtsied, a bit intimidated by the strange company within the room, and then quietly filed out. Tarrin didn't wait for the others, he sank down to sit on the floor in front of that table and reached right for the roasted beef.
Tarrin's parents and sister very nearly had to fight the seven Were-cats over the food on the table. Tarrin and those that had travelled with him were starving, having not eaten since that morning, and it was the five of them that dominated the food. Triana nibbled more than anything else, and Jula didn't look to be very hungry, but Jenna was hungry, and she wasn't afraid to challenge her non-human brother over just who had possession of what. She very nearly tried to take things out of his paw, but Triana smacked her hand away quickly and forcefully. "Don't!" she said adamantly, glaring at the young woman.
"What's wrong?" Jenna asked in surprise, rubbing her hand as Jenna's parents glared a little at the Were-cat matriarch.
"You forget just what he is, girl," Triana said in a powerful tone. "If you eat food that's been in his paws, you're in danger. He's had those paws around his mouth."
Jenna paled when Triana's warning struck home. Tarrin's condition was contagious to humans, in its own way, but it was easy for some to forget that. Even him. He hadn't even considered that, and it seemed that Jenna hadn't either. "I completely forgot," she gasped, pulling her hands away from the table.
"Never forget," Triana told her bluntly. "I'm too old to train another turned youngling."
Tarrin blew out his breath. The very thought of accidentally turning his sister turned his stomach, and he didn't even want to think about it.
"I think you'd better leave all that food alone, girl," Elke told her forcefully. "If you're hungry, we'll go down to the kitchen and get you something."
"I think that's a good idea," she said emphatically, sliding back up to sit on the couch again. "But I seem to have lost my appetite for some reason."
"I guess it's a good thing that she feels so comfortable around us," Triana said gruffly. "As do you two."
"He's our son, Triana. We'll accept him and those around him, no matter what he looks like."
Triana nodded simply, then stood up. "Are you finished, Thean?" she asked directly.
"Let me take some off one of the trays, Triana," he replied, quickly gathering up some food on one of the trays, then picking it up. "We can eat it later," he told her.
"That's alright with me," she told him. "I'm going, cubs. I'll see you in the morning, and we'll catch up some more."
"Goodnight, mother," Jesmind told her.
"Sleep well, mother," Tarrin mirrored, waggling the end of his tail in her direction, since both his paws were occupied.
"Uh, where do I sleep, Triana?" Kimmie asked.
"There's several empty apartments up here, Kimmie. Just go find one. I seriously doubt that anyone would dare try to throw you out," Triana said with a stony smile.
"An apartment like this, all to myself?" Kimmie asked in surprise. "That woul
d be wonderful!"
"Not all to yourself," Triana stated. She pointed at Jula. "This one stays with you. I'm going to be busy with Thean, and I doubt that Jesmind would appreciate having Jula in her home just now. The cub is yours for the next few days."
Jula sighed, but knew better than to say anything. She simply nodded in understanding.
"The apartment to the right after you go down the passageway is occupied, but the one to the left is empty."
"Who's in that one?" she asked curiously.
"We are," Triana said pointedly. "We're taking over this floor. That way we can defend each other better, just in case."
"There's no more need for defending ourselves, Triana," Eron told her.
"I didn't live to get this old by letting my guard down, Eron," she told him bluntly. "I'll feel safe when I'm long gone from this cloying place. Not a moment sooner." She looked to the door absently. "I suggest you go find another apartment on this floor and claim it," she told them. "I'll help you move your things up here."
"No, that's quite alright, Triana," Eron smiled. "We don't have all that much. It won't take but a few minutes to move things."
"It'll give my husband some exercise," Elke said critically, jabbing him in the belly. "Come on, Jenna. Let's go get you some dinner before we move things."
"Alright. See you later, Tarrin. Bye Jasana," she said, waving at the little girl.
"Bye Aunt Jenna," she replied between bites.
Jenna laughed at that. "Aunt Jenna. That makes me feel like an old maid."
"Watch your mouth!" Elke snapped.
"Yes, Grandmother," Jenna said in a teasing voice, then quickly got up and danced out of reach of her mother.
"You're not too old to spank, little girl," Elke growled at her daughter.
"But you'll have to catch me first, mother," Jenna laughed. "And as old as you are, you may not be able to do it."
Jenna laughed, but that laugh turned into a squeal as Elke jumped up from the couch and showed her daughter just how lively she could be. Elke nearly caught her as she scrambled to open the door, and they all heard the pair run out into the hallway. Eron watched them go and chuckled lightly, standing up. "Jenna's been getting pretty impertinent lately. It must be the company," he winked at Tarrin. "I think your mother enjoys it, actually. Jenna's mild nature always seemed to rub her raw."
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