James Galloway - Honor and Blood

"I'll be up and around by tomorrow, causing everyone trouble," Triana told him with a slight smile.

"At least I'll welcome it," he told her.

"How is Jula?"

"She's sleeping, mother," he replied with a nod. "She'll be just fine after she gets some rest. Just like you."

"Why don't you and Camara take a seat?" Triana offered. "We were listening to Jeri brag about how many Trolls he killed."

"I can't stay too long, mother," he told her regretfully. "I haven't seen Kerri yet, and I'd like to go see her."

"If it's all the same to you, Triana, I have another patient to check on," Camara Tal told her. "I want to go check on the Wikuni. Neme only knows what kind of barbaric medicine they use around here."

"If that's what you want, Camara," Triana told her with a nod. Camara Tal and Triana were old friends, and the tone she used with the Amazon showed it.

Camara said her goodbyes to Tarrin and Triana and left the room, and the Were-cats sat back down. Tarrin sat closest to Triana, with Jasana in his lap and Jesmind beside him. Kimmie got displaced by Rahnee, and was forced to stand behind the couch upon which they sat. Jeri went back to his story, about how him and a Were-bear named Yvan single-handedly beat back a pack of at least twenty Trolls. Jeri described it in lurid blow-by-blow detail, and Tarrin suffered throught it rather well. When he was done, Triana looked to Tarrin. "So, cub, did things go the way you expected? The stories I heard have been fragmented."

"Pretty much, they did, mother," he replied. "The Tower was all that mattered. It's still standing, so we did our job."

"I heard some impossible things about you, Tarrin," Nikki said. "I saw you at the wall, but yet they also say you defended the Tower from Demons. How did you get back and forth so fast?"

Tarrin chuckled. "I can be in two places at once, Nikki," he told her. "Literally. What you saw over the wall was a projection of me. It's complicated, so I won't go into details. But think of what you saw as a shadow of myself, capable of using my powers. The real me was here in the Tower the whole time."

"Oh. I don't understand, but I'll take your word for it," she admitted.

"That must be confusing," Jeri laughed.

"That's one of the old powers, one of the ones the books talk about," Thean said. "And that sister of yours is almost like a folk hero now," he chuckled. "They're singing songs about her already."

"She did do a good job," he said proudly.

"A good job? Tarrin, that little girl almost single-handedly pushed back the ki'zadun. If she hadn't been there, we would have been slaughtered."

"That's my sister," he said grandly. "I need to go see her," he added to himself.

"That can wait until after you tell us your side of the story," Singer told him. "We heard some of it from Jesmind, but she didn't see everything. So tell us!"

"Yes, tell us!" Jeri agreed.

"Later," he said dismissively. "Actually, I just came to see mother and gather up my family. I have to go see Kerri, my mate," he told Jesmind. "Do you want to go with me?"

She looked to her mother, then she nodded. "We'll go with you," she agreed. "Then we go home."

"Alright. I'm sorry to cut things short, but I have a few more people to see tonight, and we don't have much time."

"We have all the time in the world. We won!" Jeri objected.

"Tarrin has something else to do, Jeri," Triana told him. "I felt it, and I know what it means. I'm surprised you're not herding everyone on a ship and leaving right now, Tarrin."

"I have two days," he told her. "We have to leave by then, but I'm going to aim for tomorrow afternoon."

That made Jesmind's eyebrow rise, and he could tell that she was going to have something to say about that when she got him alone.

"Well, I won't slow you down, cub," Triana told him. "I know you probably have alot of things to do, so I'll let you get to them."

"I appreciate that, mother," he said with a grateful smile, standing up. "I'll have time to tell you the story tomorrow, at least I hope so," he told his Were-cat friends. "Until then, you'll just have to wait."

"You're mean to us, Tarrin!" Jeri laughed.

Jesmind collected Jasana and stood up, then gave Tarrin an impatient look. She obviously didn't feel like waiting until they were alone. Tarrin stood up, and looked to Thean. "Do you know where my parents' apartment is, Thean?" he asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Would you do me a big favor and either go there or tell one of the others how to get there, and tell my sister and parents to meet me at Keritanima's apartment?"

"I'll do it for you, Tarrin," Rahnee offered. "I know where their apartment is."

"I appreciate it, Rahnee," he said with a nod. "Camara, I hope you don't mind, but I'd like you to come with us. We have to make some plans."

"I figured as much," she said. "I'll come see you tomorrow morning, alright, Triana?"

"I'll be fully rested by then," she scoffed.

"Well, I'm going to go with you, Tarrin," Sarraya announced, finally speaking. "I have to talk to you."

"That's fine with me," he assured her.

"I'd better go track down that mad Wizard," Camara Tal sighed. "I'm sure we'd rather have him with us."

They left, and Tarrin could tell that Jesmind was bristling. She didn't want to go off on him in front of Sarraya, as it was a purely personal issue, but he could tell that she was mad. Jasana could as well, holding onto her mother's neck tightly to reinforce her contact with her mother, the contact that helped her control her parents when necessary. Tarrin had noticed that about her; she could calm either of them down by touch alone. Jasana's calming influence kept Jesmind from losing her temper, and Tarrin suddenly hoped that he wasn't going to be alone with his mate any time in the near future.

It took only a few moments to reach Keritanima's apartment. Like the others on that floor, it looked almost exactly the same as his own, with the large common room with the two bedrooms split off from each side and the glass-paned door leading out onto the balcony across from the entrance. But where Tarrin's apartment had three couches, Keritanima's had two plush chairs flanked by two couches, with a tea table in the center and a small stand between the two chairs. All of the furniture was upholstered with soft, shining leather, leather that contained feather cushions. Keritanima sat on one of those chairs with her feet propped up on a footstool, with Szath and Azakar standing behind her chair protectively. Miranda sat in the other chair, her lap full of knitting. Dolanna and Allia sat on the couch facing the door, and Dar and the Keeper were sitting on the one before them.

They all greeted him loudly and happily as he entered without knocking, but the happiness died away when they saw the pensive look on his face. "Whatever is the matter, dear one?" Dolanna asked.

"I hate to break up the festivities, but I need to talk to all of you," he said immediately. "We'll wait for Jenna, my parents, and Camara Tal to track down Phandebrass, though."

"Uh oh, it sounds serious," Keritanima said with a weak grin.

"How are you feeling, sister?"

"Weak as a kitten, but otherwise fine," she replied. "I do feel a little, weird, though. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it'll clear up after I get some rest."

Room was made on the couches, and Tarrin and Jesmind were sitting on the very long couch with Allia and Dolanna. His Selani sister touched his face warmly in greeting, smiling at him, then patted him on the leg and allowed Jasana to climb up into her lap. "We were trading stories, trying to piece together a complete chronology of the battle," Keritanima told him. "Now that you're here, you can add your part of it."

"It wasn't much, sister," Tarrin said. "If you want to talk to the one who did it all, talk to Jenna."