James Galloway - Honor and Blood

"Jesmind finally gets to shapeshift without losing her clothes," Tarrin mused with a smile. "This is a wonderful gift, Mother. Thank you very much. It'll make me feel much better."

I dare say it'll make Jesmind less bitchy, she said winsomely. You won't be here, but at least she'll be able to talk to you, and that should ease her loneliness.

"I hope so," he said.

He found all three of them in Jasana's room. Jula was still very weak and wobbly, trying to get one of Jesmind's shirts on without much success. The ordeal that had barely slowed Tarrin down for more than a couple of hours had destroyed Jula, and he worried if she would ever recover or be alright again. Jesmind was handing Jasana a pair of breeches as the little Were-cat girl picked at the fur at the end of her tail, combing out a burr. Tarrin shook his head and stepped over to Jula, grabbing the tail of the shirt and pulling it over her head.

"Thanks," she said with a weak smile, sitting back down on the bed and breathing a little hard to recover. "I was going to try the pants first, but I thought the shirt would be easier. Proves how smart I am," she said with a weak, rueful laugh.

"Well, this may be soemthing a little easier to put on," he told her. "Jesmind, Jasana, here," he called, making them come over. He handed Jasana her amulet first, then Jesmind, then reached the last back to Jula.

"What is this, Tarrin?" Jula asked, looking at the amulet. "I feel… something about it."

"It's a gift," he told them. "A gift from the Goddess."

"A gift for me? The Goddess gives a gift to me?" Jula asked in wide-eyed reverence. "After everything I did to her, she gives me a gift?"

"The only one punishing you over what you did is you, Jula," Tarrin told her. "The Goddess forigives you. Can't you see that?"

"I, I guess so, but-" she said, but then she broke off and wiped a tear from her eye.

"These are like mine," he told them, looking at Jesmind. "They'll let you shapeshift without losing your clothes, and as long as you wear them, nobody can find you using magic. They're also linked to my amulet," he explained, touching his own. "All you have to do is hold it in your paw and speak my name, and you can talk to me no matter where I am."

Jesmind stared at the amulet a long moment, then squealed in delight and gave her mate a deep kiss. "Tarrin, this is perfect!" she beamed. "Now I can keep in touch with you. And I can shapeshift any time I want!"

"Oh, wait," he said, realizing something. "The Goddess said that they were exactly like mine. I'll bet that means that if you put them on, you won't be able to take them off. So it's your decision if you want to wear it."

"So?" Jesmind countered. "This Goddess of yours seems to own you and my daughter. If I can't trust her with you two, I have no reason to trust anyone. I'll wear her symbol proudly." And with that, she quite deliberately put it over her head and settled it into place.

"I never dreamed-" Jula said, then she sniffled. "I haven't worn a shaeram since the night I abducted you. I've been too ashamed. But if the Goddess does forgive me, I'll wear this and never take it off," she said adamantly. She put it on slowly, and when it was settled around her neck, Tarrin clearly saw the concave star design at the center of it transform itself, growing the leg-like extensions that made it appear to be a spider, and marked the amulet as belonging to a Weavespinner. She looked at it in wonder for a moment. "It didn't look like this before. It looks like-" she cut herself short, looking up at the amulet around Tarrin's neck.

"That's right," he said with a gentle smile. "It's like mine. You're a Weavespinner, daughter. Jenna is going to teach you what that means. Listen to her and learn from her. She'll teach you well."

She ran her finger along the outside circle adoringly, admiring her new amulet. "I'll never take it off."

"You won't be able to," Tarrin reminded her, then turned to Jasana. "Well, cub? Do you trust the shining lady enough to wear her gift if you know it can never come off?"

"Umm," she nodded. "The shining lady loves me. She said so herself. She's like Mama." She fearlessly put the amulet on, and then looked down at it. "She wouldn't give me something bad."

"Alright then," he said with a gentle smile. "Just as I promised, Jesmind. An amulet to let you shapeshift without losing your clothes."

"You didn't make it," she teased.

"No, but I delivered on my promise, didn't I?"

She looked at him, then laughed helplessly. "You did," she admitted. "You know, if I really can talk to you no matter where you are, it makes you leaving seem not as bad."

"I'll always be as close as a touch and a word, love," he promised. "And if we're not moving, I can come and see you personally with a projection."

"It will seem weird. Maybe you should just learn the spells of travel that mother knows," she said with a hopeful look. "You could get back here in a matter of hours."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Jesmind. I'll be a on a ship. If I travel here and the ship moves while I'm gone, how am I going to find my way back to it?"

She gave him a look, then snorted. "You just had to go and ruin a good idea, didn't you?" she accused.

"Look at reality, love. If Triana is the only Druid I've seen that can travel like that, the odds are that the spell is beyond my ability."

"Well, maybe," she grunted.

Jula was still staring at her amulet in wonder, still running her finger along its border. Jasana put her paw on Jula's leg and smiled up at her, and Jula smiled back and ruffled her hair. "I'm glad you don't seem so sad anymore, sister," Jasana said with a loving smile. "If all it took to make you happy was give you one of these, I'd have got you one last ride."

"It's more than that, little cub," Jula told her with a strangely devoted look. "This means that the shining lady isn't mad at me. I was so afraid that she would be, and that she didn't love me anymore. I'm glad I was wrong."

"All you had to do was ask her. You didn't have to be afraid. Mother always says tackle your fears, or they'll tackle you."

"Well, I guess I should have," she admitted. "But sometimes fear seems much bigger than you are."

"Then you get a running start," Jasana told her seriously.

"I'll remember that, little cub," she said with a rueful smile, tapping Jasana on the nose in the way she'd seen Tarrin and Jesmind do so, which made the little girl giggle.

Tarrin happened to be looking at Jesmind, and he saw her eyes visibly soften as she watched Jula and Jasana. "Why don't you help Jula finish getting dressed, cub?" Jesmind told her. "If she had that much trouble putting on a shirt, she'll fall over if she takes a foot off the floor."

"Alright, Mama. Where are your pants, sister?"

"Jesmind brought me those there," she said, pointing to the floor near the writing desk. "I hope they fit. The shirt seems to fit well enough, but your mother is taller than I am."

"Then go without them," Jasana said. "I go without clothes all the time at home."

"Well, I could, but all the boys would stare at me if I left the apartment," she said with a wink.

"Why?"

"Because of something you'll understand when you're older," she replied.

"Papa doesn't stare at you."

"That's because your father is my father too," she replied. "Among humans, you just don't look at a child that way, and children don't look at their parents that way. And remember, little cub, we were both born human, so it's still very strong in us. If he looked at me that way, I'd be very worried."

"Oh. Alright. Let me get your pants."

That one statement seemed to bleed all the remaining hostility right out of Jesmind. Tarrin realized that Jesmind had probably seen Jula as a rival, since she herself had taken her own bond-son for mate. Hearing that Jula had no interest in Tarrin in that manner made her visibly relax. Tarrin looked at his bond-daughter and couldn't deny that she was very pretty, and since she had no sense of modesty around him, it left little to his imagination. But his animosity towards her before taking her for a child would poison any intimacy they may share. Tarrin could love her and forgive her as a daughter, but never as a mate. Besides, his strong human side saw her as a daughter, and that made any thoughts of her as a mate repugnant.