James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

So he brought her down to the baths, one of the few places where Allia would truly relax, and massaged and pampered her into total contentment. Such personal attention was vital for her mental well-being, a very tactile and sensual assurance that she was loved and needed. Selani were a very sensual people, almost as dependent on their senses as the Were-cats were, because they lived in a world where the slightest misstep could bring death. By indulging in those senses, Tarrin put Allia's mind at ease, and it made her relax. She had been much too tense the last few days.

Allia sighed blissfully, her incredible blue eyes opening and staring directly into his own. "You do know how to spoil me, brother," she said with a gentle smile.

"You needed it," he replied. "You've been a bit nervous the last few days."

"It's the situation," she told him. "I don't feel comfortable being a thief. It goes against our ways."

"I know. I figured that was part of what was bothering you. But it was necessary."

"Yes, I'd have to agree," she admitted. "We aren't in a position where we can live by our codes. Survival is the first rule." She rolled over on her back and stretched languidly. "Besides, Keritanima did make it seem somewhat honorable."

"How is that?"

"By painting the church as an enemy of the katzh-dashi , who host us," she replied. "Stealing is wrong, but raiding one's enemy is more than acceptable. Until the Tower proves she is an enemy, I can find honor in striking back at her foes."

Tarrin chuckled. "That's one way to justify it."

"How do you justify it?"

"I don't," he shrugged. "I really don't care one way or the other."

"That's another way to justify it," Allia said with a smile, reaching out and nudging his shoulder. "What is this strange curiosity I see for Miranda?"

Tarrin looked at her. "I really have no idea," he replied.

"She is quite cute. I'm not sure how you'd feel sharing your bed with someone covered in fur."

"Allia!" Tarrin said in shock. "I don't feel that way about her!"

"You certainly feel something."

"I don't know what it is," he said. "I do like her, but something about her… sings to me. It's not romantic. I don't know what it is. I think of her as a friend, nothing more."

"She certainly seems to like you."

"I hope so," he replied. "I talked to Dar yesterday," he mentioned. "I think he's starting to get interested in Tiella."

"He needs a girlfriend," she said approvingly. "Tiella is a good woman."

"She'll be over here in a few days."

"I know. How have you fared without Jesmind?"

Tarrin gave her a strong look. "I guess I don't think about it," he said. "For some weird reason, I miss her."

"She meant alot to you, my brother," she told him. "I think that if your circumstances had been better, you would be married to her."

Tarrin sighed. "Maybe," he admitted. "She's too stubborn to make a good wife."

"She's just like you. That makes it a good match."

"Well thanks," he said with a snort. "How's class coming?"

"Much better now," she replied. "Yesterday I finally managed to understand the intricacies of weaving in multiple flows. I still need practice, though."

"Kerri can help with that."

"She's too busy with the scrolls."

"She needs to learn how to make time," Tarrin grunted.

"Like you made for me? This really was sweet, deshida ."

"You're my sister, and you needed some extra attention," he smiled. "Besides, I longed to put my paws all over those places I'm not allowed to touch in company."

Allia laughed. "Don't start with me, brother," she warned with twinkling eyes.

"Maybe I just miss that about Jesmind."

Allia laughed again. "You're worrying me now," she teased.

"Just consider yourself lucky that I'm Were," he grinned, leaning up on his elbows. "If I were human, I'd be too busy staring at your bosom to give you the time of day."

"I get enough of that from the others, brother," she said. "I don't need it from you. What is it about human males that makes it impossible for them to look a woman in the eye?"

"Because there are better things to look at, I suppose," Tarrin shrugged. "Your eyes may be pretty, but to a human, they're not your most appealing attribute."

"Oh? And what would that attribute be?"

Tarrin grinned at her. "It depends on the tastes of the looker," he teased. "I've always been partial to tails. But you don't seem to have one, so I guess I'm left out." Tarrin snaked his tail up off the floor, letting it weave back and forth over his head to catch her attention. "And you can't tell me that Selani don't look."

"Of course we look," she challenged. "We just don't keep looking."

"That's no fun."

"Selani courtship is a serious affair," she told him. "Let's stop talking about this, before I start getting bad ideas and no way to carry them out. I'd feel dirty if I took a human for lover."

"No you wouldn't," he teased.

"Maybe not, if it were someone I respected," she admitted. "But I find humans to be…plain. They don't incite my interest."

"No wonder," he said. "What did you think of the teaching?" he asked, referring to the night of learning the basics of Sha'Kar.

"I noticed that it strikes a great resemblance to the Language," she replied. "Its structure is almost identical."

"I noticed. Maybe your people and theirs are distantly related. Some in the Tower think it may be true."

"It is possible," she said. "Our histories begin only about three thousand years ago, and our beginnings say we were a lost people, wandering the wilderness, until the Holy Mother's voice called out and led them into the desert, and into the true lands of peace and prosperity. Perhaps we are distantly related to them. It is possible." She put her chin on her arm. "But I don't think so. They vanished some two thousand years ago, and my people were firmly established before that happened. Had we been cousins, I'm sure there would have been contact and communication."

"Maybe. Perhaps we'll find out someday."

"Perhaps," she agreed. "Tarrin."

"Yes?"

"Have I mentioned lately how much I love you?"

Tarrin smiled. "I don't think you have to, sister," he said, reaching out and taking her slender, four-fingered hand into his huge paw, swallowing it up.

"Some things don't need to be said."

Keritanima was in a foul mood. She woke up after a long two days without enough sleep, and her shoulders throbbed furiously. Even the whisper of her red silk dress over those tender burns, that had blackened her skin and charred away her fur, made it feel like someone was dragging a wood saw over her skin. But in one way, she accepted that pain for what it meant, and what it did for her. They were the Selani brands, and they marked her as the sister in all but blood to a Selani warrior.

They told everyone who looked at them that she belonged .

She would gladly suffer that pain for the rest of her life if it meant that she was part of something that wasn't self-destructive. For her entire life, she had always stood outside, looking in through the window to long for what others had. She had wanted a family, but got the Erams. She wanted friends and joy, and got death and sorrow. She wanted happiness and peace, and got conniving, treachery, and murder. For the first time in her life since meeting Miranda, Keritanima felt good about something, felt there was a chance, that there was hope. It had lifted a tremendous weight off of her, a weight that had bogged down her soul for years. She had to keep them hidden, because there was absolutely no way for her to explain or justify them in the character of the Brat Princess, and in a way, that ate at her. She was proud of those brands, as proud of them as the Knights were of theirs, and she wanted the entire world to see them. But she had to keep them hidden, to keep up her appearances.