James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

Tarrin gaped at her, his heart lurching. But in his weakened condition, it couldn't lurch that much. He felt shock, disbelief, betrayal in that proclomation, but it also followed a twisted logic that had gnawed at him for months. He should not have survived against Jesmind. Now he knew why he did. They had sent her in there to fight, to make it look good, but ultimately only to bite him and then leave him. He added that horrible truth to the great weight looming over his mind, something to work out when he felt more prepared to deal with it.

But it did expand his plans for vengeance. The Keeper wasn't going to get away with ruining his life. He was going to make her pay for it.

"Whoever took you used the same collar the Tower used to control Jesmind," she added. "It was stolen from their vaults some days ago."

"Jula," he hissed, his ears laying back. "It was Jula."

Allia gave him a surprised look. "Jula? But she is your friend!"

"She was lying," he hissed. "She was lying all along. They have to catch her, sister. I don't want to have to chase her across the West to kill her."

"Save that talk for when you are stronger, my brother," she told him. "You need to lay back down and sleep. Dolanna used a weave on you that will allow you to recover your strength much more quickly than usual, but even with that, it will take time. We didn't know if you would survive long enough to get you to safety. I have never seen you so wounded. It hurt me to see it."

"I don't know if I can," he told her in a small voice. "I'm afraid, Allia."

"Lay back," she said in a gentle, matronly voice, taking hold of him by his shoulders and helping him lay back down. "I will sing to you a song of peace, my dear brother, a song of peace and harmony, to soothe the whirling of your mind."

And then she began to sing, her rich, timbred voice raising in sweet melodies, singing a song of happiness and prosperity. Tarrin was captivated by the rich beauty of her voice, a voice that would charm the most savage monster, and he felt his fears and worries dissolve and blow away like sand upon the wind. She held his paw in her hands, and the feel of her touch, the sound of her voice, her spicy scent overpowering the smell of stone and polished wood, they all put him at ease. His every sense was overwhelmed by her closeness, and his utter trust and love he held for his tall, beautiful Selani sister allowed his mind to step down from his worries and fears and find nothing but sweet, rich harmony.

Such gentle thoughts faded by the time he was again awake.

Allia was giving him hot looks as he paced through the room, stretching himself out. He still felt somewhat weak, but he was more than strong enough to do what he had to do. He felt somewhere between sleep and awake, where his anger had been reduced to a hot spot in his mind, a mind that seemed curiously distant to him. He had no idea why, but it was allowing him to think somewhat clearly about what he had to do, and what had to be done.

He was still very angry, but he had a strange feeling of helplessness about it. He was angry, he was outraged…and yet, he didn't feel quite as angry as he actually was. It was an eerie feeling, almost bizarre, and he had no explanation for it. He suspected that the trauma he suffered at the hands of his bestial half had something to do with it, and at that moment, he really didn't mind all that much.

There would be a reckoning, and he preferred it not to be now.

"Take them off," she said in a dangerous voice.

"No," he replied flatly, ignoring her.

It was all about the manacles. They were still locked around his wrists, and he refused to remove them. They represented what had happened to him, and in a strange way, he feared to take them off, else he would forget what happened while he had them on. The memories of his actions were only just beginning to unravel from the confused mess of emotion and images knotted in his mind, a common effect after the Cat had taken control of him. It had happened before, but never quite so severely. Then again, he had never lost control of himself so utterly as he had earlier that day. It was still hazy, but the raw truth was that he had gone on a rampage, and a large number of people had died at his paws. That much he was certain of, but the specifics of it were still lost in the mists of his instincts.

"Take them off."

"I'm not going to take them off, Allia," he said bluntly, turning around. "Deal with it."

He found himself laying on the floor, with her knee in his back. "I said take them off !" she said harshly. "I cannot stand to see you with those things on your arms! Take them off now !"

"No," he said in a dangerous tone, getting up with her on top of him. His strength carried her up, until she was forced to back away or be tipped over. "Get used to it, sister, because I'm not taking them off."

"You are so dense!" she shouted at him. "Take them off!"

"No," he hissed, glaring at her. She gave him a startled look, then took a step back. Tarrin sighed, looking away from her. "I'm sorry, sister," he said contritely. "I just can't take them off."

"Alright, but we'll talk about that later," she said. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going back to the Tower," he told her. "My things are still there, and I'm going to catch up with the Keeper."

"I think I can live with that," she said. "What do you think we will do now?"

"Now? We run," Keritanima said as she opened the door. "It's good to see you up, brother."

"Kerri," he said with a smile. "Allia said you came to my rescue."

"You'd do the same for me," she said as she hugged him. "I don't think we're going back to the Tower. Not now. I've given myself away, and I wouldn't trust any of them."

"No, I don't think so," he said. "But I have no idea what to do now."

"Now, we get as far away from them as we can," Keritanima said. "Inland, or to the desert. One or the other."

"I don't have a problem with that," Tarrin agreed. "But first, I have a little visit to make there."

"What for?"

"I want my things, and I'm going to pay the Keeper a little visit," he said, flexing his claws in an ominous manner. "Jula too, if I can catch her."

"Tarrin, just drop it," Keritanima said. "They can't do anything more to you."

"This isn't about danger, this is about justice," Allia said. "They must pay for their crimes."

"Allia-"

"Don't try to stop me, brother," she said hotly. "What they have done to you is wrong. They must be punished for it."

"Allia, let me take care of it," he said.

"Tarrin, what you're talking about is dangerous. You don't just walk into the Keeper's room and smack her around."

"They'll never see me," he said in a grim tone.

"It's dangerous."

"I don't care."

"This isn't like you, Tarrin."

"No, it's not."

"Do not think to leave without me," Allia said hotly.

"Why don't both of you park it for a while?" Keritanima asked. "They're not going anywhere."

"Jula is," Tarrin said dangerously. "If I don't catch her before she gets away-"

"Tarrin, she's had hours to get away," Keritanima said. "She's already gone."

"I'm still going to try."

"Stubborn fool," she snapped, sitting on the bed. "I don't have any other brothers, and if you get yourself killed over something stupid, I'm never going to forgive you."

"I'll keep him safe, sister."

"You'll stay here," Tarrin told her. "I'll move faster alone, sister. For this, I need to be alone."

Allia glared hotly at him, but finally submitted to his steady gaze. "Alright, but be careful."

It was late in the evening, and Jula was terrified.

It didn't look it, but Jula was always one to be rather good at acting one way while feeling another. She moved with quick, smooth precision through the Tower, rushing back to her rooms after picking up some instructions from her superior. The Black Mistress had not been happy about the abysmal failure, but at least she didn't assign any blame to Jula. Jula had done her job, and done it well. That the Wikuni witch had somehow figured out a way to track down the Were-cat had been the ultimate in bad luck.