"Oh that's it, Tarrin, make me feel better," she said acidly.
"Truth is better than platitudes, woman," Tarrin said dangerously. "About all I can suggest is that if you see her starting to do that, knock her out. She can't use Sorcery if she's unconscious."
"I don't like the idea of hurting her like that," she said with a grunt.
"Better a bump on the head then burning herself to ash," Tarrin told her firmly.
"Amen," Jesmind blew out her breath. "Can you stop her?"
"Easily. At least for now."
"Then I guess the only real solution is to keep you near her," she reasoned.
"Are you insane?" Tarrin said immediately, jumping to his feet and staring down at her hotly. "I'm about to go wade headfirst into a war , Jesmind! There is no way in the nine hells I'm going to bring Jasana with me!"
"Well what do you expect me to do!" she almost shouted in reply.
"Keep your voice down!"
"Make me!" Jesmind said indignantly, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
He very nearly did. He would have, if Jasana hadn't rushed out of Jenna's room and firmly interposed herself between her parents. Tarrin glared down at Jesmind, feeling Jasana's paw on his stomach, almost holding him back, but his former mate showed no fear of him, glaring back up at him with the same intensity.
It hung there for a long moment, until Jesmind snorted and looked away from him. Her retreat allowed him to calm down, and he sat back down in the chair and put his chin in his paw pugnaciously.
"Don't yell," Jasana said to them firmly.
"Get back in there and wash!" Jesmind snapped at her.
The little girl understood that she'd better do it and do it quickly, so she darted back into Jenna's old room.
"I'm getting tired of this!" she hissed. "If you want to fight, fine! We'll go outside and beat each other senseless!"
"I can't think of anything else I'd rather do right now," he growled at her, jumping back to his feet and staring down at her with a malicious eagerness.
"If that's what it's going to take to beat all this hostility out of you, then let's do it!" she said in an ugly tone.
And she did. Tarrin never dreamed she's blindside him, so he was totally unprepared for it. She balled up her fist and planted it right in his belly, driving the breath out of him, using all her Were-cat strength to really make it hurt. Had he been a younger Were-cat, he would have doubled over that fist and been left incapacitated. But Tarrin was alot stronger and tougher than he used to be, and was able to shrug off enough of it to not be squirming on the floor. But it had slowed him down, stunned him for a brief moment, and that was all Jesmind needed to grab him by the neck, pull him aside, square him up, then punch him dead in the jaw.
Tarrin's body went flying through the closed door, shattering it, and he splayed out on the porch with stars dancing in his eyes. Jesmind stepped through that now empty doorway with an ugly smile on her face, her tail lashing behind her sharply. "You may be bigger now, but I'm not afraid of you, cub!" she sneered.
"I am NOT -" his tail lashed out, sweeping her feet out from under her-"a cub!" he finshed as she crashed to the porch.
Tarrin's anger exploded at that point, driving him to a fury that was almost a rage, but not quite. Tarrin had a great many reasons to be mad at Jesmind, and now that the cards were on the table, he found a release for all that pent-up emotion. He jumped to his feet at the same time she did, and then punched her dead in the jaw with so much force that she went flying across the porch. She hit the rail, bounced up and over it, then disappeared under the porch deck to crash to the ground below. He followed her over the rail, only to be greeted by her claws as she raked him across the face as he came over the rail. Tarrin felt the hot lines, felt the warm blood, and it made him that much angrier.
"Why you-!" he snapped at her, but all she did was grin evilly.
Tarrin more or less lost it at that point. Howling with sudden fury, he fell on the smaller Were-cat with unmitigated savagery. Claws flashing, Tarrin and Jesmind resorted to the natural method of fighting among their kind, claws and teeth. Much like it had been the last time they fought, they raked and tore at one another with mindless fury, with no grace or strategy or plan. Rolling in the yard, the two of them ripped at one another, as years of frustration, anger, loneliness poured out of Tarrin, taking it out on the woman who had caused all those feelings in the first place. He hated her for abandoning him, he was so mad at her for not telling him about Jasana! He was furious that she hadn't been there for him, with him, hadn't let him be a part of his daughter's life, hadn't let him be there! He felt so betrayed that she would do something like this to him!
Tarrin's fury gave him focus, gave him a power that Jesmind couldn't match. He eventually beat her down, pinned her to the ground, then punched her in the face once for every time that he had missed her, he had needed her, every time she had betrayed him. He took all his frustration out on Jesmind, took out all his pain and his indignation and his anger out on Jesmind, showed her how he felt inside with his fists and claws instead of with words.
Almost as quickly as it started, almost as quickly as it happened, it was over. Tarrin's anger drained away when he looked down at Jesmind, seeing her face bloody and bruised, her eyes glazed over. He had won. He rose up from her and sat down hard just beside her, a paw over his face, feeling the blood there. All the anger was… gone. Drained away, as if fighting with Jesmind had given it a way out of him.
Were-cats can try to kill each other, but once the fight is over, it's over, Triana told him once, so very long ago. The fight settles the matter. It's as if it never happened afterwards.
Yes, of course. Just like with Jula, and Jegojah. Tarrin fought them, beat them, and afterward, it was as if they hadn't been enemies. The fight had settled the matter, and it was no longer an issue.
Tarrin flopped down onto his back on the ground, his mind turning it over in his mind. Jesmind had been a little too quick to pick that fight. She had been spoiling for it. But not for her, for him. She had picked a fight with him to let him express all his anger, to give it a release instead of keeping it bottled up inside him.
Tarrin's opinion of her rose by several degrees. She had been willing to take a beating just to make him feel better.
"Ugh," she groaned, sitting up, spitting out a tooth. "Remind me never to sucker-punch you again. Tarrin? Are you alright?"
Tarrin looked up at her. She had blood on her face, dribbling out of the corner of her mouth, and her shirt had been ripped off her left shoulder, leaving her left side bare. He stared up at her woodenly.
"Feel better now?" she asked with a charming little smile.
"You are a witch," Tarrin grunted at her. "I can't even win for losing."
Jesmind laughed. "I thought as much. You needed some exercise."
"I hate you. Do you know that?"
Jesmind laughed again. "I've been Were alot longer than you, Tarrin," she grinned. "I knew you needed some way to let it all out. Unfortunately, this was the only way I could think of." She rubbed her jaw. "Furies, Tarrin, when did you get so strong? I thought you knocked my jaw off with that first punch."
He refused to answer. He felt… manipulated. Jesmind had robbed him of his anger for her by letting him release it against her, and now it was as if it had never been. It didn't matter now. He had showed her how he felt, and since that was done, there was no need to dwell on it anymore.
She had cleaned the slate between them.
Almost. He was still a little peeved at her at what she did, but he couldn't really blame her for it. But he didn't feel only irritation. He was impressed that she was willing to pick a fight she knew she couldn't win, and do it for his benefit. It showed him that she did care, and that knowledge softened the memories of the anger and betrayal he had felt before.