The Novices that tended the baths took one look at the impending disaster, and then fled, leaving the three of them alone.
Tarrin stood at the edge of the bathing pool and squatted down, his eyes flat. "What are you doing here, Jesmind?" he asked in a stiff voice.
"I'm bathing," she said with infuriating calm, pulling her hair behind her.
"Don't state the obvious," he grated. "It makes you look like a fool."
Her eyes flashed, and her light expression turned steely. "I'm not the fool here," she said, her voice carrying an edge. Then she turned her back on him pointedly. "I made a deal with the Keeper," she told him. "I promised not to fight with you, and in exchange, they allow me to stay on the grounds."
"You, making deals?" he scoffed.
"Why not?" she said. "I'd never get away from here if I killed you. They'd kill me. I'm not stupid," she told him. "So count your blessings, cub. So long as you're inside the fence, you're safe from me. But be warned. The minute you step outside the fence, your life is mine."
"I'm not afraid of you anymore," he said in a hissing voice. "Any time you want a piece of me, you just ask. I'll bring everything you can handle." That even startled him.
"My, the cub grows teeth, and he thinks he's an adult," she chuckled. "Since we're going to be stuck here together, there's no reason to be so nasty. I'm almost ashamed for you."
"Get over it," he said in an ominous voice.
She stopped, then turned partially and looked at him. And then she flinched visibly. "I, see," she said quietly. Her tone surprised him. It was one of regret, not anger. "Goodbye, Tarrin," she said quietly. "I'll think fondly of you."
That confused him. He gave Allia a strange look, then stalked away.
"Allia," Jesmind called.
"What do you want of me, kissash?" she demanded flatly.
Jesmind winced. "Watch him," she said in a civil tone. "He doesn't have much more time."
"Time?" Allia said. "Time until what?"
"Until he is gone." She wrung her hair out with her paws, looking up at the Selani woman. Her face was sober. "It may come down to you. A knife thrust to the base of the skull will kill, even one of us. Just make sure you sever the spine, and leave the knife in until he's dead."
"What talk is this?" she demanded hotly.
"He trusts you," she sniffed. "When there's no more hope for him, you're the only one that will be able to get close enough."
Tarrin and Allia were in practice the next day when the news reached him. A nervous Novice handed him a message, and then bolted. Tarrin broke the seal on it and unfolded it.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," he replied. Then his eyes widened, and the first smile in a ten-day graced his handsome face. "My family is here!" he exclaimed. He laughed, and then picked up Allia and spun her around a few times. Then his face took a stricken look.
"Just go to them, my brother," she said softly to him. "They are your blood. It is not how you look that will matter to them."
"I hope so," he said fervently.
"Go bathe first," she noted critically. "You have sand all over you."
"You're right," he agreed.
"Well, Faalken," Allia said, dismissing Tarrin with a slap on the rump. "What can I teach you today?"
Tarrin flew through his bath, all but jumping in and jumping out, then he ran to his room and put on his Novice clothes. The note said to meet them in the room that was the third door on the left coming off the hallway that led from the Grand Stairwell, on the third level, along the outermost ring. That was only one floor up, but was in a different section of the Tower.
He ran up there, but then stood in silent dread by the door for nearly ten minutes. His desire to see his family was balanced by the fear that they would reject him, and it left his mind a confusing chaos of conflicting thoughts and impulses. He stood there, eyes closed, hand on the door handle, until a voice from behind startled him out of his indecision.
"Tarrin," called the warm voice.
Tarrin turned and looked. It was Jula, the Sorceress who had braided his hair. She smiled at him and approached, putting her hand on his forearm. "Are you unwell?"
"No, Madam Jula," he said quietly. He heard sudden commotion in the other room. They knew he was here. "I'm alright."
"Good," she said with a smile, patting his arm. "Have a good day."
Tarrin watched her leave, then he took a deep cleansing breath, and turned the handle.
They were all there, as was the Keeper. Seated around a polished oak table that was the main facet of the room, surrouned by many plush chairs. A single window stood on the far wall. But it was the faces of his family that captured his attention, mainly his mother. He watched that face blink once, and then a look of profound relief and joy swept over her features. "Tarrin!" she called, coming around the table.
Tarrin met her half way and buried her in his arms, lifting her up off the ground, all the relief in the world flooding over him. "Mother," he said quietly, in a voice that communicated all the fear and anxiety he had felt at meeting her.
"I need my ribs, my son," she gasped. He let go of her and hugged his father in almost exactly the same way, then he picked up Jenna and whirled her around a few times, as she held onto his neck. He cradled his beloved little sister up in his arms, laughing delightedly. She reached up and touched his cat ear delicately, then started feeling along its ridge-backed length. "It's soft," she remarked.
"It's sensitive," he warned, though he didn't stop her.
"I think it's cute," she said with a grin.
"Well thank you," he grinned, setting her down. "You have no idea how frightened I was-"
"I know, Tarrin, I know," Eron told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But no matter how you look, or what happens, you'll always be our son, and we will always love you."
Tarrin put his paw over his father's hand, his eyes grateful and warm.
"Well, I think you need time," the Keeper said. "Show them around, Tarrin." And then she took her leave.
"How did it happen, Tarrin?" Elke asked calmly. "They only told us that you'd been changed. They didn't give us details."
They sat down, each paw holding a hand of a parent and Jenna in his lap, playing with his tail idly, and he recanted the events that had led him up to that point. "I don't really blame Jesmind," he said, looking down a bit. "I just wish she'd give up on this and just wait. She doesn't understand."
"She's only doing what she thinks best," Elke said.
"Well, it's not best for me," he replied calmly. "Jenna hon, don't pick at the fur. That hurts."
"Sorry," she apologized. He pulled his tail free of her hand, and then rapped the end against her forehead, making her giggle. Then he let her grab it again and continue her inspection.
"You seem to have taken to the tail," Eron remarked.
"It's not easy to ignore," he chuckled. "It has its uses."
"I'm sure," Elke said. She turned his paw over and ran her finger along the large pad on the palm, then over the smaller pads on the fingers. Then she pinched his fingertip gently, coaxing a long, sharp, wickedly curved claw to come out. "Formidable," she noted. "It's too long. Where does it go?"
"The bones in the end of my fingers are hollow," he told her. "The claw stays inside it. When its retracted, you can feel the base of it up by the knuckle. Just at the end of the pad on my fingertip." He did so, feeling her fingertip put pressure on that very small bump that was the base of his claw.
"Clever."