The texture of Mist's scent changed dramatically, making him look at her. It was so full of anger it surprised him. He stared at her profile a long moment, seeing the barely contained look of anger on her face, but also seeing such a sharp, deep pain flutter over her features that it stabbed at him.

"Oh," Singer said very quietly when Shirazi glared at her. "Don't mind me. I think I'll just go sit on the porch a while."

She'd better, Tarrin realized, or Mist was going to come over the table and try to rip her head off.

What could incite a reaction like that? What had Singer said? She'd only mentioned that another Were-cat was pregnant. Why would that enrage Mist so, and cause that look of pain? Tarrin glanced at Kimmie, and then realization dawned on him. Mist, who was so feral that she defined the term, had taken Kimmie as a bond-child, when it should have been completely against her feral nature. But something had overridden even her feral fear of strangers and outsiders. She had seen a terrified child in desperate need of protection and nurturing, and her maternal instincts had risen up inside her and overwhelmed her own feral impulse to fear and mistrust the child. Mist had adopted a daughter, because she wanted a child.

Without thinking, Tarrin reached over and set his open paw against Mist's bare belly, a belly tight with rippling abdominal muscle. But when he looked closer, looked at her side, he saw the scars. The scars of her near-death experience, the scar that showed where she had been wounded by silver. Mist jumped at his touch, but she had little chance to make a more extreme reaction, because Tarrin reached out and touched the Weave, then reached into her, sending probes of Divine power through her to assess her physical condition. That probing gently yet completely blocked the diminutive Were-cat's attempts to slap his paw away, even to get away from him. It paralyzed her with a sensation of warm pleasure.

It only took him an eye's blink to find it. The scar tissue ran deeply in her, starting in her side and going right through both of the organs in her belly that produced the eggs that would allow her to become pregnant. They had been ravaged by whatever had wounded her, probably a sword judging by the size and texture of the scar tissue, and because of that, they no longer functioned. The wounding had made Mist barren.

That was no problem. Quickly and effortlessly weaving together a complicated tangle of flows of Water, Earth, and Divine power, the flows of healing, Tarrin snapped it down and then released it into her. The healing attacked the mangled scar tissue inside her, breaking it down, puzzling out the body's original condition and then reknitting together tissue and organs to make it just as it had been before. The jagged scar and skin surrounding it on Mist's side turned red, then the redness faded, taking the scar with it. Smooth unmarred skin was all that remained.

Mist finally managed to suck in her breath as the icy blast of Sorcerer's Healing worked its way through the warm sensation of the probe. She grabbed his paw with both of hers, yet seemed completely incapable of moving it even a hair's breadth, locking onto it and threatening to crush his wrist in a powerful grip as the Healing worked into her, through her, eradicating the scar tissue, and the condition it caused in her.

"Tarrin!" Triana said angrily as he blew out his breath and pulled his paw away, feeling the cold numbness of using up most of his energy. "You stupid cub! If I hadn't been here to choke that off, you would have fried yourself! What in the furies did you just do?"

He looked right in Mist's eyes, which were staring at him with a mixture of anger, confusion, and a strange fear. "What should have been done a long time ago," he said in a weary voice, more to her than anyone else. That had drained him of just about every ounce of energy he had, and he fought not to wilt onto the table.

"What does that mean?"

"There was a scar inside her that wouldn't let her conceive. I removed it. Mist isn't barren anymore."

Those simple words hit the other Were-cats like a sledgehammer. Shirazi gaped at him in shock, and Singer, who was in the act of standing, flopped back into her seat heavily. But Rahnee gave him a single startled look, then began to laugh. Kimmie smiled broadly, a look of sublime happiness on her face. But Mist stared at him with that same furious look, but now a twinge of disbelief rippled through her eyes. "You're lying," she accused in a desperate tone. "You couldn't have done that! Every Druid in Fae-da'Nar has tried to heal me!"

"Tarrin's not a Druid, Mist," Triana said bluntly, staring at her. "He's a Sorcerer, and Sorcerers can make a body heal in ways that aren't natural. And if he said he did it, then he did it. If you want, I'll check and make sure, but I don't think I have to."

"Check," she said instantly, still refusing to let go of his wrist. "If he's lying, I'm going to-"

"You watch your mouth, woman," Triana snapped, her eyes blazing. That immediately cowed the feral Were-cat, with a speed that surprised Tarrin, given Mist's powerful will. "Threaten my cub again, and you'll deal with me. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Triana," Mist said with shocking submission.

"Now shut up and stay still," she ordered, coming around Tarrin and putting a paw on Mist's belly. Mist still had Tarrin's paw gripped in both of hers, and she merely moved them out of Triana's way. Triana closed her eyes for a moment, and Tarrin could feel something, something that seemed to dance just outside the fringes of his consciousness. When she opened her eyes again, there was no change in her stoic expression. She stared at Mist, and then she gave her the slightest of smiles. "He did a good job," she announced. "Very clean, very neat. He totally removed the scar, and repaired your ovaries."

"I… I can bear children?" Mist asked in a tiny voice.

"Yes," Triana announced in a powerful voice.

Tarrin was looking in her eyes as Triana made that announcement, and he distinctly saw that tension in them that marked her as different from the others melt away, if only for the moment. She looked into Tarrin's eyes in dumbfounded shock, and then she burst into tears. She let go of his paw and covered her face with hers as Kimmie stood up and put her paws on her bond-mother's shoulders gently, her thankful look and teary eyes communicating her gratitude to him in ways that no words could.

Tarrin winced and rubbed his wrist gingerly. She'd almost wrung his paw off with that grip. Mist was a powerful Were-cat, probably stronger than he was. Rahnee was giving Tarrin a broad smile, and then Shirazi laughed delightedly. Singer managed to come out of it, smiling at him. "I'm glad I was here to see that," she finally said. "Now I won't have to worry about Mist killing me."

For some reason, everyone else thought that was very funny. Everyone but Mist and him was laughing.

"Uh, Triana, I really think I need to go lie down now," he said weakly. "That took everything I had."

"I should say so," Triana said. "I can't take you anywhere without you causing a scene, do you know that, cub?" she said with a laugh as she reached down and scooped him up. Being carried hadn't been what he had in mind, but he was in no position to argue. Then again, he wasn't sure if he could stand up, and being carried certainly beat being dragged back up to his room by his hair.

As she carried him up the stairs, Triana spoke to him softly. "That was a fool thing to do, cub. The Weave just about jumped out of its skin when you touched it. If I hadn't been there to throttle that, it would have fried you to ash."

"I'm sorry. When I realized what made Mist react that way, I just had to help. I did it without thinking."

"I'll say you weren't thinking," she snorted. "But, I can't say I can be too mad at you. Mist's barren condition is alot of what makes her so contrary. She blames the humans for it, and that was what's kept her from opening up more. She has alot of anger built up inside."