"You take much stock in custom even now," she said. "Before you lost your memory, you were much the same. I see that some elements of your personality were yours before you were turned."

He pointed to the little crystal bell she'd sent him. "There's yours. Right by the bed, where I could get my hands on it in a hurry if I needed to."

"It pleases me that you took my gift seriously," she said with approving eyes.

"I'm just now starting to appreciate how serious all this is."

"I dare say you would," she said with an eerie reptillian grin.

"I do really like that one, though," he said, pointing at the cat with the emerald eyes.

"Who sent it?"

"I forgot. One of those people I can't really remember," he answered.

"It is an excellent piece," she said, studying it. "Refined and elegant, yet with an understated simplicity that makes it very bold."

"I don't know about all that, I just like it," he told her in a simple manner.

"You have no soul for art, Tarrin."

"I guess not," he shrugged in agreement.

There was a sudden commotion outside the door, as one of the Knights raised his voice for some reason. There was a pause, and then the door was thrown open, and much to both his irritation and concern, Jesmind was standing in the doorway. He could tell almost immediately that she was either upset or angry. She wasn't alone; Triana was just behind her, and Mist was with her.

"Are you alright?" she asked immediately, sweeping into the room so quickly that it surprised him, coming over and putting those large padded hands on him, checking him.

"I'm alright," he said neutrally. He couldn't be mad at her for being concerned, but what happened earlier hadn't changed his intention to lay down the law. He reached up and put his hands on her forearms, and then gently pushed them away.

That one move seemed to convey the entirety of his emotion to her. She looked at him with surprise and just a little chagrin, and she stiffened. "Listen, Tarrin," she said quickly. "I'm sorry. I know I-"

"Sorry isn't going to fix it this time," he said in a steely tone. "Look around you, Jesmind. Looks a little different than the last time you were in here, doesn't it?" he accused. "You had no right to destroy my room!" he shouted at her suddenly, and it made her take a step back.

"Someone nearly kills you, and you want to fight about that?" Jesmind said in surprise.

"People try to kill me all the time!" he said pugnaciously. "I don't remember it, but I know it because you told me so! Why shouldn't I be used to it by now?"

He knew that sounded a little ludicrious, and Sapphire couldn't suppress a hissing giggle. Jesmind wasn't laughing, though. "I've had about enough of it, Jesmind," he told her bluntly. "This is what's going to happen. You're going to stop following me around. You're going to make sure the other Were-cats don't follow me around in your stead, and you're going to give me the space I want. You're going to leave me alone, because if you don't, I can guarantee you that you won't see me anymore. I'll have you thrown out of the Tower."

"You wouldn't dare!" she shouted, looming over him threateningly.

It was an empty threat. Tarrin knew that Jesmind would not hurt him, no matter how angry he made her. Not in his weakened condition.

"When my sister is the Keeper, I think I can easily manage that," he said cooly, with narrowing eyes. "Just back off and leave me alone," he repeated. " If I forgive you for what you did, I'll start visiting you again. Until then, just leave me alone. And you'd better leave Auli alone too," he added. "If I hear of you harassing her, I'm going to be very mad."

"I'm not letting that little tart get away with-"

"With what? Doing to me exactly what you did to me?" he said, flinging that matter back in her face. "Me and Auli had a talk. She's sorry she did it now, and she's promised to not do it again. Auli is my friend, Jesmind. I'm going to spend time with her, whether you like it or not. So live with it."

"What I did was different," she said, crossing her arms before her and glaring at him. "You are mine, Tarrin. I spent too much time protecting you and teaching you and helping you to give you away now. If you think I'm going to just do what you say, you've got another thing coming. I fight for what I want, and I want you."

"If you don't give me what I need, you're guaranteeing you'll never get me," he shot back. "That choice is mine to make. Antagonizing me before I make it is a very bad way of influencing my decision. Nothing's decided until I get back my memory. Goddess, woman, can't you understand that? Everything going on right now, none of it really matters! So I slept with Auli. Big deal! If I love you as much as you say I do, do you really think that's going to matter once I can remember it again? Given what I know of Were-cats, do you think I'll care about it when I get back my memory, since it'll be the memory of me as a Were-cat? I'm going to make that choice, Jesmind. You're not going to make it for me, but damn it all, you're doing a good job of making me make the choice you don't want me to make!"

Jesmind growled in her throat, taking a step forward, but Mist interposed herself between the two of them. With one hand on Jesmind's shoulder and one on his, she pushed them apart. "I'm surprised with you, Jesmind," she said calmly. "This is Tarrin we're talking about here. If you can't trust him, how can you call him your mate?" she demanded. She looked at him, a very calm, very rational look. "And he's talking truth. If I were him, I'd be really mad with you too. I'd probably think you were the biggest bitch to ever walk the earth and never want to talk to you again. Trees, woman, you tear up his room and try to kill his bedmate, and you think he's going to welcome you in here and offer you tea and cakes?"

"Don't you start with me, Mist," Jesmind growled.

"I'll start with you all I want," she said with a flinty look. "You forget your place, girl."

That certainly pressed some hidden button that should not have been pressed. Jesmind hissed threateningly at Mist, putting her ears back and slapping the shorter Were-cat's hand off her shoulder. Blood spattered with the arc of Jesmind's hand, and Tarrin realized she'd used her claws and raked Mist a good one while doing it. If it hurt Mist, she didn't show it. She just looked up at the taller Were-cat and raised a clawed hand, claws out and fingers flexed in a crooked manner that exaggerated those wicked claws.

"Children," Sapphire said in a strong yet measured voice, flapping over and landing on Tarrin's shoulder, "if you start fighting in here, you're going to answer to me. Do you understand me?"

Tarrin doubted anything could have made those two seperate faster than that. Mist and Jesmind glared at each other, but didn't make any hostile moves towards each other. That they may actually fight surprised him, but it also fell into what he'd been told about their kind. "All that goes for you too, Mist," Tarrin said firmly. "I don't want you picking up where she leaves off." He pointed at Jesmind.

"That's not a problem, Tarrin," she said calmly. "Unlike Jesmind, I understand the situation. I won't pressure you one way or another."

"I understand the situation better than you!" she shouted. "We may lose him, Mist! Do you really want that?"

"I'd rather lose him as a mate over losing him forever," she said cooly. "If we make him become a Were-cat again, do you think he'll ever forgive us, even if that would have been the choice he made? He'd never talk to any of us again, and where would that leave us? He'd be Were once more, but he'd be worse than feral. He'd never have anything to do with any of us ever again. He'd be totally alone. Is that what you want for him? Are you so set on keeping him that you'd drive him away just to prove your point? Are you willing to destroy his life, Jesmind? If so, then keep right on doing what you're doing."