"Mama told me about that," Jasana said. "She said you did that in the desert."

"I guess I did, Jasana. I really can't remember."

"How can you remember that, but not remember anything else?" Eron asked.

"I only have little bits and pieces of my memory, son," he answered. "And sometimes someone will say or do something that makes me remember a little bit more. Like it jars my memory."

"Oh. If I hit you in the head, wouldn't that jar all your memory back?"

Tarrin laughed. "It'd probably knock me out," he told him. "No, it wouldn't do any good, son. They've already tried that."

"Oh. Are you sure they hit you hard enough?"

"I'm sure," he laughed again.

"I'm hungry," Eron complained.

"Me too," Jasana agreed.

"Well, so am I," Tarrin chuckled. "So let's go get something to eat."

After collecting up Jula and Mist, they went down to the kitchens and got some food. Tarrin stepped back and more or less unleashed his children on the hapless cooks and servants, who struggled to keep an eye on their cooking and keep the two of them out of trouble at the same time. Eron was definitely the worse of the two, trying to put his hands in everything, getting underfoot, and doing his best to disrupt the entire kitchen. They finally decided on what they wanted, and they left the kitchens with plates full of food and a staff of exhausted, frazzled cooks.

Tarrin's good mood evaporated when, as they turned a corner, they found Jesmind standing squarely in the middle of the passageway. She was fully erect, her arms crossed before her, a very aggressive stance, and the look on her face reinforced that assumption. Jasana went up to her and tried to get her to pick her up, but Jesmind ignored her daughter, keeping a withering gaze on Tarrin. Jasana's crestfallen look was lost on her mother, and Tarrin realized that she wasn't going to let him pass without giving him a piece of her mind.

Sighing, he handed his small plate of fresh tarts to Jula. "Here, you take this," he said. "I get the feeling I'm about to lose my appetite."

Jula gave him a compassionate look, then nodded and took the plate.

Mist, however, proved to be more than just an acquaintance to him. She marched right up to the larger Were-cat and looked up at her. Tarrin couldn't see her expression, but it made Jesmind's furious look waver. "Get out of my way," Mist said flatly to her.

Tarrin learned one thing at that point. Jesmind was afraid of Mist. She reluctantly stepped aside, glowering at the smaller Were-cat as her ears seemed to strain to lay back, but did not. He didn't really understand Were-cat society very well, but it was obvious that Mist occupied a higher rung than Jesmind. That, or Mist would kick her butt if she didn't obey her, one or the other. Probably both.

"Come on, Eron," Mist said. "I think your father needs to straighten out your aunt."

Eron obediently came up and put his little hand in hers, and then padded up the hall. Jula stepped back after beckoning to Jasana, and the little girl evacuated the area between her parents.

Jesmind didn't waste any time. She blocked the passage again after Mist passed and pointed at him. "How dare you bring my daughter within spitting distance of that Sha'Kar!" she accused hotly.

"And how would you know that, unless you were following me?" Tarrin retorted. "Isn't that exactly what I told you not to do?"

"Make me," she hissed. "You're too weak to tell me to do anything, cub."

That was just about enough. "There are many kinds of power, Jesmind," he said with a glare. "I may not be able to make you stop following me around, but I can make sure it stops. Go pack your things, Jesmind. You're going to be spending the next few days in an inn."

"You wouldn't dare," she declared indignantly, stepping up to loom over him.

He didn't even blink. "I would dare," he replied evenly, completely unafraid of her. "If you won't leave me alone, I'll see to it that you're not here to bother me."

"If you do that, you're never going to see your daughter again," she hissed.

"An empty threat," Tarrin said grimly, taking a single step back. He'd never seen her get this belligerent before, and he was starting to doubt his seeming immunity to her wrath. "Jasana can't leave the Tower. If you go, Jesmind, you go alone. Remember that."

Tarrin realized almost immediately that that was the wrong thing to say. He'd just threatened Jesmind's rights to her daughter, and since she was half animal, the protective instincts concerning her children were very powerful. Jesmind's eyes erupted from within with a brilliant greenish radiance, making her eyes two glowing slits of evil green. With blazing speed, Jesmind reached down and grabbed him by his new shirt and then hauled him off the ground. She held him at arm's length, cocking back her other arm with her claws extended, as if to hit him with it. Tarrin responded out of reflex, causing his staff to come out of the elsewhere and appear in his right hand. With exceptional aim, he jammed the long weapon straight down and struck the top of Jesmind's foot, cracking the bones in the top of it. Jesmind hissed in pain and let go out of reflex, and Tarrin took a quick two steps back and levelled his staff at her in the end-grip. He was still too startled to be afraid, shocked that she would do such a thing.

Hurting her was probably taking things a little too far. With a growling cry of pain and outrage, Jesmind reached out towards him with those claws leading. Tarrin reacted quickly by jabbing Jesmind squarely in the face with his staff, snapping her head back and faltering her reach towards him. The Were-cat grabbed the staff with her clawed and and wrested it aside, but Tarrin didn't abandon his hold on it quite yet.

"Stop it!" someone shouted, and then someone grabbed the staff. Someone short. Tarrin and Jesmind both looked down to see a teary-eyed Jasana, grabbing the staff and tugging on it with all her might. "Don't fight! You promised me you wouldn't fight anymore!" she accused in a sobby voice.

Tarrin let go of the staff like it was a live snake, not wanting to even accidentally hurt his daughter. To his surprise, Jesmind did the same, and the little girl yanked the weapon away. "I hate it when you two fight!" she cried. "Just stop it!"

"Cub, I-" Jesmind started in a contrite voice, but Jasana threw the staff down and ran down the hall, her bawling audible almost down to the stairs. She was running towards the stairs leading up to Jesmind's apartment.

Tarrin felt both embarassed and a little foolish. Jesmind probably wouldn't have hurt him. There was no reason for him to react that way. She was just trying to scare him, that was all. Jesmind was looking towards her daughter. "I'm, sorry," he apologized. "I shouldn't have hit you."

"I shouldn't have grabbed you," Jesmind said in a reluctant voice. "I'll go talk to her. Jula, stay with him. We can't leave him alone."

Jesmind rushed off after her daughter, and Tarrin sighed. Picking up his staff, he tried to figure out how that had gotten out of control. She had made the mistake of grabbing him, and he'd made the mistake of threatening her parental duties with Jasana. He hadn't meant it as a threat, only as a way to deflate her threat to withold his time with his daughter. But after he thought about how he said what he said, it certainly did sound like a threat. So both of them were at fault.

"Well, that was exciting," Jula said in a calm voice as Tarrin sent his staff back into the elsewhere. He was getting really good at that.

"I didn't mean for that to happen," he sighed.

"It's nothing major, Tarrin," she told him. "Jesmind is probably going to respect you a little more now. You fought back against her, and she'll have to respect that. The fact that you're you will make her see that if she gets physical with you again, she's going to hurt you because you're not just going to fold up as soon as she tries to intimidate you. She's not going to hurt you, so she can't do that again."