Tarrin Kael Firestaff Collection Book 3 - Honor and Blood by Fel ©

by James Galloway (aka Fel)

  "What should I do?"

  "Nothing," Kimmie replied. "Jesmind may love you, but she also understands our society, and Were-cat behavior. She'll be your mate, hold on to you for a while, but she knows she'll eventually have to let you go. You'll start wearing on each other if you stay together too long. It's another Were-cat peculiarity," Kimmie smiled. "We may be human, but the Were need to be alone for a while will always win out. You two will be like Triana and Thean are. They love each other a great deal, but they can't stay together all the time like married humans. So they come together, renew their relationship and enjoy it for a while, then they part for a while when it starts straining on them. That way, they always keep their love alive without letting their Were impulses destroy it."

  "I didn't know Triana felt that way about him."

  "It should have been obvious, Tarrin," Kimmie laughed. "Didn't you see the way they looked at each other when you met Thean?"

  "I was a little overwhelmed with other things at the time, Kimmie," he said defensively.

  "I guess you were at that," she admitted with a smile. "You're guaranteed never to be alone, Tarrin," she chuckled. "Jesmind and Mist are going to fight over who gets to keep you next, I know that."

  "Mist?" he said in surprise.

  "You're the only male she would trust enough to be mates with, Tarrin. And she does like you, a great deal. In her own way, she loves you as much as Jesmind loves you. Is it a stretch to think that she'd want you for mate again, after Eron is grown and on his own?"

  "Well, no," he admitted after thinking about it a moment.

  "Mist isn't the only one. I'd like to have a turn," Kimmie said with a slight, shy smile. "I like you. We can relate to each other in ways the others wouldn't understand. I think we could be good mates."

  "You'd better keep that to yourself around here, Kimmie," he said seriously.

  "Jesmind knows I wouldn't dream of trying to steal you, Tarrin."

  "You just did."

  "No, I didn't. I told you that after you and Jesmind part, I wouldn't mind being your mate. There's a difference. I won't even think about it until after you and Jesmind part ways." She looked at him. "But when you do, don't make yourself too hard to find," she said with a smile.

  Her admission surprised him, but he also knew that it didn't change the way he thought about her. He'd become accustomed to both the strange ways of females and his own Were-dominated feelings on such subjects.

  "That could be quite a wait."

  "If anything, Tarrin, we have time," she told him. "I figure Jesmind will manage to keep you for about ten years or so, and only that long because of Jasana. By then, you'll really start to gnaw on each other's tails, and you'll split up for a while. After you're free, you're fair game." Kimmie picked up a small twig that had fallen out of the woodbox, then tossed it into the fire. "Face it, Tarrin. You'll never be able to have a marriage the way humans do. But you were human, so part of you will want that. So I suggest you choose two or three females you really like, and form something of a rotating relationship with them."

  "Listen to you," Tarrin chuckled. "And why three?"

  "Well, Jesmind, Mist, and myself, of course," she said with a sly smile. "Any more than that, and we'll be having fights over who gets the next turn."

  Tarrin laughed.

  "Well, I'm not joking about it, Tarrin. Part of you wants a permanent relationship, but you know you can't have it. So form a permanent relationship, but just with different females. You can stay here, and we'll come to you. That way you feel like you're in a marriage--"

  "It's just that the woman I wake with every morning changes."

  "Variety spices life," she winked.

  Jesmind padded out of the hallway. She too was nude, looking down at the two of them with just a little jealousy in her eyes. "I didn't think you'd be chasing after my mate, Kimmie. I'm surprised," she said in an ominous tone.

  "I won't touch him so long as he's yours, Jesmind," Kimmie told her sedately. Years of putting her life on the line with Mist had made Kimmie all but unflappable. "I never hid the fact that I'm just as attracted to him as you and Mist are, you know that. Furies, woman, you've heard us gossip about him over the table when you came to visit with Jasana. I'm talking with him about after you and him split up."

  "Oh. That's alright, then," Jesmind told her with a yawn. "You two should go back to bed."

  "Gossip over me?" Tarrin said in surprise.

  Kimmie gave him a wicked smile. "Jesmind and Mist were, comparing," she said with a naughty catch in her voice.

  "Comparing?"

  "Of course," Jesmind told him with a fanged smile. "We were curious what the other thought about how well you--"

  "That's enough of that," Tarrin interrupted. "Jasana may hear you."

  "She heard us the first time," Jesmind told him bluntly. "Mist feels a bit cheated," Jesmind told him with a mischievious look. "You were injured when she had you. She wants another go at it with you healthy, so we can do a full comparison."

  Tarrin actually blushed.

  "I might give it to her," Jesmind mused. "I'd lend you to Mist, since she's such a good friend now."

  Tarrin stared at the fire. He knew if he looked Jesmind in the eye, he'd lose his composure.

  What was it about Jesmind that always made him feel like that same naive little boy he'd been when she found him?

  "After hearing the glowing stories about you, a girl can't help but be curious," Kimmie pressed relentlessly.

  "You too, Kimmie?" Tarrin groaned.

  "Don't let the blue eyes fool you, Tarrin," Kimmie smirked. "I'm just as hot-blooded as any other female. I'm just better at hiding it, that's all."

  "And here I thought I found someone I could talk to," Tarrin grumbled.

  "You did. I think we're good friends," Kimmie told him, patting him on the shoulder. "But you're a Were-cat, Tarrin. We can be good friends and mates, and it won't change our friendship."

  He knew she was right. Tarrin laughed ruefully, laying down on his back and looking at the two females. "Well, I certainly feel like I'm wanted," he told them.

  "I know of about six females chomping at the bit for when Jesmind parts ways with you, Tarrin," Kimmie grinned. "I'm just making sure the line forms behind me."

  Jesmind laughed. "I almost feel jealous again," she said. "Can't you wait until after we've worn on each other enough to split up?"

  "Too much competition, Jesmind," Kimmie said with a teasing smile.

  "If you can't sleep, Tarrin, I think I can find a way to keep you occupied without having to worry about the sneaky one here trying to talk you out of our mating," Jesmind told him.

  "Well, that sounds like a dismissal to me," Kimmie said mildly. "I'll wander back to bed now. Just try to keep it down, you two. Jasana's still asleep," she said with a wink, getting up and padding past Jesmind, towards the stairs.

  Jesmind came over to stand over him. "Come on then, my mate," Jesmind said, holding a paw out for him. "If you have this much nervous energy, I think I can burn it off for you."

  Tarrin laughed, taking her paw and letting her pull him up. "I'm surprised you're so calm about Kimmie," he said.

  "She said she wouldn't touch you until after I let you go," she told him calmly. "That's all the assurance I need. Besides, I like Kimmie. I wouldn't mind seeing you two together after I release you. You were both human once, so at least you'd be on level ground."

  "Strange to be choosing my mates for me before you've gotten tired of me, Jesmind."

  "I'm not tired of you yet, Tarrin," she told him with a grin, patting him on the backside. "Worry more about me and less about who may be sharing your bed after we part."

  Tarrin followed Jesmind into the bedroom, mulling over his conversation with Kimmie. It had been eye-opening, in more ways than one. Kimmie had proved to be an intelligent, keenly observant woman whose insights had opened his eyes to many subtle aspects of Were-cat behavior. He had learned about Jesmind's feelings for him
from her, and he found he was very much honored to think that a Were-cat like Jesmind could form such a lasting bond with him. He had loved Jesmind once, and in a way he still did. The thought of forming a repetitive relationship with her was very appealing to him. He knew that time would eventually force them apart, but those partings would always be followed up with reunions. Just like Thean and Triana.

  Tarrin had seen a great deal of Kimmie, both physically and mentally, and he very much liked what he saw. Tarrin decided that Kimmie was a friend. A very good friend. He added her to that select circle of his closest friends and companions, then turned his attention to Jesmind as the door closed.

  To: Title EoF

  Chapter 26

  Tarrin was up well before the dawn, but he wasn't the only one. Both Jesmind and Kimmie were up at the same time as him, Jesmind because he disturbed her sleep. Kimmie asked him to come upstairs as Jesmind pulled on her shirt and got ready to go wake up Jasana. When he got there, he found her going through the trunk at the foot of his bed, where he'd kept his clothes. She had on a pair of his leather buckskin breeches, which actually fit her rather well, and was rummaging through the chest looking for a shirt. He was surprised that a woman could fit into his breeches, which had been made for a man's hips, but when he took a closer look he realized that they'd been altered somehow. Kimmie said she'd learned a few magic spells, so he figured that she'd used her magic to change the fit to suit her.

  "I thought I'd ask before I went any further," she said, glancing at him.

  "You're more than welcome to anything that fits. Or anything you can make fit," he added.

  "You have a sharp eye," she said with a smile.

  "They're my clothes," he countered. "Magic?"

  "A cantrip, actually," she told him, pulling out a loose linen shirt that was so worn that it was almost see-through. She held it up critically, then nodded and started pulling it on. "I'll feel strange in this, but I can't run very well in a dress."

  "You'll do more than feel strange in that," he said calmly, looking at her bosom rather deliberately. "You'll be trailing along quite a line of appreciative young men."

  "I think a vest will fix that," she said with a glance down and a laugh. "You should have thrown it away before it got so thin."

  "I don't have to defend my modesty there," he noted, absently Conjuring forth a buckskin vest that matched the breeches, that should fit her rather well.

  She pulled it on and buttoned it, then held up her arms and made a quick turn. "Am I defending the virtue of young men now?" she asked winsomely.

  "Looks like it to me," he nodded. "Come downstairs, we'll be leaving in just a bit."

  Tarrin went downstairs in time to gather up Jasana in his arms. His daughter looked a little sleepy, rubbing her face before holding her arms out to him. "Are we leaving now?" she asked in a slightly disjointed voice.

  "In a bit," he told her. "I think it'd be best if we had something to eat first. Want to help me go wake up the others?"

  "Umm," she hummed, putting her arm around his neck.

  "It'll take too long to cook," Jesmind said fretfully, looking out the kitchen window. "If we want to get to Aldreth before dawn, we'll have to leave in just a little while."

  "I'm going to take care of that," he told her. "It's a special case, so it's not cheating. Unless you want to cook for nine inside fifteen minutes."

  Jesmind chuckled. "I think I'll let it slide this time," she told him with a wink. "Should I bother getting out the dishes?"

  "No," he told her, carrying Jasana out the front door.

  Instead of just going to each building, he decided that it would be much easier to call them out. "Alright, people, let's get up!" he shouted very loudly from the porch. "Breakfast is going to be ready in just a bit. Anyone not at the table doesn't eat!"

  "I could have done that," Jesmind criticized from the doorway.

  "I thought of it first," he told her.

  "We can't fit everyone in here."

  "I'm going to do it outside," he told her. "Just come out when you're ready."

  Tarrin padded off the porch, then set Jasana down. She stood by him as he raised both his arms and reached within, through the Cat, finding the core of power that was the All. He had become so proficient at Conjuring that he could do it almost without thinking anymore, and the speed at which a long table, benches, and a huge meal that would feed twice as many as it was intended to feed appeared was quite impressive.

  "Was that what I'm going to learn, papa?" Jasana asked curiously. "I felt something strange, but it didn't feel like what you did before."

  "I just used Druidic magic, cub," he told her. "I'm not sure if you can learn that."

  "Oh." She looked at the table. "Is all that real?"

  "Very real, cub," he nodded as Jesmind and Kimmie came out of the house. "Why don't you find a seat and get some breakfast?"

  "Umm," she sounded, then ambled over to the table and crawled up onto a bench. Tarrin watched her, considering. If she felt him use Druidic magic, then she too had more than just a touch of Druidic ability. Maybe enough to use some magic. And since her powers of Sorcery had awakened in her at such an incredibly tender age, maybe that meant that any possible Druidic ability also would manifest early. Either way, he definitely had to talk to Sathon or Triana about that. Sorcery, he could control. He didn't know enough about Druidic power to be able to throttle that in another Druid the way Sarraya or Triana could.

  The first of the others to appear was Ariana, floating down from the hayloft in the big barn. She trotted over with a gleaming look in her eyes. "Where do I sit?" she asked immediately. "I'm starving!"

  "Wherever, and feel free to eat as much as you want," he told her.

  In pairs, the other Were-cats came out of their temporary shelters and sat down to eat as Tarrin, Kimmie, and Jesmind did the same. Jeri was yawning about every other moment, often yawning in the middle of chewing. Singer didn't look entirely awake either. Regardless of that, the eight Were-cats showed the Aeradalla that Were-cats could eat, forcing the winged woman to pile anything onto her plate that she even thought she may want to eat. All of them seemed to forget the simple fact that Tarrin could simply Conjure more, as much as was needed. Instead of thinking about that, they all quickly claimed the majority of the food spread out on the table, and went about the task of eating it in relative silence.

  After the meal was nearly over, as only Rahnee, Tarrin, and Thean continued to eat, Jeri yawned again, widely. Kimmie glanced at the youngling and chuckled, putting her chin on her paws and looking at him. "Sleepy, Jeri?" she asked.

  He nodded woodenly. "I didn't sleep at all last night," he complained. "Rahnee kept me up, and even after we were done, I still couldn't sleep."

  "That's not my fault," Rahnee told him with a nudge.

  "I know, it's just that this is all so interesting," he said. "I've never been in an army before. I've never marched off to war before."

  "Neither have I," Thean said absently, taking a long drink of water from a flagon. "We usually steer clear of things like this, cub."

  "I know the law, Thean," Jeri said defensively. "But I still can't help but get excited at the idea."

  "What's so exciting about two groups trying to kill each other?" Singer asked.

  "Not that, Singer, the other things."

  "What other things?"

  "Meeting alot of humans in their land," he told her. "Seeing Centaurs and Were-kin and humans all working together. Going to do something that really matters, even if I have no idea what that is."

  Ariana chuckled. "If you have no idea what we're doing, why did you come?" she asked him.

  "Triana told me to come, so here I am," he said simply.

  "Who is this Triana?"

  "My mother," Jesmind answered. "You could more or less think of her as the ruler of the Were-cats. We don't have any organized rulership among us, but Triana is the oldest and strongest of us all. So when she says do something, you do it. It doe
sn't matter what it is or how stupid it may seem, you do it anyway."

  Thean chuckled, and Singer nodded. "Nobody disobeys Triana. We're not that crazy."

  "She's your queen, then?"

  "That kind of formality is beyond us, my dear," Thean told her patiently. "But if you want to know who the top cat is in our race, you need look no further than Triana."

  "We obey her because she'll kill us if we don't," Rahnee told the Aeradalla bluntly. "Were-cats don't take orders well. It takes someone like Triana to get us to gather and work together like this."

  "Well, if she's not here, how do you decide who's in charge?"

  "If you want to pin that kind of title on someone, look right over there," Thean told her, pointing at Tarrin. "He's the closest thing to leader we have right now."

  "Why is that?"

  "The same reason we obey Triana," Thean smiled. "Tarrin can thrash anyone sitting at this table. In our society, that makes him the dominant, so we'd obey him if he ordered us to do something."

  "Forgive me for saying it, but I don't understand at all," Ariana said with a shake of her head.

  "We're very simple people, Ariana," Thean said patiently. "We're part animal, so those animal instincts play a big role in how we behave and relate to others. Strength and power are the keys of dominion in our animal instincts, so that carries over to how we interact with one another socially. The biggest, strongest Were-cat is the dominant, and that makes him or her the leader if we cooperate like we're doing now. We obey because we acknowledge that strength. If two Were-cats were of generally equal strength, they'd probably fight to establish who was the dominant. Like Rahnee and Jesmind there," he said, pointing. "If me and Tarrin weren't here, it would come down to them. Since they're of similar size and age, they'd probably have to fight to determine who was the stronger. The winner would be the dominant, and everyone else would obey her."