"She has alot of bad training to undo," Triana snorted. "I'd take a much more direct approach."

"I think she'd like to keep them alive, Triana," Kimmie said mildly.

"They can have more," Triana shrugged.

Jenna led him so fast that he didn't have much chance to take in things. They approached a side entrance of the main Tower and entered into a wide, carpeted hallway that had white stone walls and strange globes of light that seemed to hover in midair just at the ceiling. They gave him a strange feeling, and he realized they were products of Sorcery. Servants and Sorcerers stopped in the tracks and bowed or curtsied to Jenna, who looked a little uncomfortable about it, nodding to them as she led them past. They then reached a huge circular staircase and went around and around and around as they climbed it, so high that Tarrin was starting to feel just a little tired after a while. "Where are we going?" Tarrin asked with a little huff.

"Out of shape, brother?" Jenna teased.

"I didn't expect to climb up this far," he admitted.

"We're almost there," she assured him. "Just two more floors."

That reminded him of where they were going, and he started getting nervous again. He was going to meet another one of these Were-cat girlfriends of his, and this one had a daughter by him. A daughter, a child of his own. It was almost unbelievable. He wondered what she looked like, he wondered how she acted. He wondered if he would remember her when he saw her. If he didn't, he hoped that it wouldn't make her cry. He didn't want to upset her. They'd told him that she was as big as a seven year old, even though she wasn't even two. He was curious about that. Thinking about Were-cat children made him glance at Kimmie, whose belly was just starting to expand a little to show signs of her own pregnancy.

He was so caught up in worrying that he was a little surprised when they stopped before a large, ornately decorated door. Jenna wasted no time in opening it, revealing a large sitting room with a fireplace and three couches. Tarrin was pushed into the room from behind by Kimmie, who just grinned at him, and when he looked back into the room he saw them.

There was no doubt who was who, since they'd been described to him in detail. The tallest one was Jesmind, and he was amazed at how pretty she was, looking like the graven image of a younger Triana. She was her mother's daughter, that was for sure, but she had a thick mane of very wild red hair, poofing up at the top of her head and tumbling down her back in massive waves, and her fur was white. She was even taller than he was, wearing a simple white linen shirt and canvas breeches like what sailors wore, and her expression looked intent, but he wasn't quite sure what it meant. The smaller one was Jula, his-what did they call it?- bond-daughter. She too was rather pretty, with a sharp chin and a pert little nose, but her fur was black, and her blond hair was tied behind her in a single thick tail. She wore a sleeveless doublet of sorts and a pair of black trousers, and her expression was very guarded. The child had to be Jasana, and if Jesmind was the image of Triana, then Jasana was the image of her mother. She hugged her leg shyly, a darlingly adorable little girl with white fur like her mother and strawberry blond hair, wearing a vest-like half-shirt that left her midriff bare and tattered leather breeches that had been given the rough side of her claws.

Dislodging her daughter, Jesmind charged across the room before Tarrin had much chance to get past the door, and Tarrin found himself swallowed up in her arms, face crushed against upper chest as she literally picked him up and squeezed the air out of him. She was half a head or so taller than him, and he was a very tall young man, but she seemed much bigger when she hauled him off the floor with absolutely no effort, threatening to break his ribs.

"You're going to break his ribs, girl!" Triana snapped quickly. "Ease off!"

"I'm sorry," she said in a strangled tone, setting him down and putting her paw-like hands on his face, his chest, his arms, feeling him for injury. "I'm so relieved you're back, my mate," she told him with her heart in her eyes. "Even though you come back to me a little indisposed. Any word from that crazy Wizard yet, mother?"

"Give him time, daughter," Triana replied. "This isn't an easy problem to solve." She came over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Tarrin, as you may have guessed, this is Jesmind. My daughter, and one of your mates. Do you remember anything?"

Tarrin looked at her, and he did recognize her. This was definitely the woman who attacked him in Torrian. He didn't feel any fear, however. They told him that it had been that collar controlling her, and he remembered the collar. He'd noticed she was pretty then, even while he was trying to avoid getting killed. Seeing her with clothes on and not infuriated drove the fact home that she was very pretty. But outside of that, there was no memory, only a short flash, seeing her in the kitchen back at home, if that was possible. The pang of pain that accompanied that made him wince just a bit, which made her put her paws to his head, like a mother checking a scrape on a child. He felt like a child, looking up at her like that."I remember her," Tarrin said. "But only from Torrian."

"It's a start," Triana grunted.

Tarrin felt a tugging at his belt. He looked down, and realized that Jasana had crept up on him and was tugging to get his attention. He looked down at her and marvelled at how cute she was, but he couldn't remember her. There was a flash, though, looking down at the top of her head as she turned the pages of a book in her lap. "Are you my papa?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"They tell me I am," he told her in a serious voice, kneeling down and looking into her eyes. "Did they tell you that I'm not like I was before?"

She nodded. "Mama said you lost your memory and that you were changed into a human. I think you look stupid like that, papa," she said seriously, looking him up and down. "You need to be you again."

"I guess I do look a little strange to you," he chuckled ruefully. He struggled to remember this darling child, anything at all, but he drew nothing but a blank. Only that one flash of memory, obviously looking down on her from behind as she was reading from a book. But despite not knowing her, just knowing that she was his daughter did make him feel something for her. A protectiveness if not a love, at least not yet. This was his child, and even if he couldn't remember her, he had a duty to her. Even if he couldn't remember her, even if he was an entirely different species now, he was going to try to be a father to her.

"Do you really have to be human?" she asked. "Mama said not to bite you, or I'd get in big, big trouble. Doesn't that mean that if I did, you'd be alright again?"

"No, he won't, cub," Triana warned. "He needs to get his memory back before we can change him back. If we changed him back before that, he'll get sick. You don't want him to get sick, do you?"

"No," she said hedgingly.

"Then remember, cub. No biting. You bite him, and you'll be in so much trouble that you'll forget what it was like when you weren't. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Gramma," she sulked.

"I'll have your word, cub," Triana said in a blunt tone. "I know you too well to trust a statement like that. Promise. No biting. I want to hear it."

Jasana actually glared at Triana for a long moment, then she lowered her eyes. "I promise I won't bite papa," she finally said, though it was very reluctant.

Tarrin was surprised. Was this little girl that dangerous? So dangerous that Triana forced a promise out of her? Tarrin knew what promises meant to Were-cats, so making her promise was setting it in stone that she wouldn't do it. Would she really have tried?