There was a knock at the door. Tarrin set the little panther or cat or whatever it was on the nightstand again after regarding it, looking into those two tiny emerald eyes, admiring it once more and called for whoever it was to come in. He was a little startled to see Auli come through that door, hands folded before her and looking quite reluctant. He looked past her and realized that she was alone. "May I come in?" she asked in a small voice.

"Sure," he said after a moment. Seeing Auli made him remember the night before, and part of him reminded the rest that he'd better forget about it. That couldn't happen again, no matter how good it had been.

"I see they fixed things," she said, looking around. "I'm, I'm sorry I made all this happen, Tarrin. I was being selfish and inconsiderate and stupid, and I had no idea you were trying to protect me. I'm really sorry."

Tarrin was surprised to hear her say it, but he was more surprised that she meant it. He realized that Jenna had struck the girl to the bone, making her see what she'd done in a way that her mother never could, and it had made her truly repentant.

"That's alright, Auli," he said after a long moment. "Sometimes the only way you learn is to put your hand in the fire."

She laughed ruefully, and then finally looked up at him. Her chagrin was all over her face, and her eyes had a strange desperate quality to them he'd never seen before. "I feel likes such an ass," she continued. "I didn't even stop to think what would happen to you."

"It's alright, Auli. In a way, I'm sorta glad it happened. It's giving me a chance to show Jesmind just how much I hate how possessive and jealous she is. I'm hoping that after this she'll back off and give me room to breathe and live my own life, without her trying to control me."

"I'm really relieved to hear that," she said sincerely. "I, I hope that you're not mad with me too," she said, looking away. "I know we were friends. I hope this didn't poison that."

Tarrin realized she was serious, and it made him look at things in a new way. Was his friendship with Auli poisoned now, even though they'd spent the night together? He looked in himself, and realized that it wasn't. He certainly looked at her differently now, but he didn't think badly of her. He understood that her actions were the actions of a spoiled, overindulged child. But now she seemed very much unlike that. He knew that every time he saw her he'd remember that night and want to experience it again, but he felt he could control that. He understood the kind of trap that was.

"I don't think it did," he answered honestly. "I have to admit that I've never done that with a friend before, but I don't think badly of you."

It was like someone took a horse off her shoulders. She raised up and gave him a look of glorious relief, and even rushed over and hugged him, then kissed him on the cheek. "Thank the Goddess!" she exclaimed. "I can't stay, Tarrin, but would you mind if we had breakfast tomorrow? I know we have to be careful about Jesmind, but I don't want to lose you as a friend."

"Sure," he said with a smile. "I'd really like that, Auli."

"Good. After we're all done with our work, you and me and Dar can have dinner and pal around a while. Is that alright?"

"It's fine with me," he said with sincere enthusiasm. "I'd really like that."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow, then," she said. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then stepped away from him. He couldn't help letting his eyes wander all over her as she walked away, remembering what all of it looked like when she didn't have clothes on, but he shook himself free of that. He'd see her without clothes on again, he was sure of that, but it wouldn't be like what it was on that night. He told himself silently that he'd better forget all about the fact that they'd slept together and accept her in the role she wanted. It wouldn't be easy, since that night was like a firebrand in his memory, hard to ignore and tending to spread into the rest of his mind when his mind was wandering, but it had to be done. If he wanted to keep Auli as a friend, he'd better do it. He wasn't sure a single night of passion was worth losing Auli's friendship, and that was what was going to happen if they slept together again. It wouldn't be that Auli would hate him, it was the simple fact that Jesmind would certainly kill her, no matter how he felt about it. And if that didn't happen, Auli's mother would certainly separate her from him forcibly to keep her from interfering with him, no matter if she initiated it or he did. Ianelle certainly looked furious with her for sleeping with him the first time.

What a day. Tarrin sat down in the chair by the fireplace and looked back on it. He's slept with Auli. He'd had a confrontation with the Were-cats. He'd lost everything he owned and got very mad at Jesmind. Then he'd been given all these wonderful gifts, even objects of incredible value like the Cat's Claws and the sword. And he'd learned many things about himself and had discovered things about others that certainly changed his mental view of them. Seeing Jesmind so furious had darkened his view of the Were-cats, while seeing Jenna working as the Keeper and then seeing her being so loving with him, it reminded him that his little sister was not the girl he remembered, but she was still family and he still loved her with all his heart. It was almost too much to consider.

In any event, this day would certainly go down in his personal history as one of the most eventful. It was definitely one that had changed his outlook, in many ways. There were several things left to address, but in a way, he was glad that would happen tomorrow. He'd had enough for one day.

As eventful as yesteday was, Tarrin knew that the bad things were going to have to be done today.

He got up early and used the new robe Keritanima gave him to shuffle down to the baths before they got too crowded. He was going to have to confront the Were-cats today, and that was something he'd rather do early, to get it overwith. He intended to go up to Jesmind's room and lay down the law, then leave as quickly as possible. He was going to tell her exactly how angry he was, and then tell her to leave Auli alone and back off. Tell her that she was smothering him, and if she wanted to push him away from her, she was certainly doing it right. She'd pushed all his buttons the day before, and he was going to make sure she knew that. He'd never completely forgive her for destroying his room, but he did understand that it hadn't entirely been her fault. He wasn't going to let her know that, because he wanted her to really think hard the next time she found him doing something she didn't like. He wanted every choice she made to be one with that ultimate threat hanging over it, the threat to have nothing to do with the Were-cats anymore and decide to stay human. If he didn't lay down the law, he'd find himself living under their law, and he knew what kind of life that would be. They would keep him chained to a wall, bored and miserable, until he finally decided to be a Were-cat again. They were doing everything they could do to make him want to change back, and he realized that they were going to play dirty. If they wanted to play that way, that was fine with him. Now that he knew that there weren't any rules, he felt he could compete with them on that level.

The baths were a bit more crowded than he'd hoped, since the Novices were down for their daily bath, but that wasn't really a problem for him. The far end of the pool was too hot for just about everyone but him, Jenna, Keritanima, Dolanna, and Jula, so it literally gave him an entire section of pool all to himself. They all stared at him a bit wildly when he slipped into the pool where it was so hot that it steamed, but he ignored them and got down to the business of cleaning up quickly. He had important things to do today.