The idea of letting her use magic on him made his heart seize in his chest. That required trust, and he wouldn't let her get that close to him. Goddess only knew what spell she'd really cast if he allowed her to use magic on him. "No thanks," he said curtly, turning and nocking the arrow on his bow, then smoothly drawing it to get a feel for the conjured missle. He tried to empty his mind of stray thoughts as he was taught, to prepare to fire the arrow with accuracy.
But as soon as he tried to center on the arrow, he got the strangest feeling, like a phantom collar had been snapped around his neck. That was enough to throw him into an absolute panic, making his heart lurch and his breath catch in his throat. He let go of the bowstring immediately, causing the arrow to fly off the bow in a wobbly arc and making him whirl around quickly to see where they were. Camara Tal was still sitting on the barrel, looking up at him, and the Faerie was hovering some distance from her on his other side. The Amazon gave him a calm look and put away her whittling knife, then stood up. "That was pathetic," she said calmly. "Let me see that bow."
What she didn't seem to sense was the momentary sense of panic Tarrin was suffering. He had turned his back on them, and when he did, just for that fleeting instant he thought one of them had done something. The feeling of that collar around his neck was something that he would never forget, and it still had a tremendous power over his behavior, even though it was long ago destroyed. Seeing the Amazon, the stranger, approach, Tarrin threw down the bow and changed form, returning to his more powerful humanoid shape, and he put his ears back in warning of her approach.
That got her attention. "Don't raise your hackles at me, boy," she said in a commanding voice. "I'm not going to bother you. I just want to see if the bow is damaged."
"Just get away from me," Tarrin hissed threateningly, settling into that slouching posture that served as his fighting form and extending all of his claws.
"I told you not to take that tone with me, Tarrin," Camara Tal said ominously. "I'm not going to hurt you." She didn't stop, though, continuing to approach him.
"Uh, Camara, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Sarraya said in a very serious voice.
"Do what?" she asked, turning to look at the Faerie-
– -and found herself laying flat on her back, frantically grabbing at the clawed paw that was clutching her by the neck, holding her down. Those claws were driving into her neck and shoulders, drawing blood, penetrating past skin and digging into flesh as the pressure behind them increased. "I said get away from me!" Tarrin shouted at her with a vicious glare, picking her back up by the neck, then tossing her across the deck like a rag doll. She landed on her side, sliding a few spans on the scrubbed wood, then coming to a stop. She raised up on one arm and looked back at him, blood flowing from her neck and shoulders.
"Do that," Sarraya told her. "When a Were-cat shows claws, you don't take another step towards him."
"I see," she said ruefully, wiping the blood away from her chest and looking at him calmly. Tarrin's eyes were lit from within with their greenish aura that marked his anger, and he glared at her flatly, eyes and body posture promising something worse should she try again.
Red haze clouded Tarrin's judgement. The panic over the feel of that collar allowed the Cat to overwhelm him, and he no longer saw Camara Tal as an associate. She was a stranger, and that made her an enemy. Work and practice on the deck stopped as everyone turned to look at the disturbance, but Tarrin didn't see or even register their presence. His entire attention was affixed on the Amazon, and should she rise and invade his personal space again, he wouldn't be so gentle with her the next time.
Then Allia was there. With quick, soothing words and hands on his shoulders, the Selani quickly and efficiently talked him down. Sanity returned to his mind, the Cat retreated back to its place in his mind as her reassuring presence and scent washed over him. He put a bloodstained paw to his forehead and shook it as if to throw off cobwebs, then looked at Allia with a little uncertainty.
What had caused that?
"Allia," he said in a shaken voice.
"What happened, my brother?" she asked soothingly.
"I turned to shoot the bow, and all I could feel was like something snapping around my neck. I just couldn't help myself. I thought Camara Tal tried to collar me."
"She didn't do anything at all," she assured him. "She was sitting there the whole time."
"I know, but I couldn't help it," he said with a sigh. "I'm going to go lay down a while."
"Go ahead, I'll be there in a few minutes," she told him, and Tarrin rushed away, one paw's claws still dripping Camara Tal's blood onto the deck. It had been powerful and completely uncontrollable, and he knew that what he needed was some time away from everyone else, some time to calm down and try to make sense of what had happened. Well, he knew what had happened, but he needed some time to understand what had caused him to remember that feeling at just that time.
Her magic. He was thinking about her using her magic on him, and it made him afraid. Maybe that's what provoked it.
Scurrying quickly to the stairs, he moved to get himself away from the gazes of the performers, of his friends, seeking a place of quiet and solitude where he could get his nerves untangled.
"That was stupid, Camara," Sarraya teased the Amazon from a safe distance.
"I've dealt with him in that mood before," she said with not a little uncertainty. "He's knuckled under to me. What set him off?"
"If you wish to deal with my brother, learn to respect my brother," Allia told the Amazon stiffly. "You did not respect his wish, and you paid for it. He does not trust you. He will kill you if you press him too far, and he will not even bat an eye over it."
"I'm trying to win his trust, Selani. Sometimes that means I have to take chances. He won't respect me if he thinks he can push me around."
"It is your life," Allia shrugged. "I suggest you care for it more. And if you wish to live long enough to stand on dry land again, I suggest you listen to the Faerie. She knows much more about the Were-cats than you, and she can warn you off if you do something so foolish again." She gave the Amazon a steady, unwavering look, then she rushed off after Tarrin.
Camara Tal glanced at the grinning Faerie, then snorted. "Shut up," she said gruffly, getting back to her feet.
After spending an afternoon and evening curled up in a little ball against Allia's stomach, allowing her to spoil him a little bit, he returned to what Renoit asked of him. Camara Tal and Sarraya were there, but they gave him a large breathing space, large enough so he could turn his back on them and not be unsettled by their proximity. That had to be what it was. He knew them, but that was the first time he had turned his back on them and tried to concentrate on something other than them. He had lowered his guard, and the fact that he did caused his mind to conjure up a memory of what had happened the last time he turned his back on someone he thought was trustworthy.
And in a strange way, it gave him a little hope. That he would in fact drop his guard with his back to them, even for a fleeting moment, gave him hope that he could do overwhelm his fear of them and accept them both. After all, he did like them. Sarraya was funny, and Camara Tal was a staunch, dependable woman with a personality he could understand.
He made no apologies to Camara Tal, and she didn't bring it up. She had pressured him beyond his breaking point, and she paid the price. If anything, he saw it as a learning experience for her. He could tolerate her presence, he even liked her a little bit, but she had to respect his personal space, and also give ground to him when he was adamant about being left alone. It was little to ask of her, and if she couldn't follow those simple rules, maybe it was better if he killed her now, just to get the inevitable overwith. He knew what she wanted from him, and it was something he was trying to give, but she had to just back off and let him try to sort through it on his own. Trying to push him into things only triggered his defensive instincts, and she'd already learned what his defensive instincts did.