"You are most generous, Tomas," Allia said.
"What's the use of having money if you can't use it?" Tomas smiled. "Come, I know quite a few people who will be overjoyed to see you. They're in the parlor. Nanna, why don't you forget taking care of the dishes and come join us?"
"I'm almost finished, Tomas," Nanna replied. Though she was a servant, the servants in Tomas' house were very well treated, and almost like family themselves. Nanna never used titles for them when they were alone. When they had company was another matter. "I'll be along in just a bit. You know how messy Deris is when he cooks, and how much I hate dirt."
Tomas laughed. "Don't take too long, Nanna. And make Deris help you clean up his mess."
"I always do," she said with a smile. Deris and Nanna were married, and it helped make the house seem more like a family affair. Only the butler, Dernan, had no kin or family in the house. But he was such a sweet old man that everyone treated him with respect, courtesy, and a great deal of friendship. Janette called him Grandfather. Thinking of Dernan made Tarrin realize that it wasn't him that opened the door. "Where is Dernan?" Tarrin asked suddenly.
"He's gone to Three Forks to see his family," he replied. "His sister has taken ill, and they asked him to come."
"That's quite a journey. When did he leave?"
"Five days ago. He should be two days out of Ultern by now." Three Forks was a city south of Torrian, and they could have gone that way to reach Suld. But the river at Marta's Ford was much faster. There was a road that linked Three Forks to Ultern, but that was a fifteen day journey through unclaimed forest. There wasn't so much as an inn between Ultern and Three Forks, and it was a dangerous road. Tarrin hoped that Dernan was wise enough to travel with an armed caravan.
They entered the parlor, with its large fireplace where Tarrin had spent so many nights, the plush furniture and the tasteful portraits and art decorating the walls, but it was the people inside that Tarrin fixed his attention upon. Sitting in her favorite chair was Janine, a book in her lap, and in another chair near her was his mother, Elke, who was actually doing needlepoint. Eron Kael was sitting in a large chair by the fire, and Jenna and Janette were sitting on the bare floor off the rug, playing a game with metal jacks and a ball made out of a strange springy substance that made it bounce very high.
Jenna saw him first. She gasped and jumped up, startling Janette, and charged towards him. "Tarrin!" she cried, and he knelt down and let her fling herself into his arms. Jenna was a tall girl, but she still only came up to the base of his ribcage. Tarrin picked up his sister and twirled her around, then set her down as Janette managed to stand up. Elke was already halfway to him, and Janine had put her book aside as Eron struggled to his feet.
"I see you found it," Tarrin said to his mother as she embraced him.
"Your directions were lousy," she accused, going over to hug Allia. "How are you, Allia?"
"I am very well, kaisha," she said, which was a Selani term for mother. That Allia would call Elke "mother" was a clear indication of how she felt about Tarrin's parents.
Tarrin crushed his father in a fierce hug, and Eron winced a bit. "Still tender, father?" he asked, holding Eron at arm's length.
"A bit, but at least the Sorcerers fixed my knee," he said. "I don't limp anymore."
"Well, at least they're good for something," Tarrin said with a smile. He pushed his father aside gently and knelt as Janette approached him, almost warily. Tarrin held his paw out to her tentatively, emotion rising up in him. "Little mother," he said in a voice of the most profound respect and love.
She threw herself into his arms, and it was all Tarrin could do to keep from crying. The little girl meant as much to him as his own parents or sister or Allia. He enfolded her, surrounding her in his arms the same way she would enfold him in her protective embrace, and the same feeling of peace and security swept over him at her touch as it used to do when he was her pet.
She looked up at him with teary eyes, and he was amazed at how easily she accepted him as more than just her cat. She truly was a wondrous little girl.
"They gave me a new cat, but it's just not the same," she told him in a serious voice.
"I'll have a talk with it, little mother," he promised with a gentle smile.
Nanna brought out a plate of sweetmeats, and that gave them all a focal point. Tarrin folded Janine up in a warm hug as she came over, and she just smiled at him and swatted him on the shoulder. "I almost didn't believe her, until your parents showed up," she told him in an accusing voice. "That was a mean trick to play."
"It wasn't a trick, Janine," he told her. "I needed the time here."
"Your parents explained that to us," she told him.
"I hope I'm still welcome."
"Tarrin, you may have started as the family pet, but now you're family," she assured him in an uncharacteristically gentle voice. "You're just as welcome as my own mother."
"I've heard things about your mother," Tarrin winked. "That doesn't sound very encouraging."
Janine laughed. "Well, you're as welcome as my mother to me," she corrected. "How Tomas feels about it is another matter." She looked at Allia, who was busily trying to answer a million questions thrown at her by Elke. "This is Allia?"
"Yes, she's like a sister to me, and she's been completely adopted by my family," Tarrin smiled. "My mother adores her so much she hogs time away from my father and Jenna."
"Well, I'm sure she'll fit in here just fine," she said with a smile.
After the initial disturbance was over, everyone sat back down. Tomas and Janine sat in their favorite chairs, and Eron and Elke sat on chairs to the side. Jenna and Nanna sat down on the sofa on the other side, forming a box with the fireplace. Tarrin sat cross-legged on the floor with his back to the fire, and Janette was seated firmly in his lap. His arms were around her, almost protectively, and she was playing with the tip of his tail. Allia sat in a similar position beside him. Tarrin got serious, beginning to explain to his parents and his friends what was going on in the Tower. He left out a few things, like Keritanima's ideas about what happened to him, but he did make mention of the fact that the fight with the Doomwalker had altered his powers in Sorcery.
"It was you," Tomas said suddenly. "You scared off the bandit."
Tarrin nodded. "I used Sorcery, totally by reflex, because I'd been in cat form so long that I couldn't remember quickly how to change back," he told him. "That's why the knife was hot. I burned him with fire, and he ran back out the door." He looked down at Janette. "That was when I realized that I couldn't stay here anymore," he added. "Because I was afraid that I'd accidentally hurt you, or my little mother. That's something that I'd never forgive myself for, if it happened."
"While he was gone, I understood what he had been going through," Allia continued. "They paid me so much attention that I felt very uncomfortable. Members of the Council would ask about my progress, and they began to watch me at all times. I do not see how Tarrin endured it. They were about to drive me mad."
"Well, at least now you're pretty sure that they want something from you," Eron said.
"I've known that for a while, father," Tarrin told him. "But now it's getting serious. After the fight, and the accident-" he winced and closed his eyes. The memory of that pain was still fresh in his mind, and he couldn't think about it without shuddering. "Now that I may not be any use to them, they may decide that I'm not worth the effort."
"They wouldn't do that!" Janine said in shock. "This is the Tower we're talking about! The katzh-dashi! They've never lifted a hand against anyone!"