And so that's how Tragar and Hepbeth had come to live in Jozlyn's room in Draygon's Keep. Jozlyn had several mage friends who were looking for tabbin to work with. When they came to see Hepbeth's cubs, they asked the female tabbi if she'd mind if her cubs went to live with the magin when they were old enough to leave their mother. Hepbeth sighed with relief, as she was getting tired of nursing and disciplining the fast-growing frisky cubs. So the problem of the cubs was solved. Hepbeth was also very grateful to Jozlyn for helping her get her strength back. The mage had given her extra food and sent Tragar out to hunt for his mate and their cubs, something Tragar probably wouldn't have thought of doing on his own. Jozlyn also had given Hepbeth special herbal teas to help her recover faster from birthing and nursing. Yes, Hepbeth was very glad she'd decided to work with Jozlyn.
Although Hepbeth was also grateful to Tragar for introducing Jozlyn to her and for his attentions of that spring and summer three years ago, she really hadn't enjoyed motherhood that much. Four little naked squealy things they'd turned out to be after she'd licked them clean. At first they didn't demand much. But as they grew, with bigger size came bigger appetites. Seemed like they were always demanding to be fed. She'd been glad when she could wean them. She hadn't seen her cubs physically since Jozlyn's mage friends had taken them off her paws. Hepbeth knew she could telepath them any time she chose. She usually didn't choose, unless it was something important that all tabbin should know.
The following spring she'd started feeling, well, different. She wasn't sure just exactly what it was, but she sure felt grumpy. Especially when the two males, Tragar and Roshel, started hanging around her. They'd glare at each other and each tried to outmaneuver the other to position himself between the other and Hepbeth. Finally she had had enough. With a ferocious roar and gnashing of fangs, she chased both males out of Jozlyn's room.
As the tabbi stood guard at the doorway, hackles still raised, Jozlyn had said softly to her, "Hepbeth, I can fix you some special tea. If you drink this, you won't have to choose between Tragar and Roshel. And you won't have to have any cubs this summer. Unless you really want to have cubs, that is."
Surprised, Hepbeth turned and looked at Jozlyn. She padded over to the mage and laid her head in Jozlyn's lap. "Jozlyn fix special tea for Hepbeth, please." She'd learned that humans liked to have that word, please, tacked onto a request.
That second spring and again last spring, when she had started feeling grumpy and the males had started hanging around, she'd asked Jozlyn to fix her that special tea. Hepbeth learned that only the female tabbin who worked with magin could have this tea. The males, even though they also worked with tabbin, did not know about this special tea. They had to go out into the woods and forests when breeding season came, to satisfy their hormonal urges.
Hepbeth sighed and rolled over. Yes, let those females who didn't work with magin have the cubs and the trouble of raising them. She knew the time was soon approaching when she'd be asking Jozlyn for that special tea again. |
