It was enough to pull Jes's attention back to him. "He remembered," Jes told him. "But we're not sure how. It makes him upset." He took a breath. "I don't think he wants to remember."
"Are you sure he doesn't know more?" asked Papa gently. "I asked the Guardian, Jes, and he had you answer me. I think that he might know more about it, and doesn't want you to - "
The Guardian pushed Jes away so far that he never did hear the rest of what Papa wanted to say.
" - know." Tier paused to adjust to the jumpy feeling that made him want to move away from the man who sat at his feet. Jes was gone, and only the Guardian was left.
"I don't want him frightened," said the Guardian.
"It's dangerous to keep secrets," said Tier. "Your mother was worried about you. She told me that it is important that you and Jes stay close to each other."
The Guardian stood up in a graceful show of strength that reminded Tier of watching an animal you thought was a dog and realizing it was a wolf instead. Jes and the Guardian didn't move anything alike.
"There are some things he doesn't need to know," said the Guardian.
"He's right," Tier said in some surprise. "You are afraid."
The Guardian hissed.
"You can't lie to me," Tier said, keeping his voice soft though his heart rate had picked up. "Everyone is afraid sometimes. It's all right if Jes is afraid, too. What is not all right is for you to hide things from him. You need to trust him more."
"You know nothing," the Guardian snapped. "You are a Bard - blessed, not cursed."
Tier raised an eyebrow. "You are not cursed. You were just given a rocky field to harrow. Seems to me that you are doing well at it. But you need to work as a team, or you'll not make it, son."
"I'm not your son," said the Guardian. "Jes is. I am the demon he is cursed with."
It was said without a flicker of emotion, but no parent could fail to hear the cry in those words.
"You are my son," said Tier, leaning close enough to the Guardian that his breath turned to frosty mist. "I love you. I worry for you."
"You worry for Jes," said the Guardian, turning his head away.
His absolute certainty suddenly reminded Tier of himself as he confronted his father two days before he went to war. His father had turned and left Tier standing with his despairing cry still echoing. "You love the bakery more than you love me."
He considered this volatile young man who was his son, then said the first thing that came into his head. "You remind me of my sister Alinath. No one ever convinced her of anything she didn't want to be convinced of."
"I am nothing like Alinath." The Guardian crossed his arms over his chest and rocked back on his heels.
"You are. The only times she ever changed her mind was when she stopped arguing and started thinking. So you go think about what I've said - tell Jes what it is you fear. The weight of most problems can be lightened a bit by sharing. Trust Jes."
The Guardian was swaying slightly from one foot to the next, the way Jes did when he was upset.
"Why don't you go out for a run tonight?" Tier suggested gently. "I sometimes find that exercise and solitude make a lot of things clearer."
Without a word the Guardian opened the door and slipped out of the room. Tier heard the outside door open and shut quietly, then turned to his sleeping wife.
"I hope that helped him." He kissed her, then blew out the lantern and settled in for sleep.
When Jes came back to himself he was stretched out on a tree limb with his claws dug firmly into the bark as if the Guardian had been sharpening them.
Jes managed to climb down from the tree before he lost the cat-shape. It was difficult, but so was falling out of trees.
Once again in human form, he bent and stretched, trying to decide how far he'd come. He didn't feel too tired - not with the deep weariness that sometimes hit him when he awoke from the times when the Guardian shut him away. Hopefully, it wouldn't take him too long to walk home.
He wondered what Papa had said to send the Guardian out running into the woods.