Remus shot out a finger towards Kaleeth. "You have no say in how we raise our daughter!" He shouted. "You overstep your station and I shall not abide it in my home!"

He had finally lost his temper. Janius did not tolerate it. "I do not appreciate you shouting at my wife, father!"

"Answer her!" Aurana shouted.

"You..." Remus lifted his upper lip. He stomped towards Aurana. "I am putting you back in your room with no lunch today!"

Janius subtly braced, keeping his arms at his sides.

"You will think about what manipulations you have tried to make here and know your place!" Remus' open hand grabbed at Aurana's shoulder. His wrist was snatched by Janius.

Remus flicked his crazed eyes to him. Janius' eyes were stern, staring him down.

"Unhand me!" Remus tried and failed to yank his hand free. Janius' iron grip did not so much as falter. "I said...unhand me!" Remus pushed with his free hand on Janius' chest. "Petulant boy!"

Janius let his chest twist and snatched Remus' other wrist. He slowly faced back to Remus. Their hands shuddered in resistance to one another, but it was Remus' arms that were pushed back. Janius was stronger.

Remus spoke through grit teeth. "If you so much as bruise me, son, you will never be welcome to this place for the rest of your besotted life."

"Besotted?" Janius added incredulity to his defiance. "Listen to yourself. You are sounding like I did when I was a child."

Remus growled and threw his body weight to one side. Janius was pulled but managed to hold on. He gritted his teeth and heaved Remus back. Janius took a step forward, Remus stepped back to keep his balance. The momentum continued. Remus and Janius moved in a stumble until Janius checked him and shoved.

Remus was thrown back into his armchair. He grunted in pain as his elbow struck one of the arms on the way down. He clutched it and winced.

"Father."

The old infuriated Nord brought his head up from his painful cringe, baring his teeth.

"You were always inconsistent with me, but I respected you," Janius spoke calmly. "When did I become the better man?"

Though audibly catching his breath, Remus sat staring wordlessly. His mouth relaxed into what looked like an uncomfortable revelation. His eyes followed after a moment. After another several seconds, his breathing steadied and he blinked his eyes to look at the fireplace.

His voice, though roughened by the shouting, returned back to a civil tone. "You must know that I only want what's best for her."

"You know what you have to do, then," Janius answered, turning out one hand. "You've been lying to yourself about this. Admit it."

Remus' face lowered. His shoulders remained slowly broadening and narrowing with his breathing.

"I..." A low-pitched response. "...shall hear you all out."

"Uhm..." A high peal broke the tension. Aeramina pinched the air with one gloved hand. Her elbows were tucked close to her torso. "Perhaps we can talk it through over a lunch, dears. There is much to catch up on." She breathed uneasily. Her corset did her no favours. "Harald, come with me to the kitchen and show me what is in stock this morning!"

Harald shifted his feet just enough to reveal that he was previously sprung to intervene as well. "As you wish, my lady." He clasped his hands together and addressed Kaleeth and Julan. "Will you two be joining us? A civilised setting will be more appropriate now that the root of the matter has been identified."

Janius and Remus didn't seem to pay attention. The worst had passed, at least.

[hr]
Lunise's eyes turned down to the Ring of Hircine and back up to Meesei. She opened her mouth, hesitating. "I will...remind you, Meesei. It has been my assignment to learn as much as I possibly can about you and your capabilities. That much is hardly a secret." She found herself lingering on the ring again. "The Ring of Hircine is not an undocumented artefact. As I understand, it allows you to turn into a lycan at will rather than at the behest of a lycanthropy condition."

Talking professionally caused Lunise to cross her arms as a habit. "And I have seen lycan forms before. Do not mistake." Her mouth twisted apprehensively. "I think it beneficial to both of us that we hide our true capabilities from one another.