The meeting room was a huge circular table, larger than any donut she'd ever seen. At one end in the right corner, her aunt was seated with Torin, as the Aurions were the head of this complex. There was another mage she didn't know, with slate hair that obscured one of his eyes but stopped there, and the lightest of grey eyes. Dressed in a formal tan suit, he looked so strange.

Who bought tan suits?

In the left corner, she found Paul waiting for them, and her eyes sparkled in excitement as Caelan joined him. Trying to keep it in check, she was doing such a terrible job that Paul cracked a smile, despite trying to keep a serious diplomat face. With his hair free and hanging around his shoulders and dressed in a casual, long-sleeved, collared shirt and a sweater vest, he wasn't doing so well on the formal diplomat front anyway.

Caelan, did he get you a matching sweater vest?

Caelan chuckled as Damien and Neil took their seats on the vampire side of the circle, Ruprecht taking up sentry behind them.

Bet that'd be hot, just you in a sweater vest and nothing else. Real nerd central. Get you a pair of glasses and we could sell you out as a birthday stripper.

Caelan full on laughed, and Paul was having a terribly hard time keeping his composure, clenching his fists and forcing the smile to a tight short upward line. As she took her seat next to Rush, their laughter died down, but the grey mage in the corner flared magic energy around the room, drawing attention to himself.

"Am I not privy to some joke?" The man asked in annoyance, and Cael looked to him and flipped him off. Paul touched his face like an embarrassed parent, and Mer glared in the man's direction.

"It wouldn't be funny to you," Mer commented, not at all liking the man's attitude.

"I didn't realize it was custom to bring sacrifices to peace talks," the man continued in an unfriendly manner, and she bristled.

About to scathe his ears with profanities, she was stopped only by Rush touching her shoulder, and she simmered down.

"I am free to bring whomever I deem necessary," Rush said, completely stoic. "If I want something nice to look at so that my eyes don't bleed from looking at your unfavorable countenance, I'm allowed my eye candy."

You heard the man, Caelan. I'm allowed eye candy. Strip.

Caelan actually reached for the buttons on his shirt, but Paul batted his hand away and he settled into his chair with a satisfied smirk.

"Ash, keep this civil," Lia said to him, and Mer couldn't contain her thoughts again.

Ha. Ash. Good job on that name. Bet he gave it real thought.

Caelan laughed again, and Ashe bristled in annoyance.

"Meredith, please guard your thoughts," Paul spoke for the first time, and Ash whipped his eyes to her in confusion. "Caelan does not care for being diplomatic, and if you keep stoking him, he'll never calm down."

Boo... down puppy. We have to be civil.

Caelan composed himself rather well, smothering his look of amusement for one of boredom and disinterest.

"Shall we begin?" Torin asked, and they exchanged glances and nods around the table.

The first half was a snooze fest. They talked about territory, boundaries, and maintaining the vacuum left by Latvius clan as well as how to handle scuffles with stragglers of that clan. There were several non-aggression treaties to be signed for the non-battlefield areas, and more discussion with the Nothings, or what was left of them.

Their numbers had been decimated and there were only five left to their knowledge, not counting Caelan. That was in this area of the country though, she learned. There might be others on the other side of the continent, but they didn't communicate well enough to know.

It wasn't until they got to the stipulations part that Mer woke up.

"We want Meredith back," Lia said, as expected.

"No," Rush responded with what they had discussed. Rush had asked her in detail what she wanted, and they had both wanted the same thing, so it had worked out nicely. Before Lia could spit back anger at him, Rush spoke again. "I will, however, work with you."

That surprised Lia and Torin, and so they waited to hear what he had to say.

"I sleep a different schedule than Meredith does, and I don't expect her to be nocturnal anytime soon. While we will be up at shared times, they will not be as many as the ones we are separate, I feel.

"I will not cede ownership of her back to the Mages under any circumstances. If you attempt to take her, every peace treaty we sign will be annulled and I'll rip you apart to take her back. I will, however, allow her to return here and study magic with her aunt or father, as you see fit. It's more dangerous for all of us, Meredith included, if she runs around a loose cannon."

"You want us to train a mage so that you can use her as a weapon." Ash scoffed at him, but the statement made Rush smile.

"Meredith is already a weapon. I could hone her magic if I wanted it for my own purposes. I do not have experience with mixed magic though, and I think it better she is tutored among those who can help her with both.

"Also, before you make accusations. Meredith would be a horrendously fallible vampire weapon. She hugs the Arcs and mages alike. There isn't a killer bone in her body, except apparently to defend her father. So, if you are fearful that I will teach her to defend her friends and family, then you can battle your nightmares over that."

Ash was silent. Torin and Lia looked to each other.

"We can work with that," Lia agreed, and Rush nodded.

"What do you want, Remus Shade? Aside from the agreed upon peace stipulations already put forth." Lia spoke, and Rush leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"The lycanthrope," Rush spoke, surprising Mer, and she looked to him completely lost.

"You mean Caelan." Paul was also surprised beyond belief. "Why in hell's name would I agree to give him to you?" Paul looked sickened with Rush's request.

"Not to me. To Meredith. If she is to leave my sight, I would require a guard on her at all times that will protect her with its life. I obviously don't want it coming home with me, but for her duration in the mage complex, its presence is compulsory."

"Why?" Lia asked, sort of confused. Even though her aunt loathed Rush, she was asking too, so it must be as odd as Meredith thought it was.

"Paul, is it?" Rush spoke to him. "Your blood is too strong, so you don't respond like your lycanthrope. I've noticed it since he embraced her this morning. The other effects of the blood binding are very strong within him. You've been trying to hide it, but you're doing a poor job. Meredith doesn't even understand."

"Wait, what am I missing?" Mer asked, looking around to them.

"Nothings," Damien spoke, "when blood bound to many feel the pull of none of their ties. If you, however, blood bind a Nothing to only one person, it becomes dangerous. That is why I was surprised that Paul had done so with you.

"Weak as you are, you can't affect Paul, but if you learn and grow as Remus suggests, you will have complete control over Caelan. This is how the Nothings sold themselves to the mages for safety. They sold their souls. Their powers have a backlash that is well known. Caelan is more lycanthrope than Nothing, so when you command him, he responds. There isn't enough power in his Nothing blood to refuse you."

"What Damien means," Paul continued, "is that blood binding is what it sounds. It's an integrated bond between two living beings. We can read your mind, appear at your side if called... and we bend to our master's whims if they are strong enough."

"I don't want anyone to bend to my whims. Caelan and I don't even like each other." Mer argued, but Paul shook his head.

"When you joke with him, the humor consumes him, echoing in both of your minds so that he can't resist. Meredith, you suggested Caelan remove his clothes and he would have had I not stopped him. Did you not notice how immediately he settled down when you suggested it? The man became silent."

"So, you're saying... that Caelan doesn't think my jokes are funny?" Mer asked incredulously, and Caelan laughed but smothered it.

"No. I think your mind is a highly entertaining place, Meredith Aurion." Caelan smirked. "If I didn't think it was funny, I wouldn't laugh, but the fact that you also find amusement as well only makes it funnier."

Do you not find this creepy at all? Meredith stared hard at Caelan, and he just shrugged.

"I'm complicit. The connection inserts suggestions into our minds, and the stronger the mage, or weaker the Nothing, the stronger the suggestion, until it becomes heavy enough to be a command.

"You're not a bad person to be commanded by. You've commanded me before, you know," Caelan said, and she tried to think about when. "I was powerless to stop your father from draining your aunt, though I wanted to. The command you forced into my mind was no suggestion, and it was impossible for me to defy it. In that same way, when you faced your demise at Vincent Arc's hands and desperation set it, it pulled me into a strange unconscious consciousness in order to save you."

"Doesn't that remove free will?" Mer didn't like the thought. It caused Caelan's expression to soften in a strange sort of way that made her doubt it. Was that only because of what she thought?

"In fact, it is exactly because of what you feel. Anger, remorse, guilt. You aren't a person who abuses power. But as I said, I'm complicit. The blood binding can be undone. I just saw no need."

"Do you agree to Remus Shade's stipulation then, Caelan?" Paul asked. "It makes you responsible for Meredith while she is with the mages, all of the time. Can you handle that responsibility?"

"I sit in your house and do nothing as it is. As long as the mages agree to the nonaggression treaty as stated, they can't harm me within the complex anyway, so I see no issue."

"That only leaves the Arcs," Lia said, fidgeting with some papers that she had in front of her. "You were the instigators in this conflict, though I understand it would have ended much differently if you had not fought against your own house for us. What stipulations do you have?"

"As Remus Shade has suggested, I would like the ability to help Meredith hone her dark magic," Damien said. "That would mean allowing me access to the facilities during those times."

"I don't care," Lia said, sliding her papers around, and Mer smiled at her aunt. It appeared they were getting along a lot better than when.

"Unlike Damien, I have my house's best interests in mind," Neil spoke up last. "I, personally, would like you to recall all active incursions into my battleground area territories."

Both Lia and Torin narrowed their eyes at him. Ash just looked like he wanted to burn him alive with his eyes.

"I would like this for a matter time while I try to stabilize my house. If you do not do so, I will have to slaughter them in order to show my dominance to my family. It's not hard to pick out mages and their supporters, and my family will presume me weak if I let them move in my territory.

"There is a lot of to be done with my father's passing, and if you don't want it to be a blood bath of your kind on the battlefield, a tactical withdrawal until I am stable enough to not need to wipe the floor with you to show my power, would be better. This is only the east side, as that's all you control. The western half of the country is our other border and I will deal with them as necessary."

"To avoid unnecessary bloodshed and violence, we will withdraw the eastern mages from your borders," Torin said. "We would require constant communication though. If we feel you are doing anything nefarious, we would need assurance. I suppose you don't mind using Dar- Damien, for that purpose as he will be here often enough. "

"You are welcome to use Damien as a liaison while he is in your premises, but if you attempt to detain him in any manner, I will gut this facility from the inside out. Damien is not the only powerful vampire loyal to me after my father's fall, and Ares, my general, will have no issues wringing the life out of this place if you make a move on my family."

"Neil, there is no reason to be hostile," Damien said, but he raised a hand to silence him.

"I will take your word in writing that you will not harm nor detain Damien. My house has some of its own internal cleaning of removing the men who were too loyal to my father, but that leaves me with more than enough to swarm this entire city. Do I make myself clear?"

Lia and Torin were silent as they regarded him. Mer didn't think they would harm Damien, but the easiness to which Neil fell to hostility for the mages didn't bode well for relations.

"We will have the agreement drawn up with the rest. If that is all we will adjourn for the day," Torin said. "We have much we need to do here after all of the casualties from your father's assault. Mages are not quick to forget, Neil Arc, so if we even suspect that you intend to repeat your father's lust for conquest, then we will not hesitate to end it."

"Please, what use would I have with a weak mage complex? If I want to slaughter some mages, I'll do it on the battlefield. I have enough from the west accosting me as it is. Come along, Damien." Neil stood and didn't even wait for a response as he headed out with her father.

Damien gave her a wave as he headed off and she smiled one last time before he left her. With the chaos in the Arc territory, she probably wouldn't see him for a while, but she knew she'd visit him in her dreams. That would have to be enough for now.

Everyone got up and turned about face to avoid each other, but Lia and Torin remained to say her goodbyes. The other mages that had been sitting in back avoided them like the plague, but her aunt and uncle loved her enough to put their hate for Rush aside for at least a moment.

"In a few weeks, we'll see her," Torin said, patting Lia's shoulders as tears lined her eyes. "When Meredith gets her strength back."

"I know, I just don't like seeing her go with him." Lia leered at Rush, but he wasn't paying attention to them. For once, he'd given her time to say her goodbyes without him and he was on the far wall waiting.

"Meredith." Paul came to her side and she jumped into his arms. "All right, all right, no need to squish me." Paul laughed but she didn't let go. "You be careful with the Shades."

"I'll try not to blow them up," Mer countered as she stood on her own and Caelan chuckled at Paul's side.

"You know that's not what I meant." Paul frowned, but she just smiled.

"I know." Mer looked at Caelan and he smiled as well. I'll be seeing you around, hotstuff.

"Sure." Caelan left with Paul and she had wanted to spend time with them, but Rush was tired. They'd been here for hours, so she understood and came to his side.

"Time to go home," Rush said, extending his hand out to her, and the familiar chill was warm as she took it in hers.

This was her life now. When she was given to him, she'd thought she'd never see her family again. At the time, she'd been terrified, but now she felt safe. She'd see her aunt and uncle later when her magic returned, and in the meantime, she could chat with Shiva in her days she spent alone.

Warmth blossomed in her chest when she mentioned him, and she relaxed into the gentle hum as she was whisked away by Rush's spell outside the door of the complex. This was her family now, and she was excited to start this journey of magic. Once, she had been afraid, afraid of vampires and magic, but this had been her fate since she was born into magic. It was one she'd gladly accept if she had the ones she loved at her side.

~~~~~~~~~

Word Count: 2885