"You want Wren on the frontline?" Talamayas asked, the snarl forcing Forest and Tide upright in their seats as they sat around a map of the Levisca area. The former tucked his long brown hair behind his shoulders as if he needed his vision clear for a scuffle.

The vampires opposing Neil were out for his blood and he'd allied with the mages to protect both his people and theirs. Both sides were coming together to fight for an alliance between mages and vampires in a capacity Wren never before thought possible. Around him, Neil Arc, Tala, Tide and Forest were planning things, but there were two more vampire houses with them but not present, and they had even convinced the Levisca mage complex to play decoy to lure the vampires. So long ago Wren had thought there could never be peace between them.

"You don't like the idea of me fighting?" Wren asked from his chair off to the side.

The table had never been big enough for more than four people and Wren had never minded propping his feet up ion Tala's desk. He lifted his gaze to Tala's heated crimson, quite expecting the man to drag him down to the dungeons in order to prevent him from using his magic aggressively.

"You've been in the dungeons for decades and are in no condition to fight in a battle between eight vampire families and a sprinkling of mages." Tala thrummed his fingers on his chairs broad silk armrest, and nearly everyone in the room stared at him with their mouths open Iin confusion. As if they'd misheard them.

"You're worried Wren Song could get hurt?" Forest asked the question Wren couldn't even voice. That was so preposterous that Wren was just assuming he'd misspoke. Surely the man just meant that he might lose his plaything anyway.

"Of course I am," Tala continued on. "The man has trained with you, but even you can tell he's rusty at best. Wren..." Tala stopped talking as he realized the mood of the room too slow. As usual. "What?" The growl on the single word was followed by Neil's groan as he rubbed his forehead and lost his hands in his long white hair as he leaned forward.

"The rest of us are worried about the repercussions of a Song seen fighting on the battlefield, Tala," Neil said, leaning on his hand. "You know. The vampires' mortal enemy, slaughtering your kind in droves?"

It was rude of Wren to crack a smile as Tala processed what his closest friend was saying. The man was so absorbed in keeping his prisoner safe and too himself that he hadn't considered the more obvious issue. With how the Songs were feared as gruesome puppet masters that ripped out the souls of vampire kind, any side he was on would be uncomfortable with him–ally or not.

"Wren would be killing our enemies," Talamayas said in a slow hiss. "If I was on board with it."

"We need him to keep the vampires there once they advance on the complex," Forest insisted. "They can very well back out if they see no gain in the fight, but no house can walk away from a living Song. Either Wren will chain them or they will feel obligated to kill him. Either way, he is the best bait we have."

"Bait," Tala uttered the word in a low rumble that showed how he felt about it. "I will not have some other vampire touching what is mine. No one kills Wren Song but me."

Heaven forbid. Wren sank into his chair and closed his eyes, not entirely fond of how his demise would never be of his own choosing. For just a moment, Tala leaning over him with his hands lit with magic to melt off his flesh flashed through his mind, and he wiped away an uneasy bead of sweat. The man still wanted to kill him, and Wren wasn't sure why he'd allowed himself to think otherwise. It had only been a little over a year since he'd been allowed out of the dungeons.

"Tala," Neil addressed him, knowing his words bore more weight. "Wren will be behind the entire Fleur frontline, as well as among the finest grand mages the order has to offer. Luna Aurion and Kopje Cinder will be on either side of him, and I highly doubt that he'll make it past Damien. While he may be my second in command now, no one has forgotten Dark Aurion, and he hasn't forgotten his people. He will protect the mage frontlines with his life because his daughter will be by Luna's side."

"I still don't like it, but it's not my choice. Wren can make his own decisions." Tala rubbed his face, and Wren sat up as they all looked to him. Unfortunately Wren was still back on Tala giving him any sort of choice for the first time in decades. Wren supposed that with the writ, Wren was allowed his own autonomy, but for Tala to say it like that after claiming he was his was just a little uncanny.

"I want to fight," Wren croaked, his voice forgetting that it was meant to be used. It was too dry in the desert, and he reached for a cup of water and took a sip as Tala whipped daggers at him. "Whatever you mages have with your vampire allies is astonishing, and I am eager to see if such a peace will last. Back when my house was still around, I never thought this possible, and I want to be part of creating a miracle if it is."

"Thank you, Wren," Forest said, his soft blue eyes really showing his gratitude. Silvia's father was such a warm hearted man and it was something else to see him working closely with someone as vicious as Tala. While Tala might have a soft side for a few close people, his bad side was worse than any.

"Go make your plans. Wren and I have some talking to do." Tala's growl did not leave room for argument. Neil and Tide left, but Forest lingered with concern that Wren shooed away as Tala and he headed for their rooms.

Or so he thought.

At the doors to the dungeons, Tala grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. When the man pointed at the dungeon door, Wren's pallor turned pasty, and fleeing proved futile as Tala boxed him in against the door with both arms.

"N-no, Tala," Wren sputtered in terror as he looked for anyone to save him. "I won't fight if you say I can't. You don't have to–"

"Stop," Tala groaned, his head falling, and Wren had to lick his lips a few times to draw enough moisture just to keep the roof of his mouth from sticking to the rest of it. "I'm not putting you in a cell, Wren. I need to do something that isn't safe out of the reinforced anti-magic walls down there."

"Why can't it be done in the desert?" Wren quickly replied, jittery and panicking in a way he hadn't since the day Tala had dragged him out of the dungeons.

"Because I can't be weak out of the castle. Just go," Tala grabbed him by the shoulder, opened the door with the other hand, and shoved him in.

Wren almost took a tumble down the stone steps, but Vice caught him with his invisible hands. They felt more like a prison than safety from bashing his head in on the stone, and he wasn't sure this was what he'd preferred. Vice knew that and helped him down the steps with a hand in his, not really giving him a choice. At the base of the steps, Wren collapsed onto his knees and trembled so badly that he heaved and had to catch himself before he threw up his lunch.

"Wren, I can't harm you," Tala said with a low growl of aggravation as he joined him on the damn cold floor of his dungeon.

"Caging me isn't harming me," Wren whispered into the damn ground he was so used to. Just ahead, the walkway led between the cells he used to occupy, and the entire place was spinning in front of his eyes.

"The writ guarantees your freedom as well as protection from harm by my people. I cannot cage you, Wren Song. I did not ask you down here for me. This is for you." Tala took a few steps away and then turned to face him again. Feet shoulder-width apart and with his arms clamped behind his back, the man looked like he expected to be hit.

Hit by what?

"What do you want, Talamayas?" Wren asked, the agony of these cells weighing on him heavier every second.

"I want you to use your magic," Talamayas whispered, his eyes closed when Wren looked to him for some sort of sense. "You haven't fought in ages and you need to know how it feels to have a vampire resist your power. You will have to catch a house head from the start, and they are powerful. None will offer more resistance than me, so if you can control me, I can trust you will be okay on your own."

"Tala, I can't do that to you. You know that my magic guts vampires from the inside. It would be agony for you."

"I will feel pain but I will not fold under your power. You need to test your magic on someone, and I am the only one strong enough to take your magic and live through it. I give you permission only so that I can reassure myself that you will be safe on the frontlines. Use your magic, Wren Song, and then you may leave these dungeons."

Tala still hadn't opened his eyes, and it made it hard to understand what the man was thinking. It was true that stronger vampires lasted longer under his control. A house head he could use for a few hours before they collapsed in on themselves into a mess of melted flesh. Had the Sol mother not been weak, she would have lived as well, but Wren knew how his magic had cut into her.

Now Tala wanted the same done to him?

So he knew Wren would be safe?

Wren had hoped that Tala would make more sense with each passing day, but Wren only became more confused. Sure the man was possessive, but this seemed more than that, almost like concern. Something Wren shouldn't think. Tala didn't want anyone else killing what was his, nothing more. Anything else was delusional fabrication, and Wren stood to face Tala so they could get this over with and go to sleep for the morning.

His magic flowed out of him to the circle that carved its way through the floor, and Tala's crimson eyes opened to focus on his opponent. They were so deadly calm, prepared to fight an aggressor, and Wren trembled as he whispered the tune of his spell. A chill flowed down his body as it opened itself to feel and absorb Tala's magic, darkening his eyes to black with the dark magic as his chains crawled down his arms and snapped out for the man.

They were so hungry reaching and wrapping around Tala's legs as they ascended, searching for the grip they needed to dance him like a puppet. As they found Tala's arms, the man breathed in the scent of magic and exhaled with a push of dark magic that flung Wren's chains away so hard that the magic rebounded and slapped him in the face so hard that he hit the ground.

A growl drew Wren's attention back up, and Talamayas had his lips rolled back for a snarl that drove a spike of fear through him. That expression in this place pushed Wren back and he repositioned to throw out his spell again. This time, driven by Wren's self-preservation, his chains found purchase in Tala's flesh, constricting around the man so tightly that he couldn't push them off. Past his legs, they wrapped his abdomen, split at his neck to secure his arms and the remaining chain links plunged into Talamayas' eyes.

Tala screamed.

They always screamed.

It shook the whole castle and Wren could feel the fluctuation of magic around him as every single vampire there rose to the call of their leader. The dungeon door opened, and Wren could feel Shan as he growled so low that Wren almost dropped his control of Tala. Vice met him, uttering words Wren could not fully hear and the door slammed in the poor man's face.

It left Wren in silence as he met Tala's eyes. Black liquid dripped from them in the tears of agony all vampires shed when the Songs took them over. Their body cried out for freedom and their soul wept for the loss of their will. It shook Wren that Talamayas was fighting the best he could, and that Wren was still able to walk the man forward the few steps to stand before him. Tala grimaced and looked sick, which was only because that was the expression displaying on Wren's face. Such was the spell, a mirror of himself onto the controlled.

Having proven that he could do what Tala wanted, Wren released the spell. The chains of his magic pulled back, raking with them the dark magic they had controlled, and Tala fell on him. It startled him, but he instinctually caught the man as he hit his knees, and Vice had to keep Tala from flattening him to the dungeon floor. A groan eased out of Tala's mouth as he lay limp with his face resting on Wren's shoulder.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Wren whispered as Tala's weakened magic reached around and smothered him a way he'd never felt before. It was as if Tala wanted to be near him, which Wren knew to an extent, but this seemed almost... affectionate.

"You could have killed me," Tala said into Wren's neck, turned his head to look at him, but in the position Wren was in, he couldn't see his expression.

"That is why I said this was a bad idea. It's dangerous to even experiment with my light magic on your body–"

"You could have killed me," Tala repeated himself, and with the effort it took him to form those words, it appeared as if Wren had missed what he meant.

When it clicked, Wren lost the ability to breathe. Tala meant that he could have killed him intentionally. It had not even occurred to him, but with his magic inside of Tala like that, he could have ended the man, avenged the loss of his people, paid him back for all those decades of torture. Tala had given him permission to use his magic on him which bypassed the writ, and the entire time, Wren hadn't considered once harming him.

"Tala," Wren sighed against his ear, his arms still around the man's back to hold him up. "We are working toward peace, and you're important to that. If I killed you, the balance would tip in favor of those who want my kind dead. My revenge wouldn't be worth the lives that would be lost without you."

The words came out on their own, his brain's frantic attempt to cover up an emotion Wren was denying he had. Hurting Tala had pained him, had made him sick to his stomach, but he found himself unable to say that to him. With how Tala already smothered him, the last thing Wren needed him to know was that he cared. If he cared about Tala and anything changed to end him back up in those dungeons, then he would break for the last time.

"I see," Tala whispered, his tone seeming sad, but Wren couldn't think about it as Tala's full weight leaned on him. It seemed Vice was no longer holding him, and as Tala passed out, he took Wren down to the dungeon floor.

The ceiling spun, and Wren looked up to the drip of water that splashed right next to his face. Moisture crept up his hair, and Wren dropped his head into the puddle with a nervous chuckle. This felt so much like before that he was growing dizzy from more than his fight with Tala's magic and the dank musk that heralded all his horrific memories.

Yet for Tala, this was comfort, wasn't it? This was where the man came when his nightmares got to him or his grief was too much to bear. Aside from torturing him, Tala often had come down to just sleep in Wren's cell, not caring at all that he got just as dirty as Wren was. Every time Wren woke to him in his cell, Tala had always been so close to him. Even back then, when he tortured him every day. Nothing had changed for Tala even though he couldn't harm him.

"Do you want me to lift him so you can go upstairs?" Vice asked, and Wren turned his head to where the man supposedly was.

"Go upstairs?" Wren laughed, but it was a struggle with Tala's weight on him. "I think I'd rather sleep here in the cells than face Shan. I can still feel it, the restless energy of Tala's people. They were not comforted by Shan saying it was okay, especially when I doubt Shan wanted to listen to you."

"That is the case. Shan trusts that I will protect Tala with my life, but none of them have ever heard Tala is such pain. If I did not know you, Wren Song, I would have been the same as Shan."

"Know me?" Wren chuckled on the ground. "I don't even know me anymore, Vice."

"That is all right." Vice shimmered into view and crouched next to him with an understanding smile. With his face mask pulled down, Vice really did have such an honest face, and the softest black eyes Wren had ever seen. "It is my purpose in life to know Tala better than he knows himself, and as such, I have also come to know you. Do you want to go upstairs? I will take you and Tala to your room if you are concerned about the rest of the Sols."

Wren dropped his gaze from Vice to Tala who had moved most of his weight off of his chest but was still half leaning on him as he clutched him in sleep. The man looked so comfortable, even damp and weak in his own dungeons.

"Does Tala like it down here?" Wren asked, and Vice cocked his head.

"On occasion he comes down here when he is contemplating things. I'm unsure if he likes it so much as it is comfortable to him. Familiar. Talamayas is sometimes uncomfortable among his people if he is not feeling himself, so he prefers to hide his weakness in the bowels of his castle. This place is best for that."

"Tala would not like it if his people saw him weak."

"That is correct."

"Then I can wait until he is strong enough to walk himself to his room. It's not like my back will break from a night on the old ground I used to sleep on, and I wouldn't feel good leaving him alone when he's like this because of me." Wren hated the kind smile that spread on Vice's face then. "You're going to tell Tala I said all of that aren't you?"

"Yes."

Word Count: 3283