"You doubt Talamayas?" Wren asked with a rasp of breath.

Rivin shrugged with a roll of his eyes. "That one went a little" –Rivin spun a finger next to head– "when I changed him. It happens. Humans changed into vampires can lose themselves to the powerful magic of a sire and become consumed with madness. We usually put them down because they can harm their own line if they can't control themselves."

Rivin held his hand up when Wren opened his mouth to object.

"I'm not done," Rivin said sternly, and Wren closed his mouth. "My magic bonded too powerfully to Talamayas and the flames overtook him. I'm sure you've noticed that he smokes or steams when he gets too emotional. If magic properly binds to a vampire, it should harmlessly absorb and expel itself without affecting the physical body. The same processes that allows magic to flow through a vampire put limits on their power, which is why Talamayas is so powerful. Talamayas has no limits save for his own magic devouring him."

"Is that... likely to happen?" Wren understood if Rivin wanted to explain some things about Tala that the man might not know or share about himself.

"In vampires who are consumed by magic, it's quite frequent that they die in that manner, often harming their houses. Talamayas could supernova using his own body as a conduit and wipe out half my house. That is why I watched him, at Shan's urging more than my own choice. It was true that the flames had ensnared Talamayas mind and soul with his change, but the more he grew, the more it became apparent that he had control of them.

"Most vampires who don't bond correctly are controlled by their magic's urge to grow and consume, but Talamayas was not. Had he been alone, he might have fallen to his own magic, but because of his mother, he was saved. Whenever she was with him, his gentleness toward her and love bridled the flames, dulling them so he could show her things and spend time with her. It's that same gentleness that keeps him stable even now, though the target changed to my people at the loss of his mother, and toward another when he accepted you.

"People keep Talamayas alive. My people, his loved ones, his friends, the connections that tether him to this world. Without that tether, he might cease to exist, so I am just here to ask that you be wary of his condition. Talamayas knows he can't properly be emotional with someone without overheating, so he has kept himself distant from others–consciously or not. It took at attachment so strong that he couldn't deny it to bond with you, so I bequeath to you the responsibility of caring for my son, blood related or not."

Rivin leaned his head forward to rest it on Wren's shoulder, and Wren cringed as he awaited the sharp infusion of magic. Instead, warmth flowed over him, and he wasn't sure he could put it to words. It was like Rivin had reached inside of him, wrapped his hands around his heart and caressed it–something soft and undefinably gentle that could be easily spun into his death at the flip of a coin. Wren was so stunned that he didn't notice Rivin lean off of him. All he felt was the brush of lips on his forehead and a rush of dark magic as the man disappeared into the woods.

Before Wren could process anything, Talamayas was standing next to him, and Wren looked up to his mate. Talamayas brow was lowered in concern but he kept his hands to his own side as he glanced back to the people who'd noticed his quick departure. All were worried something might happen.

"Rivin never liked me half as much as Shan. I hope he was... cordial?" Talamayas said quietly, offering his hand in a gesture of comfort.

"I think he likes you more than you give him credit for," Wren said with a small chuckle, tapping Talamayas hand away to join the rest of the party. The last thing he needed was to walk hand in hand into a group of people who thought he was nuts for joining with Tala.

"Really?" Talamayas asked, chasing after him and leaning down to try and rip the truth from his expression.

"Really. The man reminded me of you a little bit. Sort of sassy and brash with a good inner motivation that isn't easy perceived," Wren said, and Talamayas frowned.

Before Tala could grumble some retort, a hand yanked Wren away. Wren nearly tripped into Silvia Copse, but Forest had a firm grip on his other arm. Not a few feet away, Damien Arc held Neil in a fit of growling at his pregnant mate being torn from him.

"Come on, Wren. Vows time," Silvia said with an excited smile.

"Silvia has opted to hijack my best man position, if it isn't bothersome," Forest said with a fatherly sigh. The man looked absolutely regal with his long brown hair blowing freely through the wind, and Wren glanced at Neil who'd calmed as Talamayas led him up to the raised platform for the vows.

"Yeah hurry up!" Meredith yelled from the sitting area, next to Remus Shade. "I've been told it's rude to eat popcorn while I watch this horror movie, and I'm hungry."

Damien lost his face in his hands just about the same time Remus did, and Wren couldn't help but smile as they dragged him up to the dais. The platform was simple, as it wasn't much of a huge occasion–unpainted wood built to hold them and a trellis running up on either side and joining into an arch at the center. Along it, flowers bloomed, a fragrant desert lily that only thrived in the scant oases of the Sol deserts. They withered in anything but harsh temperatures, so the entire arch was surrounded by a cloud of flame magic to keep them happy for the ceremony.

The source of said magic sat at the end of the second row of chairs, twiddling his hands in near tedium as he waited. Kopje Cinder had been Silvia's partner on the battlefield, and Talamayas has taken him into the castle with the Copses and Cascades back during the conflicts. After living in constant fear of vampires for his entire life and losing an eye to the Zehir attacks on his complex, Kopje was mortified of Talamayas but did his best to work with the alliance.

There were others awaiting them, so many faces that he'd met and bonded with over the last few years out of the cells and others that he'd known even within them. Among them, Vice stood sentry on either side of the central arch. Visible for once, he was dressed in matching tuxes that he looked absolutely uncomfortable in, but he dealt with that as he awaited his new masters. Tala grabbed the Vice on his side and ruffled his hair until the man smiled. A small smile mirrored on the other Vice's face as he nodded to Wren.

Forest seated Silvia to the left of the podium, and Neil took his seat with Damien on the opposite side as he and Talamayas stood across from each other in front of an empty podium. A blast of dark magic almost peeled Wren's skin off as Rivin appeared behind the podium, and Wren had to grip the side of the thing to stay standing.

"What, did you think I left?" Rivin asked, leaning with his arms on the wood and rocking the podium with a smirk. "I wouldn't miss this for the world. Not often one gets to join a grand mage to a literal ball of fire."

"Father!" Shan growled from behind the man, frustrated with being ousted from his job.

Rivin waved him off. "Your nice desert dress wear won't go to waste. Go sit with the peanut gallery while I join your new masters, Shan."

Shan obeyed, but begrudgingly parked on the front row and crossed his arms. Silvia's uncle, Tide Cascade, elbowed him with a smile, and Shan lost his face in a hand. Today was full of fun for everyone, it seemed.

"Come on, vows. Your humans are only here for the food," Rivin said impatiently, and Wren couldn't help but laugh as Meredith reddened out in the crowd.

"He's not wrong," Forest whispered to Silvia, and she elbowed him into silence.

"Let me go first then," Talamayas stood up straight and took a breath to speak. "I've said everything important already, so let me just reiterate that I will try not to be too miserable. Like you said, I'm sassy and brash, but I'm well meaning. This is what I want in life, you by my side, guiding our people through whatever may come, and leading them into a new era if that is what the world calls for. I will fight by your side, call you one of my own, Wren Sol, and fall before I let another cause you harm. Let's march till the end of time together."

Talamayas smiled, the excitement lighting up his eyes with happiness in a way that they had yet to. Since Nicholas had moved the time tables up on their union, Tala had been conflicted and unsure, but now under the light of the rising sun, in front of his friends and family, and before his sire, Talamayas was as sure as Wren was.

"I wish someone had told me my vows could be short and curt. I slaved for weeks, second guessing my words and rethinking them," Wren said with a sigh, flexing his hand to keep him from sticking it on his hip in front of everyone. It wasn't respectful to chide the man he loved in front of everyone who respected him.

"The most prominent things are said in the fewest words," Rivin said, and both Wren and Tala turned to him. Leaning on his hands with both elbows on the podium, he looked like a high schooler watching two teachers make out around the corner. "Saying 'yes' to your love" –Riven reached down to lift Wren's hand to Tala's and linked the edges of their fingers– "and 'no' to the hatred, is all more than any vows you could recite."

"Tell that to a wedding planner," Wren mumbled under his breath, and Rivin just smirked all too knowingly. This man had been hiding somewhere in society for a while and was much more acclimated than Talamayas. "I will just say what's important then." Wren retracted his hand and used both to straighten the lapel like collar of his mage robes to calm himself. Then he spoke the words that would start this new turn in his life.

"Talamayas, when I first saw you, I thought you were my death, and now each evening I wake to you, I know you are my life. We come from opposite ends of a conflict started so far back that I do not know its origins, but I want to stride forward with you into its end. Our bond, as well as that between many who are seated here today will support and promote a peace that I hope will march with us until that end of times you speak of.

"Like all things, we will have troubles and disagreements, but I know that we'll work together to learn and grow stronger because of each other. And that is what I'm happiest for, someone to share my whole self with who won't look away when I might not be at my best. For those days that we will stumble and fight for each other, I want you to think back on this day as a beacon of our promise. For then, for now, and forever, I'm yours Talamayas Sol.

Wren had tried to remain calm while speaking, but tears formed at the bottom of his eyes that he struggled to keep from falling. Hands gripped the sides of Wren's face, soaked in Tala's comforting magic, and the tears dripping down Wren's cheeks didn't even register as Tala pulled him in. They'd agreed that there would be no kissing the bride before all of this, but Wren didn't protest as Tala pressed him to his body about as lewdly as two people could get in public.

Tala was always warmth, quite uncanny for a vampire, and his lips were no different as they tread Wren's. Fingers ran through Wren's short red hair, and embarrassment seemed a world away as they melded together, their magic, emotion, and bodies teeming with acceptance of this moment. Today they were one, a sun and its shadow, two beings set apart but connected by an invisible force more powerful than any magic.

Word Count: 2151