"We have an intricate bath system in the outer caves. Fresh, cool water flows through the cascading pools and makes for pleasant relaxation if you might be interested. I know a day in the hot blowing sands can't have been very pleasant. It is outside the castle, if that is more comfortable for you."

Cadence touched his face and neck, dropping granules of sand before nodding and following as Talamayas beckoned him close. One more transportation spell had them on the outskirts of the bath house, but it was primarily empty. Most of his people bathed in the early morning before slumber, and the only ones awake now were day patrols waiting to rest or a few stranglers with off sleep schedules. It meant the pools were empty of all but him and Cadence as they entered.

Like everything else, the waterfalls along the edges to wash themselves before resting in the pools, as well as the roof a stalactite littered rock had Cadence staring in awe. This poor kid had seen nothing in his life, it seemed, and Talamayas felt completely responsible for that. At the same time, he knew that this boy, even so young, would be a hardened mage supremacist who littered the ground with innocent corpses otherwise. There really was no situation where this wouldn't have been a disaster.

"Do you not bathe where you come from?" Talamayas asked in earnest, dropping his cloak to the side. Though he thought about remaining concealed to avoid conflict, he doubted the boy hadn't figured out that he led the men here. Not after he'd dismissed Shan.

"Ah, yes, we do. I do," Cadence corrected with a blush that Talamayas couldn't assign meaning to. Emotions were not his best skill. Either the boy was embarrassed, or ashamed that he'd given away information about his people. "I just used an underground stream, and water was scarce, so nothing like this."

"Well, don't hold back on my account," Talamayas said, gesturing to the open pools. "I'll use the pool over here on the edge, and towels and free clothes are down there. We normally wash off in the falls before going in, though the water cycles well enough that it isn't of great consequence if you are not comfortable undressing with me around."

Talamayas didn't wait for an answer as he headed to the end of the falls to give Cadence space. Perching like a vulture to watch the boy would only cause fear, and Cadence would not be able to escape if he tried. The entrance to the pools was up on the east cliff edges, far enough into stable ground but with not much of an escape route that a human could traverse quickly. All of that on top of the fact that Tala needed to bathe anyway, had him losing his pants and slip-on shoes to drop under the falls.

The pleasant rush of water over his ears and the pressure pummeling his shoulders gave him a momentary inner peace as he rubbed the remnants of sand out of his hair. Even through the water, he could hear Cadence shallow steps to the edge of a pool. There, he sat at the side and eased his feet in as he dropped all of his outwear on the ground. By then Talamayas was out from under the water's flow and he caught sight of the edges of Cadence's mage attire–black music notes bordered the white billowing sleeves as they had on Wren's before he'd given up his previous house for the Sols. Some of Wren's formal wear still honored his house with the pattern, but it was never worn in sight of anyone who might mistake it for pride. The Songs had been brutal hunters of all vampire kind, innocent or not.

Cadence saw how much he tainted the water just from dipping his feet in, and he stood to wash himself off in the falls as Talamayas settled in a pool with his back to the boy. All he could do was listen to the light steps of his feet under the water, the squeak when it was too cold, and the trembling of his body as he settled to the change in temperature. By the time the boy was washed, had soaked, and was out of the baths, Tala was a prune.

It took Tala moments to stand, dry himself, and put on new pants before he headed to Cadence and offered him something else to wear besides his sand laden mage attire. The boy hesitated, clutching his familiar clothes to himself, but Tala bobbed the tighter grey shirt and pants until he accepted them.

"I will have them washed and returned to you. In the meantime, please accept our hospitality."

Cadence slipped on the clothes, but a tremor worked through the boy's body as he settled into them and awaited direction. There was nothing left to distract him anymore, and it didn't take much for the trembling to start as they headed into the castle. It was a long walk around the cliffs until they reached a side entrance, and Tala was guilty of watching Cadence like a hawk the entire time.

Any trained Song would have flung themselves down into the ravine the moment a chance arose rather than willingly enter the Sol walls, but Cadence did not. They made their way inside, and Tala noticed the absence of his people as much as Cadence did as they headed down a level to the nearest free room. Tala stopped outside the door, and Cadence jumped when he'd been zoning out too much to notice their halt.

"I imagine you are tired, so you are welcome to use this guest room for the night. I can see about food if you'd like to eat prior?" Talamayas spoke, but Cadence didn't seem to be taking much in with his eyes cast into the stone floor.

"That is all right. You needn't bother. Thank you for showing me the desert and allowing me to wash myself. I truly have never experienced such wonderful things. I just prefer that I be awake is all." Cadence rubbed his neck, but Talamayas did not understand his words. Did he not plan to sleep for the entire night? The confusion must have permeated because Cadence closed his mouth, grimaced, and then dropped his eyes to the ground as he spoke. "When you kill me, that is. I would rather see it coming then to never wake, if that would be possible."

Pain clenched Talamayas chest, vibrating down to his fingers and constricting his throat. Tala didn't know what he was supposed to say to that. The boy had spent all of this time by his side with the expectation that Talamayas was merely showing him the sights before he ended his life? Cadence was waiting, his hands clenched together in front of his chest, and his shoulders stiffened as he waited for the killing blow, and Talamayas turned his back to him to remove the sight before compassion drove tears to form.

All he was to this boy was an executioner.

"Come this way please," Tala said, his voice dipping so low to a near growl that Cadence's body tensed up, but the boy followed obediently. Awaiting his death.

It wasn't more than a few door down before Tala knocked on one with a slow exhale of despair. Cadence, by then, was looking all around him, not quite understanding why they'd moved nor what was to come. The creak of the heavy stone door has the mage stiff as stone until the occupant came into view.

Crimson eyes met Tala's before they fell to Cadence, and Phoenix whipped his long black hair behind his shoulder as he took a step out into the hallway. Aside from being more than a foot shorter, Phoenix was pale skinned like Cadence and skinner like his father, Neil Arc. The kindness of his mother's features mirrored on his face despite inheriting Neil's crimson eyes.

"You must be Cadence," Phoenix said with a welcoming smile that Tala couldn't wear without guilt. "The castle is abuzz with news of the tiny Song they found in the deserts. I'm Phoenix." Phoenix reached out to hold Cadence hand in his, though the boy hadn't offered it, and just the touch calmed him more than Tala could ever hope to.

"You feel like my dad," Cadence said absentmindedly, and Phoenix chuckled.

"That's light magic. The Sol vampires have dark magic, which is a little prickly to touch," Phoenix said, slowly educating the boy on things he'd never learned of magic.

"You are not a vampire?" Cadence asked curiously, yet also hopefully.

"I've got him, Tala." Phoenix shooed him away, and Tala headed down the hall with sunken shoulders as Phoenix dragged Cadence into his room. "I'm a dhampir," Phoenix said, though Talamayas could hear them through the door.

"A what now?" Cadence asked, the boy sinking into one of the cushioned chairs as Phoenix dragged over a table. The scraping of the legs on the floor and the squishing of stuffing below eight gave those actions away to his sensitive senses.

"My father is a vampire, but my mother is a mage.""

"That can happen?" Cadence exclaimed, the life coming back to his voice once Tala had left him.

"Well, it was a bit of a surprise, but my parents both love me. Do you want to play some games? I have a ton around here that I play with the ghosts."

"The what?"

Phoenix's chuckle echoed Cadence surprise as they sat down and continued to talk, and Talamayas left the hall to find Shan. Cadence would not have rested alone even if Tala had sworn up and down that he wasn't going to kill him. Giving the boy to Neil and Silvia Arc's son was the best he could do. Phoenix had heard Cadence even from down the hall, so he knew the boy was afraid. All Phoenix did around here was soothe the wandering souls of passed Song specters, so easing a living child was not something he'd have difficulty with.

They were both young as well, Phoenix only a few years in human terms, but an adult grown in dhampir years. With the way Phoenix had inherited only light magic from his mother, he was the best person to leave Cadence with. There were no other mages lingering with both Kopje and Wren gone. They would return soon, but Tala had important matters to deal with prior to that.

Shan met him not far down the hall, and they headed into the main greeting hall. Several of his generals waited within, brows creased and arms firmly crossed against their chest with anyone they cared for lingering close. They had all heard about the boy from Shan and knew what it meant to have a Song within the castle walls. It had not even been a century since they'd fought and killed the remaining Songs, and none could sleep easy with a snake in their den.

"The boy's magic is sealed, so he is not an immediate threat," Talamayas said, easing their tension by a marginal amount but not dispelling it. Shan had likely already relayed that to them. "With that said, someone will come for him. The secondary castle deeper into deserts is better fortified with the sandstorms raging and the lack of openings in the antimagic fields. It's more cumbersome to come and go from, but that will mean safety for us in this situation." Tala did not relish his final command, but they were all expecting it. "Evacuate our people there until this mess is dealt with."

They couldn't stay here, not with the Songs having been under their nose all these decades. Who knew how much about the castle location and the routes through the antimagic they knew. With the boy here, the Songs would come, more likely for revenge than a rescue, as they expected Talamayas to kill him on sight. The best he could do was remove his people from the confrontation and try to work with Wren to return Cadence without bloodshed. Even that was wishful thinking.

His generals nodded, some patting him on the arm silently as they departed because they knew what this meant for him and Wren. Danger, conflict, and death. All of it.

What a day for his mate to return late.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word Count: Word count 2075