An awkward silence stretched for a moment before Neil feigned clearing his throat, and they looked to him. "With that settled, I would like to bring to the table two changes that I find most fundamental for structure if we are to hope for peace. First, the dismantling of the infiltrator training center as used for the purposes of grooming assassins. They need specialized tutoring, for sure, but teaching them to kill and see vampires as the enemy is a foundation that peace can't sit on."

"I agree that it needs restructuring," Kopje spoke for the infiltrators, though he still looked like he wanted to kill something with that expression. "I'm more than happy to work with Silvia Copse in developing a program for tutelage that can foster relations with vampires. Infiltrators are the only mages immune to vampire allure, so they will make for good diplomatic representatives. That being said, they will still be reared in combat."

"I understand the necessity for them to be able to defend themselves, and I appreciate your willingness to work with us, Kopje Cinder," Neil replied. "I know that the Zehirs in no way swayed you to believe that vampires are interested in peace."

"I was understandably skeptical, but after seeing the way the Arcs and the Sols worked side by side with the Copses and the Cascades, I can imagine a world where others might be able to achieve that. The bonds you share are truly admirable."

"Thank you, Kopje." Neil smiled and then tapped his fingers on the table. "The second issue I wish to raise is the allowance of relationships between mages and vampires. Continuing a practice of prohibiting friendly interactions goes against what we are striving for. It sends the wrong message if you keep it."

"The rule is in place for good reason," Slate said, sitting up in his chair. "There have been too many injuries and deaths from failed relationships with vampires."

"I understand that," Forest spoke this time, but to Slate. "This is a proposal the Copses support and it by no means asks you to encourage relationships. Vampires and mages fundamentally differ in too many areas for them to be good partners normally, and I have personally separated mages from vampires who would have ended them.

"There are, however, exceptions in which the prohibition puts people in situations they don't want to be in. Take Meredith Aurion for example. The poor girl is pulled between her family, her mate, and the order constantly. Allowing her to work with the order with her father and allowing the Shades access to the complex through Remus has been nothing but beneficial."

"That isn't to say that the vampires should be considered faultless," Neil added. "If a mage is interested in a relationship with a vampire, it should be up to their house head to speak to and manage with the vampire as to whether or not it's feasible. If we're involved, it's less likely to go south."

"The Fleurs would consider this motion required if we are to move forward," Lorenzo said. "We have a lot of relationships with mages that are not romantic but still prohibited under your no contact stipulation. I personally can only attest to seeing one functional relationship between a mage and a vampire, Remus and Meredith aside, but just that one can exists proves that having such a block on interactions can be stifling to progress."

"Progress?" Luna asked with interest.

"Yes," Lorenzo said with a smile. "While the rest of the mages had their heads in the sand, The Arcs and the Copses formed an alliance with a backbone strong enough to bear the weight of our doubts and differences while we fought together in a battle of unprecedented cooperation. I know none of that would have been possible without Silvia Copse and Neil Arc's rather strange connection to each other."

"That is true," Tide said, his head on his hand as he watched the proceedings. "I don't like vampires. They mostly creep me out, but I'm starting to understand that some of my aggression is ingrained in what I've been taught and how we've always been forced to face each other as enemies. Without Neil Arc opening his borders to our people because of his relationship with Silvia, I would have never understood fully that just having a mindset of hate can create animosity that was not there before."

"Silvia Copse and Neil Arc are mates now," Damien said for the mages who were slow at connecting dots. "This rule make things complicated for both of them and our peoples, and while I was not enthused at first because of my heritage and were I ended up, I quite like them together."

So that was why Forest Copse had been so friendly to Rush and her when he'd heard they were mates. The man was used to Neil and Silvia? How did that relationship even work? Mer was curious and she'd have to beat it out of him later, but Neil spoke and drew her attention way.

"Silvia was forced into your infiltrator training program against her will, and it kept us apart because her only options were to join or defect, neither of which she wanted. I love my mate, and I want her to be happy as well as productive to her own desires. For her to continue being a mage and help this alliance as well as be my mate and support my people, the prohibition has to be dropped."

The mages conversed with each other in a volume Mer couldn't catch, but the vampires could hear every word and none of them were cursing yet. After short deliberation, Luna spoke.

"We will lift the prohibition and hammer out new details and guidelines with the Fleurs in their spare time. Since they have been interacting with mages on a long term basis, their input will be most helpful in management between our kinds."

"Thank you. We could be glad to help," Lorenzo answered.

"That being said, the mages must raise that one thing be changed about vampire society without any room for negotiation," Luna said with a slow breath. "We are more than willing to honor your laws of kin and mate, but we demand the repeal of marking human beings as property. That would in effect mean releasing any you hold against their will that might want to go elsewhere, blood slaves included."

"This is more than just moral obligation," Slate added. "The world has woken to your existence and the news is spreading of magic and beasts with fangs that we have to corral and put a positive spin on. If the mages' allies hold humans as slaves, than we can't present you as anything other than monsters. We don't mind you keeping the law of ownership between your people as a basis to protect the humans you care for, but the mages will not stand for it to be used to imprison our kind against their will."

Rush looked to Neil and they shared something unspoken before he replied. "The Shades will accept this stipulation. It will take some doing in the battlegrounds though. I know that if we open the doors for the blood slaves, more than half will leave, and terrorizing the countryside would be just as bad as holding slaves."

"The Fleurs would be more than happy to facilitate willing blood donors. With the knowledge of vampires being released into society, there will be a number of humans interested in what they have to offer. I am sure we can get a regular system going that will fulfill the needs of the houses as long as none of the volunteers show up dead."

"The Shades don't kill their blood slaves," Rush snapped, and Lorenzo raised a hand to show he meant no harm.

"Accidents happen with newer vampires, Remus. The volunteers will need to be watched if they only offer temporary assistance is all. The Fleurs also accept this stipulation, though we haven't had unwilling blood slaves in a long time."

"The Arcs have been working through reversing Vincent's scar on the battlegrounds, but we will also lose nearly two thirds if not more of our blood slaves," Damien said with a frown. "We want to support this, but our house is much larger than the Shades and would be unable to survive while waiting for volunteers to be set up."

"The Copses will provide you with donors for the time being, as I'm sure the Cascades will offer as well," Forest said with a smile that had every mage turning their head toward them. "They got used to your house in our entertaining stay together, and a few of mine have already given their blood to your men of their own free will."

"Forest is right," Tide added. "The Cascades will help the Arcs until such time as they are stable under the new laws."

"Thank you," Neil said with such gratitude that it shook Mer where she sat.

Here the mages were volunteering to be beverages to those they'd fought, and that said a lot as to their relationship. Neil's affection for Silvia had dragged her whole house with her, and Mer wished she could say the same about the Aurions.

With the other houses covered, everyone turned to Talamayas where he was relaxing like a corpse, and he looked to either side and then raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Talamayas asked, and Forest dropped his face into his hand.

"We need your agreement, Tala," Forest said as if it weren't obvious.

"Oh, sure why not," Talamayas said, and the mages narrowed their eyes at him.

"What Talamayas means is that the Sols don't use blood slaves like other houses, so it's a nonissue," Wren offered.

"They must drink blood?" Kopje said, seemingly interested.

"The Sols have a symbiotic relationship with the human nomad towns in the deserts," Talamayas said. "We help them move and find new shelter as the sandstorms migrate for the seasons. All we ask in return is blood, and many of the nomads are more than happy to provide it. When the summers get too harsh, I take the people in, giving them the lowest levels so that they can remain cool and live out the year. Many of their kind stay in the castle permanently because they like the living arrangements and not having to travel all the time. You can ask any human in my service and they will insist they are there of their own accord."

"That's abnormally... considerate for someone like you," Luna said with doubt lacing her words.

"It's not," Talamayas said in a low tone of threat. He clearly didn't like to be called a liar. "I don't like spies nor betrayal, and having slaves breeds both. The only humans allowed in my castles are those trusted and vetted by my men prior. I keep my house clean, siring only those who are devoted and committed for the long haul and keeping humans who are the same. I may not be Lorenzo, but my human servants like their lives in my service. You're free to send whatever emissary to confirm at your leisure."

"We will," Slate said curtly before they moved on.

They went over a slew of things, and Mer didn't want to say that she was nodding off near the middle, but she was. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in furthering vampire mage relations. She had just been tired since she'd expended so much magic in a small period of time. It had been only a few days and she wasn't fully recuperated yet. Rush didn't help either. When she started to doze off on her hand, he ran his hand gently over her hair until she fully conked out.

By the time Rush nudged her to wake up, Neil and Lorenzo were preparing to leave. Mer couldn't stop herself from looking over to Wren where he was standing with her aunt and saying his goodbyes. On the other side of the table, Talamayas tapped his finger impatiently on his arm, and Mer really wished there was something she could do to help Wren. It seemed sad that he was forced to live among the people who tortured him.

"Come along, Meredith," Rush said, and she stood with him and exited out the side door with Lyon.

They waited in the hall as the other vampires left out their door. Lorenzo and Asmodeus said their brief goodbyes and their mage transported them home, and Neil finally came out with Damien and Ruprecht. Rush had likely known she wanted to say hi to her dad before he left, and it was halfway into her hug with Damien that Silvia came out, and Mer glued her eyes to her. She was so focused on her that she forgot to let Damien go.

"Are you really... with Neil?" Mer asked, knowing there were probably a hundred better ways to ask but too flabbergasted to come up with one.

"What kind of question is that?" Silvia said with a smirk. "Neil didn't lie to a room full of mages and vampires, my family, my entire house, or his own, so yes?"

"I just mean that he's..." Mer trailed off as she thought about all of the times Neil had snapped, been a grumpy little goblin about hoarding her father, or talked down about her because she was a mage. The man wasn't exactly winning any awards for great personality. "He's rough around the edges." Mer decided on, and that made Silvia really smile. It turned into a laugh and she covered her mouth for a moment.

"Yes, but so am I. We both have some work on interspecies communication, but I like having someone to grow with. I wonder if that emotionless hunk of vampire that you are mated to has anything going on up there, but the more I watch him, the more I think it's just marbles rolling around."

Mer left Damien to go back to Rush's side, but he didn't accept her hand as he tried to work through what Silvia had said. It was a long moment of silence, to which Silvia looked at him with mild confusion.

"I don't understand," Rush conceded with a furrowing of his brow. "The only idiom I know is to lose one's marbles, and that does not seem to apply here."

Silvia snorted, and Neil slid into her side as Rush sharpened his gaze on her. "I meant that I wonder if you have emotions or if there is nothing up there but the rattling of rocks in an empty vessel." Silvia explained, and Rush's mouth tilted down into a frown for real that time. "Don't you grump at me. Neil's a bouncy ball with emotions, so seeing someone as cold and composed as you is freaky."

"I like Rush's calm," Mer said with a narrowed gaze. "It's not half as frightening as Neil when he loses his shit over small things."

"Oh yes, five foot four inches of terror. Lord help me," Silvia chuckled, hugging Neil to her by the neck when he growled in annoyance. The way her touch melted him into butter was really enlightening. All of the hostility faded for a gentle blush and he slid his hand around and hugged her to his side with a smile and a renewed brightness in his eyes.

Talamayas exited the room then, with is hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face that rivaled any she'd ever seen. The man looked like he could crush some kittens and feel nothing.

"You need some sleep," Forest Copse said, following after him.

Mer had figured out that Forest was close to Neil because of his daughter, but what connection did he have to Talamayas? Certainly the Copses were allied with the Arcs more closely than any other house, but Talamayas was another level of brutal.

The huge vampire turned down to Forest with all of his aggravation. "I do," Talamayas answered in a growl. "Fuck I need sleep." Talamayas ran his hands up the sides of his head and into his dark hair before he leaned back against the wall. Unique light magic crawled over the room, albeit weak, and Mer turned to Wren joining them.

"Wren," Mer said his name, unable to stop herself from voicing her concern.

Wren turned to her and took a few steps toward her. "Meredith. You did well on the frontlines and I wish you luck in your advancement." Wren offered her a hand to shake, and Mer looked to Rush to make sure he wasn't going to snap it off. He nodded, and she accepted it with both of hers, not wanting to let him go to Talamayas if there was a chance he might be tortured.

"Thank you for not forcing the mages to fight for your freedom," Rush said unexpectedly, and Wren lifted his eyes to him questioningly. "It avoided an unnecessary scuffle and had to have taken some fortitude. For what it's worth, I appreciated you being the strength for the frontlines of the fight so that Meredith was not targeted."

"I did my part as everyone did," Wren replied with a smile that gradually spread all the way to his ears. "Also, I made no concessions. I'm eager to return home as I haven't slept so well myself. There will be no torturing of anyone while Tala and I pass out like rocks. I do visit the Copse territory from time to time, Meredith. If you're that worried about me, you can speak with Silvia and hang out sometime. I'm teaching her and a few other mages higher level healing magics in my free time."

"You... leave the Sol territory?" Mer questioned.

"Yes. I'm always accompanied by a Sol though. I'd go bat shit crazy if I had no one but Tala to talk to all the time. The man's a horrible conversation partner. It's a complicated situation I find myself in, but Tala and I have worked out a compromise that keeps me out of the dungeons."

"That's good," Mer said with more energy than she intended, and she blushed as Wren's eyebrows rose.

"I'll see you around Meredith. For now, I need to get this cranky piece of work to a bed." Wren smiled with amusement as Talamayas muttered a curse under his breath.

They departed, and Mer couldn't help but notice the way Talamayas gave her a direct look and a wave before he sank into Wren's light magic. Something about her interested, and she wasn't sure if that was good or not. She supposed she'd find out. They had a long road ahead, but the first step she was taking was into a bed to rest. Once she woke, she would have a new world of problems to face, but she would face them together with Rush and their allies.

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Word Count: 3165