Lyra Cinder is cast out from the Fort, the largest remaining training settlement for human mages outside of the Alliance. Without a killer extinct and far too much use of her conscience, she is of no use to the mages who have refused peace with thei...
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The table they sat around for the meeting of the Alliance houses was straight out of a Knights of the Round Table movie, near as big as the room and with as many sides as the throw of a dice. At the head of the giant stone slab, Talamayas Sol sat on a wide couch with his mate, Wren Song—or Sol rather—and he didn't look as warped as Lorenzo made him out to be. They both looked tired more than anything, the giant vampire on edge with his hand tapping on his crossed legs and his crimson eyes leering them down in turn. Wren sat with only one leg crossed and the other up as he sank back into the couch like it could swallow him alive.
Talamayas, much like Shan, had forgone a shirt, though his skin was smooth and shiny under the numerous torches that lit the room. A tattoo of a red sun marked the tan skin of his pectoral with the man's dark hair sliding down to sever it in the center. The length was so thin, Lyra wasn't sure why he didn't just cut it off, but she wasn't going to ask. Not with how much muscle the guy had stacked on his body. Talamayas Sol put Lorenzo's muscular physique to shame.
Around them, the house heads sat in high-backed chairs with cozy cushions that she was currently enjoying as she sat next to Lorenzo at the furthest edge of the table. They had nothing this fancy at the Fort, and half the guys had sat on crates of supplies for breaks. So, she was comfy, and after meeting her family content to be back by Lorenzo's side.
Lorenzo, however, was irked by his far position at the table, constantly flexing his hands or shifting his jaw, but it was no surprise the Alliance wouldn't want him close after he'd wronged them. Lyra didn't so much mind, as she had great vision to see everything, and her father was nearly bouncing two chairs down from her.
Alec's fidgeting was insane, his foot bouncing his knee first until Idus put a hand on his leg under the table to calm it. That only loosed his hand to tip tap on the table. His fledgling senses grew so absorbed in the sandy texture that Asmodeus elbowed him in the arm on his other side. With his hands folded in his lap and his feet pressed firmly to the floor, Alec started to look around like an owl surrounded by eagles, his eyes flitting to and fro with his pupils dilating and narrowing on each different person.
The Arcs held seat at Talamayas' left, with her aunt calmly next to Neil Arc. Though he wasn't as blatantly short when seated, next to Talamayas's giant size and high couch, the poor guy would need a booster seat to meet them at eye level. Aside them, Tide Cascade and Pheonix Arc filled two other chairs, both of them emotionless and silent as the grave. One was her grandfather of sorts, while the other was a cousin, but she hadn't had time to meet them fully as they'd been whisked away to the hall.
To the right of Talamayas, the rest of the Sols sat around the other half of the table. Rivin Sol was impossible not to look away from, with his blood red eyes, sleek jet hair down to his hips, and a smile that said he was ready to eat anyone at any time. Emily, his mate, pushed his hands away from her time and again as he tried to sling one over her shoulders, trail it down her neck, or slide them across her thighs. Lyra held in her laugh as she'd grabbed his wayward hand and set it firmly on the table before returning to pleasantries with Shan Sol.
