"How many did you slaughter?" My quiet voice echoes through the antechamber, as my fingers dance over the forehead of the criminal.
My land! My RIGHT!
"I did not keep count," he growls through gritted teeth; Felix's grip is a bit tighter than necessary.
My sweet boy is always so protective, even when there is no cause. The criminal's paltry attempt to attack me was easily thwarted by my dear Jane.
"No matter," I sigh, pulling my hand from his skin. I gently rubbing my hand against my robe and I turn to gaze upon the angelic features of my ward. "Whether it was one or one hundred, the punishment is the same. Is it not my dear?"
Jane answers me with a beautiful smile. Her round cheeks resemble pale apples beneath her glittering eyes. She does so love to please me, to make me proud. As if I could ever be disappointed by any of my children.
"No! I have a right to hunt, to survive!" The criminal snivels as I gently graze Jane's hand with my fingers.
"Hunt, yes," Caius chooses to respond in my stead, and I allow him that privilege, proud that he is choosing to become more involved with our duties. "However, you slaughtered whole villages, and left their bodies on pikes for other humans to find. Carelessness is your crime, Carlo."
"It was a warning to all my enemies, human and vampire!" the accused snarls in defiance.
Let me punish him more, please.
Jane's mind beseeches me, but I have grown tired of this game.
"Enough," I sigh, as the captive begins to argue with Caius. "Felix."
"NO!" The scream is quickly overtaken by the sharp, telltale screech of tearing vampire flesh.
Jane's hopeful smile dissolves into a frown of disappointment. I give her hand a reassuring squeeze before releasing it. There is plenty of time for her to learn patience, and there will be more opportunities to play. There will never be a shortage of those who need to be punished. We all have our gifts, some more obvious that others, but all of them are useful.
I feel his presence in the air, like electricity gathering before a storm. I raise my eyes to see him hiding in the shadows behind my throne. He is watching the execution with a pained expression. I wish he was not here. I have told him how I dislike seeing his discomfort, but he insists that he should bear witness to what we do, that it is his duty. Still, his pain distresses me.
"Look away," I whisper, reaching out my hand to distract him.
His golden eyes meet mine, and my anxiety eases. The ascot falls tauntingly close to the waist of his breeches. The elegant white silk clings to his body, showing off the musculature of his legs. The gold brocade jacket finished off the outfit that had been sewn by the finest tailors in Italy, but it may as well be rags in comparison to his beauty
It looks like rags compared to his beauty.
I can tell he has recently fed by the change in his scent, and the tiny fleck of blood sitting like a ruby chip upon his pouting bottom lip. I unaware that I am licking my own lips, until Carlisle smiles. He delights in my insatiable desire for him. I momentarily wonder if he has purposely abandoned his normally fastidious habits and left the blood there on purpose, to tease me.
"Aro!" Caius' tone of annoyance draws my attention away, though I refuse to take my eyes off of Carlisle's mouth.
"Yes?" I answer with a lazy exhale.
"What about the others?" Caius sighs, but I ignore his insolence. "They are equally culpable, are they not?"
I was about to agree with Caius, but Carlisle's face shifts to a look of dismay, and I hesitate. Carlisle's eyes dart away from mine, and I do not have to follow his gaze to know where he is looking. It is the women, young vulnerable who believed their leader as he guided them into this lifestyle. As a human, Carlo was an arrogant, aristocratic tyrant, and his transformation into a vampire did not improve him any. These women, however, are a different case. Two are his human daughters, the only of his eight human offspring that survived his attempt to change his entire family. The others are his wives, (more like his playthings really) for his own amusement.
As I watch the emotions play over Carlisle's face, I know the argument he is composing in his mind. I have heard him voice his concerns to me so many times in private.
"They are young, and ignorant of our laws. Their fear will keep them in the future; no more punishment is required," I speak his words aloud in a resigned tone. I ignore the loud grunt of displeasure that comes from my brother, and bask in the reemergence of Carlisle's brilliant smile.
"Send them away, I am hungry," Marcus sighs, and Jane leaves my side to assist the others.
I'm consumed with Carlisle as I walk towards him, and he closes the distance between us to take my hand.
"Thank you," he whispers.
"It was the appropriate ruling; your gratitude is unnecessary," I reply with a dismissive wave, but he catches my hand in his and brings it to his lips. "Though it is not unappreciated."
I gasp softly at the feel of his lips against my skin, and he smiles a little wider.
"You know that I am not one to leave even a kind gesture unanswered," he breathes over my knuckles, a hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Believe me, I am counting on it," I sigh, turning my hand in his to stroke the underside of his chin.
Must you eat, now? Or could we…talk?
"I suppose that I could wait," I answer his thought as his teeth press into the plump flesh of his lip and he closes his eyes.
"I will eat in my chambers!" Caius hisses as he storms past us, taking our moment of indulgent pleasure with him.
I pull my hand away from Carlisle to curl it into a fist, but he catches my wrist in a gentle grasp.
Be patient with him. He is unaccustomed to sharing his brother's attention.
"I wish it were as simply as that, my love," I whisper as I pull him from the throne room.
Caius knows that I am his brother, and that I will always love him. Our transformation did not shake that bond; it is unlikely that my regard for Carlisle will. Caius' grievance is that he believes my feelings for Carlisle make me weak, and truthfully, I cannot disagree.
As I close the door to my private chambers, and pull Carlisle into my arms, I cannot bring myself to care.
Author's note:
Thanks to Kimpy for beta'ing this, despite how it polluted her sweet, innocent soul.
This is dedicated, with love, to Ninapolitan, who started out cursing me for even contemplating this ship, but now she has seen the light.