AN: So, I've had a few messages from someone who has deleted their account after messaging me so I can't reply to them. This person has apparently read this whole story, and then decided (after over a million words!) that I'm 'sick and shit', amongst other things. So, that's nice. I had written out a lovely long response, but I can't really be arsed to engage. If you are reading, go fuck y'self.

Thank you everyone else for your lovely reviews, I bloody love you guys! If guest reviewers want to DM me their questions I can answer, and you'll remain anonymous ?

This is a short chapter (because I'm swamped with Uni work, gah!) We are starting mere moments after where we left our favourite vampires and checking in with the south tower. The other half of this chapter will follow next week ?

Some Justice Served

JANUARY 25TH

Walking the halls back to the towers, Caius and Aro purposely hung back and allowed Freyr to take the lead. Caius wanted a little space between them all. Though Freyr wasn't likely to scold him in front of Aro—not as likely as Magnus—Caius wasn't willing to take the risk that she might.

He should have gone straight back to the coven. He knew that. He shouldn't have swiped the bottle of dungeon blood. He knew that, too. But it's done now, he thought. What else could he do? He'd apologised, kind of. That was a big deal for Caius! They should appreciate the efforts I go to.

And now he had been landed with another job for the coven! On that note, he had a point to make with Aro if the new plan were to go ahead.

"If you back out on any of these activities, I'm quitting the same day."

"I won't back out," Aro replied. "I'm quite looking forward to the rest."

"Rest!"

Rest was not part of Caius' day-to-day vocabulary. For one, he hated resting unless said resting involved drinking or fucking, or both. For another, he couldn't see a single part of Aro's grand plan that would be in any way 'restful' in anyone's book.

"We'll have a good twenty guards including your bloody kids for two hours every day," he reminded his co-master. "Every day, Aro."

Aro threw an arm around his shoulders. "Five days a week, brother. Only five days," he said, smiling that ever so patronising smile of his.

He pulled Caius in close to keep their conversation from Freyr walking a few steps ahead. "You will apologise to my wife, won't you?"

Caius tutted and tried to shake the man off, but Aro held him fast - the hold told Caius Aro was serious and he expected an answer. Oh, how it fucked him off when Aro pulled rank!

If Caius didn't already have a conversation with Magnus looming—he hoped it would be a conversation, at least—he might have told Aro to go and jump for any apology. Having one fellow master angry with him would be enough to contend with. Caius looked to Freyr walking ahead of him. Make that two. Two, and he was rarely Marcus' favourite coven member. He had no other option than to keep Aro sweet.

Swallowing his pride and hiding his scowl over submitting to his king, he said, "Naturally."

"Good." Aro slapped the man's back and flashed him a grin. "And the others, of course." He raised his eyebrows in the shield maiden's direction.

Caius forced a fake smile and nodded curtly, wishing Aro would just drop the matter.

"Hurry up," Freyr called the pair from the entrance to the north tower stairwell. "I want to hear you tell Dora."

Caius raised his eyes to the heavens. "It's not a big deal," he lied. "She'll be pleased, I'm sure," he lied again.

He went inside his ground floor suite, all smiles. Freyr and Aro plastered themselves to the door to listen in.

"Dora, love."

"Such a creep," Aro thought out loud.

Freyr couldn't disagree as Caius went on in the same unnaturally sweet tone.

"You know how you've always said you wanted to work for the coven?"

"I have literally never said that."

Aro bounced on the spot hearing Dora reply. "Oh, this is going to be wonderful!"

"Why are you smiling like that, Caius? It's weird."

Aro tapped his temple. "I tell him that all the time."

Freyr shook her head with a withering look on her face. She couldn't help but smile, though.

"I may have signed you up to a role in the coven."

"You've done what!"

Freyr and Aro tittered along whilst Caius explained what this new role entailed. Typically, with the volatile couple, it wasn't long before good humour left the building and they were arguing, insulting one another.

Freyr sighed, envisioning a long night ahead playing mediator.

"Off you go, Aro," she said, pushing him back out of the north tower stairwell. "You have your own wife to upset."

When Aro entered his own chambers, he bolted the door. Few of the doors in the Volterran castle were ever locked, least of all the south tower, but he needed to shut the world away for a few hours. Dawn would come soon enough.

He began shedding his cloak and boots, hanging the former and kicking the latter out of the way.

"You will be in trouble with Marcus and the creator, my queen. We have all just been told not to punish the kids for their trip."

His voice danced with amusement. Not for his wife being in trouble as he knew that wouldn't be the case. Just for getting one over on his father.

Sulpicia sat facing a roaring fire. Alec lay fast asleep on the sofa by her side, his head in her lap, whilst she twirled his blond hair around a finger absentmindedly.

"Your father should know by now that I neither need nor want his advice on how I look after my children."

She tried so hard to reply with conviction, but the words caught in her throat and she quietly cried again.

Hearing the pain in her voice, Aro raced to her side. The fire dulled for a moment as his speed forced the air around him to swirl.

"Sul?" he said, voice thick with concern. He lifted her chin gently to get a look at her face. "What happened? What did they do? If they…"

Sulpicia shook her head. One hand came up to her face, to cover her eyes, the other wrapped around Alec.

"Did they behave themselves, or should I knock them about a bit?" Despite what had been agreed in his father's chambers, Aro would willingly give his boys a 'follow up' if she asked it of him.

"They behaved just fine, my love," she lied. "I'm the monster."

"Huh?" Aro straightened up. "How? What?"

Sucking in the air around her, Sully got herself under control. "No follow up required, my love," she said with another steadying breath. "I believe they were suitably impressed."

Aro had to agree for their eldest son, at least - he planned to check in with Demetri and Alec before he would agree to them all. Actually, he wished he'd checked on Felix's memories, too. He would in the morning.

"Felix looked fairly distressed," he said, trying to pry some information from his wife. "I assume he was embarrassed. Acted out a little. Needed more?"

Choosing not to reply in full, Sully said, "Let's just hope it had an effect."

As he was getting nowhere, and she'd stop crying, Aro went to fix himself a drink. He returned with bloodwine for them both, his containing a double shot of whiskey, and took the seat near his wife.

"He's staying with my father tonight at his insistence."

Sulpicia's eyes grew wide as she contemplated Aro's words. "Felix wouldn't come home?"

"No, no, my queen," Aro rushed to say. His poor wife's emotions appeared to be resting on a knife's edge. "My father insisted."

"Did you, erm." Sulpicia's bottom lip quivered. "Did you read his mind?"

"Felix's?" Aro asked, taking a hefty swig of his cup. "I haven't had the chance. Yet."

Sully looked down at her sleeping baby vampire and then back to Aro. With a one shouldered shrug she invited her mate to invade Alec's memories.

Aro did not need to be asked twice. He set his cup on the table and knelt on the floor beside their boy. Alec slept so soundly that he seemed not to notice when his father placed a hand on his cheek.

Alec watched Demetri join their elder brother at the wall behind their father's desk. Sulpicia hadn't told him to do so, but the boy was taking no chances. Demetri wiped at his eyes a few times and hissed a little pulling up his britches, but appeared relatively unscathed when compared to Felix, who still hadn't caught his breath. As Demetri had done mostly as his mother instructed, mostly without argument, he'd got away with only a few additional strikes to the intended fourteen. Alec decided to do the same. Had Felix not gone first, the youngest Volturi boy would have aimed for a full reprieve.

For centuries Alec had observed his brothers' behaviour when they were in trouble - Felix always argued, Demetri usually bargained. From what Alec could see, neither helped their own cause. With their mother, Felix had argued and bargained, and still failed! Alec tended to cry quickly and beg for forgiveness, which seemed to work better. Although Alec wasn't usually in so much trouble as his brothers. He sure was this time. When Sulpicia caught his eye and offered him a tight smile, he nearly bolted out of the room.

Sully tapped the thin belt on the desk. "Do not keep me waiting."

As Alec stood on shaky legs, he felt his stomach hit the floor. Don't beg, don't beg, he told himself.

Felix sucked in his breath and forced his shoulders back. "Let me fetch you a different belt for him, Mom."

"No, thank you." Sulpicia didn't even look at the boy, her eyes fixed on Alec. "He went with you; he'll have the same."

"Mom, he's only little."

Alec stayed where he was, hoping his brother would win their mother around. Twelve strikes sounded like twelve too many for a boy who'd usually get away with none.

"Come along," Sully said to Alec, paying Felix no attention at all.

Alec dragged his feet ensuring the ten steps to his mother would take three times longer than they needed to. Keeping just out of arms reach, his resolve broke. "He might be right, Mama. I'm the baby and…"

"And what?" Sully's ice-cold tone cut through her baby's soul and brought him to tears. "Did they force you to go with them? Did they drag you from the bed you should have been sleeping in? Did they insist you follow without thought or feeling for the family who loves you dearly?"

Too many questions.

Alec wanted to answer. He wanted to tell her he was sorry for upsetting her and for making her worry so much. He wanted to go back to the cuddles he received when he first saw her that afternoon. But he just wasn't used to being in so much trouble! His poor body had paralysed leaving him sobbing without words.

"I'll not ask you again, Alec."

Felix couldn't believe his mother's attitude. There was Alec crying in front of her and all she could think about was her own distress. And that distress was a week old already! "Hateful a bitch."

The boy gulped as his eyes widened. Did he say that out loud? He wasn't sure, but he daren't look in his mother's direction just in case…

"How dare you!"

Yup, he'd spoken out loud.

"Mom, I didn't mean…"

"Then you shouldn't have said it."

Felix was done. Done. Not only had she whipped the living daylights out of him in front of his brothers, making sure to maximise his humiliation, but now she was going to try ripping into him again. Verbally, at least. He couldn't take anymore.

"I never said I didn't mean to say it, only that I didn't mean for you to hear. It's the truth either way."

Demetri whistled into the air and turned to face the wall. Whatever was about to go down, he didn't wish to see it.

"I am going to deal with Alec, and then you can take another turn."

Felix tutted, nerves infecting his forced, nervous chuckle. "Guess again."

"I will not argue with you, Felix," Sulpicia said. "You will either submit to me when I tell you to, or we will visit your grandfather's chambers. I'm sure there will be a more than enough coven members there to help you see the error of your ways, and then you will submit."

Felix felt his hands clench into fists at his sides whilst he gathered the will to argue. Who would be at his grandfather's, he wondered? His father, for sure. Basileus, too, obviously. Maybe even Magnus and Marcus. His uncles? Probably Caius. The whole fucking world was against him!

"I just think you should leave Alec out of it, that's all."

So weak, the boy berated himself. Weak, and he didn't even earn himself a pardon.

"Are you going to continue arguing, or are you going to apologise and wait your turn?"

Sulpicia waited for Felix to respond, keeping her eyes trained on the boy. She didn't command the boy though fear, as Aro would have. Instead, she gave Felix the space to make himself feel uncomfortable.

Argue and face half his family, or shut his trap and suffer just the one? Even if that one had become a bitch of the highest order. What kind of choice was that! None at all.

Felix nodded once, cast his eyes to the floor, and left his baby brother to his mother's firm hand.

"You're so dumb," Demetri said to his big brother. He was mostly pissed because Felix hadn't tried standing up for him.

Sulpicia had waited long enough for Alec to comply - she said she wouldn't ask him again and she meant it. Within a blink, Alec found himself in position, chest on his father's desk and his toes only scrapping the floor. Sulpicia muttered about disobedient children and their self-destructive ways. She may have been angry with Felix, but it would be Alec to suffer her ire.

"Twelve," she said, and began the boy's onslaught.

In her annoyance, Sulpicia hadn't bothered to de-robe her baby vampire. Alec complained just as loudly as the belt bit into his behind, but his brothers knew he was getting off lighter than they had. Felix took it as a small win and his conscience settled. As it did, his emotions levelling out, he thought over calling his mother a bitch. Demetri had been right - so dumb.

A squeal from Alec had Felix snapping his attention back to his mother and he wondered if she really intended on whipping him again? He might have been more worried if his baby brother wasn't so distressed. He'd have happily taken those stripes for the kid, to ease his guilt if nothing else. Felix was pretty sure he'd be taking the heat for the three of them when their father returned. Whatever Basileus had said back at the caves and on the way home, Felix knew Aro would ignore it all. There would be no 'they all get the same' when daddy got home!

The boy had stood soldier still since Sulpicia had left him beside the wall. The welts on his thighs pulsated as his venomous blood sought to repair the damage. He'd need to bathe in bloodwine to get rid of the damn things by morning. The 'by morning' part was vital, as Felix expected that's when his father would take his turn. Fuck, he didn't think he could face it. He tested out moving a little to feel the damage. Reaching behind him and under the hem of his shirt, he grazed his fingertips over the raised, angry stripes plastered across his bottom. Even his gentle movements burned. How would he cope with his father in the morning? Hell, he certainly couldn't cope with his mother in a few minutes! Felix tugged the hem of his shirt as low as it would go.

His head again snapped to the torturous scene in front of him when Alec cried out.

"Mama, please!"

Sully had the boy's arms to his back to keep him still already. She landed her final strike, the twelfth for Alec, and dropped her instrument of doom to the floor.

"It's okay, baby," she said, pulling the sobbing child into her arms. "You're okay, it's over now."

Felix quite fancied a hug, too. He watched as his mother calmed his brother, holding him tight and whispering in his ear. Felix couldn't hear what was being said, but Alec nodded along and eventually replied, 'I promise'. Must have been about not screwing up again, Felix thought.

He plucked up his courage and said to his mother, "I won't, either. I promise, too."

Sulpicia looked at the big bear of a boy before her. Her big bear of a boy. She kept hold of Alec with one arm and opened the other, inviting Felix in.

Much to the boy's annoyance, Demetri skipped around him and took his place!

Sulpicia's shoulders relaxed for the first time in a fortnight when she heard her boys chuckling. In fact, hearing them already 'bouncing back' from there punishment resulted in Sully turning her earlier anger on herself. It wasn't the hot anger borne of worry and stress she had felt hearing the danger they put themselves in - it had developed into scathing resentment, a feeling of dread that began to burn in her gut.

"Mom, whats wrong?" Felix asked, seeing his mother's scowl. "I am sorry. You know I didn't mean it. I just said something stupid. Please don't…"

Sulpicia waved his words away. She uncoupled from her younger boys and gave Felix a quick squeeze with one arm. Her other hand worked on wiping away her sudden tears of regret.

"I think it's time for you all to take a bath."

She took a used goblet from Aro's desk and crossed the room to the bloodwine barrels. The south tower's main chamber was a large, grand room, so she had the space she needed to get her emotions under control. Any other day, she would have wrinkled her nose at using a cup from Aro's desk, not knowing how long it had been there. But that day, she didn't care. Flicking the tap on the barrel, Sully filled her cup to the brim and took a gulp so large that it hurt to swallow.

"Then straight to bed."

The boys dutifully trouped to the stairs, with only Felix hanging back.

"So, you're not going to… you know?" He really wanted to ask if she planned on telling his father what he'd said.

Truth was, Sully was still pissed with her boys. Rightly or wrongly, with Felix in particular. She could actually see Aro's point on Felix being more accountable as the eldest and often the ringleader in Volturi catastrophes. Could she tell Aro? No! The gloating would be too much. Although she did plan to go a little easier on her husband the next time issues cropped up in their home. One thing was for sure, she wouldn't be the one to punish them again. Aro can keep the job, she thought. Sully hoped that at the least the whipping she gave Felix would serve her well in the future if she chose to threaten a repeat.

Felix called over to his mother, lost in thought. "Mom?"

Sully looked her boy up and down, his tattered britches bunched at the front, held uselessly to his stomach.

"I think we've all been through enough," she said. "Just go to bed, my darling."

Aro rose from the floor and retook his seat, frowning as he contemplated what he'd seen through Alec's memories. He had, of course, taken the opportunity to check out what happened with Felix, too.

On one hand, he was impressed with his mate! Aro had long since given up on Sully pulling her weight with reining in their children, particularly their eldest. He'd expected her to let Alec off without incident.

I quite like that age thing, he thought. A stripe for each year… mhmm. Felix got it rough, but he had goaded his mother into that situation. And she handled it, handled him. Aro's head began gently bouncing as he nodded along to his own thoughts.

That was on one hand. On the other, he just… didn't like it. Felix made an odd choice of belts for the punishment—Aro couldn't understand his son's decision—but Sully could have changed it, and she chose not to. I would have swapped it, Aro said to himself. Had he said it out loud, Sulpicia might have been quick to reject his self-appraisal.

Aro's unease came from more than his belief that he was more reasonable than his mate. His wife, in his eyes, was a delicate flower to be protected. Seeing Sulpicia in action… he didn't like it, but he couldn't fully articulate why. With Felix, at least, Aro did worry that his delicate wife would be in danger should the boy snap. And you pushed him to snap, he thought, eyes drifting across to his mate.

And that's when he saw her watching him right back.

With wide dewy eyes, she asked, "Am I an awful mother?"

He could say yes and end any future involvement in home discipline, and he was sorely tempted to take the opportunity presented. Fortunately for the future of their marriage, Aro loved his mate too much to do it.

"No, my queen," he said. "They got what they had coming to them. You were fair. Firm! But fair."

"Even with Felix?"

Aro sucked in through his teeth. "Maybe a little harsh," he admitted aloud. "I'm not saying that to upset you, Sul," he added quickly, seeing her ready to question him. "You need to be careful with that boy - he's volatile. It's you I'm worried about."

She seemed content with Aro's answer, agreeing with him, and went back to playing with Alec's hair. The boy stirred a little and smiled in his sleep. That eased her conscience a bit more.

"Leave them to me in future, my queen. I'm their father, its my job. I know what I'm doing with these things."

Sulpicia kept her focus on Alec, but her eyes narrowed over Aro's words. She had already decided that her nerves couldn't take going through such an ordeal again anytime soon, but she also knew she'd have a better hold over her sons if they thought she would. Aside from that, she simply didn't take kindly to her husband telling her she was incapable. Those days were behind her and that's where they were staying. Her eyes cut across to Aro who waited for her consent.

"Are you going to ask about anyone else?" she said, tone even. "Jane?"

"Is she well?" Aro asked, ignoring the implication. When Sully chuckled and shook her head, clearly calling him weak in thought, he continued. "You've shown yourself capable of dealing with our spawn, my queen, so I'll assume you have already dealt with my princess just as savagely."

Even with the heavy emphasis Aro applied to that final word, Sulpicia remained unmoved. He'd already agreed her actions were reasonable, and he couldn't take it back for his own ease.

"You assume wrongly, my love." Sully held out her goblet, requesting a refill. "Your son is in my lap," she said, when he failed to move.

"He's only there because you've broken his legs."

Had Aro not cracked his face, she might have taken his words more seriously. As it was, she smirked and flicked the last drops of her goblet at him. "I did no such thing, you beastly man."

Raising his eyes to the heavens, Aro dragged himself to his feet and fetched a jug of bloodwine for his mate. He filled her cup and set the remainder on the table with a theatrical bow.

Sully took a sip and relaxed. "So, Jane?"

Aro closed his eyes and dragged a hand down his face. He'd had a stressful few weeks, too. Why wasn't that enough punishment for bringing the little darlings into his home in the first place? Why must he suffer more than that?

"Please?" he asked his wife, begging her to save him from such horror as having to discipline his own daughter.

With one eyebrow raised in his direction—reminding Aro very much of his mother, not a pleasing thought—Sulpicia happily reminded him of his own words only moments before. "You know what you're doing with these things – you're her father, it's your job."

Damn woman! "Fine," he said. "But let's see what happens at the meeting tomorrow first." I might not need to do anything.

Demetri's voice floated down the stairs, reaching his parents ears with a nervous 'Dad?'

"Have you emotionally scarred that one, too?"

"Maybe." Sully shook the thought away. She wasn't the worst mother in the world, even if Felix had pushed her to act more harshly than she'd have preferred. Before Aro could leave to check on their middle child, she called him back. "You can carry this one to bed if you're going up to Demetri."

"His legs really are broken?"

"I'll break yours if you don't quit it, my love."

Before he collected Alec, he took his discarded belt from the floor. "I'm putting this away before you do anymore damage to our poor, defenceless children."

Sully pursed her lips and muttered what an ass he was.

Aro carried his sleeping child to bed, knowing the boy was awake enough to walk. For a human, carrying a twelve-year-old up a set of winding stone stairs might have been difficult, dangerous even—thank the gods for vampiric abilities.

"Thanks, Dad," Alec said quietly once he was settled under his blankets.

With a snort, Aro kissed the boy's head and went to the bedchamber next door.

Demetri lay on his front the wrong way around in his bed so that his head was at the foot and his feet on his pillow. The fact he lay on top of his sheets told Aro he had yet to even attempt sleep.

"Why are you awake at this hour?" he asked, entering the bedchamber and closing the door. He made sure to keep the belt visible in his hand, expecting Demetri to react. "Were you waiting for me to get home?"

The boy looked down, unable to meet his father's eye as he replied, "Can't sleep."

You were waiting for me, Aro thought. That evening, the coven masters had discussed the young vampires in the coven and their differing needs, which weren't being met. Aro agreed that, as a coven, they had been remiss in providing for them all - his children particularly. That said, he also knew his little demons needed a bit fear to keep them on the right path. Some responded better to that than others - Demetri would benefit from a little fatherly induced dread.

Aro collected a chair from the boy's small writing desk and dragged it across the floor. His ears picked up the slight change in Demetri's breathing as his nerves took hold. If his heart could beat it would have been thumping through his chest! Good, Aro said to himself.

"You should be sleeping," Aro said, taking a seat. "Defiance is inadvisable considering the trouble you're already in."

Demetri gulped and his eyes immediately welled-up.

Aro wouldn't stand for that. Holding the belt in the air, he warned, "If you start crying, I will give you something to cry about. Suck it up."

Demetri willed himself to do as he was told. It's hard to not cry when you feel so tearful, though. "I can't help it," he said, quietly.

Aro knew that already. His mostly meaningless threat had only been issued so Demetri wouldn't roll over into full hysterics, as he was prone to do.

Maybe he was tired from the stressful start to the new year, or his father's threats were ringing in his ears, but when Aro saw his boy desperately trying to hide his leaking eyes, he relented.

"You've scared yourself with that mission, haven't you." It wasn't a question, Aro knew it was true. The boy nodded back miserably. "I expect you won't do something like this again… for a while."

"Ever!" Demetri said, his breath hitching as he spoke.

Aro leaned back in the chair. "Let's not go crazy, son."

"We could have died, Dad."

Demetri spoke with such conviction, as though Aro was unaware of the dangers his children were in, that it made the man laugh. "You're right," he said. "Who would have thought a mission to a werewolf stronghold could be so dangerous?" He lay his belt over his crossed legs and saw his boy checking it out through the corner of his eye.

Ducking his head, Demetri realised how dumb he'd sounded. He couldn't hide his face for long, though. He had to ask… How he wished his brother were there to do the talking for them both.

"Dad are you going to… you don't have to. Before you left you said… things."

Aro folded his arms and placed a hand on his chin, rubbing a thumb across his stubble - he needed to shave. "You've been punished for your recklessness, yes?"

"Kind of," Demetri said with a shrug. "It wasn't enough, Dad."

As he was lying on his stomach, Aro assumed the boy's round with his mother had been enough. Felix had certainly had enough, and Alec wouldn't need anymore. Demetri, though, was an odd case.

There were only two human years between each of the boys, but those years, at times, seemed eons to Aro. Demetri tended to get into strife alongside his elder brother, not his younger, so the older two fared the same. Greater crimes, greater punishment, in Aro's mind… usually. He was beginning to wonder how whether it was fair. Being more mindful of the young vampiric ages had been a theme running through the masters meeting and Aro did wonder how he would transfer such thinking to managing his children's screw ups.

But Demetri said himself, 'it wasn't enough', and Demetri generally did his best to escape correction. He was most prone to flee if the opportunity presented itself, always with disastrous consequences.

"Seriously?" Aro asked, testing his boy's resolve. "Because I can put that straight if you like?"

Demetri didn't react at all unless you could call his unmoving expression a reaction.

"You are supposed to say 'no, dad', about now, son," Aro said with a smile, trying to encourage the boy to be his usual self. Still, nothing. "You are starting to worry me."

Mustering up his courage to speak, Demetri said, "I still feel guilty."

"Good, you should." Aro wanted him to feel guilty! Maybe guilt would serve to save a future incident that saw him having to rescue his children from the clutches of death. "You scared the daylights out of your mother and me."

That did it, Demetri dissolved into tears.

Aro tensed but told himself to ignore the boy's display. How you've convinced so many women in our coven to fall at your feet I will never know. "That's enough, son," he said, keeping his cool. "The sooner you start bugging us again the sooner things will get back to normal."

The tears continued despite Demetri's constant swiping at his eyes. Aro twitched. His reaction felt beyond his control. Aro's, that is. Demetri's, too, of course, but Aro was less interested in his son's uncontrollable reaction by that point.

The boy saw his father flexing his grip on his belt. Aro had no intention of using it, but Demetri didn't know that.

"I'm sorry," he said, quickly, moving away from the man and sucking in deep breath. If he didn't breathe, he wouldn't cry, his reasoning told him.

"Alright." Aro stood. "Let me see the damage and I'll decide if you are due any more."

Demetri's eyes flashed from his father's face, trying to work out his intent, and the belt, which had already done enough damage now he really thought about it. "I'm not really due more!"

"I'll be the judge of that," Aro replied. "It is my job, after all." And then he whipped down the boy's shorts.

"Dad!"

"Don't 'dad' me, boy," Aro said, sternly. "Explain."

"Explain what?" Demetri said, or rather, squeaked.

"How old are you?"

"You know how old I am," he said, confused. "I'm fourteen."

"Then why can I count sixteen stripes across your backside and four across your legs?"

"Because I…" Demetri paused and snatched his shorts back up before he would answer, just in case. "I moved."

"You moved?" Aro asked, shaking his head. "Liar."

"I did!" Demetri said. "She was hitting me really hard."

"She? You mean your mother?"

Demetri nodded and looked shame faced. "Mom was hitting me really hard," he said, correcting himself.

Aro shook his head again. "You mean your mother spanked you for your bad behaviour and your recklessness."

His father's pedantry served only a single purpose in Demetri's mind - it had ended his tears. Now he was too annoyed with the guy to cry.

"She belted me, actually," he said under his breath to his bedsheets. "Really hard."

Aro heard him. "Good. Now explain about the rest of those stripes before I start adding to them."

Demetri's head whirled around to face the man and he scooted his butt across the bed out of the way. Moving bothered his bruised hip and he winced, wishing he'd been brave enough to keep still. He'd wished the same when facing his mother.

"I moved, because it hurt."

Aro bobbed his head. "It's supposed to hurt. Do I put up with those sorts of games?"

"No." Demetri smirked despite himself. "Neither did Mom."

Touché. "And your legs," Aro said, telling the boy to continue.

Demetri continued moving away from the man, very slowing shifting across the bed over to the free side. "I just said something stupid."

"Four times?"

"I'm a slow learner," Demetri replied in a huff. "I must get it from my father."

Aro's face contorted and he raised his hand.

"That's what mom said!"

It didn't help Aro's annoyance, but it was directed away from Demetri, at least. "Were you calling your mother disgusting names, too, or was that just your brother?"

"I just cursed, a little, that's all."

"You keep saying 'just' like it helps your case. It doesn't."

Aro retook his seat and considered his options. Any other day, his boys using their mouth in such a way with their mother would be a sure-fire ticket to a damn good slap. But, with his father's threat ringing in his ears, all they had discussed that evening, and the clear evidence that Sulpicia had dealt with them herself, Aro decided to let it go.

"In my expert opinion I'd say you've had enough, son."

Demetri released a shaky breath. He wiped his face on the sheets beneath him, realising they were already soddened with the tears he'd shed. His father's decree only took care of his behaviour that evening… but… "What about the mission, Dad?"

"Your mother took care of it already so you can rest easy."

It sounded too good to be true. Actually, it didn't sound like his father at all!

"I'm serious, Dem," Aro said, sounding softer than he had all night. "And your grandfather has had a brain change so you can rest easy with him, too." Seeing the explanation, which had Aro chuckling, made no sense to the boy, he added, "Doesn't matter. Sleep now, and don't even dream of pulling another stunt like this."

"Never," Demetri promised, earnestly. "But who could change Grandpa's mind on this?"

"Marcus and Magnus." The dynamic-less duo, Aro thought, rolling his eyes.

Hearing the guard master's name had Demetri worrying his bottom lip for one of his outcast pals. "Odi felt really bad about going before we even left."

"Guilt setting in before the crime." Aro laughed to himself. "I hope it catches on. What about the rest of you?"

"We nearly didn't go…" Demetri said, cautiously. "But then we ducked through the gate when we heard a guard coming and… I don't think any of us wanted to go really."

"Then why didn't you come home?" Aro reached out and brushed the boy's shaggy hair away from his face so he could look him in the eye. "You can tell me the truth. I won't be mad at you."

"I think we all had our reasons." The boy yawned, feeling sleep call. He hadn't been tired at all waiting for his father - fear and dread keeping him awake with ease. "Mostly, we just wanted to show you all that we were capable of doing something. Anything, really."

None of them were to blame, Aro realised. None of them the orchestrator, none took the lead. It was simply the most elaborate attempt to gain parental respect Aro had ever heard. He could only blame himself that his children had thought it necessary.

"I guess I missed that you guys have been getting a raw deal around here lately. I'm sorry coven life has made you all so unhappy, son."

"I wouldn't say we're all unhappy, Dad. But we're not particularly happy, either."

Such a summation had taken the coven elite many hours of debate to achieve, and even more to plan a solution. Why hadn't they just asked the kids in the first place? Not one of them had suggested doing so (they were unlikely to change their methods going forward, either). It reminded Aro about the coming morning, though.

"Get some sleep," he said, standing. "We've got a towers meeting at dawn."

"Dawn!"

Aro chuckled and kissed his boy's head. "Yes, so sleep."

Before he'd reached the door, he heard his mate bellowing his name, announcing Dora had arrived.

"Yeah?" he called back. What did Dora's arrival have to do with him? She was surely more likely to wish to speak with Sulpicia.

Sully continued her half-screamed conversation, her annoyance more important than waking her children. "What's this about you adding to my duties?"

"Oh, hell," Aro said to himself. "My queen," he crooned. "Let me explain…"