Kol was nervous, but excited coming through the doors to the spacious compound. The air smelled fresher, almost like there was an odd energy in the air, and his senses sharper. Something was different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Perhaps it was the sweet blood of Mary-Alice coursing through his body. He longed to taste her again, but more than that he longed for freedom and revenge. Not only had Nik giving him a good hiding in the same room as her, he left him standing there in the corner without ever coming back to retrieve him. Would he do that to his so-called son, the brat Marcellus? Never. Sure Elijah released him, but than bade he promise to never see his beloved witch again. Her mother was a tyrant, too. If she wasn't the head of the coven...well, she was and he couldn't touch her. He had to bide his time. He had given sweet Mary-Alice the bracelet of obedience, maybe she was setting straight that old hag now? The girl and her friend Astrid had power, but could they use that power to help him make a dagger that could put Nik into a nice long nap? A hundred years should teach him to pay more attention to how he treated his blood brother, Marcel wasn't even his true born son!
As if Nik had been listening to his thought, he heard him filling in Elijah.
"How's Rebekah?" Nik said with tenderness.
"Good. I gave her a lick on two with the switch over her clothes and the rest she got with the ruler over my knee. She's sleeping now, just like a babe. She did not like the spell though, it seems quite effective," Elijah said with satisfaction.
Nik grunted and said, "That old bat has quite a head on her shoulders, not sure she can control that daughter of hers, but she has a strong grip on the coven. That Mary-Claire...Quite the lovely spitfire. I could sense the power radiating out of her. I am not surprised that her mother knew such a spell. I pray she never turns against us, it could be dangerous."
"Indeed, well, shall I correct your wayward son? It's getting late and I heard you promise Kol another trip over your knee before bed. They can sup alone in their rooms, perhaps on their stomachs," Elijah said with a chuckle.
Spell? Kol thought with alarm. What were they talking about? As he started up to his quarters, he bumped into a wall in his haste. Ouch, that hurt. Oh no, this didn't bode well for his behind if the old witch slowed down their healing. He had heard of such spells, but never had one used on him. There was a first time for everything.
Marcel went to the kitchen and drank some water upon coming home. He wanted a little sip of the cook, but Elijah had forbad them to feed off the servants. Plus, he knew he was due that whipping from earlier, plus whatever extra punishments he had earned running away. He could take it for himself, but he could not deal with watching Rebekah switched.
"Marcellus, let us go to your chambers and have that talk now, hmm," Elijah said to him kindly. The anger and irritation that he had shown before was gone. He was back to being the polite uncle that Marcel remembered from his human years.
"Coming, Elijah," Marcel said respectfully, he had been wrong to overreact like that.
Let when he was child, Elijah gently led him upstairs, almost as if he was afraid he would run again.
"I won't do it again, Elijah. I am coming," he said sadly.
"I know, Marcellus, it's just...when you ran off, your father gets so frightened. You know we are still hunted by Michael, that thought is never far from our thoughts," Elijah reminded Marcel.
"I'm sorry, I just panicked," Marcel admitted in a small voice.
They were in his room now. Elijah moved the chair he often used to spank him in in the center of the floor.
"I just hate to see Rebekah hurt," Marcel continued now starting shamefully at the floor.
"Hey," Elijah said reaching out to him, "you know I would never hurt her."
"I know, I was wrong," Marcel said with tears dripping down his face,"I get so angry that we are treated like children here. But I am more angry with myself because I act like a child, a willful one, even after all these years."
"We do everything we do to protect all of you, sometimes from yourselves," Elijah said with emotion.
"I know that," Marcel agreed.
"Marcellus, I know that we used to be close. How we used to read Shakespeare together, play the piano, chess... You know why I had to pull away? Your father..." Elijah admitted.
"I know, Elijah, how he is. I know you did what you did for all of us. I will admit thought that it made me feel like you rejected me, for a long time. But now I understand, and I'm going to do better, be the leader you all wanted me to be," Marcel promised.
"But first..." Elijah interrupted.
"Yes, sir, I have to pay for today," Marcel said resigned.
"This time, the lesson will stick a bit longer, Mrs. Claire performed a spell that will slow your healing down. Marcel, you are going to feel this more keenly," Elijah explained carefully.
"I deserve it. If Rebekah got through it, I will. Are you still going to switch me?" Marcel asked with concern. Klaus had threatened him with a switching from time to time, but never carried through with the threat. Marcel had to admit that he father often spared the rod with him, while he was too severe on Kol. Even when the blame was equal, Kol always seemed to catch the worse. If Marcel wanted to be treated like an adult, he needed to act like it.
"No switch, but I am not going easy on you. I want you to take down your trousers and go stand in the corner. Think about how important it is that we have trust here. I'm going to check on Kol and then I'll be back," Elijah said pointing to the corner.
"Can you tell Kol that I'm sorry? We should not have been laughing at him. It was childish," Marcel said with regret.
"You can tell him later, now corner," Elijah said firmly and left.
Marcel took off his jacket and hung it up carefully. He removed his shoes and tie. He decided to leave his shirt on to give him some modesty. Marcel groaned and unbuttoned his trousers, he went to corner, and pulled them down to his knees. He put his hands on his head and promised himself that this was the last time he would be in this childish position. If Rebekah and him were every going to have a future, they both needed to learn to protect themselves and grow up. He had read about tensions in Europe brewing, if there was a war, maybe he could join. Klaus and Elijah couldn't keep him from Rebekah if he was a soldier, they would see him as a man.
Kol was in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't get the vision of Mary-Alice in her corset out of his mind. He lusted for her blood and her body, but also her power. If that bracelet worked, than what other dark objects could they make together? He didn't want Nik hurt, but he did want some leverage. He was tired of being underestimated. And that punishment? Did his brother really have to put him over his knee and paddle him with his girl in the room? If she was human, he could compel the memory away. She wasn't human though, she was a witch whom he could not compel. He hoped that the thorough smacking she got from her mum had distracted her from his ordeal. His face flushed at the thought of it all. Why had he brought her back here? That was stupid. Maybe his brothers were right and he was dangerous?
"Kol, it's me. Can I come in?" Nik said softly tapping on his door.
"Aye, I'm here," Kol said, like he could stop him.
Nik stood at the doorway, glancing at the chair, still out, where he had whacked him before. He went over and sat in it heavily.
"Look, brother, I am sorry about before. I was angry about you bringing the girl here. I shouldn't have thrashed you like that," Nik said slowly.
"Nik, are you apologizing?" Kol asked amazed.
"Yes, I was too hasty. I'm not saying that you didn't deserve a hiding, but in front of your lady, that was too far. Will you forgive me?" Nik said sincerely.
Kol sat up and faced him, "Of course, brother. I was embarrassed. I mean, I am embarrassed. Bringing her here was stupid. I wasn't thinking. So am I still getting that other spankin' that you promised me?"
"Do you think you ought to?" Nik said with raised eyebrow.
"Aye, I cannot lie if we are telling the truth. I feel awful that I put the alliance in danger, I like her, though, but I deserve whatever you decided," Kol admitted honestly.
Nik smiled, "In an odd way, the alliance is stronger than ever. The old broad seems to like us, you know, she tested out that slow healing spell? She said she noticed how fast your backside healed and wanted to make sure that you learned to stay away from her girl."
They heard a soft knock at the door.
"Come in," Kol said.
"Brothers, I trust I am not interrupting anything. I was wondering if I could borrow that solid round mirror to use on young Marcellus? It seemed quite effective on Kol earlier," Elijah inquired. He felt like the boy needed something firmer than his hand. Without the supernatural healing, he felt like the hair brush was too heavy.
Nik handed it to Elijah mentioning, "Here you go, please, remember that he is still a..."
Kol and Elijah both finished, "...a boy."
"Okay, so he's no longer a child but-" Nik started.
"Niklaus, I will take care of him. Just as you will take care of our younger brother, eh," Elijah said vamping over to Kol. He put his hand on the back of his neck and kissed his forehead.
"You know we love you, right? Always and forever," Elijah getting a bit teary.
Kol nodded and said, "Always and forever, Brother. I'm sorry. I'm going to do better."
Nik added, "We will make sure of that."
Elijah vamped out with the makeshift paddle.
Kol glanced up at Nik, knowing it was time. He stood up. Without a word, Klaus pulled him over his lap.
"You can take a nap after and then we'll have supper brought up to your room, okay?" Niklaus said kindly. Nik did feel bad about earlier, even Michael never beat him in front of Tatia, in their village. Was he
Kol nodded, now starting at the hardwood floor, for the second time that day.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Nik smacked his brother hard three times. He wanted to get this over with quickly, in spite of his assurances, he was worried about Marcel. He knew Elijah was firm, but fair, but this spell would make it things different.
Kol could already feel the pain through his trousers. He kept his hands on the floor.
Nik continued the powerful swats all over his backside. Kol fidgeted and bit his lip to keep from begging his brother to stop. The spell made it so it felt like he wasn't healing at all. He would never miss being human again. Spank. Smack. Whap!
Nik's hand was stiff and unrelenting. He targeting Kol's sit spots until the younger vampire tried to twist away.
"Keep still, Kol, I know it hurts. But ya earned yourself a good one," Nik lectured.
Kol tried to obey, but it was impossible.
"I am sorry, Nik, but it burns," Kol gasped as his brother's unyeilding hand rose and fell,
"Shhh..Think about what you could have done differently today," Nik said softly as Kol flailed violently. His feet were kicking the floor despite how hard he tried to control them.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Kol thought about his plans for making a dagger to put Niklaus to sleep for a bit. Maybe he was rash? Without Nik's firm grasp on him perhaps Michael would have found and killed them all long ago.
Nik was now swatting the same spots over and over as Kol started to wail, "It hurts. Please, I'm not healing. I learned." Kol was ashamed that a simple hand spanking broke him, but he hadn't felt like this since he was human. He vaguely remembered getting swatted now and then by his mother and older siblings. Mainly he was spanked for spells going wrong or pulling annoying tricks. It was only Michael's hand or fist that he ever feared. None of them ever got it half as bad as Nik. Maybe he should just forget about the dagger? His bastard brother had been through so much already.
"Kol, you are taking this well. But those trousers need to come down now," Nik said firmly, lifting up Kol to a standing position.
He wanted to rub his behind but knew better. Kol let Nik take down his trousers and underwear to his ankles and he stepped out of them. He wasn't going anywhere after this.
Nik put his hand on Kol's back to steady him. He flipped him back over and pulled up Kol's white dress shirt to get more access to his bare behind. Whap! Crack! Swat! SWAT!
Klaus was swatting him enthusiastically as Kol writhed and cried. The fire in Kol's rear was growing with each crack of the Klaus's palm.
"Learning a lesson?" Kol asked.
"Yes, sir. Ouch. Please, no more," Nik heard Kol sob out.
"It's been a while since I only tanned you with my hand. Maybe since you were a little boy. Remember when you almost killed all the fish in the pond with that lightning spell and tried to blame Hendrik?" Kol reminisced. He paused thinking of their forever lost little brother. Well, he wasn't going to lose this one if he had to spank him every night for another 900 years. In truth, the way the boy acted, that might be an idea.
Kol's behind was getting red and remaining that way. Klaus started spanking slower and lighter though it didn't feel that way to Kol.
Kol could only think of the swats coming down.
"Are you going to disobey us and see that girl again?" Klaus said, pausing again to see the damage.
"No, Nik, never. Please stop!" Kol begged, kicking and grabbing on to Nik's leg to steady his hands.
"What's going to happen if you contact her again, hmm?" Nik said bringing his hand down with another crisp spank.
"Spanked...Oww. Ouch. I'll get another spanking," Kol wailed.
"Yes, you will be right back here, but I won't leave you, brother. Not like I did today, never again" Nik reassured him.
It took Kol a few moments to realize that the spanking had stopped. Klaus pulled him up and cradled him like he was a boy again. Thinking about Hendrik always made him sad. Kol was here and alive. He needed to keep it that way. Klaus patted his back and said again, "We love you, Brother, don't just yourself into something you can't control..."
Kol was half asleep. Nik carefully put him in the bed and covered up his flaming backside with a sheet. His kissed his head again and whispered, "I mean it, Kol, don't do something you'll regret."
Niklaus went to check in on his son and cracked open the door to his room. Elijah had him upended and was energetically paddling him with the wooden mirror. Marcel was crying and pounding his fists on the floor in front of him. Elijah was talking to him in a nonsense voice as he swatted his bared behind firmly. His little warrior. Yes, he hoped he would someday take over the city and be king. Tonight, though, he was getting a reminder that he wasn't ready for leadership.
Klaus shut the door slowly knowing that his son was in good hands. He wondered what to do about those witches. He knew his brother, Kol, he wouldn't stop plotting. It wasn't in his nature. Klaus needed a back up plan, just in case.
Maybe he would see if there were some other New Orleans witches who would like to take Mrs. Claire's place. Now what to do with that powerful daughter?