Should Have Seen It Coming
Sulpicia looked in on her baby vampires. The twins were now settled in their bed chamber sleeping. She closed their door and went out onto the terrace to join Carmen. "Felix is still sobbing." Carmen said sadly. Sulpicia looked back miserably, they could both hear his moaning and crying. Her dead heart twisted with his suffering.
"Is this how Aro usually punishes them?" Carmen asked, still in shock at the state Felix had been left in. She'd seen Aro slap them, even belt the older two once or twice but the whipping he'd delivered to Felix was outrageous in her mind. Sulpicia wiped at her eyes, tears kept coming no matter how hard she tried to contain them. "no, never like this, ever. It's almost as bad as what Caius would have done!" Sulpicia was still angry at her husband for the pain he had caused her eldest boy.
"Aro has punished them all many times over the centuries we have had them, though Jane has never felt more than his hand." Sulpicia told her sister in law with fresh tears spilling over her eyes. "Has he whipped Alec then!" Carmen almost accused. Sulpicia shook her head, brown curls dancing as she did so, "no, he has belted him once or twice but nothing more than that. Alec really pushed Aro for him to it too." Carmen hadn't even know the family for a year yet but she couldn't imagine anything either of the twins could do that would force Aro to belt one of them. "But Alec is an angel!" she said with a little more force than necessary.
Sulpicia laughed. "Yes, he usually is. But he's still a child - he has his moments." Sulpicia continued her laughter, "he was bloody brave the first time, thinking about it." "What happened?" Carmen asked, intrigued to for details of what really goes on in these quarters beyond prying eyes. "Oh it was years ago, Alec had been antagonising Jane all morning and I'd warned him off plenty of times. I'd swotted him myself, twice! In the end I sent him to his room to wait on Aro's return. I should say, I very very rarely tell Aro when they have been trouble for me so he knew he'd crossed a line already. Anyway, Alec must have been working himself up waiting for Aro and as soon as he opened the door Alec sent out his fog!" Carmen's mouth hung open at the idea of Aro being so powerless. Sulpicia continued, "Thank the heavens Felix was home to drag Aro out of the fog… and then to drag him back from killing Alec!" Both ladies fell burst into delighted giggle with Sully's memories.
"So Alec got away with it?" Carmen asked hopefully. Sulpicia shook her head. "No, me and Aro argued about how he should punish him for hours, in the end Aro won. Neither Jane nor Alec are allowed to use their gifts unless instructed, or for defence of course. Aro was incensed that Alec would turn his gift on him and said he needed a good hiding to make sure he never did so again. To be fair, once Aro was through with his strapping, Alec never dared try that one again!" Carmen bit her lip, "poor boy!" but she agreed with Aro's reasoning.
"Aro has always been much firmer with Felix and Demetri." Sulpicia said darkly. She and Aro often came to blows over his handling of her eldest boys. "Eleazar says the pair of them cause the most trouble around here." Carmen said tentatively, unsure how Sulpicia would take the statement. "Oh they do!" She returned easily, to Carmen's relief. "But they are still my babies and I don't like them being hurt… even if they do deserve it." She added coyly. "Besides, they are trapped as teenagers forever so they aren't always accountable for their actions in my eyes - their screwed up teen emotions are to blame! That doesn't really wash with Aro." Carmen scoffed, "I can imagine it doesn't!"
Sulpicia looked over to her sister in law who seemed to agree with Aro. "What do you mean?" she asked. Carmen realised she had over played her hand and caused offence. "My lady, I am sorry, I have said more than I should, I have no right to talk about such things really, forgive me." Carmen was genuine, she didn't want to offend Sully. "No, please, go on, it would be good to hear someone else's perspective, please." Sulpicia meant it, she wanted to hear what Carmen had to say. "Well, it's just that, I can see where Aro is coming from sometimes. I have said as much to Eleazar – he agrees with you by the way!" Carmen chanced a look to Sulpicia to see if she should proceed, Sully seemed interested more than offended now so she continued, "they want to be treated like adults with the rest of the guard, but they want special treatment to excuse them from the boring parts of guard life and expect perks for being Aro's chosen guards. But when things go wrong they want to hide behind your skirt tails."
Sulpicia sat back in her chair digesting Carmen's words. Is Carmen right? She wondered, thinking back to the great many times Felix and Demetri had ran to her for protection from Aro, and all the strife it had caused between the two of them. "It's true, that's exactly how they act. How have I not realised this before?" Carmen was pleased Sulpicia had taken her words so well. "I really didn't want to speak out of turn, Sully. They do seem to expect the best of all worlds, that's all." Sulpicia nodded slowly, blaming herself. Carmen caught onto her thoughts, "It isn't your fault Sully, Aro is as much to blame. He sets them above every other guard here and then expects them to behave just like the other guards… that is never going to work!" You're spot on with that too, dear sister. Sulpicia thought to herself.
"Aro has always preferred to deal with them in private to save their face in front of the guard – to protect their status. That doesn't stop him from issuing a strong slap here and there outside these quarters, but they have to really over step the mark for such a thing to happen… and they pay for it when they come home." Sulpicia spoke freely with Carmen, it was so nice to not have to lie, or pretend. She could be honest with Carmen and she really needed someone to talk with to get this whole mess straight in her head. "Has Caius ever got his hands on them?" Carmen asked.
Sulpicia took the decanter from the small table between them and refreshed both glasses of wine. "He has, once or twice. Aro said he didn't have a choice over the matter, Basileus told him it must happen." She passed Carmen her glass and sipped from her own. "Felix had caused some drama or something along with a group of other guards that led to them failing on a mission with Caius. Their recklessness had cost the lives of a few other guards and Caius was furious. He had the whole group whipped in the throne room as punishment. I still say he was harder on Felix than the others. But he's been saved from the same fate so many times that Aro said he had it coming really." Carmen winced as she took a gulp of wine to steady herself. She could only imagine what it would feel like to be whipped in such a way. "In front of the whole coven, how humiliating! And by Caius no less." Sulpicia looked to her with sad eyes, "I was standing with Didyme watching the whole thing - it was awful. But, their foolishness had cost other guards their lives, I would rather he was whipped, than dead." Carmen gulped down another glug of wine. "I suppose that was Aro's thinking this time, wasn't it?" she said timidly.
Sulpicia smiled to herself, realising how silly she had been to question Aro's motives, of course that was Aro's thinking this time. Damn it, I hate it when he is right! And now I have to back down. Damn, damn, damn! "I'm still not sure what Demetri did so wrong. I know he left Athenodora to chase Didyme, but surely that was the right thing to do?" Carmen interjected, pulling Sulpicia from her thoughts. "I believe it was, but I have no doubt Caius would call for the boy's head for putting his mate at risk. There must be something else too though, Aro wouldn't have been that hard on him for Caius' sensibilities alone. "Did he not tell you? You were talking with him for an hour whilst I was with the twins." Carmen probed. "No, he told me, with a little coaxing, all the events we'd missed while safe inside this tower… he told me of poor Didyme's demise and what Felix had done… he conveniently left out any part he had played. I am sure Aro will tell me later."
"I just can't believe how long all this has been going on for. Since he started guarding Didyme she has been leaving him in her suite whilst she went for a stroll! It's just unimaginable!" Carmen was still genuinely surprised at the two of them. "That's what Demetri told me, since his second guard duty she has been doing this to him. No wonder the boy has been so stressed. I knew something was really troubling him, I should have done something!" Carmen placed a hand on top of Sulpicia's, "there is nothing you could have done, my lady," she said soothingly.
Sulpicia thought back over the last few months and how many times she had worried about their eldest boy, he's been so stressed, I had wondered if we'd lost our jovial Felix altogether, of course now I understand the reason for his irritability. I thought he was just angry with Aro for punishing him in front of Eleazar and Carmen after he'd teased Jane. From that day she had noted how moody and dark Felix had become, she thought he was angry with Aro and how harshly he'd punished his disrespect. Aro had mentioned that Felix was avoiding him and that he assumed the boy was embarrassed because he was punished in front of Aro's brother and his mate.
That didn't make sense to Sulpicia, that had happened before and Felix had recovered quickly, he wasn't one to hold a grudge. Now it all made sense of course. How dare you do that to him, Didyme, you would know he couldn't resist against your gift. You put him in an impossible position. Sulpicia felt a flash of anger with her lost sister, but it soon dissipated as she thought of her terrible fate - so callously ripped apart outside their castle home. Why didn't you come to me Felix, I could have helped you avoid this pain, I could have prevented Didyme's recklessness… no I couldn't, nobody could stop Didyme doing anything, I loved that about you dear Didyme, I loved you. Sulpicia had formed a strong bond with Didyme. They'd been coven mates for many years and with their husband's efforts to keep them safe they had little other company. This prison. That's what Didyme called this place. She had such spirit, being trapped in these walls is what killed her, it wasn't my boy's foolishness - it was this half-life we live… in this prison.