Caius and Aro had maps and scrawled out plans littering the meeting table in Basileus' quarters. Demetri had tracked the rogue vampire they'd release after the attack that took the life of dear Didyme. He had already been over and over the maps with Aro but the rogue clearly knew the intents of the Volturi upon his release. He must have also known about Demetri's tracking skills as he was moving around all over the south coast of France. Neither Aro nor Caius were happy about sending a mission to France in the first place, let alone without a direct plan of attack.
Caius was growing frustrated. "Aro I will need Demetri with me, there is no other way to find them."
Aro shook his head but honestly couldn't see another way of making this mission successful.
Caius, sensing Aro was wilting on the issue, decided to press him further, "will that be a problem?"
"Caius I just do not think he is old enough to ... "
Caius cut him off, "he has been on many missions before, Aro. What has changed?"
Of course Aro couldn't tell his brother in arms that in his mind Demetri was his son, and that he'd finally admitted to himself how he felt about his 'high guard'. "I was on those missions too, Caius. And I'm sorry to say it, but I don't know that I can trust you with his safety ... I know you do not value his gift as I do. I would hate to lose such a special talent." Aro lied, but convincingly. It was part of the truth really. He couldn't stand to lose Demetri, full stop.
Truth was Caius didn't relish having to take Aro's brat anywhere with him, but it was entirely necessary to the mission. "I will give you my word, on my honour, I will return your precious pet!"
Aro couldn't see a way forward without relinquishing his son to Caius' command.
"Fine. But you will take Felix too, and they WILL stay together Caius."
Caius thought about it. Having one of them was fine but they seemed to egg each other on to cause trouble when they were together. "If you want me to take them both I expect you to make damn sure they will take orders from me and behave, Aro. I won't risk insolence in the field brother. It could be disastrous. The last time I took Felix without you I ended up losing half my mission along with some talented guards because of his fucking about!"
Aro knew Caius was right. He truly hoped he could make his sons understand the seriousness of the situation. I won't be there to protect them, and more importantly I won't be there to control them either.
Aro steeled himself for what he was about to say, "I will ensure they know who's in charge before they leave, brother. And of course, if you need to discipline them while you are in charge, I will allow it. I will make sure they know that too."
Caius raised his eyebrows, not having expected Aro to concede over discipline with the two whelps.
Aro qualified the 'discipline' he would allow. "I trust you understand how I discipline them - I expect you to follow my lead on that IF you are forced to do so!"
IF, Caius thought mockingly, like they won't do their level best to fuck about and piss me off!
Caius understood though, no ripping off any limbs. It was simple enough. He could whip them old school if that was his only option.
Aro continued with his final condition, "if you return without one of them you'd be better not to return at all!"
Caius nodded curtly. Damn little princes. "You really are too attached to your pets, Aro, but of course, I will return them to you. We will be in battle though; I hope you understand that." Caius was honest, and he knew Aro was sincere too, he wouldn't dare return without them both.
Aro considered his sons in battle without him, the thought turned his stomach, "I certainly do know what a mission entails, having been in a great many battles myself, Caius. I want you to take them, and I want them returned. That is all."
Caius nodded again. Whatever Aro's fascination with those arrogant little arseholes was, he understood it enough to know it would ruin their coven if Caius was to lose one in battle. "I wish you were coming on this mission, Aro. It would be easier if you were there."
Aro sat back in his chair and released a sigh, "I agree with you there Caius, but Marcus cannot be left to hold the coven anymore. I fear we will be in this position more often than not in the future."
Caius mimicked Aro's position and sat back in his chair, too. Leafing through the documents they'd spread about the table, he thought on Aro's words. "Then we must begin to make plans for ... "
"Caius, I cannot replace him, WE cannot replace him. He is still far too useful to us. We need his gift." The idea was despicable to Aro. Marcus was still his brother-in-law and he would not dispatch him like a wanton guard.
"Do we, Aro? It was useful in battle, we could see who to take out, who to threaten ... but now. Can you see Marcus ever being in battle again? I think he would offer himself up for the taking to any opposing side just to end his grief."
Aro agreed with Caius. He didn't want to, but he did.
"Would you really want to replace him, Caius? After all this time?"
Caius thought carefully. Truthfully no, he didn't like the idea any more than Aro, but their coven needed strong guidance and Marcus was no longer in that position. "No, no, not replace him, but we must think of the future - we are vulnerable now. We have lost him, Aro. Perhaps Eleazar could ... "
Aro held up his hand to stop Caius and smiled coyly, "you know neither of my brothers have the stomach for the life of a Master of the Volturi, Caius. No, I wouldn't feel any safer leaving the coven in their hands whilst we were away - Carlisle would give every rogue that walked through the door a free pass, regardless of their crimes!"
The two shared a smile that soon turned to laughter. Aro was reminded of all the good times he'd shared with Caius. Things could never be as they once were, but if I could get Felix and Demetri to toe the line a little more carefully things with Caius could be repaired, surely, he thought.
"Look, Aro, I am just saying we need to find someone willing and able to hold the castle when we aren't here ... there will come a time when we need to leave together, and when that time comes we should be prepared." Caius spoke calmly; he wasn't often calm and rarely thought of plans that didn't revolve around killing something.
"I agree, brother. I will talk with Basileus, perhaps he knows of someone suitable." Aro thought of something to wind up Caius, he seemed in good spirits enough to take it, "I have the perfect solution brother, let us train Felix and Demetri ... "
"ARO!" You had better be joking, Aro! Are you smiling?! You are joking, you bastard! And you call me an evil cunt!"
Aro fell about laughing at that and Caius soon joined him.
Aro returned to his quarters, dropping the pile of map rolls on the marble table as he tried to listen for his sons. He needed to brief them about this mission.
"My love, have you finished with Caius?" Sulpicia came from her bed chamber and wrapped her arms around her husband from behind. She seemed so contented - Aro was dreading ending that contentment by telling his dear wife that he was sending her boys to battle ... without him.
"My Queen, I need to talk with you, where are the children?" That still sounded a little odd to Aro, he liked it, but it was, odd.
"Demetri is due back from guard any moment. Felix is, no doubt, waiting for him. He should have finished an hour ago, but is yet to return."
"And the twins?"
"They are training with Eleazar, I believe. What is it, my love? You look stressed!"
Aro offered his wife a tight smile. "Come and sit with me, my queen." Aro guided his wife to the sofa by the fire. She liked to sit there and read, so he hoped she may find it comforting.
"Aro, you are worrying me, what happened with Caius?"
Taking her hand gently, Aro decided to just come out with it. "Nothing happened with Caius, my queen. We discussed plans for the mission and it went very well. We have decided for Caius to head the mission and I will stay here to control the coven ... it seems only right as I am now overseeing the newborns and the wider guard. Demetri will be needed, of course. Caius will take him, and Felix and ... "
"Like hell he will!" Sulpicia ripped her hand back from her husband's and stood up in shock. "You would send our two YOUNG vampire boys off with Caius! You know how he feels about them! They will never return - you are sending them to their death! Aro, for god sake why would you agree to such a plan?!"
Aro knew this was coming and there was no way to avoid it. "Sulpicia, please. I would do nothing to endanger their lives. I have made it very clear to Caius it would not be in his interest to return without them."
"Not in his best interest! Aro! You are sending Caius off with our best guards! Our two sons! He won't need to come back - he will have enough to start a new coven on his own!" Sulpicia paced up and down the room, she was a virtual blur, traveling at vampire speed. "Aro do not do this, I have never resisted you, not really, but I beg you now, do not send them with Caius." She threw herself to her husband's feet and clutched at his hands in desperation.
"My queen, please, you have no reason to worry like this. They have seen many battles, they are trained for this, and they will want to go. Most importantly, if they do not take Demetri they will fail. Caius is the better general in battle, I have to concede that. If we cannot both go, and we cannot both go, then I trust Caius to do the job well. He will return, and he will bring them ALL back with him."
Sulpicia saw that Aro was resolved to his plans.
She had never questioned her love for him, but she found herself feeling true hatred at this moment. If anything happens to either of them you will never see me or the twins again.
Aro released his wife's hands, dumbfounded. "You know I heard that, don't you?" He was hoping to god it was a careless thought with no true intent!
"I hope you did. You will do well to think on it whilst they are away!" Sulpicia said calmly, too calmly. She rose and left for her chamber without a second glance to her husband.
Aro stood silently, leaning on the marble mantel above the fireplace, watching the flames licking at the wood. He heard the main door to their quarters open and then close, and what sounded like another tussle between Felix and Demetri. He looked at the fire again, there was hardly any wood left. How long have I been standing here! Shaking the memory of Sulpicia's parting shot from his head, he turned to his sons as they fell into the room.
"Oh! Aro, we thought you were with Caius still!"
"Clearly!" He eyed his boys who looked guilty. "What have you been up to? You were due back hours ago?" Aro added, as he noted the time. I have been 'watching fire' for three hours, and Sully hasn't come out in all that time. She really is serious. Aro felt his heart ache at the idea of his wife leaving him - it just wasn't natural for vampire mates to split. He couldn't comprehend how that would work, and that's probably why it worried him so much.
"We've just been hanging around with the other guards, that's all." Felix answered for them both, which was rarely a good sign.
"Hmm ... you both look guilty as sin. I had hoped we had gotten through to you two last week!"
Fixing them both with a no-nonsense glare, Demetri soon crumbled,
"Aro, we were just talking with the other guards after our shift, we weren't up to any bother."
"You haven't been up to no good with those newborns have you?" Aro asked his younger son.
Demetri offered his hand for Aro to read his thoughts. "I swear, no! No newborns, anyway," he said coyly.
"I have no desire to take a tour of your revolting world!" Aro said with a frown, as he waved off his son's hand.
"Just remember you have pushed me too far already. We are trying a new order of things under this roof but that does not mean I will become suddenly lax in my duty towards you ... either of you."
The younger vampires nodded along to his words. Aro wasn't wholly convinced they were on the same page though, frustratingly. "I need to talk to you both, take a seat." Aro gestured to the sofa before him and watched as his sons sat down, feeling amused at the frantic eyes shooting back and forth between them.
"Caius will be leading the mission to France to fight the rogue covens on their own turf." Aro announced.
The boys huffed in unison, though Felix spoke up of their disappointment. "Great, so we can't go then."
"I didn't say that."
"You don't have to, we know what it means." Felix's mood was quickly deteriorating and Demetri's mood looked to be headed the same way. Aro really did not want to end in an argument before he'd had a chance to discuss the mission.
"Well, I wanted to know how you would feel going with Caius?"
Demetri finally spoke up, "are you serious?"
"Without you?" Felix checked.
Aro looked at his sons. Am I really going to do this? I feel sick at the very idea but I cannot see a way around it. "Yes I am very serious, deadly serious in fact. And yes Felix, without me. Listen to me, and listen good, I am putting myself on the line here. Sulpicia is dead against the idea and I am not sure whether Basileus would be any more positive. I am trusting you to behave, to be respectful towards Caius at all times, TO FOLLOW HIS ORDERS, and most importantly, to stay together."
They were quiet for a moment whilst Aro's announcement sunk in.
Demetri spoke first, "You are serious! You can trust us and we will be on our very best behaviour."
Felix joined his brother's happy chorus, "yeah we really will, and we will stay together, I wouldn't let anything happen to my little brother." Felix put a protective arm around Demetri, eliciting an eye roll from the latter.
"Just so you know, WHEN you come back ... if I find out that Caius has been forced to discipline either of you, it will be the last time you see outside these four walls ... and I will beat you senseless!"
The boys shot panicked looks between themselves. Felix spoke up, "Caius ... as in Caius ... will discipline us? But you said he wasn't allowed to ... "
Aro interrupted his son, "I know what I said, and around the castle he will always turn you over to me. But I won't be there and he has to have complete control over guards on missions, Felix. You should remember that from the last time you went with him and I wasn't there." Aro stared his boy down for a moment as Felix was reminded of the disastrous mission he had so monumentally fucked up. It was centuries ago, but the whipping he and the other cut ups received from Caius in the throne room upon their return was still imprinted in his memory. Seeing his boy's face turn grave, Aro continued, "this is serious, one guard going off doing what they like, not attending their post, not following exact orders puts the entire mission at risk. I cannot allow either of you to put the mission at risk. So, yes, if you disobey a single command Caius gives you, he will whip you ... and then I will when you get home! And I promise you this, it will make every other punishment you have ever received feel like love taps compared to what I will do to you!"
That had wiped the smiles from their faces. The two sat and contemplated the news that Caius could whip them ... it was almost certain he would find a reason to do so, whether they fucked up or not.
They heard Sulpicia cry out from the bed chamber she shared with Aro. The youths looked questioningly to their father.
"Sully really isn't okay with us going without you is she?" Felix said, sadly. He loved her, he didn't want to be the reason she was so upset.
Aro nodded deeply, "if anything happens to either of you, I won't be seeing her or the twins again."
Both the boys looked shocked to their core, the seriousness of the mission hit home. "I don't want to be the reason for anything bad happening between the two of you, Aro."
Aro closed the short space between the two of them and crouched down on his knees to meet Demetri's eye line, "then you had better make damn sure you come home in one piece ... and for the love of god you must do exactly as Caius commands you, exactly as he commands, do not fuck this up."
Demetri nodded along to Aro's words. He understood.
Aro turned to Felix who was grinning like a baboon. "That goes for both of you, yes?!"
"Of course! We will make you proud Aro, you can trust us." Felix seemed genuine enough to Aro.
"I expect nothing less, Felix." Aro stood back up and noted the time, he had to be in the throne room soon. "You two had better go in there and convince her you are capable of all this. Meet me in the throne room when you are done."
That dropped the smiles from their faces, but neither one wanted to risk Aro changing his mind so they chose, correctly, not to object.
"Aro, where are they?" Caius hissed at his brother in arms.
Aro checked the clock. He'd left Felix and Demetri nearly two hours ago. "Alec, go and see what is keeping Felix and Demetri."
Before Alec stood to leave on Aro's errand, the two young vampires entered the guard room. Aro waved Alec back to his seat and called his boys to his throne. Whoa, you two look miserable!Sulpicia can't have been on at them this whole time, surely? Aro thought. Pulling the two of them in tightly he asked where they had been.
"Where have we been! We've had Sulpicia ranting at us for nearly two hours! And she slapped me twice!" Felix looked truly put out.
Aro raised an eyebrow to the news of him being slapped. "And, why exactly did you need one slap, let alone two?"
Felix looked offended now, "I didn't 'need' one, let alone two! I told her we would be fine and we have been on missions before and there was no need to be hysterical- and she slapped me!"
Aro covered his mouth with his hand trying to hide his laughter, "I have a lot to teach you about women, my boy!"
Felix pouted like a toddler.
"Do you both still want to do this? Now it is the time to back out if you wish to do so?"
"We are going!" Felix replied, strongly, for the two of them again, though Demetri looked resolved and in agreement, "My ears have been bleeding for two hours, and she slapped me twice, did I mention that! We are damn well going after taking all that."
Aro raised his hand to quiet his son, his hushed whispers were getting louder and louder.
"I will talk with Sulpicia later. For now you two need to fall in line and listen to your orders - and you would do well to add in some bow and scraping to Caius for good measure."
The boys laughed a little and went to take their seats at the table Caius was addressing. Before they got past Aro he reached out and grabbed their wrists, hard. "You understand the seriousness of this mission, don't you? You will not take a step out of line, do you hear me?"
Smiles gone, they both nodded. Aro eyed them hard but eventually released them. They made their way to Caius, rubbing the sting from their wrists and looking back to Aro warily as they did so.