AN: I don't own anything, I am just playing with the twi-world.
Thank you again to my wonderful Beta doccoopper who turns my drivel into something readable :)
A WOMAN SCORNED
Demetri had been confined to his bed for the rest of the afternoon, but he could still hear his parents arguing with each other down the hall. Sure that they were too engaged in tearing a strip off each other, Demetri decided to open his door to get a good grasp on what they were saying, in the hope that he would be able to use their argument to his advantage.
He wasn't to be disappointed - Sulpicia had never sounded so feral! The primal growls punctuating her verbal attack were quite disconcerting to the young Volturi prince.
Is this all because of me? He wondered in concern. Typical for the young teen, his concern quietly floated away as he caught onto Sulpicia's demands of Aro.
"You will leave my son alone! If Demetri wants to mate, he can mate. You have screwed up his emotions, Aro, so you had better show some leniency towards him whilst he recovers from your disastrous scheming!"
Demetri closed the door after hearing that. Jackpot, he thought delightedly! Free pass!
…
Aro knocked lightly on Eleazar's chamber door before letting himself in.
"Felix, time to go," he called out upon seeing his boy half slumped over his work.
"Thank the gods!" his boy returned, tiredly.
It wasn't too late; the sun was only just setting, but Felix had been writing non-stop since he'd opened his eyes that morning. Part of him wished Marcus would just wallop him instead of this cruel torture he had inflicted.
"How are they getting on?" Aro asked when Eleazar came through from the terrace.
"Very well brother, hardly heard a peep from them."
Aro smiled gratefully. He appreciated Eleazar stepping in to supervise as he certainly didn't have the time to do so himself. Aro flipped through a few pages in front of Felix. "It could be a little neater, son," he said quietly. Though Felix's penmanship was definitely better than Carlisle's, Aro knew it wasn't his son's best work.
Felix folded his arms across his chest and scoffed. "It's good enough!"
Looking over to Carlisle, Felix thought the punishment to be most unfair - Carlisle was enjoying himself! "Do we really have to copy all of them? It's not fair, Dad!"
Aro cocked his head to the side as he considered his son's words, wanting desperately to have misheard. "How so?" he questioned in his trademark singsong tone. Aro was so riled up from arguing with his wife that he could happily tare a strip of Felix and call it downtime!
Felix, however, missed the danger in his father's eyes. "Carlisle is enjoying it and I am hating it, that doesn't seem very fair to me!"
Carlisle placed his quill to the side of his work and looked over his completed page. "I wouldn't say I am enjoying it, Felix. More that I think this is a great opportunity for learning, that's all."
Felix rolled his eyes. "It isn't a great opportunity for me - I have read these books before and I can't forget them, so it's totally fucking pointless!"
Aro placed an arm around his boy's shoulders and held him tightly. With his free hand, he punctuated his words with sharp slaps to Felix's cheek - "mind your mouth!"
Felix grimaced, pulling away from Aro but getting nowhere. "Sorry," he whispered, though he continued to sulk about the injustice he was suffering. "Can I ask Marcus for something else to do to make amends with him?"
Eleazar began laughing, with his brothers soon joining in. "I would love to see that, Felix," he said as he moved some books to sit down. Looking around his apartment, he thought how very like Marcus' chambers it had become - books strewn across every surface and not a seat in sight without the removal of said books.
"How would that go, son?" Aro asked through his laughter. "Marcus, can you give me a punishment I will enjoy, please?" he proffered in a tone mocking Felix's own.
Eleazar burst out laughing hysterically. "Knowing your penchant for sadomasochism, brother, that just sounds all kinds of wrong!"
Aro gasped at his brother's announcement of his sexual secrets, but seeing his poor son looking confused and a little disgusted had him joining Eleazar's hysterics.
Carlisle looked like he had swallowed bad blood! "Nice, very nice," he said quietly as he gave his head a shake to rid himself of the imagery forming in his mind.
Getting himself under control, Aro flopped into the seat next to Eleazar. "Let's just stick with the books, shall we, Felix?" he said through stifled giggles.
"Yeah ... eugh!" Felix replied, refusing to meet his father's eye.
Eleazar nudged Aro. "Why are you taking him so soon, brother? Felix could get a few more hours in before he needs to sleep."
Eleazar knew why, of course. They all did - they had been listening to Aro and Sulpicia arguing for the last three hours.
Felix shot daggers to Eleazar. "I don't want to get a few more hours in, thanks!"
"I'll be working through the night, you just join in when you can," Carlisle offered quietly.
"You really aren't supposed to be enjoying this, you know. It's weird," Felix replied, though he was grateful that Carlisle was offering to continue their task when he wasn't present.
Felix could stay awake for a few days at a time without suffering too badly the effects that lack of sleep would have on a human. He often did such a thing when out on missions, with just the odd cat-nap to keep him going whilst away from the castle. Only two books in, Felix had decided that he would definitely be sleeping every night for the duration of Marcus' punishment - if only to break from the boring task at hand!
"I'm in no rush to get back, El." Aro eventually spoke up, before coughing dramatically.
"Would you like a drink, Aro?" Eleazar asked sarcastically, knowing what his brother's sudden dry cough meant.
"How very kind," Aro replied, eliciting an eyeroll from both of his brothers.
"Where is Carmen?" he asked, on receiving a full goblet of wine from Eleazar.
"With Athenodora."
"What?!" Aro was surprised.
Eleazar merely nodded but his facial expression showed his concern. "I believe our dear mother has insisted Carmen reach out to the woman."
Aro's mouth hung open for a moment. "I am pretty sure Atia has suggested the same to Sully, though she has refused to commit to more than pleasantries. No visiting, as such."
Eleazar placed a goblet of wine near Carlisle but looked over to Aro before taking his hand off Felix's cup.
Aro nodded once to show his agreement, much to his son's delight.
"Just one," Aro told him pointedly.
Eleazar re-joined Aro in front of the fire, with Carlisle and Felix abandoning their work to sit with them, too.
"Sulpicia, no doubt, feels more secure of her position in this castle than Carmen does ... Carmen felt obliged to carry out Atia's wishes."
"Sully feels secure, alright!" Aro replied, though he was speaking to himself. Oh yes, my dear mate feels secure - she's content enough to attack Atia, go up against my father, and scream at me! How wonderfully secure you must feel, my queen.
Aro nudged his little brother. "Are you ever going to tell us about Atia, Carlisle."
"What? When she, you know? God no!" Carlisle couldn't even bring himself to say the words.
"When she belted you." Eleazar said the words for him, much to Carlisle's shame as he slunk into his seat.
Aro sat up, eagerly, waiting the details. "Come on, in the interest of brotherly relations, I think you should give us a heads-up."
Eleazar laughed, "Yeah, because we all know Aro is next!"
"Fuck off, El," Aro sang out, though it was true.
Carlisle shook his head again. "No. I can't," he said and looked to his nephew. "Not with him here."
Felix looked affronted. "What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing's wrong with you, I'm just uncomfortable, that's all," Carlisle replied, still not meeting anyone's eye.
"I saw Basileus beat you in the library ... it can't get much more uncomfortable than that," Felix reminded his uncle.
Great, more shame, that will help! Carlisle thought.
"He's right. And I can't send him anywhere, so it's tough," Aro told his little brother as Eleazar nodded along. "Tell us," he added with a gleeful smile.
Carlisle left the table and sat with Aro, offering his hand. "Just read my memories, instead."
Aro was happy with that and went to make contact before Felix sprang to his feet to join the three brothers. "No! I need to know, too!" he rushed.
"Why do you need to know?" Aro asked his boy, knowingly.
"Every adult in this tower has whacked me one ... it's only a matter of time before Atia does. I'd like to be prepared," Felix explained.
"You could always try behaving, you know," Aro said pointedly.
"There's no fun in that, Dad," his boy replied cheekily.
"More like it's impossible for you!" Eleazar added, pulling Felix into the seat next to him.
Felix folded his arms across his broad chest. "If it's so easy to just behave, then none of us need to know, and Carlisle would not have had the experience."
All three brothers shared a smirk. Felix was right.
"I could happily 'whack him one' right now," Eleazar said as he cuffed his nephew's head. "But," he crooned, "I could probably do with knowing ... for academic purposes."
It was Aro's turn to laugh. "Academic purposes?" he scoffed. "Of course you never put a foot out of line, do you brother?"
Aro watched his brother's reaction. He had enough dirt on Eleazar to bury the bastard if he wished, but they both knew Aro loved him too much to tell Basileus. Most of Eleazar exploits were centuries ago.
Eleazar smirked, he knew what Aro was getting at. "I am far better at evading punishment than you are, Aro. That is all."
With my help, Aro added in thought.
"That's because he is a kiss-ass," Felix announced.
"It's because I conduct myself cordially," Eleazar replied with a slap to Felix's leg.
Felix winced, though it wasn't too painful. "Very cordial," he said, sarcastically.
Aro shook his head. Eleazar was right ... he knew he was next on Atia's hit list and, in all honesty as he had been goading her out of pure curiosity for how she would react, he was amazed it had taken this long.
"We are waiting, Carlisle," he pushed.
Carlisle looked around their little gathering, all eager to hear his humiliation and pain. Bastards, he thought, as he wondered if he could break out of the room before his brothers caught him. A small smile grew on Carlisle's face as he slowly stood.
Eleazar watched his brother, wondering what he was about to do.
Aro didn't have to wait - he knew Carlisle's intentions. Without looking at his brother, Aro waited for Carlisle to make a move and the moment he sensed Carlisle attempt to flee, he pounced.
"Get the fuck off me, Aro!" Carlisle roared as his brother brought him down.
Aro laughed through his struggles to contain Carlisle. "Help me, then," he called over his shoulder to Eleazar. "You shouldn't run, little brother, first rule!" he said gleefully and he sat on Carlisle's back.
"I'm not telling you anything!" Carlisle complained, though with Eleazar's weight compressing his chest it was now a struggle to breathe enough to talk.
"You won't have to," Aro said easily as he held his brother's wrist. "I'll tell them."
Bemused, Felix watched the whole thing as Carlisle's struggles increased.
Aro gestured to his son to help.
"No way," Felix said as he sat back in his chair.
"You help, or I won't tell you what I find out," Aro added, giving his boy a wink.
"Felix, no!" Carlisle complained, still fighting his way free.
"He's feisty!" Eleazar quipped as he bounced about on top of his youngest brother.
Aro couldn't keep his grip on Carlisle with the way he was thrashing about.
"I'm telling dad!" Carlisle cried out. He instantly regretted his whining childlike remark when his the dual teasing of his brothers took new heights.
Felix had fallen into hysterical laughter. He didn't often get to see his father and uncles in such a playful manner ... even if Carlisle wasn't enjoying it, he was!
"Felix, I command you to hold your uncle still!" Aro called through his laughter as Carlisle continued in his efforts to evade his brothers.
Felix sighed. He didn't really want to be disloyal to Carlisle but ... I really want to know what happened with Atia, he thought, a little selfishly.
Once Felix joined the brawl, Carlisle was done for - the boy had him pinned to the ground without either Aro or Eleazar helping.
"Good god he's strong!" Eleazar said in awe as his nephew held his brother easily.
Aro smiled proudly before taking Carlisle's arm and pinning it to his back. "Are you going to tell us?" he asked a final time.
"NO!" Carlisle roared, though even he laughed lightly knowing his silence was futile.
"As you wish," Aro said quietly before invading his brother's memories.
"Oh dear, little brother." Aro was properly winding Carlisle up now.
"Shut up, Aro!" he returned, knowing his brother was about to embarrass him.
"Carlisle tried to run ... clearly, he never learns!" Aro added as he went a little further back in Carlisle's thoughts. "And, he wasn't very polite, either," he said, seeing Carlisle call Atia a 'hateful bitch' as he made it as far as the door in Basileus' chambers.
"What happened?" Eleazar asked. He knew Aro had seen it all by now.
"Our dear mother belted him, properly belted him! With Basileus' belt - ouch!" Aro laughed. Basileus wore a particularly thick and long belt, suited to his stature and height which, quite frankly, scared his three sons.
Carlisle became limp under Felix's hold ... there was no point fighting anymore.
"Oooo, that's interesting," Aro said with a smirk. "Atia made you ask for it."
Carlisle pushed his face into the floor, sure his face would be blood red from the shame.
"What?" Felix asked, confused.
"After he ran and called her names ... silly boy ... Atia had him sit down and Carlisle had to explain why she would be punishing him ... and then he asked her to do it!"
"I didn't ask her to do it!" Carlisle replied. "She asked if I deserved to be punished, and I said yes."
"Why didn't you just say no?" Felix asked, thinking it was obviously the way out of a hiding.
"Because I did deserve it, for fuck sake," Carlisle returned in annoyance.
"Anything else to add?" Eleazar asked Aro as he retook his seat as though nothing had happened.
"Either Atia is stronger than she looks ... or Carlisle is a pussy," Aro replied, joining his brother.
Felix looked down to his uncle, still held easily in his grasp. "Carlisle's a pussy!" he replied to his father's statement.
"Be nice, Felix," Aro said with a smile, "and help him up."
Carlisle shoved Felix hard as soon as he was released but the boy barely move from his crouching spot on the floor.
"I'm stronger than you," he reminded his uncle with a smile.
"I will get you back, don't worry," Carlisle warned with a smile.
"You are all bastards," Carlisle declared as he flopped down next to Eleazar, though he accepted his big brother pulling him into an embrace.
"You should have just told us."
"I'll tell Basileus, that's who I'll tell," Carlisle grunted as Eleazar squeezed him tightly.
"No you won't." Aro smirked. "Basileus doesn't know you called Atia a, what was it, a 'hateful bitch' ... you wouldn't want me to tell him, would you?"
Carlisle narrowed his eyes as his brothers mocked him mercilessly.
"This is all Eleazar's fault, anyway," Aro added to his bemused big brother.
"MY fault? For what exactly."
Aro smirked. "You got shacked up with Carmen and Daddy dearest lost his sidekick so he found himself a woman to take your place and now we will all suffer her wrath!"
Eleazar laughed but told Aro he was a prick and gave him a dead arm for his accusation.
Once they had all settled down, Felix asked about his brother, concern clearly present in his tone.
"So, is Demetri okay now?"
Aro wasn't sure what to say. How can I answer you honestly? "He is well, for now. But Magnus predicts that his emotional state will be volatile for the foreseeable future."
Watching his boy's reaction, Aro noticed the smile tugging at Felix's lips. "Please don't wind him up," he added rather forcefully.
"As if I would!" Felix replied with a mocking hurt tone.
"I mean it, Felix. Your mother may be insisting I give Demetri an easy time of it, but no such embargo has been issued on beating the daylights out of you."
Felix gulped. Harsh, he thought, moodily.
Eleazar's chamber door sprang to life with Basileus' trademark booming voice entering the room before he did.
"Ah, Aro. Here you are."
Aro sighed internally knowing he had a conversation coming with his father after his mate's verbal attack that afternoon.
"How can I help, my lord?" Aro answered, sounding sickly sweet.
"By staying here."
Aro's face scrunched up. "And where will you be whilst I am staying here?"
Eleazar shook his head. "I love running the half-way house," he said sarcastically, nudging Carlisle for a reaction.
Carlisle barely blinked. He was so on edge around Basileus since he'd come clean about his emotional blackmail that he wanted to give the man no excuse whatsoever to have cause to discipline him again, or worse, have Atia discipline him.
Basileus knew Carlisle was desperate for his forgiveness. Every time he thought about telling his son that he was forgiven, he reminded himself of how long Carlisle had left him wallowing in guilt over the pastor's death. You have a while to wait yet,son, he said to himself as he watched Carlisle look shiftily around the room ... anywhere other than at Basileus.
"I need to talk to Sulpicia," Basileus answered Aro.
Everyone in the room stopped breathing for a moment.
"About?" Aro asked bravely.
"I think we both know what it will be about, son. Don't play the fool, it doesn't suit you."
Aro sighed. "Dad, I think I should ... "
"No son, you are to stay here. I only wish to talk with her - she is quite safe with me."
Although Aro would have liked to believe him, he'd been on the receiving end of a good many 'talks' from his father and they rarely ended painlessly.
Basileus heard his son's worries. "I just want to set things straight, Aro. I won't be long." With that he left.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Carlisle asked, once he was sure his father was gone.
Aro bit his lip as he considered Carlisle's question, one look to Felix told him he couldn't answer honestly ... yet. "Sully can hold her own," he said, confidently, before refilling his goblet.
Offering to do the same for the rest of the group, including Felix, he proffered, "why overthink when we can over drink?!"
Basileus steeled himself outside the top suite door. He considered just going back to his own chambers but after the grilling Atia had given him for allowing the vampire queen to speak to them with such disrespect, he daren't go back without having had a word first. Squaring his shoulders for what he predicted to be the most uncomfortable conversation of his life, he entered the chambers.
The twins were sat reading with their mother. Though they greeted the creator lovingly, the room felt frosty with Sulpicia ignoring him completely.
"Would you go to your room, please?" he asked his grandchildren.
They obediently rose and were ready to leave when their mother pulled them back. "No. They have no reason to leave," she said, before realising how uncomfortable the pair of them seemed.
"Though they can go to the guard hall, if they wish," she added.
Basileus sighed internally. "Erm, okay…" he said, kissing Jane and Alec on their young heads as they passed him.
Basileus waited for a moment, hoping the queen would at least address him. Nothing. "We must talk, Sulpicia," he prompted as he approached the woman and took a seat beside her. "I cannot leave things between us as they were."
He spoke gently, assuming his daughter-in-law would be wary of him. He assumed wrongly.
Sulpicia scoffed before replying. "I have nothing to say that you will want to hear, Basileus." Her tone was harsh and full of spite, she even removed herself from his side and moved to the seat opposite.
Basileus felt every hair on the back of his neck stand on end as he bristled to her treatment of him. He had expected to find Sulpicia meek and regretful after their altercation and her abrasion shocked him.
Getting to his feet, he loomed over his daughter-in-law and addressed her sternly. "Listen, I am not sure why you think you can address me in such an impertinent manner, but let me set you straight, young lady."
Sully wasn't so easily manipulated and his bellowing at her barely registered on her pretty face. "You're good at rage, Basileus. I like the way you play it," she replied, fixing a loose section of hair behind her ear.
Basileus felt bowled over. "But you aren't scared of me?" he questioned. He expected her to be scared.
Sulpicia returned the creator's glare. "I'm too angry to be scared," she seethed.
Basileus took a step back, the quiet vitriol with which Sulpicia spoke unnerving him. I need to turn this around, he thought, retaking his seat opposite her. He adopted an informal pose with his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his steeple fingers, hoping it would relax Sulpicia.
"I can still remember the first time Aro introduced you to me," he said softly. "You were such a confident young thing, so forward thinking for the time. A real breath of fresh air. I could see immediately why my son had chosen to take you as his mate."
Sulpicia narrowed her eyes to her father-in-law, wondering what trap he was leading her into with his changed tactic. "So much has changed since then," he continued with a sad smile. "The years here had robbed you of your confidence, I am glad to see that returning to you, Sulpicia."
Sulpicia sighed, expressing her boredom. "I know who I was, Basileus. And I know who I am now. What is the point of this?"
Basileus took a sharp intake of breath. "You are developing a sharp tongue, my dear." His stern tone was ignored.
"That is my business," Sulpicia replied with little emotion.
Basileus was growing frustrated. He had expected to be able to lay the law down with his sweet Sulpicia and that would be the end of it. To find her still batting against him was unexpected, to say the least!
"That would depend on who your words are directed at," he corrected, pointedly.
Sulpicia sat up straight and glared at Basileus. "Are you threatening me?" she asked with a smile, thinking such a thing to be entirely audacious.
Basileus returned her smile, I could happily wipe that smile from your face, girl. "No. But I think I will be watching carefully from now on."
Sulpicia rose to her feet and mimicked the pose she had seen so regularly on Atia since she'd arrived in their world. Hands on hips and narrowed eyes planted at her adversary, she spoke as though addressing a child. "So long as you are watching and not interfering, we won't have a problem."
Oh, I don't think so! Basileus thought as he too stood and towered over his impertinent daughter-in-law. "Be careful, Sully ... you are going where angels fear to tread."
Sulpicia stood firm, though she now had to crane her neck to look up to the creator. "As you have already pointed out, Basileus, I am not afraid of you."
Basileus could hear her resolve, but he was more accustomed to managing disrespectful youths than she was and decided to change tactics.
"Clearly not, but this is more than that ... you sound like you hate me, Sully," he said as though pained by her words. He was really, though certainly more frustrated to not be getting his own way with the conversation.
As Basileus had predicted, Sulpicia softened before him. "Most definitely not. Never," she said kindly, before regaining her composure. "But I will defend my children with my life."
Again, Basileus continued his kicked-puppy facade. "You have no reason to defend them against me," he said as though the very thought gave him pain. It would have if he'd have believed it.
Sulpicia didn't succumb a second time. "You and Aro have rendered Demetri an emotional wreck and Lucy a hollow vessel - so forgive me if I disagree," she scoffed and shook her head as she spoke, feeling her anger rising again.
Basileus reached out and took her hands in his own. "You know that was never our intention," he said, bowing his head slightly to look in her eyes. He failed at winning her over.
Sulpicia snatched her hands back and walked away from her father-in-law, turning her back to him. "Of course it wasn't," she agreed, "but that makes little difference to the outcome, does it?"
Basileus could hear her thoughts, willing herself to calm down. She was ready to blow at him and he was glad that she was, at least, attempting to temper her response. He was far more comfortable dealing with his boys. They would rant and rave, he could smack them for it and they could move on. He was learning fast that the women in his life could not be managed so easily.
"Do you have anything else you would like to say to me?" Sulpicia asked, still with her back turned to him.
Basileus wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, rubbing out his stress. "I'm sorry, Sulpicia," he replied, though cursed himself for doing so. I was coming up here to get an apology from her, a promise that she would mind herself when talking with me and Atia and now I am apologising! How have I ended up here?!
Sulpicia interrupted his thoughts. "I neither want ... nor need ... your apologies. Just your promise that you will leave parenting my children to me."
Basileus laughed lightly to himself at her request. "I'm not sure I can agree to that."
Sulpicia spun herself around to face him with eyes as black as coal. "Why?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"Because you, understandably, make decisions for your children based on your heart ... occasionally, one must allow the head to supersede ... that's where I come in."
If he thought putting himself up as the font of reason against Sulpicia's motherly instinct would win her over, he was wide off the mark. So wide, in fact, that Sulpicia wondered how such thinking could ever be considered one of the mind!
You utter cunt, she said to herself, before forcing herself to stay calm in her address. "Are you saying I am incapable of reasoned decisions?!" Her voice hitched to shrill proportions but it was a calm as she could be under the circumstances.
Shit, Basileus thought as he realised he had put his foot in it. "Incapable? No. But you do tend to lean away from such reason where your children are concerned," he proffered, wondering why she couldn't see the situation as he so clearly saw it.
Sulpicia narrowed her eyes. "Have you learned nothing from your experience with Carlisle?"
Basileus bristled, knowing what she was talking about.
Before he could reply, Sulpicia continued her attack. "You rode rough shod over his feelings, over his wants, believing yourself to know better, believing you knew what was best for him ... regardless of how oppositional it was to his own desires. And look how that turned out ... " she trailed off, leaving Basileus to come to his own conclusions.
She had been saving this piece of 'reason' and was somewhat pleased to be able to use the creator's disastrous handling of Carlisle to such effect.
It stung, it really stung. Basileus had lost and he knew it.
"Sulpicia ... " he broached, the pain in his voice true this time.
"No, Basileus." She cut him off quickly. "We all suffered for your 'reasoned decisions' and Carlisle suffers still for the position you forced him into. It was your doing and yet you punish him by refusing to forgive him!"
"I don't see it that way," he replied, looking to the floor.
Truth was, he hadn't seen it as such until she said it so plainly. It struck a chord with the creator's heart. He was punishing Carlisle still and it was a situation of his own making - not his son's.
"I think I should leave," he said quietly as he walked to the door. Standing at the top of the stairs, he tried a final time to speak to his son's mate. "Sully, I ... "
BANG!
Sulpicia slammed the door and left her father-in-law catching flies to the woman's response.
…
Aro returned to his quarters once his father told him it was safe, taking Felix with him. Basileus seemed less pleased with himself than he had when he'd dropped into Eleazar's chambers before talking to Sulpicia, but he didn't divulge their conversation. That worried Aro. His worry soon dissipated when he opened his chamber door to see his mate pacing a hole in the floor as Demetri watched in vague amusement.
"That man!" she blurted out angrily when Aro came into view.
"Good chat?" he returned sarcastically.
Felix stormed past his father and flopped into the sofa next to his brother.
"What is wrong with you?" Sulpicia asked, seamlessly switching from anger to concern upon seeing her boy looking so down.
"Life!" Felix replied moodily. "It's not fair mom. Carlisle is enjoying our punishment and I am miserable. Can't you do something about it?"
Sulpicia put her hands on her hips, as her concern dissolved and she became shocked by Felix; ingratitude. "You deserve far more than having to copy out some books, Felix," she told him sternly.
Felix looked aghast to his mother. "Oh right! So you will defend Demetri with all your might, even standing up to Basileus for him, but me?!"
Demetri rolled his eyes dramatically. "No one gives a fuck about fucking Felix!" he said loud and proud.
Aro's eyebrows shot into his hair line with the shock of his son's statement. Without word or warning he had flashed to his son's side and snatched him up from his seat with one hand around his arm.
"Do you want to say that again?" he ground out dangerously.
Demetri sighed dramatically. "Didn't you hear me the first time?" He spoke as though he was bored by Aro's presence.
Aro's eyes flashed to black and he had landed three hard slaps to his son's thigh before Sulpicia could pull her boy free.
"For god sake, Aro, you know he isn't himself!" she said, tucking Demetri into her side.
"Isn't himself?" Aro repeated, as though they were foreign words. "I won't stand for him talking that way!"
Sulpicia simply shrugged. "You should have thought about the consequences before you messed with his emotional bonds."
Aro laughed to himself. "Is this how it's going to be? He's playing you like a fiddle, Sully!"
Sulpicia hugged Demetri closer, a part of her knowing that could be true but her need to protect her boy from harm was far fiercer than her doubts.
"I told your father, and I am telling you ... leave my children alone."
Aro raised one eyebrow questioningly. "They are mine, too, my queen," he ground out through gritted teeth.
"Then you should bloody well act like it!" she countered.
Aro could see Felix was really enjoying himself. Demetri, too, for that matter. He didn't want another blazing row and certainly not in front of his sons ... they would hold it over him, he was sure of that.
"Demetri, do you want to mate with Lucy?" Aro asked his boy.
Demetri shrugged. "No thanks."
"Do you see Sully, you are arguing for something he doesn't even want! Do you know how ridiculous you sound?"
Sulpicia rose to the bait. "Don't patronise me, Aro," she spat venomously.
"Our children are too young to mate, Sully. I know you know that, really," Aro replied doing his best to sound calmer, even if he didn't feel calmer.
Felix interrupted his parent's argument. "Why are we?" he asked in confusion.
"Come on, my love, explain why," Sulpicia goaded, joining in on Felix's question.
Aro refused to address Felix so kept his eyes on Sully instead. "It's dangerous. Mated pairs will do anything for each other, which is great for logical adults - but kids? Don't you think teenage vampires are reckless enough without adding in the troubles of a mate to contend with?"
Aro could see Sulpicia turning his question over in her mind.
"We aren't reckless!" Felix said indignantly.
"Interrupt us one more time, Felix, and I swear to the gods I will ... "
That was enough from Aro to have Felix searching the floor.
Turning back to his mate, who was still clutching Demetri, he continued. "And if you allow Demetri, what about the twins ... Jane and Alec are only two years younger than he - can you see them in a sexual relationship?"
Rough, Aro thought after he'd spoken, the very idea of his precious daughter doing ... no, no, no, over my dead body!
Sulpicia appeared to find the idea equally distasteful.
"Can you imagine them staying here with us if they mate?"
That was the money shot! He knew Sulpicia would do anything to avoid losing her baby vampires.
"How long would they last living outside of our protection?" Aro added, finally, knowing he was sealing the deal.
"I don't need anyone's fucking protection," Felix said sullenly.
Aro's calm facade was hanging by a hair width and his son's last remark tipped him over the edge. Stomping towards his boy, Aro pulled Felix to his feet and sent him to his room with a thunderous crack to his backside.
"Really, Aro?!" Sulpicia bubbled up in rage. "Are you so intent on beating all of our children tonight? Should I fetch the twins?"
Aro's sarcastic tinkling laughter filled their living chamber. "I have beaten no one, but please do and I can show you how I won't beat them either!"
Demetri started to sob at his mother's side.
"Why are you blubbering?" Aro asked, feeling incredibly frustrated.
Sulpicia wiped away her boy's tears. "He's fragile, Aro, you know that. You need to be more considerate of his feelings."
Aro was astounded by his mate's gullibility. "He had better quit the dramatical display before I give him something to cry about."
Sulpicia gently directed Demetri towards the archway so he could escape the tension in the room. "You sound like a thug," she told her husband upon her return.
Before Aro could launch into a defence which mainly revolved around Demetri using her love for him to purposely be a brat, the twins returned through the stairwell door.
Aro checked the clock. It was late enough that he'd assumed they were already in bed. "And where have you been?" he asked accusingly.
"With Atia," Alec sang out happily.
Aro turned on Sulpicia. "You sent them to her?!" he half shouted in shock.
"No! I sent them to the guard hall," she replied indignantly.
"Why were you with Atia?" Aro asked the twins.
"Why does it matter?!" Jane retorted in the same terse tone her father had used.
Aro felt incensed. "Don't 'why' back at me!" Aro returned aggressively, towering over his small daughter as he spoke with a hand raised ready to smack her.
Alec could see a stand-off between his sister and father was imminent and it would do no one any good. "We were heading to the guard hall when Atia stopped us and invited us in," he interjected, hoping to smooth things over with his explanation.
Jane folded her arms across her chest. "We didn't think it would be a problem," she said, scowling.
"Have you not been paying attention?" Aro spat. "You know for a fact it would be a problem!"
Jane dared to smirk.
"Did you just roll your eyes at me?" Aro asked threateningly.
When Jane only huffed in response, Aro slapped her face for her ignorant display. He wasn't harsh, but Jane's eyes filled with tears anyway.
Alec, again, attempted to placate his father. "It's okay, Dad, we understand you're stressed with the covens convening."
Aro spun around to face his youngest son. "Don't you dare come back in here regurgitating that witch's crap - you are even using her patronising tone!"
When he turned back to Jane, he caught his girl rolling her eyes at him again. Grabbing Jane by the scruff of her collar, he lifted her clear from the floor so they were eye to eye.
"Roll your eyes at me one more time and I will knock them into the back of your head!"
Sulpicia immediately came to her girl's rescue, separating father and daughter and pushing her young daughter behind her.
"Aro! You cannot take out your frustrations on them, they are children for god sake!"
"So I am abusing them now, as well?" he countered, though he knew he was being trigger happy with deploying physical chastisements.
"I didn't say that," Sulpicia replied.
Aro scoffed and returned Sulpicia's disgusted look of contempt. "You didn't have to!"
The twins attempted to get to the door. "Where are you going?" Sulpicia asked. They knew it was too late to go back out now.
"Atia said we should go back down to her if you started arguing again," Alec replied for the two of them.
This time it was Sulpicia who looked ready to breathe fire at the young guards. "Is she your mother now?" she asked, danger dripping through her tone.
"No ... but ... " Alec tried, but he couldn't formulate a response.
"But what?" Aro asked, wanting to hear a better excuse than they were just blindly following his mother's orders.
"Nothing!" Alec shot back, unsure of how he had ended up the bad guy, and pissed off with being put in the position by his parents. He muttered a quiet, but clear, 'for fuck sake' under his breath.
Aro wasn't standing for that.
"Come here," he ordered his youngest.
"Go to your room," Sulpicia countered, wanting her babies far away from Aro so she could verbally rip him to shreds.
Before Alec could pass, Aro reached out and pulled him close by his wrist. With one flick of his free hand he slapped his boy's face. Again, it wasn't hard, but unused to the whole volatile mess he'd walked into added to Alec's upset and he left for bed in tears.
"Why did you do that?" Sulpicia spat to her mate.
"What? Slap him? Did you hear what he just said?!" Aro shook his head to his queen. You are losing it, woman!
"My hearing is as good as yours, dear husband," she replied sarcastically. Stretching her arms wide and offering an open target to her mate, she goaded him further. "You have run out of children to hit, would you like to start on me?"
"Oh I am tempted, woman!" Aro could see Sulpicia was gearing up for another round of fucks, and quite frankly, he'd heard enough of her mindless wittering. "Fuck this," he announced, collecting his cloak from the rack.
"Where are you going?" Sulpicia asked seeing what he was doing.
"Out!" Aro boomed as he left their quarters.
"Out where?" Sulpicia never received a response, unless you could count the door slamming shut behind Aro as an answer.