AN: a quick wave to new readers, and much love to all those continuing with the story (particularly those of you taking the time to review and PM me. It is very much appreciated!) :)
We are still in 1672, but we have jumped forwards a few months to see how the dust is settling with the new kid in the coven...
1672, AUGUST - SUMMER FUN
"He's late!" Aro growled into his cup of bloodwine.
Sulpicia rolled her eyes again to her mate's dramatics. "He won't be long, I am sure." She continued to busy herself with the paperwork for coven financing and did her best to ignore Aro's chuntering.
The 'he' they were talking about was, unsurprisingly, Felix. He had flouted Aro's new curfew every time he'd been allowed out and the continued defiance was seriously pissing Aro off.
It was unreasonable for a fully-grown vampire to only be allowed out in daylight hours, in Felix's opinion, especially when the only reason Aro could give him was that he didn't trust Lucius.
The kid hadn't put a foot wrong in the eight months he'd been living in Volterra. True, he seemed to be where trouble was, but no one could accuse Lucius of more than being present - much to Aro's annoyance.
EVERYONE liked the boy, everyone. Except for Jane, who had stayed glued to her father under the protection of Renata. It was a little awkward for Aro having to take his princess of darkness with him any time he left the tower, but he was mainly thankful that the child agreed with his suspicions.
The only solitary benefit of having Lucius in the coven was that Basileus' hold over Aro had seemingly been broken now that the creator's entire focus rested on Lucius.
"If you are so worried about Felix, go and find him," Sulpicia called out before leaving with arms full of scrolls to put the masters in their place over coven costs.
"Don't you care?!" Aro called after her.
She didn't respond. The truth was, Sulpicia didn't care. It was ridiculous that three of her children were already in their beds at ten o'clock. They are vampires, for god's sake. They don't need as much sleep as human children! But the fact that Felix was still out and about, surely in the castle grounds, at ten o'clock - no, she wasn't worried at all. For all her mate's ranting, he had yet to present a single reasonable justification as to why she should care.
By eleven, Aro was really starting to stress. He didn't like to leave his children home unattended, especially with that suspicious shit, Lucius, in the tower, but he was close to going out hunting for his eldest.
Thankfully, Felix barrelled through the door before Aro had chance to make that choice.
"And just where the hell do you think you have been …" Aro's angry rant dissipated immediately when he set sight on Felix. "Jesus fucking Christ!"
Felix came through the door covered in blood. His clothes were saturated, his hair, matted, every inch of him covered in blood. Dropping to his knees, Felix tried to explain that the blood wasn't his, but the words just wouldn't come.
Aro flashed to his side, fearing the very worst. "What have you done?!" Checking his boy over for harm, he found none. Not a single scrape under all that blood.
"It's not mine, it's not my blood," Felix stuttered, trying to pull out of Aro's hands.
"You are covered in blood Felix! Vampire blood!" Aro guessed from the smell. "What have you done?!"
Felix took a few steadying breaths. "I got into a fight …" he started, only to be cut off my his concerned father.
"Who with?" Aro asked. "Where?" he demanded. "What the hell happened? Were there any witnesses?"
The questions came thick and fast, bombarding Felix like a wall of words.
"Stop asking so many questions!" he called out, feeling completely unable to answer one of them, let alone all.
"Are you fucking crazy?!" Aro asked, looking aghast to his boy and shaking his shoulders roughly.
It was only when Renata handed Felix a cloth to clear the blood from his face that Aro remembered she was there. Her presence seemingly came as a shock to Felix, too, as the boy's soft cries became hefty heartfelt sobs.
"It's okay, it's okay," Aro said calmingly, taking his boy in his hold. "Come here. It's okay."
The contact allowed Aro to seek his own answers as to what the hell his son had done this time.
"You fought with Turk?" Aro asked, finding such a premise to be ridiculous. "One of the favourite guards in this place. You beat him to death?" Aro pulled out of his son's memories. "I can't look. Tell me he isn't dead? Please!"
Felix sniffed. "He isn't," he said softly. "I don't think so, anyway."
Aro checked Renata for a reaction. His trusted guard had certainly been put through her paces over the last few months with all she had been expected to conceal on the Volturi family's behalf. Would this be too much? Aro wondered. He really didn't want to lose Renata, particularly her gift, but he would if he couldn't be assured of her loyalty.
"Would you like me to leave, Master?" Renata asked, realising why Aro was looking at her curiously.
"I'd much rather trust you to stay," Aro replied, raising his voice slightly over Felix's cries.
Renata nodded curtly. "Then I shall stay, Master," she said firmly. She liked Turk, but she wasn't risking her position in the Volturi for him. Besides, she thought, this just isn't Felix! Like her master, she believed strange things were happening in the Volturi coven, too.
"Where did you leave him?" Aro asked, turning his focus back to Felix.
"At the back gate."
Aro sorted through Felix's memories again, but he couldn't find the real reason for his fight with the guard. "You did this because he wouldn't let you leave, I assume?"
"Yes," Felix answered. "No … I don't know." The boy was visibly confused. "I don't know what happened!"
Aro hushed his son. "It will be okay. You need to stay here."
Felix clung onto his father's legs when he stood. "Don't leave me!"
"I need to deal with this Felix," Aro replied, peeling him off. "I have to go. I need to get to Turk before anyone else does."
Aro looked back to his boy. Felix hugged his own knees, crumpled on the floor. He really didn't want to leave him in such a sorry state but Aro knew he had to act quickly before anyone else found Turk. There will be a revolt in my coven by morning otherwise!
…
Aro headed straight down to his father's quarters. He was trying to avoid the ground floor suite, generally, but he needed his mother's help. "Atia, may I borrow you for a moment?" he asked calmly in case his father would hear.
Atia threw on her cape and closed the door behind her. "Would you like to tell me why you are covered in blood?" she asked as they hurried through the halls, Renata hot on their heels.
"Look," Aro said darkly, offering his hand.
"Oh my …" Atia stopped herself from saying anything else. She wasn't one to comment without all the information at hand. "Where is Turk?"
"By the gate, according to Felix," Aro explained as they headed out the back of the castle. "Your gift … can you make someone else invisible?"
"Yes, if I hold them close. You?"
"Not me, Turk." Aro confirmed. "I need to get him inside without anyone seeing the damage."
"I don't understand why Felix would do this, Aro." The idea that Felix would pummel a guard to near death just because they refused him passage seemed ridiculous.
"Neither do I," Aro said, though he was grateful that his mother found the idea equally unbelievable. "What's worse is he doesn't understand either."
They spotted a writhing figure, moaning in pain near the castle outer wall. It was Turk. Rushing to the guard, neither Atia nor Aro had been prepared for the sorry state that greeted them.
Turk looked like he had been chewed up and spat out! His guts lay abandoned in the dirt, his throat ripped open, his arms and legs broken … Felix did this?! Aro questioned. He had never seen his son's victims so viciously attacked. This is something Caius would be proud of!
An indistinct moan broke Aro's thoughts as Turk continued to writhe in agony.
"He's still alive, Aro," Atia said quietly, bundling Turk's guts into his open stomach cavity and into her arms. "I will carry him."
Aro watched as the two became invisible in Atia's hold. If it weren't for the intermittent groaning coming from Turk, no one would know they were there. They could certainly sneak back into the castle.
"Where are we going to take him?" Atia asked.
"Marcus' quarters," Aro decided on the hop. "He may have some anatomical knowledge that could help putting him back together."
Atia removed her invisibility cloak once they were safely in the north tower and outside Marcus' door.
"Are we under attack?" Marcus asked, clearly surprised to see Aro covered in blood and Atia carrying a very broken looking Turk in her arms. He ushered them inside and took them to his own bedchamber to lay the guard out on the bed.
"No attack," Aro said, not really knowing how to explain. "I'll be back." He rushed to Caius' suite, praying he was home.
He was, thankfully. "Caius, meet me in Marcus' chambers, bring dungeon blood."
I don't bloody think so! Caius thought, assuming Aro was arranging a night on the coven drug. "Aro, no …"
Aro shook his head, impatiently. "Marcus and Atia are there, it isn't for me." Before he rushed off, he called, "We will need something for sewing, too."
"Sewing what?"
"Turk," Aro admitted quietly, leaving a bewildered Caius at the door.
"Caius is coming with supplies," Aro announced in Marcus' bedchamber.
He was glad to see Atia and Marcus had already made a start in fixing the poor guard, lying him out straight to his bones had a chance of healing. What they were going to do with the man's guts was anyone's guess.
Turk's intestines billowed out of his stomach in a rather slapdash presentation. "Will Turk be able to stay with you, Marcus. I don't want the coven finding out about this."
Marcus agreed, though he turned a very stern expression on Aro. "What are we keeping from the coven, exactly?" he asked.
Caius came in before Aro could answer. "Aro what the hell have you done?!" he exclaimed, seeing the mangled state of the coven barkeep.
"It wasn't me," Aro replied. "It was …" Oh fuck, this is going to bring a shower of shite to my door. "It was Felix."
Marcus looked pensive hearing the news, whereas Caius readied himself for calling the boy out.
Aro was in no mood to argue with Caius, but he would.
Atia circumvented any additional distress by directing her son to the door. "Marcus, we need more water and more light, if you wouldn't mind. Aro, out!" She shoved Aro out of the room before he could resist. "I don't want you in here with dungeon blood in the room."
Aro heard Caius snigger at him being sent out by his mother. Cunt. "I can be in the same room as dungeon blood without incident!" he insisted, trying to save face.
Atia sighed, she wasn't about to get into that argument with her son. "Go back to the tower and send your father, his blood will do far more good here than anything else we can offer Turk."
"I should check on Felix anyway, I guess," Aro commented, trying to make leaving sound like it was at least partly his idea.
"I hope you will do more than check on him!" Caius erupted, poised over Turk with needle and thread, wondering where the hell to start.
"Aro fetch your father!" Atia commanded, slamming the door in his face before Aro could respond.
Aro would have gone back in there to tell Caius to go and fuck himself had he not heard Atia rounding the guy out for his unnecessary comments.
He swallowed down the pooling venom in his mouth as he stood, once again, outside his father's door. Conjuring his courage, he knocked. "You are needed in Marcus' chambers for a very delicate matter."
Basileus looked Aro up and down. His dark clothes would have hidden much of the blood from human eyes, but from Basileus' eye the back coat did nothing. He would have smelled it anyway. "If you have fought with the masters again I swear I will …"
Aro threw up his hands, begging Basileus to back off. "Felix … he has attacked Turk … I haven't got to the bottom of the situation yet."
Basileus took a moment to process what he'd heard. "Turk is alive?" he eventually asked.
"Just," Aro sighed. "Atia sent me out as Caius has given Turk dungeon blood to ease his suffering, and she thinks your blood will be the best remedy we can offer."
Basileus stormed inside his chambers to collect his cape. He looked furious when he returned moments later.
"This needs to be kept quiet, Dad," Aro insisted.
"Of course it does!" Basileus agreed. "That bloody boy!"
"I know, I know, I'm going to talk to him now," Aro replied, subconsciously looking up the stairs.
Basileus noticed Renata stood silently at the door to the castle hall. "How on earth do you expect it to be kept quiet if you persevere in taking a guard with you everywhere?" he asked Aro in hurried whisperers.
"I trust her," Aro replied. As he had done every single time Basileus had complained about the guard being privy to sensitive information over the last eight months.
It wasn't a row Basileus wanted to have at that moment. "Have you seen Lucius on your travels?" he asked, diverting his own attentions.
"No, is he not with you?"
"He went out a few hours ago. If he returns, keep him with you," Basileus instructed before flashing to the North tower.
Certainly, Aro thought darkly. He wasn't sure how he could pin this fiasco on the boy, but he knew, he just knew that fucking kid was involved somehow.
Sulpicia was already home when Aro returned. She began questioning her mate the moment he came through the door.
"Is Felix in his room?" Aro asked his mate, failing to answer a single question of hers.
"He's in the bath, my love. What on earth has happened?"
"I'm not entirely sure yet," Aro replied, heading to the bathroom. "Renata can tell you what we know so far."
Aro walked in on Felix rampantly scrubbing blood from his skin. Vampiric blood, being thicker than humans, takes some effort to remove.
"A little privacy?" Felix asked, sitting in a tub of bloodied water.
Aro paid no attention to his boy's complaints. "We need to get to the bottom of all this, right now!" he said sternly before cupping the back of Felix's head and invading his memories again.
"How's Turk?" Felix asked warily.
"He should survive," Aro replied, a little absentmindedly as he was busy infiltrating his sons mind.
Felix relaxed a little hearing that. "Thank god!"
Aro released a frustrated growl. There was nothing more in Felix's head than what he had already seen. It was like there were parts of his memories missing. "Tell me what you remember," he demanded.
Sighing, because he didn't want to relive it, Felix did his best to remember why he had been so savage. "I was talking to Turk about something, we were laughing … I can't remember what about. I saw Lucius … and then I asked Turk to let me out the gate. He refused … and so I beat him up." Scum, Felix thought, I am scum.
Aro shook his head. That isn't what happened. Something's missing! "And then you came straight back home?" he asked.
"Yeah." Tears pricked at Felix's eyes again. He didn't think he could cry anymore than he already had but he felt completely overloaded emotionally. "I didn't realise what I was doing to Turk until I tasted his blood."
"You drank his blood?" Aro asked in disgust.
Felix looked away, ashamed. "Just a little bit."
"Fuck, Felix!" Aro bellowed, slapping his boy across his sodden head.
"Ow!"
Aro started pacing around the bathroom. He ended up at the sink, where he rested his hands and leaned into the mirror. As he watched Felix through the reflection, he went over things in his mind.
"Why would you suddenly turn on Turk? And you didn't even go out … which was supposed to be the reason you beat him to a pulp in the first place!" He was thinking aloud more than asking Felix, which was lucky as Felix had no answers his father's questions.
"My head hurts," the boy said softly, cupping a hand to his forehead. "I feel really confused."
Aro scoffed. "It will be more than your head hurting when I have finished with you, boy."
Felix looked over to his father. He had heard that comment. "What's going to happen now? What will the coven say?"
Aro turned to face his boy and leaned into the marble sink behind him. "We will fix up Turk and I will buy his silence," he offered. There's no other option, he thought. Seeing Felix looking a little too relaxed hearing his crimes would be covered up, again, Aro added, "The coven cannot know about this Felix, you must tell no one, understood?"
Felix nodded, solemnly. "Do the masters know?" he asked, wincing at the very idea.
"All except Magnus and Freyr … I will have to tell them."
"No!" Felix felt his throat constrict at the idea of Magnus knowing what he had done. "They will hate me, they will all hate me!" I deserve to be hated, he added to himself. "I'm so sorry. I don't know how this happened."
Aro watched his boy stewing in his own self-loathing. There was something so 'off' about the entire situation. Felix often fucked up, that was nothing new. He wasn't vicious though, even in battle the boy concentrated on just getting the job done. He took little pleasure in killing, even killing enemies. He likes Turk! Why would he do this? There is just no justification for it!
"Magnus is master of the guards … will he want to punish me for this?" Felix asked. His voice sounded so small, so fearful.
Aro sighed. "I don't know."
"Will you let him if he does?"
"I'm not sure yet," Aro answered honestly. "You are grounded, indefinitely," he told his boy, not that it really needed to be said. "If you can't play nicely then you can't play at all."
Felix nodded, he didn't want to go out again, ever! "Will there be anything else?" he asked his father, watching the man closely.
Aro smiled a very sad smile. "You nearly beat a guy to death, Felix, and you can't even offer a reasonable explanation."
Yeah, you're going to belt me, Felix correctly assumed. "I know I deserve much more than being grounded. I was just … I don't even know why I asked. I'm so confused." He went back to holding his aching head.
Deciding his boy couldn't take any more conversation, and it wasn't revealing new information anyway, Aro ruffled Felix's wet hair. "You can't undo your actions by torturing yourself with the memories, son," he said softly. "Finish up in here and go to bed. Some rest will help you."
Felix nodded but he knew there was no way on earth he would be able to sleep that night.
"Renata, my dear, I must ask you to accompany me," Aro called heading straight out the door.
"Aro …" Sulpicia called after him.
"I still don't really know what happened, my queen," Aro admitted, sounding frustrated. "But I will tell you everything when I return. Do not open this door unless you absolutely have to."
When Aro let himself into Marcus' chambers, the stench of burning vampiric flesh assaulted his sense. "How's the patient?" he asked his mother.
Only Atia was present. Aro peered into the fireplace. The remnants of purple smoke indicated that the burning flesh had been there.
"We have put him back together and Caius has sewn him up," Atia said calmly. "Vampires do not require intestines, so we decided to remove them rather than wedge them back in."
"Nice," Aro commented, feeling his stomach heave slightly.
"Marcus has given the poor soul his own bed to rest in," Atia continued.
"Has Turk fed?" Aro asked. "Should I fetch some blood?" He felt like he should do something to help.
"He's fed from me," Basileus announced as he entered, unrolling his sleeves. "His minor injuries have healed already but it will take a good week for him to get over having his innards pulled out!"
Atia sensed her mate was about to erupt into a rant at their son and took over quickly. "Why would Felix do something like this, Aro?"
"I don't know, neither does he," Aro replied, taking a seat with is mother.
Basileus' eyes widened in anger. "That is not a good enough response!"
"I know that," Aro snapped back. "I am trying to get to the bottom of it." Actually, Aro said to himself. "Felix said Lucius was there … perhaps he could offer something to illuminate the situation, as Felix has little memory of his actions."
Basileus wasn't prepared to listen to anymore. "If you are trying to blame that boy again …"
"I am dong no such thing!" Aro argued, flashing to his feet to match his father's stance. "Felix will be kept under lock and key for the foreseeable, but something is amiss, this just isn't like Felix."
"I agree with you, son," Atia broke in, pulling Aro back to move behind her and fixing her mate with a glare that could have frozen the seven seas. "This isn't at all like Felix."
Basileus relented eventually and took a seat to show he was ending his row with Aro.
When Caius and Marcus joined the three of them, Basileus felt a few things needed to be cleared up. "Whilst I am less convinced regarding Felix's actions, I agree enough to know we must keep the whole situation from the guards. I will speak with Magnus and Freyr to bring them up to speed. No one else can know outside of the towers. Agreed?"
He looked to Caius in particular for confirmation that he would stay quiet about what had occurred.
Caius sneered in Aro's direction before he dutifully replied. "Yes, my lord."
"What do you mean 'less convinced'?" Aro asked, ignoring his father's demand for an answer.
"Your boy does have form for wanton acts of destruction. He cannot be contained, Aro," Basileus said knowingly.
Though Marcus looked to his old friend with disappointment, Caius looked to Aro in absolute shock to hear the creator so dismissive of Felix. He may have been pissed off with Felix but he wasn't going anywhere. Caius didn't even think that badly of the boy, truthfully, he just lacked boundaries. Caius lay that issue firmly at Aro's feet.
"My boy?" Aro repeated. "Is he no longer your grandson, then?"
"I didn't say that, did I?!" Basileus snapped. "But Felix broke Lucius' nose without reason a few months ago," he said with a shrug as though that explained everything.
"It was eight months ago, and he has done nothing like that before or since," Aro insisted, imploring Marcus and Caius to agree with him that his eldest was just badly behaved at times rather than a real risk to the coven.
They both did, for that matter.
"Until today," Basileus slipped in, daring Aro to resist.
"Basileus, don't be hasty, my dear," Atia said firmly, and somewhat distressed by her mate's ungenerous attitude towards their eldest grandchild.
Basileus merely waved away his wife's concerns and headed to the door. "I will deal with Felix," he announced to a horrified Aro.
"No, I will," Aro insisted.
Basileus laughed in his son's face. "If you had any intention of doing a decent job of punishing that boy for his disgusting behaviour then it would already have been done!"
You are getting nowhere near my boy in the mood you are in, Aro thought, knowing Basileus would hear him.
Oh, he heard alright! "Are you challenging me?!" Basileus asked.
Aro surveyed his options. They were few, and poor. He may have been talking back a little more freely but he had yet to actually challenge Basileus' status since his submission.
Two years sounds like a long time in human terms, but in vampiric years it was hardly any time at all. Aro knew that most dreaded punishment would still be on the table if he pushed Basileus into it. Realising that forced Aro to back down.
"No, my lord," he answered, eyes to the floor submissively.
Basileus bobbed, happy to see his son show some good sense. He turned to Marcus. "May we leave Turk in your capable hands?
"Of course, my friend," Marcus responded, tossing the bloodied rags into the fire. "Basileus, if you could come back at sunrise to feed Turk again I think it would aid his recovery."
Basileus agreed and turned back to Aro. Lifting his son's face with a rough hand under his chin he addressed his boy sternly. "I will come to your chambers after I have called on Magnus."
…
"Aro, what is going on?!"
Aro didn't waste time explaining to his mate as he rushed through their quarters. "Renata will tell you," he called over his shoulder as he headed to the boys' room.
Sulpicia and Renata were growing annoyed at the way he did that, effectively dismissing them both.
Felix's bed was empty.
"Where's Felix?" he asked Sulpicia, who looked quite bewildered by her mate's frantic state.
"Our room," she replied, brow furrowed and concerned.
Aro slammed the door behind him, giving him and his son some privacy. "Felix, get up."
The poor boy jumped in his parent's bed. Sulpicia had moved him in there after his tossing and turning had woken Demetri. "You told me to sleep!" he complained.
Aro took a deep breath. He knew he was fucking with fire going above his father's head, but he wasn't about to leave his son to the creator's fate. "I know what I told you but Basileus is coming here to see you."
That had Felix sitting up straight. "Why?" He knew why. He didn't need to ask why. He hoped he was wrong.
"Because I didn't punish you."
Felix flinched. "Is he going to …" his voice faltered. It had been quite a while since Basileus had whipped him for anything and the idea of facing him now sent a chill through his dead heart.
Aro nodded. "Get up."
Felix didn't move.
"It's me or him, Felix?!"
You! Felix thought. Definitely you! He disentangled himself from the bedsheets and watched as Aro undid his belt. Oh, fuck, he thought, going to the end of the bed and bending over the footboard.
"Brace yourself, son," Aro said softly, with a hand on his boy's back to keep him steady.
He wrapped his belt across Felix's backside ten times in ultra-quick succession.
Before Felix had registered the first strike, the last had already landed and Aro was pulling him back up. Felix stood gasping and spluttering as he tried to process what had just happened. The pain engulfing his rear seemed to have come from nowhere. He knew Aro had belted him and he understood Aro had gone 'fast and hard' to be kind, but it happened so quickly that it only added to the general feeling of confusion that encompassed Felix's entire evening. So many parts of his memory were missing.
"Bed," Aro instructed simply, pushing his bewildered boy along. He didn't even have time to refasten his belt before Basileus burst in.
Basileus took a moment to read the room as Aro watched him intently. When he saw his father twitching uncontrollably, Aro backed up to the bed with protective arms outstretched to defend Felix. His concern for his son was misplaced - it was Aro who was in danger, not Felix!
"Do you think you will get away with this?" Basileus ground out, glaring at his son.
"You wanted him punished - he has been," Aro answered firmly, returning said glare.
You think you can stand against me, do you? Basileus thought to his son. You think I will stand for that?! I have been too soft on you, too forgiving. And now you have gone too far, my boy. This is exactly what Lucius has been warning me about.
Basileus gripped his cane tightly at one end and pointed the other end on Aro's face. "I am not so cruel to punish the boy again … but you …"
Aro gulped. "What did I do?" he asked, knowing full well what he had done.
Basileus took Aro by the arm and ripped him away from the bed, manoeuvring him into the centre of the room. He cracked his cane against Aro's legs in time with his words: "Don't. You. EVER. Go. Against. Me. Again."
Those blows were savage and though Aro did his best to hide the effects in front of his son, his head exploded with expletives against his father. That saw him suffer another hefty strike and had Aro standing on tiptoes.
"I know you were thinking about that dungeon blood, too!" Basileus sneered, releasing Aro and letting him drop to the floor.
"I can't help what I think," Aro grunted, desperately rubbing at his leg to disperse the pain. "I had no intentions of taking any!"
Basileus' attentions snapped to his grandson crying softly from the bed. "And you!" he roared, getting in Felix's face. "You ripped Turk's guts out, you fucking animal!"
"I know!" he replied through fearful sobs. "I'm so sorry."
Basileus backed up. "That will be a great comfort to Turk, I am sure."
Dragging Aro to his feet, knowing it would hurt more to stand, Basileus growled at his son. "If he leaves your chambers he is at your side. If I find him otherwise I will whip you both." He alternated his menacing glare between Felix and Aro. "Do you hear me?" he demanded an answer from them both.
Felix stuttered his reply. "Y, ye, yes, my lord."
Basileus nodded to the boy before shaking his son. "ARO?!" You will answer me, boy.
Aro had to take a few steadying breaths before he could respond. "I hear you," he said quietly.
Releasing Aro, Basileus moved away. He felt the rising pressure from the vampire within to take his boy to task for his defiance. The twitching started again. Why should I fight it?! Why should I put myself through this torment just so Aro can continue to defy me?!
He looked at Aro, balancing awkwardly on one foot using the bed post to steady himself. Aro should have looked contrite, it would have helped Basileus. But instead, forever his own worst enemy, Aro returned Basileus' glower, furious that he had been disciplined in front of his own son.
Lucius said I needed to maintain my control over you, boy. I resisted, but the child was right! I'm putting you back in your place tonight, my boy.
"You will finish up here and then you come down to me," he announced.
Aro panicked. "Why?!" He knew why. He could see why. Basileus vibrated in rage and Aro knew the look in his eye.
"I think we both know why. This has been a long time coming," Basileus said slyly. He already felt some release from his internal struggle now he had decided to take Aro again.
Aro rushed to his father, stopping him from leaving with a pull on his arm. "But I'm not arguing with you," he complained. You can't do that again, Dad!
Basileus heard Aro's thoughts - they served to compound his own reasoning for reminding his son of the state of play in the hierarchy. "You have defied me …"
Aro cut him off. "But, Dad …"
"Aro!" Basileus roared, shoving Aro so hard that he ended up on the floor. "You don't want me to do it here, do you?!" he asked, gesturing to Felix in the bed.
Aro got himself under control. No matter how much he feared what his father was suggesting, Felix knowing, ANYONE knowing was a greater fear. "No, of course not, my lord," he whispered from the floor.
"Then finish up, and come downstairs," Basileus said, breathing easily. "Don't make me fetch you, boy." With that he left.
Sulpicia peered into her bedchamber through the open door and saw her mate on the floor. The hollow expression he wore spoke a thousand words to Sulpicia and she thought she knew what was going to happen next. Sulpicia assumed Basileus would punish Aro somehow, though her mind never went as far as submission, assuming that would be a one time thing. She was just grateful that Basileus had managed to restrain himself in front of Felix!
"What's his problem?" Felix asked, looking nervously to his father.
He had never seen Aro receiving such a punishment before. Plenty of total smack downs in the heat of a fight. Plenty of those. Especially in the early years. But this was new territory. "What did he mean? Why do you have to go down to him?"
Aro heaved himself up and sat on the bed next to his boy. Oh, son. You have no idea what you are asking, he thought as he absentmindedly rubbed his leg.
"You didn't deserve that, Dad," Felix said, feeling his guilt rising.
Aro sighed. "Neither did you."
"You should have just let him cane me."
Doing his best to put aside his own feelings, Aro smiled sadly at his boy. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine," he lied. "Sleep now."
With a heavy heart, Aro left his son. "Has Renata explained?" he asked his mate, doing his best to keep the fear he felt from his face.
Sulpicia nodded. "I want you to know," she said to Renata, "Felix doesn't usually act this way."
"I know that, my queen," Renata replied. "Lucius has something to do with this, I know he does."
Aro shared her thoughts. If only I could get in his head! Lucius must have put Felix up to this, he must have! "I need to go and see my father," he announced, collecting his cape. He wouldn't usually wear it just to visit his father's chambers but knowing what was about to happen … I may need the coverage if my clothes are torn, he thought.
Gulping down the rising vomit he felt in his throat, he turned to his trusted guard. "My dear …" How the hell do I explain this?! "You may hear something… you might even see something that I would prefer no one ever knows about."
"I could stay in your quarters, Master?" Renata offered sincerely.
"No." Aro shook his head. "I need you to block Lucius still. You have to come with me." Oh good god I am going to be sick! A few deep breaths had him under control again.
"Master, if I may?" Renata requested permission to speak openly seeing her master's distress. "I would never compromise my position, or anyone in your household for the sake of idle gossip. Whatever I hear, I will forget without repeating."
Aro smiled gratefully. "Your loyalty is appreciated, my dear, your absolute silence, even more so." He stressed the 'absolute silence'. The silence was imperative with what was about to happen.
When they passed Eleazar's chambers, Aro considered knocking for his brother and asking for his help in getting him out of Basileus' request.
Request?! Ha! It's not a request. It's a shameful demand and there's no way out of it. Asking my big brother for help … what the hell has become of me?! He picked up the pace and went to the ground floor suite.
"You have brought a friend?" Basileus said slyly seeing Renata accompanying his son. He invited them both inside.
Atia blustered at the door.
It was clear to Aro that his mother knew exactly what was about to take place. He hoped for a brief moment that she would jump in and save him.
"I want to go on record as saying this is entirely unnecessary," she said before leaving Aro to his doom.
Fuck, Aro thought as the last of his hopes headed out the door with his mother.
Lucius remained sitting quietly on the sofa, smiling at Aro.
"He's staying?" Aro asked. That vomit was rising again.
Basileus merely nodded, pulling Aro towards the master bedchamber.
"Please don't do this," Aro begged as he resisted his father's pulling.
"Get in there!" Basileus thundered, shoving Aro inside and slamming the door behind him.
Aro's breathing became erratic. He wasn't about to fight, not like the first time. There was still enough of the submission's magical power to prevent him from fighting. But beg? Oh yes! He would definitely beg! "My lord, can we talk …"
CRACK!
Basileus knocked Aro to the floor with one backhanded swipe. As he towered over his boy, Aro watched Basileus' face contort. There was nothing of his father in the room at that moment - the creator, the ultimate coven leader growled back at him.