AN: I am sorry if these recent chapters are offending anyone… I did warn you they were a little dark (and they get darker yet, to be honest). I am about twenty odd chapters ahead of this one, so I'm not going to go change anything I've already written. BUT, I have checked what I've got done so far and a fair bit of explanation about Basileus and Lucius comes in the chapter 'Valentines Day' (I think that will be chapter 119), though most of it will be cleared up by the end of the Lucius chapters (chapter 113).

So, anyhoo… for those still reading - You know how people say things get worse before they get better? Well, we are still in the 'worse'!

Boys Will Be Boys

Freyr returned from throne room duty to find the guard hall empty, except for Magnus who stood over Corin, sobbing on the floor.

"What's happened?" Freyr asked as she tentatively approached the pair.

Magnus shrugged his shoulders, but looked concerned. He hadn't managed to make much sense of Corin's cries so far, having only just arrived himself.

"Bring her to her dorm, Magnus," Freyr called, holding the door to the stairs open for them both.

"I can't, Freyr," Magnus said quietly. "I can't bend. It hurts too damn much."

He had tried to move her, but the young guard was consumed by her emotions, and Magnus was consumed by his pain. He attempted to ease the girl's suffering with his gift but he was pretty distracted by the hiding he had taken from Basileus earlier that day and he wasn't able to give Corin his best efforts.

Freyr had been as pissed off as all the other masters that Magnus had failed to return to the throne room, but that annoyance turned to concern seeing the wooden way he walked. "What's happened to you?"

Magnus shook his head curtly, feeling shame momentarily flood his body. "We can discuss that later, you will have to carry Corin."

It took some coxing from Freyr, but eventually she managed to lift Corin from the floor and carried her to her dorm where they covered the half-naked girl with a blanket.

She was covered in deep purple bruising - arms, legs, body, face... covered. With a little more coxing, Corin told the masters what had happened to her. Magnus and Freyr were shocked, angry, but most of all shocked.

"Did he force you?" Freyr asked gently.

Corin hugged her blanket. "I don't know."

"Corin, you consented or you didn't," Magnus said with a little more force than necessary. He was soaking up Freyr's anger on top of his own.

"I'm not going to lie, I could have used a bit of a warm up," Corin explained.

Magnus looked to Freyr, seemingly both thinking the same thing - that was very much NOT something Corin would say. "So he forced you?" Magnus pushed.

"There's a word for that," Freyr said quietly. Rapist bastard!

"It's not his fault," Corin called out in her rapist's defence. "It's not. Boys will be boys, after all - whatever their station."

Whatever their station? Freyr repeated to herself, hoping that it didn't mean what she thought it could mean. "Who did this, Corin?"

"I told you already, I don't know!" Corin insisted. She was confused, and so tired. Her eyelids felt heavy, like she could actually sleep. "I did lead him on, Master," she said hazily. "He's a nice kid, I like him."

"Corin, you aren't making sense, my dear," Freyr said softly, covering a little more of the young woman's bruised frame with the woollen shroud.

Magnus wasn't feeling quite as gentle as his mate. "There's a rapist guard walking around our coven …"

Corin looked up to the juggernaut. "It wasn't a guard."

"But you said you didn't know who it was?" Freyr pushed. If it had to be anyone from their coven she would rather it was a guard. A guard we can get rid of, she thought. This will be a tricky situation to deal with if it's not a guard.

"I'm so tired," Corin moaned, eyes closing as she spoke.

How can she be sleeping?! Magnus felt nervous - not great on top of the anger, concern and pain he already felt. "We will back you, Corin. ALL the masters will back you. You know that, yes?"

"I don't think Master Aro would back me, Master. He doesn't believe men and women are equal."

Corin's nonsensical response suggested to Magnus that Aro could be the culprit. Surely not?

"Aro has officially backed the changes making men and women equal in the guard. And even without that, he would NEVER sanction rape in the coven!" Freyr insisted, her tone sounding much surer than she truly felt.

"Experience would say otherwise, Master." Corin's closed eyes leaked with tears. "I don't want to take it any further," she said dreamily. "I'm so tired."

And just like that, she was out.

Neither Magnus nor Freyr had ever seen a vampire sleep before. Not an adult one. They backed out of the room feeling very uneasy, both wondering if their co-master could be to blame.

…

Aro strode into the masters' office with Renata following close behind. "Magnus, I need to talk to you …"

Magnus steeled himself for the conversation that was to come. "I need to talk to you, too," he said. "Renata, wait in the guard hall." Closing the doors behind her, he sealed them in.

Though Magnus had been in the throne room that morning, he and Aro hadn't had time to talk before visitors started piling in. Aro knew he was due a round of hell from his co-master over Felix's actions but he didn't have time to discuss that now.

"If this is about what Felix did to Turk, you need to know that it was a totally freak occurrence which will never be repeated and Felix is …"

"I don't want to talk about that," Magnus said quietly, leading Aro to his desk. "I have just discovered that a guard has been raped."

That took Aro by surprise. "If this is one of the mated couples I'm not getting involved with that."

"No. Not one of the couples," Magnus said. He was watching Aro intently, reading his emotional response to the conversation. Magnus was like a walking talking lie detector. "I was wondering if it was you," he said carefully.

"Me?!" Aro asked aghast. "What the fuck?!"

Magnus breathed a sigh of relief. He could tell Aro was being honest with him. "If it wasn't you, I'm not sure who it was."

"When did this happen?" Aro asked.

"In the middle of the guard hall this afternoon, which apparently was completely empty at the time."

"It's never empty." Aro peered into the guard hall, full of life, as it usually was.

"That's part of my issue," Magnus said, seeing the same sight. No one seemed to be concerned by Corin's absence either, which added to his uneasy feeling.

"Where were you?" Aro asked his co-master.

Magnus stood stiffly at his desk. "I was on lockdown in my chambers waiting for your old man to come and cane me for objecting to his harsh treatment of Alec."

So you did object … that's good to know, Aro thought. "Alec is why I sought you out. May I see what you saw, my friend."

Magnus offered his hand and Aro travelled back through the master's memories to witness, first-hand, the beating Alec took from the creator. Seeing it in happening in front of him was sickening. And there was something about the way Basileus moved, like a puppet or something.

"And then he beat you, too?" Aro asked, referring to his father. "Are you serious, Magnus?!" It was incomprehensible that Basileus would do that, but he had just seen it with his own eyes.

"Yes," Magnus said firmly. "Deadly. I am not standing at my desk for fun." Huffing at the humiliation, the indignity, let alone the pain he was still suffering. "He threatened to take my job and throw me back in the guard."

Aro shook his head. "That will never happen, Magnus. Basileus has said so himself on many occasions."

"He sounded pretty convincing this time, Aro," Magnus said sternly. He made the mistake of mimicking Aro's actions and leaning his ass against the desk. The contact soon had him standing back up straight again. If their situation weren't so grave, Aro might have laughed at that.

"Which guard was it?" Aro asked. "Who is claiming to have been raped?"

"Corin, and it's not a claim, Aro. It happened." Magnus thought back to how he found the girl; clothing in tatters, black and blue, and there was definitely cum on his guard hall floor. "I saw the evidence of the event."

Aro's head fell into his hands. "Oh God, not her."

"What's wrong with Corin?" Magnus asked. He'd never had a complaint about the girl.

"Nothing, nothing, she's a sweet girl," Aro hurried to say. A sweet girl who has hidden my crime of the same nature, he thought, thinking back to his dungeon blood binge. "Is she raising an official complaint?"

Magnus shook his head sadly. "I asked if he, whoever he was, forced her, she said, and I quote, 'I'm not going to lie, I could have used a bit of a warm up'."

"Corin said that?!" Aro exclaimed. He had never heard her speak in such a way.

"She seems to think this is an expected action from the guys in our coven, Aro," Magnus said, reading his co-master's emotions again. "She said, 'boys will be boys, after all, whatever their station.' Sick, huh?!"

"I can honestly say it has turned my stomach." Aro heaved. "Why does she not want to raise this? Does she know we would back her?"

"Freyr made it clear we would back her and that rape would never be sanctioned within our walls." Magnus eyeballed Aro for a moment. "But when it comes to you, Corin said 'experience would say otherwise'. I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means?"

"No, of course not," Aro insisted. "I have never sanctioned rape."

"Aro?" Magnus questioned. His reading of the man would say otherwise.

"I haven't," Aro said forcefully, moving away from Magnus' powers.

"Corin feels it's her fault for leading them on … though she failed to give a single example," Magnus continued. He wasn't sure whether Aro was confusing submission with rape in his emotional response, but he was sure Aro hadn't been the one to rape Corin. "I have never seen Corin even flirt with anyone other than Felix!"

"How can she possibly not remember who it was, Magnus?" Aro asked.

"All she could say was that it wasn't a guard, and that she liked the kid."

Magnus watched his guards as they socialised, wondering if Corin could have been wrong. But who in there would she refer to as a nice kid?

"She liked the kid …" Aro repeated. Those bloody words! "Tell me exactly what she said."

"He's a nice kid, I like him," Magnus repeated Corin's words.

"It was Lucius," Aro growled. "Don't ask how I know, but trust me, it was Lucius."

Magnus watched his co-master, reading his emotions. He wasn't sure what he had said to convince Aro of Lucius' guilt, but he could tell Aro really believed it. "I do trust you," Magnus eventually sighed. "What are we going to do about that kid, Aro?"

"I don't know yet, Magnus." Aro took to wandering around the masters' office. "The creator believes he's his long-lost love child and is seriously out of character."

"I can attest to that!" Magnus huffed, rubbing at the base of his back which still stung like a bitch.

"I am going to talk to Marcus," Aro announced. "He knows my father in a way I do not."

"They are friends, equals," Magnus sneered. He had nothing against Marcus, nor Basileus, usually. After all his efforts to assert himself in the coven and show the creator he was a man of his years, he had ended up taking the sort of beating only a guard would get, and it pissed him off.

"Bitter?" Aro asked with a smile creeping onto his lips.

"After the caning I have just taken I am more than bitter, Aro." Marcus would never have to submit to such an indignity!

"Didn't you resist?" Aro asked. Not that he would have, either.

Magnus looked wearily to Aro. "Despite what your old man thinks, I'm not young enough to be that stupid."

Aro laughed humourlessly before returning to the matter at hand. "We are agreed Lucius needs to go?"

Magnus shrugged. "I like him, He's a good kid."

"Why did you say that?" Aro asked, wide eyed and shocked. "He's just raped one of our guards!"

"I don't know, I know," Magnus said, feeling confused. "Fuck, my head hurts!"

…

Aro was so stressed by the time he reached Marcus' chambers that he didn't even knock on the door, he burst right through it! Renata waited at the door, more hesitant than her master.

"Are you here to see the patient?" Marcus asked, coming into the main living area from the bedroom where Turk lay in recovery.

"Oh!" Aro had forgotten about Turk. "I trust he is recovering as we would expect?" he asked, feigning concern.

"He is, your father fed him again this morning. A few more feeds should see him right," Marcus explained, pouring them both a drink. "We will need to agree upon a cover story with Turk when he wakes fully."

Aro nodded his agreement. "I have come on another matter that needs your attention, brother."

Marcus took a seat and invited Aro to join him.

"Marcus," Aro started awkwardly. "Do you know a way to keep your thoughts from my father?"

"Of course not, Aro," Marcus said, wearing a quiet smile. "You know how your father's gift works. If he knows of a conversation to look for, he will find it." With raised eyebrows, Marcus waited for Aro to catch up to his thinking.

"Aha." He got it, talk discreetly. "I need to confess something to you in an effort to work out what's going on with Lu … the newest recruit."

"I understand," Marcus said, knowing Aro was talking about Lucius. Marcus hadn't had cause to have much dealing with the boy, but he knew Aro disliked him from Basileus' complaints.

"It's a particularly shameful secret of mine," Aro continued.

"You are worrying me Aro."

Aro sighed deeply into his cup before he began. "Today, Magnus has reported that said recruit has raped a guard. Well he hasn't. But I know it was Lu …" Aro stopped himself just in time. "It was the new recruit. The guard does not want to come forwarded as they rather misguidedly believe they led the recruit on in some way."

Aro checked Marcus' reaction, he seemed to be following. "This is a guard that would never, has never and could never do such a thing."

Marcus stopped Aro. "I'm not sure how this fits together with a shameful secret of yours?"

"I cannot take this complaint to my father to use against the recruit," Aro said, somewhat confusingly.

"Why not?" Marcus pushed.

"Because I did the same thing to the same guard."

Marcus' brow furrowed and he looked sternly down his nose to Aro. "Are we talking that vile practice you are Caius have finally put behind you?"

"No," Aro said in shame. "That would make more sense.

"Was this when you were on …" Marcus didn't need to say dungeon blood, they both knew what he was asking.

"Yes," Aro admitted. He waited for a response, but nothing came. "You aren't saying anything," he prompted.

"I am rather disappointed, Aro." Marcus looked his co-master up and down. "Disappointed and disgusted, to be blunt. What do you want me to say?"

Aro had expected the disapproval, but damn it was still a punch in the guts to receive it. "Do you think that the recruit knew about my secret and chose that guard knowing I couldn't raise it with my father?" he asked, getting back on track.

"I suppose it is possible," Marcus mused. "Who knew about your … activities?"

Aro thought about it. He didn't believe Basileus knew. He would have raised it if he did, he reasoned. "Caius, Felix, and Corin," he replied.

"That's all?" Marcus asked. "I can't imagine any of them would have offered the information so how do you propose that the recruit would have known you raped one of our guards?"

The emphasis on 'raped one of our guards' cut through Aro. He didn't often think of his dungeon blood blips, they were wholly shameful and painful, but hearing Marcus say it so plainly, hurt. Aro took a steadying breath to continue. "I believe the recruit is getting inside people's heads, Marcus."

"Oh really, Aro!" Marcus clearly didn't believe such a thing.

"I don't know how … and I have no proof," Aro continued. "This is the first thing close to proof and I can't use it.

"Surely your father would believe you over the recruit," Marcus gestured.

"The opposite is proving true at the moment and he is acting rather strange, erratic even." Aro could see Marcus was struggling to believe him about Basileus. "He caned Alec and Magnus today."

"What?" Marcus exclaimed. "No!"

"He broke Alec's leg, Marcus. Without a shred of remorse."

Marcus stayed perfectly still as he thought on Aro's words. He had seen no evidence of the creator behaving in such a worrying way. But he did believe Aro. You wouldn't have told me such a shameful secret if you didn't believe you were onto something, he thought, looking at his co-master. "IF you are right about the recruit, IF, it appears he is maliciously motivated towards you, Aro."

"And my kids!" Aro added. That's what concerned him the most.

"Hmmm." Marcus had to agree. "He could possess a banned gift."

Aro's head shot up. He hadn't considered that. All this time he had been focusing on Lucius' persuasiveness, but it could be much more than that! "What do you think of him, Marcus?"

"He's a nice kid, I like him."

Aro dropped his cup and flashed to the door. "I need to go," he said, in shaky breaths. "I will come back when I have more information."

…

Aro walked the grounds of his castle for a while before heading back to the guard hall where he spent the remainder of the evening watching Lucius interact with the guards, keeping Renata close at hand with her shield up. He didn't speak, even when Magnus had tried to speak to him, he remained at his post, watching through the masters' office into the guard hall.

Marcus is right, he has a banned gift. That's the only thing that would explain the things that have happened around here. But how the hell am I going to prove it? If it weren't for his father's attachment to the little bastard, Aro would have just killed Lucius and suffered the consequences. But what if his persuasion lasts after his death? What then? Basileus would never forgive me. I have to find proof!

"Aro!" Marcus called strolling over to his co-master. "I need to tell you that you are right, and good luck, but I can't remember for the life of me why."

Aro spun around. "What did you just say?"

Marcus smiled, but his eyes were blank. That wasn't a particularly unusual state for Marcus, but this was more than normal. "You are right, and good luck."

Aro stopped breathing. He looked back to Lucius through the masters' office window to see the boy watching him right back with a menacing grin.

"Oh, and my opium is missing from my stores, I really hope it wasn't Felix again," Marcus said, getting Aro's attention.

"What about Carlisle," Aro asked. They had both been involved in the opium theft some years previous.

"It wouldn't be Carlisle, it's Felix, I am sure of it," Marcus stated confidently.

"WHY are you sure." Aro pushed.

Marcus looked puzzled. "I can't remember, Aro," he said, drifting away again.

…

Aro and Renata rushed back to the south tower. "Is anyone else in here?" Aro asked, hand clasped on the key in his door.

"No, my love. Why?" Sulpicia had never seen her mate so frantic.

"The kids?" Aro rushed. "Are they all here?"

Sulpicia gestured to Felix and Demetri sat in front of him. "The twins are asleep already."

Aro nodded, and turned the key, locking and bolting the door to seal them safe inside. "We are on lockdown," he announced, flashing to the windows and locking them, too.

"What's happened?" Sulpicia asked, following her mate around their home as he locked out the outside world. "Has there been a breech?"

"No, nothing like that," Aro replied, checking on his young ones. They were safe sleeping in their beds. He locked their windows and returned to the living room, leaving their door ajar so he would hear if anything entered their room.

"Lucius …" he started, only to be cut off by his mate's laughter.

"For God's sake Aro, good luck," she said.

"Why did you say that?" Aro asked, stepping away from his mate. "Good luck!" he repeated. "Why would you say that?"

Sulpicia squinted, as if she were trying to see something not quite there. "I can't remember," she said hazily.

Aro growled. "We. Are. On. Lock. Down," he roared.

Felix and Demetri both flinched hearing their father so angry, particularly as they couldn't understand his annoyance.

"Okay, my love, okay," Sulpicia said, placating Aro.

"What did I do wrong?" Felix asked. He could think of plenty of things he had done, but he was sure Aro didn't know about them, and if he did, they shouldn't illicit such a strong reaction.

"Nothing," Aro said, rushing to his sons and checking them over for harm. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see, but they were perfectly well unharmed. "This isn't because any of you have done wrong. This is because it isn't safe out there."

Sulpicia reached out for her mate, trying to calm him. "Aro why don't you go for a lie down?"

"I need to think," he said, ignoring her suggestion.

"What is wrong with you?" Demetri asked, backing up into Felix, hoping for his protection should their father attempt to strike.

"Are you on dungeon blood again?" Felix asked warily.

The only time Aro was ever that erratic was when he was on a high. Normal Aro was far too controlled, far too calculated for flitting around their quarters talking to himself.

"NO!" Aro barked in response. He didn't mean to shout. He was just so damn panicked!

"You seem really angry," Felix said tentatively, leaving the sofa and moving slowly to the door. "Maybe I should fetch Basileus."

"You aren't going anywhere!" Aro flashed in front of his son. "Certainly not to him, not to them," he rambled. "I can't keep you safe out there."

"Safe from what?" Felix asked, thinking his father had officially lost the plot.

"An evil force," Aro muttered, pacing at high speed near the door to keep Felix in, to keep him safe.

"Evil?!" Sulpicia repeated. "You don't believe in such things!"

"I have found something that fits the bill," Aro growled, thinking of how that little bastard was playing his covenmates like a puppet master.

"What is it?" Felix asked, standing protectively in front of his mother.

"I can't tell you." Aro continued to mutter indistinctly.

Sulpicia watched her mate blur around their living chamber, checking and rechecking all the locks. "What the hell is going on with you, Aro?"