AN: Firstly, though I can't reply to you through messages, want to thank the Guest reviewers - taking the time to respond to the postings is very much appreciated. I can see lots of people are reading and I don't expect reviews on any of it, tbh, though it does really help with future story lines to hear what people think. For that reason, Katkls and Nightingale1692, your continued support is hugely motivating.

Right then, 1672 was a shite year, I think we can all agree. So for all those who have stuck with us, this next bunch will be a little lighter, I hope. Although now we are messing about with religious festivals so I apologise in advance if that offends anyone, offence is not my intention. (It may be Aro's, but he's nothing to do with me.)

Unlike the usual chapter sections falling under *year, *month, this bunch of seven chapters will all come under 1674, January, but will show events through the year, if that makes sense? I thought after 'he who shall not be named' we could do with something nicer, so I have a year of parties for you all :)

1674, January - The First Noel (In Volterra)

After the carnage that Lucius had inflicted on the coven, Aro, true to his word, had thrown an epic party for the following Christmas. It was so epic, in fact, that it had begun on Christmas Eve and the coven stayed in party-mode until New Year's Day.

They even had a Christmas feast of human specialities, which was certainly a new one for the vampires of Volterra. Carlisle had bravely requested a Christmas meal, and as it had been so perfectly timed, (both his brothers and father were already drunk) he had not only been granted permission but also been given the task of arranging a Christmas dinner, human style, for the entire coven.

As it was the 27th by then, the townsfolk of Volterra were happy to provide the castle with a meal fit for a king, for which they were handsomely rewarded. The humans had offered to serve the great lords from the castle but they had been politely rejected.

All humans had to leave before the coven could tuck in - mainly because no one was quite sure how they would manage to eat solid foodstuffs. For many of their number, it had been centuries since they had attempted to swallow solid food. It involved a lot of retching, gagging, and much purging, but they made their way through the epicurean banquet. Following their feast, which most of the vampires found surprisingly enjoyable, more drinking, music and merriment followed.

By mid-afternoon on New Year's Day the Volturi coven had truly exhausted themselves. The castle fell into an eerie silence as a good many of the vampires, in various states of inactivity, 'slept' off the effects of over consumption.

Basileus and Atia lay in their bed, dozing restfully as the venom in their bodies went to work eradicating the alcohol in their blood stream. They stayed that way for hours, soaking up the pleasantly foggy feeling of true tiredness. It was such a rare feeling for vampires that it was quite enjoyable when it did occur.

By late evening, Basileus' mock slumber was disturbed by the sound of his three sons bickering in his living room. He was pretty sure he made out Felix and Demetri joining in, too.

A crashing sound brought him to his feet.

Atia glanced up from her pillow and gave her mate a smirk, making no attempt to move, which told Basileus that he would be the one to deal with whatever their sons were arguing over. Basileus shot Atia a slightly irate look, but hurried to the lounge as the crashing continued.

The new west tower had finally reached completion with the turret reaching high above the gatehouse creating an imposing new entrance to the Volterran castle.

Basileus and Atia had their new suite at the top of the west tower where the Volturi sons were all gathered, Eleazar and Carmen took the second floor, and Carlisle the first, overlooking the gates below.

All efforts were now to be concentrated on the south tower remodel to accommodate Aro's grand plans for his private residence, effectively leaving the king and queen, along with their children, homeless.

Eleazar had refused to have Felix and Demetri, point blank refused! He had also objected when Aro tried to place himself in his chambers.

"There is no way I am having you and Sully taint my spare room with your antics!"

A bit of back and forth between the two brothers had occurred, with Aro accusing Eleazar of being a 'prudish twat' and shoving him over Basileus' new writing desk.

That was when Basileus had stepped into the room and, after quickly surveying the damage and the argument that had occurred, had given Aro a roof, before Eleazar gave him a fist.

Eleazar was only too happy to have the twins instead. That left the problem of where to put Felix and Demetri. The pair of them elected to stay with Carlisle, naturally. Carlisle, too, was eager to have his nephews' company.

"No. Just no," Aro barked in response to his sons' request.

Though they both scowled, Felix and Demetri sensibly flopped into the sofa, either side of their grandfather.

"I would rather you were in the guard dorms than with Carlisle!" Aro continued.

"Hey!" Carlisle looked askance to his brother. "So, no supervision is better than my supervision?"

Aro smiled. "Obviously," he stated spitefully before turning to his father. "You know, all of this could be easily sorted, Dad - one of you needs to give up your suite until my tower is habitable."

Eleazar and Carlisle stood firm against Aro's whining. They had been listening to it since the west tower's completion and they were not backing down now.

"Yeah, because you would happily give up your new pad for one of us?!" Eleazar said, shaking his head.

Carlisle felt his confidence bolster knowing Eleazar wouldn't back down. "You will take my new place over my dead body, brother."

Aro squared up to Carlisle. "That can be arranged, little brother!"

Basileus squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to blot out the bickering coming from his sons. He had purposely turned adult humans into vampires - an eternal life of childrearing hadn't appealed to him at all. Listening to his three strapping sons argue now he wondered why he'd bothered. I could have had young ones, at least they would have been cute, endearing even? He could hear in Aro's thoughts that he was ready to thump his little brother and Carlisle was ready to retaliate if he did.

"STOP!" he roared, shaking the sofa where Felix and Demetri cowered away from the formidable creator. "Just shut the hell up!"

Eleazar, Aro, and Carlisle instinctively took a step back as their father came forwards.

"Aro," he growled out to his middle boy, "I am not turfing Carlisle out of his new home - it's the first time he has had his own place since he arrived and he is staying put!"

Aro folded his arms across his chest, huffing like a child and jabbing his elbow into Carlisle preening at his side. "El can move then," he suggested under his breath.

Eleazar scoffed to Aro but quickly turned to check his father's reaction, praying Basileus would support him as he had with Carlisle. He was happy with the reply.

"No, Aro. Eleazar is staying put, too."

With both his brothers now grinning like loons at him, Aro felt every hair on the back of his neck stand on end. If Dad wasn't here I would smash your gurning faces together, pair of pricks!

"Well, 'Dad' is here," Basileus said firmly, responding to his son's vicious thoughts.

Aro's temper flared to his father's veiled threat. "I am the King, you know?" he reminded them all, (as if they could ever forget!) "They are both below me," he added, jabbing an arm out towards his two brothers whilst he ignored their complaints and concentrated on his father. "This whole castle is mine!"

Too far.

Basileus sneered at his son's petulance. "This castle is yours because I let it be yours. Don't get confused, Aro. Out there you are King because I made you King. In here," he gestured around the room, but he clearly meant 'in the family', "you are just one of my sons."

Eleazar couldn't resist reminding his little brother of the hierarchy. "Second son."

Aro glared. First to Eleazar and then to his father for cutting him down a peg or two. "What am I supposed to do about those two, then?!" he asked, glancing to his sons, both enjoying the show, and avoiding replying to Basileus over the 'who's most important' matter.

"You make it sound like we are a problem or something!" Felix muttered indignantly. "You know, a lot of stuff has happened over the last couple of years and it has had nothing to do with either of us."

Basileus looked away in shame. He was still harbouring serious regrets over his behaviour under Lucius' direction, even though he hadn't had any control over what had happened. But still, Lucius had played the creator like a fiddle and his actions during that year had cast a ripple through the entire coven.

The wider body of the guard knew only scant details of who, or what, Lucius really was and the control he'd had over their god. Renata had stayed true to her word … even under ever increasing pressure from her covenmates to spill the beans on all she'd seen through her year in Aro's quarters.

Felix was most grateful of that. Not because of Lucius, or anything that had happened in relation to the boy, but, selfishly, because of all she could say about him if she decided to lift the lid on just how childishly Felix was really treated behind closed doors. His cred would die a death if the guards knew he had to sleep regularly, let alone that he had an enforced bed time!

Like Lucius, Caius was also an issue Basileus was avoiding. The coven master's abrupt desertion during his duty had hung like an elephant in the room every time Basileus and Caius were together, neither broaching the subject. On the one hand Caius felt like he should apologise for leaving his post, particularly the way he had spoken to Basileus at the time, but he just couldn't do it. Caius was true to his word. Always. Many people may have taken issue with his word but, by the gods, he always stuck by it. Basileus knew that, too, so any apology from Caius would have been pointless.

Basileus should have apologised to Caius, in many people's minds. He'd heard Magnus thinking just that every time they were all in the same room and he was left to soak up the animosity through his gift.

In Basileus' mind Magnus hadn't done too badly out of Lucius' visit to the coven. Before Basileus made, what he had intended to be, a heartfelt apology for his actions towards him, and to thank him for saving Alec from further viciousness at his own hand, he checked through Magnus' thoughts. What he found surprised the creator. Magnus didn't want nor need an apology from him, all he wanted was for the creator to treat him better generally, more equally, as he did Freyr and Marcus. Magnus found it ridiculous that he was lumped in with Aro and Caius in the creator's eyes.

It was something that Atia had expressed a wish for, also. She enjoyed Freyr's company as a woman of similar age and mentality and liked the idea of having Magnus and Freyr as a couple they could socialise with together. She thought it would be good for them to have 'friends', and though Basileus relied on Marcus to provide such friendship, Atia was often excluded. Magnus and Freyr could provide a break from family strife and they could both be involved, she thought.

Thinking that it would be easier to elevate Magnus a little in his esteem than it would to have an awkward sit-down discussion with the master over his own conduct, Basileus decided to kill two birds with one stone and had agreed with Atia to join her when she visited the guard masters.

Becoming drinking buddies with the juggernaut was taking the easy way out, Basileus knew that, but he was fragile, his position had been weakened and he needed time to repair the relationships that had been affected by Lucius' interruption to coven life. Annoyingly, because it meant that Atia had been right, he was quite enjoying having another 'friend' in the coven.

Marcus, of course, remained Basileus' closest confidant, and the creator trusted the man's judgement on all matters. It was frustrating to Basileus, then, that on the matter of Caius, Marcus agreed with the thoughts Magnus wasn't ready to verbalise. Marcus had a stronger relationship with Basileus and he had no reason to hold back. If he was saying Basileus was the one who should make the first move with Caius, then Basileus believed him. Something was holding him back and he refused to divulge his true feelings on the matter, not to Marcus, nor Freyr, Magnus, or even Atia. Basileus was left with a mental hangover from Lucius that he just couldn't shift.

Carlisle had been quick to forgive his father, unsurprisingly, as Carlisle was by nature kind and forgiving. Eleazar had nothing to forgive, as he saw it. Aro, though … Aro was using his father's guilt to his own advantage, and even though the creator knew what his son was doing, and that Aro didn't hold any malice towards him for his actions under Lucius' direction, Basileus still couldn't help but let him get away with winding everyone up purposely.

Seeing that his father was mentally torturing himself, Eleazar took Basileus' vacated seat between his nephews. "That's not fair, Felix," he said quietly.

"They have had a good run, though," Carlisle added, "and so have I." He wanted the boys in his suite - mainly as he feared ending up with Aro as a roommate. He will rip my throat out without any witnesses!

Basileus heard his boy's hyperbole and laughed lightly to himself, though he couldn't honestly disagree. He sighed deeply over what he was about to say. Fixing Aro in his sights, Basileus told his son, "Felix and Demetri will stay with Carlisle and Carlisle will be a responsible adult when it comes to his new guardian duties."

Silence.

No one had expected Basileus to allow his grandsons to live with Carlisle during the building works - no one! Aro stuttered and stumbled over his words, trying to formulate a response as he heard his sons congratulating each other and Carlisle about what fun the three 'bachelors' would have.

Eleazar couldn't keep the smile from his face. Aro is going to implode! he thought, delightedly.

Aro got himself together. "No! No, no, no!" he declared. "Carlisle is neither responsible nor an adult! And you two aren't bachelors - you are teenage boys!"

Felix and Demetri found their father blustering as funny as Eleazar did. They knew now that Basileus had stated the living arrangement, Aro couldn't over turn it.

"Dad this is ridiculous!" Aro implored his father to see sense.

Sadly for Aro, Basileus was pissed off with the bickering, and also, still a little drunk - these factors combined meant he was no longer willing to listen to any more complaints and the deal, in his mind, was done.

"Aro, if you don't like it, I suggest you put your efforts into having your opulent new chambers completed as soon as possible. No one is moving out of their quarters to accommodate your choices."

With that he poured himself a goblet of bloodwine and sat Carlisle down to run through some all-important ground rules.

If Basileus thought Aro would take his decree without further complaint, he must have been drunker than he'd realised.

As Felix and Demetri bounced excitedly on either side of Eleazar, Aro scoffed, and began voicing alternative plans as quickly as they formulated in his mind. "I will tell Magnus to move out for a while," he said, eyeballing his sons.

"Like hell you will!" Basileus called back. "NO ONE is leaving their quarters for you, Aro, as I already explained!"

Aro huffed. "Fine. I will have the guest tower completed first and then we can move into that whilst the south chamber is re-modelled." Genius! He congratulated himself.

"No," Basileus said flatly. "We are ready to start the south tower now, and we have hardly begun plans for the east tower."

Aro attempted to object but Basileus cut him off by leaving the table with Carlisle and walking purposefully towards his son. "Anything else you would like to add?" he ground out, inches from Aro's face.

Aro had drank a skinful at the Christmas party, far more than anyone else in fact. If Magnus hadn't called time at the bar, Aro would probably still be there. He had resisted Magnus' call, but after Magnus had explained he wanted to spend time with his own mate for a change, without the guards to worry about, Basileus stepped in and backed Magnus up, ending the celebrations.

Though Aro had held things together pretty well in his inebriated state, the hangover was setting in and Aro found a new wind from the bloodwine in his hand. "This is my coven, I will decide who lives where!"

Eleazar and Carlisle groaned in unison. Aro had been biting back against Basileus increasingly over the last year and, as yet, Basileus hadn't reacted in his usual way. Eleazar counted at least ten times since they had expelled Lucius that Basileus would normally have at least slapped Aro for his conduct, but it went unchecked.

Carlisle, bitterly, had received what he believed to his father's misdirected anger every time Aro had pissed him off. Eleazar, being more reasoned about it all, had explained to Carlisle that he was usually in closer proximity to their father and less adept than Aro at avoiding punishment.

Carlisle didn't believe that, not for a moment. As he watched Basileus let Aro carry on, Carlisle's thoughts turned dark. You would have belted me by now if I had been this resistant and yet Aro will keep pushing and pushing until you …

"Carlisle, shut your mouth!" Basileus called over his shoulder.

"I wasn't even speaking!" he complained in return.

"Well I can hear your thoughts and I don't like them!"

Carlisle caught Aro smirking when Basileus wasn't looking. You smug prick!

Basileus caught it. "What did you call me?" he asked, rounding on his boy.

Carlisle took a few steps backwards. "Nothing!"

"You just called me a smug prick!" Basileus was clearly referring to something in Carlisle's thoughts.

Eleazar shook his head. Idiot! he thought. Why do you bring attention to yourself when Basileus is already pissed off?! It made no sense to Eleazar.

"I called Aro a smug prick, not you!" Carlisle insisted.

Aro offered a hurt expression, but his smirk was barely suppressed. "What have I done to you?"

Basileus didn't give Carlisle time to answer before ordering him to go to his room.

Carlisle looked around the room feeling thoroughly embarrassed at such a childish order. "You can't be serious?" he hissed at his father.

"Do I look like I am playing with you?" Basileus asked with a hand raised ready to swipe. "Ah, ah!" he called, when Carlisle headed to the front door.

"I don't live with you anymore," Carlisle spat. "My room is downstairs."

"You know what I meant," Basileus told him sternly. "Go to my spare room."

Carlisle glared at his father and refused to move. "It's like Lucius is back playing puppeteer."

Eleazar and his nephews gasped at the low blow Carlisle had offered. Aro, however, found it hysterical watching as his little brother constructed his own demise.

No one had mentioned Lucius around Basileus for a good ten months – the two months before that where various coven members had attempted to broach the subject hadn't gone too well, either.

Basileus slapped Carlisle hard enough to crack the skin on his cheek before throwing his son into the spare room. "You will stay in here until I allow you to leave, got it?"

Aro started again as soon as Basileus re-entered the room. "Do you really think he is responsible enough to have his own place?"

"Aro, just stop."

"I'm serious Dad …"

"SO AM I!" Basileus roared. "This is my coven, my castle, and my bloody money paying for your expansions so I will say who goes where - the twins are with El, you are with me, the boys are with Carlisle." He threw on his cape and headed to the door. "God knows that boy needs to grow up - this is his chance," he said, referring to Carlisle.

"It's my kids he will be playing grownup with!" Aro complained.

Both Felix and Demetri sat smirking at their father, winding Aro up further.

Basileus looked at the pair of them. "They could do with maturing a little, too!" he boomed before slamming the door behind him, leaving to seek out Marcus and some sensible conversation.

…

He returned close to midnight. "Are you going to sit here drinking all night?" he asked his sons.

Aro squinted at the clock. "It's not that late, is it?" He couldn't tell the time through his double vision.

Basileus removed the goblet from Aro's hand. "It's time they were in bed," he told his son, pointing at his grandsons.

Demetri was fast asleep already, his head in Aro's lap, and Felix didn't look too far behind his brother, leaning into his father's shoulder.

Basileus took the seat next to Carlisle. "Who said you could leave your room?" he asked, though his tone was kind.

"It isn't my room," Carlisle spat in reply, rubbing his bruised cheek hoping to illicit some regret in his father.

"Leave him be, Dad," Eleazar interjected, quickly coming to his brother's defence. "Everything is fine. They are BOTH behaving themselves."

Aro rolled his eyes being included in Eleazar's appraisal.

"Hmm." Basileus eyed them both for a moment as he checked through their thoughts for any arguments he may have missed. "So long as they are," he said pointedly after finding their later evening free of complaints.

Aro sat bolt upright. "Why do you do that?" he asked. "You dismiss me and Carlisle but you take Eleazar's word as gospel!"

Basileus winked at his eldest boy. "El is reliable, where as you are mischievous and Carlisle is juvenile."

"Mischievous?!" Aro repeated.

"Juvenile?!" Carlisle thought he definitely came off worse. "You make us sound like children."

"You are MY children," Basileus explained, smiling at the complaints coming from his youngest son. He was much more relaxed now Marcus had talked some sense into him.

"We are grown men, thank you very much," Carlisle shot back.

Basileus patted Carlisle's thigh with a condescending smile. "Your insistence on the fact rather detracts from your position, son."

"Are we going to have a Christmas party every year?" Felix asked, distracting everybody before Carlisle could have himself thrown back in solitary.

Aro threw his arm around Felix's shoulders. "I see no reason why not."

Eleazar burst out laughing. "He must be drunk."

Felix saw his chance. "Can we have Christmas presents next year?"

"I'm not that drunk!" Aro scoffed. "My presence is a present."

"That is so cheap!" Felix huffed. "You're getting as tight as Caius."

He would have continued arguing under normal circumstances, but Felix was quite drunk himself and soon settled back into Aro's side.

"I have been speaking with Marcus," Basileus said, clicking at Carlisle to fetch him a top up. "Magnus has reported that some of the guards are unhappy about us adopting Christian religious festivals."

Aro winced, knowing just what his father would say next.

"There are rumblings to include other religious festivities going forward."

Yup! There it is. "Religion is not part of a progressive culture," he stated flatly.

Carlisle scowled. "The humans would disagree with you."

"They are too low on the food chain to count," Aro returned. "I operate a secular establishment."

Basileus shook his head. "You may well do, but religion can be very useful in controlling the masses."

Aro's eyes popped out of his head. "You want to adopt a religion?" he questioned in disbelief.

"I am the closest thing to a God that vampires can get and I walk the earth," Basileus mused. "I think I have good call for wanting some veneration from my creations."

Aro ruffled Felix's hair. "I will sacrifice my eldest son in your honour, if you will do the same," he said to his father, looking at Eleazar.

"Jerk!" El retorted.

"I'll sacrifice my youngest too if you like?" Aro added playfully.

Carlisle glowered at his brother. "What has Alec done wrong?"

"Nothing," Aro replied. "But it's an eye for an eye with you lot, isn't it brother?"

"Demetri is safe, then?" Basileus gestured to the snoozing youth in Aro's lap.

Aro smiled lovingly at his boy before the playful smirk returned to his lips. "You know middle children are so often misunderstood."

"Cute," Eleazar said, rolling his eyes to his brother's display.

Aro got back on topic to put plans for religion in his coven to bed. "Christmas predates Christians so the guards can quit their whining."

"How can you say that?" Carlisle tutted. "Christmas is about Christ."

Basileus shook his head in dismay. "You need to take some history classes with Marcus."

"Good old Constantine kicked off Christmas in 336," Aro explained. "A good three hundred years after your little saviour graced us with his presence. Did all his followers just forget about his birth before a Roman Emperor reminded them of him?"

"Obviously not!" Carlisle spat. "Early Christians celebrated Jesus' birth but they were repressed by Rome and had to do so underground," he said, adding, or something like that, in thought.

"Oh here we go," Aro drawled. "Carlisle's had a drink and he's turning into the 'Good Preacher' again."

"He was a pastor, as you well know!"

Aro did know, he also knew it wound Carlisle up when he purposely got it wrong.

"Aro, don't do this," Eleazar warned, eyeing their father who looked away from his sons in disgust hearing yet another argument come to pass.

"Let him do it!" Carlisle told his eldest brother. "He makes himself sound like an ignorant fool with his vendetta against my religion."

Aro scoffed. "I don't have a vendetta, I just have common sense."

"Well most people believe in a god, Aro, so common sense would say you should, too," Carlisle sneered his reply.

"I did," Aro conceded. "I do not any longer."

"What happened to 'I know my gods are real'?" Carlisle asked. It was the argument Aro usually used against him and Christianity.

"I know they were real, I have seen them in our father's memories," Aro explained. "You have no such proof."

"Perhaps his god is Zeus and he went solo?" Felix added to the conversation, trying to back up his uncle in the boy's traditionally odd way.

Carlisle nodded to his nephew emphatically. From what he knew of Greek gods becoming Roman gods, it didn't sound such a daft idea. Particularly with the barrel full of bloodwine he'd drunk.

Aro burst out laughing seeing Carlisle seriously consider the hypothesis. "But what? He forgot to tell his new worshippers his name?"

Basileus growled at them all and removed himself from their presence, choosing to sit at his writing desk - the furthest point away from them in the room.

Carlisle waited until Basileus was clear before he replied to his brother. "Fuck you, Aro," he whispered.

The playful smile returned to Aro's lips. You are such a child! he thought. "Big words, little brother."

"Aro, leave him be," Eleazar implored more forcefully, reaching out to swipe at his brother.

Aro deftly avoided Eleazar's swing arm and continued to play with Carlisle. "How can your Christian God explain bad things happening to good people, brother?"

"Bad people do bad things, not God," Carlisle returned. "My God isn't a vengeful cunt like yours."

"Excuse me?!" Basileus boomed from across the room. He woke Demetri up with his yelling. "Would you like to say that again?!" he asked, flashing to tower over Carlisle. "You can knock it off, too!" he added to Aro, stifling his laughter with a cushion to his face.

"But your God allows bad things to happen," Aro continued, looking around his father.

"Punishment comes for the sins of humanity," Carlisle replied in a terse tone, thoroughly pissed off with both Aro and his own inability to avoid such confrontations with his dickhead brother.

"So he punishes the innocent?" Aro replied, making it sound like a revelation. "Your God is a sadist, seemingly."

"I have read the stories of your gods, Aro, they were all flawed - what kind of god is flawed?" Carlisle laughed to himself. Hardly gods at all! "My God is perfection."

"Perfection?!" Aro guffawed at such a claim. "Don't make me laugh!"

"Aro I am warning you!" Basileus growled in his son's face.

Aro took to his feet and moved out of his father's reach. "Your God is a sick fuck - according to your Good Book he set up all of this shit and then sat back to watch the fireworks!"

Basileus reached out for his son over the sofa but Aro evaded capture again.

"At best he's an absentee landlord," he called, laughing at Carlisle.

"STOP!" Basileus ordered. He was done. "You are winding him up for fun and you are being purposefully offensive."

Aro shrugged. "And?"

Basileus glowered at Aro. "You need me to explain why it isn't a good thing to offend people?"

"Yes, actually," Aro replied with a curt nod. "It won't hurt him to be offended - no one ever died from being offended."

Basileus sighed. This was exactly what he had Marcus had been discussing - Aro was playing his father by using his guilt to evade punishment and winding everyone up around him.

Aro was like an overgrown child and he needed to be kept in check before the games he played with people to keep himself amused turned sour. They were turning sour with Carlisle because Basileus was trying to avoid an altercation with Aro.

"Aro, I know what you are doing mouthing off at me. You think I won't retaliate because I am still harbouring guilt …"

"You did split my head in two, Dad," Aro said, wincing for full effect as he spoke.

Usually Basileus would have backed off at that point. Not this time. "I know what I did," he barked. "I need no reminder, thank you. I am just about over my shame … so stop pissing me off!"

Aro flicked his tongue over his bottom lip, back and forth as he tried to work out whether to push his father a little further or not.

Basileus heard his boy's wonderings and growled in response.

I think I'll leave it there, Aro thought with a gulp. His fun was definitely over.

"Go home, all of you," Basileus ordered.

Aro scooped Demetri up into his arms in a cradle hold. The boy barely blinked before falling straight back to sleep.

Before they made it to the door, Basileus added, "I will see you in the library tomorrow afternoon and we will discuss coven festivals going forward."

Aro nearly dropped his son! "Wait, are you serious?"

Basileus smiled. "I am indeed. Make sure to include the other masters."

"Fantastic!" Felix bounced from foot to foot in his excitement.

Aro pushed his boy out the door. "I can think of a different word for it," he said, dreading the very idea of bringing more religion into his coven. Carlisle's bad enough, he thought.