It's a long, dead life!

by BDE

We join the Volturi in 1663 when Carlisle was turned for his long, dead life and family drama. Aro, Caius, and Marcus are trying to rule the world. Felix, Demetri, Jane and Alec are creating havoc as child vampires and the Denali sisters soon join them. Mature scenes - Corporal Punishment (spanking/discipline) and offensive things, but its the Volturi, so what do you expect?

132. The Start of a Very Long Day

THE START OF A VERY LONG DAY

Basileus peeked into the guard hall. "It's dead in there!"

"Tell me about it," Magnus complained with his head flat on the desk. He didn't even move to greet Basileus.

There was only he and Odi in the masters' office, though Odi looked bored rigid with the juggernaut in his current state for company.

The ball had only lasted a day, less than a day, and Freyr had closed the hall early that night. To make up for the free booze the guards had missed out on, the guard hall had been open from first light until last light the day after, and some idiot, Magnus, had suggested letting the guards drink as much as they could during those hours.

He'd given the challenge a good go himself and he was suffering the effects from joining the younger men in their game. I'm too old for this shit, he thought, stretching out his aching back as he wondered if a vampire could get alcohol poisoning. He could well remember telling his liver to 'man up' as he knocked back the pints. Far too old! It had all been in an effort to release some tension in the guard, and the challenge had served its purpose on that score, but it also had a negative effect - every single guard had drunk their fill, so now no one would be buying anything for a week at least.

"It's bad for my takings when that bar is empty."

Basileus chuckled at Magnus' ire. He pulled a free chair over to the desk where Magnus and Odi sat and began searching through the young guard's memories.

"What have you done this time, Odi?" he asked knowingly. Odi was what Basileus thought of as a 'frequent offender'. Never anything too extreme, but he certainly kept Magnus on his toes.

"Nothing," Magnus answered quickly. The stern eye he gave the guard would signify it was anything but nothing.

Odi saw his chance. Magnus always kept him from harm – he had done so since they arrived in the coven. Well … not from harm so much as Odi faced Magnus with a depressingly painful regularity. But Magnus kept most matters between the two of them without involving the other masters.

"Should I catch up with Turk now, master?" he asked. Odi tried hard to make his request sound casual, usual even, but his goofy grin betrayed him.

Magnus gave him the side eye treatment until Odi changed tact.

"Perhaps I should go to my dorm, master?"

With a mere nod from Magnus, Odi was gone and Basileus was laughing again.

Magnus chuckled, too. "That kid gives me as much trouble as Felix gives Aro!"

"Speaking of your precious guards," Basileus started, "do you expect the guard hall to be busy tomorrow?"

Magnus shook his head. "I doubt it, they aren't daft - they drank their fill on my florin, so they won't have to spend their own for a while."

"Good, good."

"It's not good for my takings!" Magnus repeated, wincing at how loud he had been. Hangovers are the real killers.

He was less bothered about the takings and more bothered about the grief Freyr was giving him for opening the bar and covering the bill rather than putting it through coven accounts. Magnus had expected Aro would cover it, as was customary for the tribune balls, or oven parties generally, for that matter. But since Basileus' declaration of Magnus being his bosom buddy with no master to speak of, Aro had the hump with the juggernaut and had told him to pay the bill himself.

Basileus had already traipsed through Magnus' mind and come across the request he had made of Aro for the guards' bar bill. Magnus had been perfectly polite, Aro had not.

"Aro will sort the bill," Basileus said with certainty.

"Just leave it, it's fine," Magnus lied. "I should have checked first."

"You need to stand up to him more." Basileus thought about how Marcus would have dealt with a pissy Aro and though he wouldn't have kicked up a fuss, he certainly wouldn't have stood for Aro's shit either. Basileus was pushing for Magnus to take a similar stand. "I'll be having a word with him when I get chance. I'm the one who changed the order of things, so if he has any complaints he can come to me with them, not you."

Magnus wasn't sure how he felt about being pulled even higher than he already was. He was perfectly happy being Basileus' drinking buddy, and could only see the stress in making things any more concrete than that. And what will we be making concrete anyway? he wondered. Official friends?

Basileus heard. 'Official friends' made him smile. "I need your assistance," he said, getting down to business. "Eleazar has convinced the girls to join us for a family day and I need you to help relax them a little. It will help to have a bit of an audience, too. My family are much more pleasant when they're not fully relaxed, so I need yours there."

Yours? Magnus repeated to himself. My what? "How are the girls settling in?" he asked.

"They aren't," Basileus said sadly. "That's the problem."

"They are grieving," Magnus reminded him. "It's only been a couple of days."

Basileus nodded. "I know, but if you could use your gift to give them a break from their grief, I think it would give Eleazar and Carmen a break from the drama."

"Are they struggling?"

"Carmen is happy, from what Atia tells me," Basileus said brightly. He was truly happy that someone had found happiness in the tragic event, even more so that it was his own daughter-in-law. "But Eleazar doesn't like having to do anything, so yes, massively struggling." Basileus stood and put his chair back. Looking out the window, he could see they still had a few hours of night time left. "Come as soon as it's light out. It's bound to be a long day, unfortunately, but I want to throw the whole elite at this, for appearances ... if nothing else."

Magnus sighed. "So I need to convince Caius and Dora?"

"I already told you to bring your lot." Basileus gave Magnus a look like he was simple or something. "Will it be a problem?"

Oh! You meant my 'family'? That's a bit of a stretch. "No problem," he replied quickly. "Well, maybe for Caius and Dora, but they will be there."

Basileus started walking out the office. "Now I just need to convince Marcus so he can read their bonds," he called behind him as he left.

"But why do we have to come?!" Dora flopped into her chair, scowling at the news of having her day planned for her.

Freyr took the seat next to Dora and smiled encouragingly. "Those girls will need welcoming into the coven after having their mother die at our hands," she explained.

"Basileus wants me to help with their emotions … " Magnus added, only to be quickly cut off by Dora.

"I get why you need to be there," she huffed, dragging a hand down her face. "Why do we need to be there?" Or, more specifically, she thought, why do I need to go?!

Magnus rolled his eyes to the heavens. You can argue as much as you like, but I bet you still come. "I thought you women had sorted your strife," he threw out, off the cuff.

"You women?" Freyr repeated, raising her eyebrows to her mate. "Like we are a side species?"

Caius strolled through from the hallway, half dressed, still doing up his britches as he walked. "More of a sub-species."

Freyr reached over the back of the chair and managed to catch him with a smack to the back of his legs as he passed. "Cheeky!"

"We have, kind of," Dora eventually replied to Magnus, though she was more thinking aloud. "Sulpicia and Carmen are being perfectly nice to me, which is more than I deserve. They don't like me, though. There's too much water under the bridge." She turned to Freyr in the hope for more understanding. "It's just going to be awkward for everyone if I'm there."

"Maybe," Freyr tentatively agreed.

"But it always will be if you refuse to engage," Magnus added. "You have been invited, so you're coming."

Dora ignored Magnus completely, hoping Freyr would be offering a way out. Alas, no such offer came. "It's a social convention, dear. Non-optional."

"Why?!" Dora threw her head back to rest on the chair and glared at the ceiling.

"Because I said so," Magnus replied.

Tilting her head ever so slightly so she could see Magnus, Dora thought, bossy old fucker!

Freyr stroked the woman's arm kindly. She knew Dora's resistance was down to fearing the rejection of her covenmates. Dora would rather live her days completely alone than put herself at risk in such a way. "My darling," Freyr said softly, "always go with the choice that scares you the most - that's the one that will help you grow."

Dora might have left it there with Freyr's kind words had she not caught Caius' smirk. Cock, she thought. "Then maybe," she said, as though she were following Freyr's final comment, "we should stay home and face Magnus' wrath - that scares Caius the most."

"Shut up does he scare me!" Caius snapped, squaring his shoulders. "I think fucking not!"

Magnus flicked his hand out and clipped Caius around the ear for his mouth, before strolling over to Dora. He pulled her up from her seat and lead her to the door. "It should scare you, too, lady," he whispered, directing them all out and to the south tower.

Magnus and his … whatever they were ... arrived before anyone else, and to begin with the very thing Dora had dreaded was to be her reality - Sulpicia for company. Atia and Freyr sat with Sulpicia and Dora, just to get them started in conversation with each other. When it was clear that neither of them had much to say to the other, and Atia and Freyr were doing all the talking, the elder pair left them alone. The hope was that throwing them in the deep end together would spark some chatter.

"So," Sulpicia said nervously, "have you spent any time with the Denali girls before now?"

"I've heard them, that's been enough."

Dora had replied in her trademark tone, snide and unforgiving, but with reference to the Denali girls, Sulpicia didn't necessarily disagree.

Dora continued, "Irina is the most abrasive brat I have ever met, and I am married to Caius."

"Dora!" Sully exclaimed, before bursting out laughing

"Hey," Magnus clicked his fingers at Dora and pulled her in close, so the nearby children wouldn't hear. "That may be true … "

"And funny!" Sulpicia added quickly.

"But, it is not helpful," Magnus finished. "Don't roll your eyes at me, either."

Not a great start to the very long day, but at least the coven ladies were speaking.

Atia was quick to turn on Basileus when Magnus returned. "I would just like to point out that not only is Magnus expertly managing Caius," she noted, "he is also willing to engage with Athenodora when required."

"Where is this going?" Basileus asked. As if I don't already know!

Atia put one hand on her hip as she continued. "You actively avoid saying a thing to Sulpicia or Carmen … "

"I speak to them often."

"You know what I mean, Basileus," Atia admonished, reducing her mate to a child state. "Don't play the fool, it is most unbecoming in a man of your stature."

"Why is it always the men that have to be the bad guy?" Basileus asked. "Why don't you and Freyr step up and make yourselves unpopular?"

"We do, often!" Freyr added on their behalf. "We just aren't so crude to make our admonishments public like our male counterparts."

Basileus rolled his eyes at the juggernaut. He had no hope of winning against Atia or Freyr, especially not when they were together. All he could do was sell his buddy down the river. "So, Magnus isn't so great after all?"

"Perhaps not," Atia mused. "But he's better than you."

Basileus gave up. "Can you hear the grief I'm getting because of you?" he shot to Magnus.

"Hear it?" Magnus repeated. "I like to repeat it to myself on cold nights."

Basileus went quiet for a moment as he listened to the halls. He could hear Eleazar's thoughts, they were close. "They're coming," he said, filled with apprehension.

Atia joined Sulpicia at the door to welcome them all inside. "Welcome, my dear ones," she said. Amazingly warm for Atia who had a much more no-nonsense approach to emotional matters as a rule.

"I'm sorry we're late," Carmen told her mother-in-law, ushering the girls inside.

"I'm not," Irina added. "I didn't want to come."

Hmmm, Dora thought from across the room. Kindred spirit!

"Irina, please!" Carmen hissed over her shoulder.

Kate and Tanya were happy to be there, or at least they seemed to be happy. Only two days after losing their mother and finding themselves in a very strange situation and they were doing remarkedly well. Irina, however, had a heart full of black bile and she was directing it at the Volturi as a whole.

"What's the point of this?" Irina snapped. "We already know the coven … "

"Aha," Basileus said, flashing to the girl's side. "This isn't about meeting the coven. As you say, you already know them. This, my dear," he said, putting an arm around the older girl, "is about welcoming you into our family, which is altogether a different thing."

Irina was not impressed and deftly avoided Basileus' hold, moving away and giving him the dead eye as she looked the man up and down.

Felix, Demetri and Jane sat in shock at seeing someone behave so disrespectfully towards the creator. They were even more surprised when Basileus let it go with a sad sigh.

Irina was one angry young lady, he understood that after what she had been through, and, out of respect for her dead mother, Basileus intended on giving her time to come to terms with her new life. He had instructed everyone else to do likewise.

"Would you like someone to show you around?" Sulpicia asked the girls as she collected their cloaks.

Irina shook her head and pulled her sisters in close before they could agree. "I have been here before, I know where everything is."

Sulpicia knew they had been to Volterra, that wasn't what she had meant. "I meant the south tower … "

Irina licked her lips and blew Felix a kiss. "I have been here before, too, haven't I, Felix?"

Felix dug himself into the sofa as his mother's gaze fell upon him. Oh fuck. Kill me now!

Having mortified the boy in front of everyone, Irina started walking around the lower floor chamber like she owned the place. "I thought all your parties involved getting wasted?"

Aro perched on the edge of his desk with Caius. He flicked the lid off a small wooden trunk and revealed the weed within. "Welcome to my personal stash, Irina. Feel free to indulge, if it will help?"

Irina took the pipe Aro offered without even giving him the respect to look him in the eye. "I will indulge. My mother helped pay for it, after all. In so many ways."

Aro snapped the lid closed a little harder than necessary "Won't this be fun," he told Caius.

Caius closed his eyes and shook his head, blaming Magnus for dragging them into the Volturi family bullshit. The only saving grace was that Aro had the whiskey out for the occasion. Caius started drinking it down greedily, like a man at a mirage in the desert.

With all the women gathered together at one end of the room, all the men around Aro's desk on the other, and Felix, Demetri and Jane sitting with Tanya and Kate (that pissed Irina off, her sisters were already turning against her, as she saw it) Irina took a seat near Dora.

"So, what is this?" she asked. "An intervention or something?"

Dora sighed and looked between Magnus, Freyr and Caius - all three had been insistent she attend and all three had also abandoned her. "Not just for you," she replied.

A smile grew across Irina's face. She'd never spoken to Dora before, though she knew the woman was Caius' mate, but that was all she knew. The simple reply she had offered, however, was enough for Irina to take a punt on Dora. She took a drag from the hash pipe and passed it to over. "I didn't realise you were in Volterra unwillingly, too?"

"I live in the coven willingly," Dora said quietly, taking a drag for herself. "Socialising, less so."

"Yeah, people …" Irina scanned the room with her eyes. "I'm not a big fan."

Eleazar knocked back his whiskey in one, his forehead was damp, his hair a mess from constantly running his hands through it. He looked a mess.

"Steady on, son," Basileus told him. "No one's going to take if off you!"

"How are you finding them, El?" Magnus sensed the turmoil the man was in. Managing the emotions today is going to be a tall order!

"Hell." Eleazar rolled his empty glass between his hands in agitation. "It's hell. I am literally living in hell," he hissed. "Kate and Tanya are okay, they're grieving but they are pleasant. The older one … I could happily wring her damn neck."

Watching his son squeezing the glass tighter and tighter, Basileus took it from him. "Let's just top that up, shall we?"

"Every word that leaves her mouth drips with spite," Eleazar continued, still on Irina.

"It's only been a couple of days," Magnus said as he played with Eleazar's feelings to settle him a little. "Don't write them off just yet."

Demetri had been pleased when Tanya had sat next to him, he hadn't even noticed that Irina was on the other side of him, talking to Dora. Felix had noticed, naturally, and he felt his little brother should move for him. Of course, Felix didn't ask Demetri to move ... he started dragging him from his chair instead.

"Just shift!"

"No!" Demetri spat, snatching his arm back.

"I was there first," Felix reminded him.

"Yeah," Demetri agreed, "like first thing this morning. You move, you lose."

Felix told his brother he was giving him one last chance to move before he regretted it, Demetri stood (or rather, sat) his ground. But he was soon squealing when Felix sat on top of him. "Mom!"

"Felix, you're going to squash him!"

Felix beamed at his mother. "That's the plan, Mom."

"Honestly," Sulpicia told them both disapprovingly. "Bring some pretty girls into the coven and you pair start chasing your tails looking for a tree to scent." She was going to shame them into behaving in the hope that it would lessen their arguments for the rest of the day. "Do you think any of them will fancy either of you behaving so immaturely?"

Kate and Tanya burst out laughing. Jane, too, was quick to join in, the three of them throwing out mild taunts to the boys.

Demetri closed his eyes. Fuck me, Mom! That was harsh.

Felix took one look at Irina, who looked back to him pityingly - which is never a look a teenage boy wants to see from someone he hoped to fuck! - and sprang to his feet. "You might as well have cut my balls off saying that!" he hissed at his mother.

"It's still an option, son," Sulpicia said sweetly. "Demetri, go and see what's taking Alec so long, he hasn't come down yet."

Demetri scowled knowing that would give Felix his seat. "Why me?!"

Felix took Demetri's chair, spreading his legs out for full effect. "Because the little boys should be playing together."

Sulpicia rolled her eyes to the heavens, doubly so when she heard the men all laughing and Aro joining in rather than coming to her aid. "Do any of you want one of them?" she asked. "How about you, Caius?"

Caius glanced over and spotted Irina cosying up to his mate. I few ideas floated through his mind seeing them together. He pointed a finger at young woman. "The only child I would willingly spend time with, is that one." As soon as he said it he realised how fucked up it sounded and his face dropped. The whiskey had gone straight to his head.

"Did you hear those words as they left your mouth?" Freyr asked him, clearly disgusted.

Caius shrugged as Aro mocked him from the other side. "It sounded better in my head."

"You should have heard what he was thinking, Freyr," Basileus added, also unamused. "It was not 'better' at all."

"This is what happens when you start on the whiskey at dawn." Freyr took his glass away and went back to her conversation with Atia.

"Freyr!" Caius called after her, expecting her to give the whiskey back. When she ignored him, he went to pour himself a new glass, only to have Magnus shake his head disapprovingly. For fuck sake!

Aro was bitterly disappointed to see Caius give up so quickly. He assumed that, like him, Caius was trying not to push the creator into showing him who was boss. Aro was wrong, of course, but he was blissfully ignorant of what was going on in the north tower. Caius was already painfully aware that Magnus was indeed 'boss'. He was on a different mission entirely with the juggernaut – Caius was doing his utmost to keep it a private matter between the two of them.

Aro might have pushed Caius for a chance to get his opinion on Basileus and Magnus had his youngest son not arrived at the bottom of the stairs, slack jawed horror etched on his face.

"Mom … " Alec called out quietly. "I need you."

Aro looked over curiously to his son, but he didn't offer to attend to whatever it was the boy needed, leaving his mate to deal with it instead. When she returned with Alec and Demetri in tow, trying to convince the younger that 'it's okay', and not to 'worry about it', Aro was suddenly much more interested. What are you hiding from me? he wondered.

Sulpicia knew what he was thinking. "It's nothing, my love, we can discuss it later."

"If nothing happened, what's wrong with him?" Aro pointed to their youngest boy, who looked apprehensive.

"He's fine," Sully said, wrapping an arm around his small shoulders. "A window has been broken. Nothing dramatic, my love."

"A window, where?"

Must you be so dogmatic?! "Alec's room." Just leave it, Aro, Sully thought to her mate.

Aro wasn't going to leave it, he was quite annoyed that he was having to play sock puppets to get any information! "So, Alec broke a window?"

"He says not purposely." When Aro gave her the look, the look that said she was protecting their baby vampires from him when there was no need and that the little sods were lying, (oh how well she knew that look!) Sully continued, "My son doesn't lie." That was a foolish statement. "Well, okay," she said quickly. "Felix and Demetri lie, but not Alec."

Felix and Demetri looked to one another with the same thought. Cheers, Mom!

"I shot an arrow through it, but it was an accident, Dad, really it was." Alec's voice was so small. He wasn't the most outspoken child at the best of times, often becoming mute when he was in the wrong. To have to voice anything in front of so many people really was painful for the boy. "I was aiming for Demetri, but he moved."

"Alec, you dick." Felix chuckled at his baby brother and his honesty. It was something Felix didn't really understand. "You should have said you thought it was open."

"See, Alec doesn't lie." Sulpicia turned a knowing eye on her elder boys. "Unlike you two."

"How are we getting it in the neck when the brat smashed a window?!" Felix wasn't having that, especially as his mother, once again, was bringing him the taunts of the girls. "You always defend Alec, no matter what he does, so he has no reason to lie."

Sulpicia completely ignored her eldest and ended her conversation with her mate, too. "Like I said, we can deal with it later, my love."

Basileus ushered everyone to the main seating area in the ground floor so it would be easier for Magnus to control any fraying emotions. Once Aro was seated, seeing his youngest still standing awkwardly by the stairs, he called the boy over.

"You had better come and sit with me."

He was meaning to encourage the boy into the room, but Alec was nervous. He didn't like being in trouble, it wasn't something he was used to. Especially not in such a large crowd of people.

Aro could see his boy considering something very stupid. "Wipe that look off your face right now," he told Alec with a finger wag. "Because if you dare use your gift on me, I will tan your hide with a full audience."

Alec wanted to die! Doubly so when no one even blinked at the proposal! Granted, it wasn't a 'spare the rod' kind of group, but the fact that no one came to his defence pissed him off. Worse than that, his brothers found it funny! Alec told them they were bastards, in his head of course ... he wasn't stupid. Gingerly, he made his way around the chairs towards his father, hoping the ground would open up and swallow him before he got there. When he was close enough to grab, Aro caught hold of him and pulled the boy into his lap.

"I wasn't going to use my gift on you," he said quietly. Okay, he had very briefly considered it, but he wouldn't have done it!

Aro turned to his mate. "He never lies, huh?"

Sulpicia shook her head. Aro wasn't getting that as a win. "You're scaring him into lying."

"See what I'm up against?!" Aro complained. He gave Alec a little shake. "The boy smashed a window and I am getting the frosty glares."

That was why Alec didn't like sitting with his father in public. Aro was always in the centre of things, and Alec was much more comfortable behind the scenes. Sitting with Aro meant that he was now in the centre, too, and that was even more painful for him when Aro brought up his indiscretions.

Magnus sniggered to himself. "Boys wreck your house, girls wreck you head."

Freyr's head shot around to her mate. "I haven't heard you say that for a long time, love." It was something he said often in their human days raising their family, such a very long time ago.

Magnus rubbed his chin as he, too, remembered the times he had declared as such with their own children. "There's still truth to it," he said, looking around the group, trying not to land on anyone in particular.

Eleazar's eyes landed on the three daughters of Satan with whom he had been lumbered and he knew only too well that they would indeed wreck his head.

Aro disagreed, as expected. "Not my girl," he declared, lovingly looking at his princess.

"Jane walks on water," Felix spat at his sister. "And then turns it into wine!"

Sulpicia glared at her mate to do something. They had both spoken to Felix that morning, before anyone had arrived, about expected behaviour, but she wasn't going to be the one policing him the whole day.

Aro saw his cue. "Do you want to sit by me, too?" he asked his eldest, patting his knee.

Embarrassing his boy was the quickest way to having Felix adjust his attitude, Aro knew that, and he planned on using it to his advantage. He knew it would be particularly effective in a room with three teenage girls.

Magnus felt the boy's temper flare. "What time do they go to bed?" he asked casually, trying to keep a grip on the different temperaments in the room.

"They've not long got up," Sulpicia told him with a sigh.

"It will still be very soon if he isn't careful," Aro said, looking straight at Felix. "I'm already at the end of my tether with him."

"What is this tether?" Felix needed to deflect his embarrassment desperately and the way he did that was to be even more cocky. "You don't let me know where you are on the tether at any point in the day and then suddenly you are at the end of your tether and it's my fault!"

Aro closed his eyes and willed his boy to shut up. It didn't work.

"We need a tether warning system," Felix continued.

"You get plenty of warnings," Atia told her grandson. She pointed out the murderous expression on both Aro and Basileus' faces. "You're getting one right now," she added in a whisper.

Irina and Dora left the group and went to Aro's weed box on his desk.

Magnus noticed first. "What are you doing?" he asked, seeing Irina had already stuffed her hand in and was filling up the pipe. "Don't you think you should ask first?"

Dora froze, though Irina seemed unperturbed. She smiled coldly at the juggernaut before turning to Aro. "So, what? Are we on rations with this stuff or are you feeling generous?"

"What's mine, is yours," Aro replied. He wanted to tell the girl to get fucked but he, like his father, was playing the long game with the Denali girls.

"Like my mother?" Irina snapped. She turned her back on them all and went back to stuffing her pipe.

It didn't even make sense as a retort, but it pissed Aro off. He considered Sasha a friend and he hadn't wanted to have her executed. He had been left with no choice - and her brats as a consequence.

Magnus felt Aro's anger spike. "She's a silly little girl, don't give her any fuel by reacting … "

Aro's annoyance turned on Magnus. "You have met Atia, I believe?"

"Huh?" Magnus wasn't sure where Aro was going with that. "Of course … "

"Oh good," Aro forced a tight smile before he dropped it and glowered. "For a moment I was concerned you thought I had need for a mother's counsel."

Basileus walked past Aro, having heard his comment, and slapped the side of his head. "You'll have need for your father's attention if you keep up your lip."

Much like how Aro dealt with Felix, Basileus used the same tactics with Aro. Embarrassment was the quickest way to rein the man in. And, much like Felix, Aro tried to deflect desperately.

Playing with the rings on his free hand, the other still wrapped around Alec's waist, Aro knew he looked nervous and he didn't like it. He liked it even less when he caught Magnus smiling sympathetically at him. "Pedestals are high to fall from, my friend," he hissed in a low voice.

Magnus could have taken it either way - a threat ... or a joke. Not wishing to rile Aro up any more than his father already had, Magnus went with joke. "Oh, you think you're funny?"

"I do," Aro replied. "I always have, even when I was little."

Magnus stood up and towered over the coven king. "You're still little," he reminded the man, heading off to follow Basileus.

"I know I told you to leave it," Magnus started.

Basileus didn't need to hear any more. "But you want me to tell Aro to sod off?"

Magnus smiled gratefully. "I would appreciate it."

"Fetch him."

Magnus didn't want to be involved at all, he couldn't see how it would help to keep winding Aro up. And everything Magnus said lately seemed to wind him up.

Basileus jutted his head in Aro's direction and gave Magnus the eye to say get on with it. He knew what he was doing. Magnus wasn't a naturally forceful kind of guy, but he didn't need to be, he just had to show some confidence in dealing with Aro. That's what Aro responded to. It was why he had no trouble being respectful towards Marcus and Freyr - neither of whom were forceful with him, but they dealt with his acidic tongue confidently rather than trying to win him over, like Magnus did. Basileus explained it to Magnus, it made sense, but he wasn't entirely convinced. He still went to fetch Aro, though.

Magnus leaned into Aro's ear. "Someone wants a word with you."

Aro rolled his eyes, knowing it would be his father. "Grassed me up?"

"If I wanted something done," Magnus replied, "I'd do it myself." Oh, that felt wrong! Magnus thought, but he kept those thoughts to himself as he led Aro back across the room to Basileus.

Aro may have looked cool, but he didn't feel it. He knew he was playing with fire by taunting Magnus in public. He started the conversation before anyone else could focus it on him. "I'm not sure how Eleazar is going to cope with those girls."

Basileus knew what Aro was doing, but he'd go along with it - for now. "Irina is utterly reprehensible in her thoughts alone, and what she allows to come out of her mouth isn't much better."

Aro winced hearing Kate and Tanya screeching, though he was glad they were happily screeching, he only hoped his precious daughter didn't catch the need for such volumes. "I wish one of the other covens had offered to take them."

"You and me both, son."

Basileus couldn't quite believe the difference between the Denali girls. Irina stood bitching about the Volturi with Dora, who, in his mind, seemed to be enjoying the conversation a little too much, and then there was Kate and Tanya, chatting easily and playing cards with Felix, Demetri and Jane. Neither set made sense to Basileus. Irina needn't have been so hostile, and Kate and Tanya should be thinking more about their mother.

Magnus could see Basileus thinking similarly to himself. "Like I said, girls wreck your head."

Basileus agreed. It was why he chose sons. "We are stuck with them for now, at least, but we are going to have to be on high alert. Irina is already plotting ways to bring us down."

"Shall we kill her off now?" Aro thought out loud. "Save ourselves some hassle?"

"We can't do that!" Magnus didn't like how casual he'd sounded about offing the girl. "The younger two are innocent in all of this and they have already lost their mother."

"Besides," Basileus continued for him. "The other covens in the alliance are aware of their situation - they will all be watching to see how we handle it, to see how civilised we really are."

Aro perched on the sideboard. "You heard that in their thoughts when we killed Sasha, I take it?"

"I did." They were the loudest thoughts in the room, Basileus reminded himself. How they treated the Denali girls was a matter of politics. "Now for another matter … "

"If this is about him … " Aro sneered in Magnus' direction.

Basileus held up a hand to halt his son's ire. "It's about Magnus and Freyr and Marcus."

"Marcus?" Aro asked. "What's he got to do with anything?"

Basileus fixed his son in his sights. "Are you, for some reason, against me having friends?"

Aro looked away. "I'm against you putting your friends above me."

Basileus wasn't having that. He expected eye contact, at the very least. He hooked his fist under Aro's chin and brought his boy's face back around. "I'm not removing your crown, son, you have no reason to think such a thing."

Aro tutted to himself, but he was listening.

"I've seen you give Felix a round of fucks that would make Hades blush because he has disrespected Eleazar, as you should." Basileus removed his hand and was glad to see Aro stayed put. "I expect the same from my sons towards the chosen few I hold as official friends."

Official friends?! Magnus tittered inside his head at the term Basileus had used, having plucked said term from Magnus' mind during the night. Basileus soon caught on and laughed, too.

Aro looked between the two of them. Magnus seemed much more on a par with Basileus than he did with either himself or Caius. He was always complaining about their immaturity. Those extra years Magnus had on the pair of them in his human life truly did count for something, Aro knew that, really. The creator and juggernaut. They would ma1ke an impressive friendship, Aro thought. Formidable, even. He wasn't against Basileus having friends, not in the slightest. If anything, it will get him off my back! What Basileus had said was right, too. He wouldn't stand for his kids backchatting his brothers, (well, not Eleazar, at least) or his friends.

"That's all this is?" he asked.

Basileus put his arm around his son. Managing Aro's ego had always been part of his job as his father. "Yes, son. Nothing more than that."

"You can keep your pretty crown," Magnus told the coven king. "It wouldn't fit me anyway."

"Finally!" Basileus declared seeing Marcus and Carlisle come through the door. "Where have you two been?"

"I found him in the halls on my way here," Marcus said in his usual drone, one hand on Carlisle's back pushing him into the room.

Magnus could tell Marcus was lying, but he wasn't sure why. Carlisle appeared reluctant to be there, though, of that he was sure. Marcus had bumped into Carlisle in the hall … Marcus had neglected to mention it was the guard hall.

"You actually took time out from adoring yourself in the mirror to be here with us today." Aro flicked the feg in his brother's hair. "One would think with all the time he spends on pruning himself that he wouldn't arrive looking quite so dishevelled."

"Leave him be, Aro," Basileus said told his boy sternly, before telling Carlisle to tuck his shirt in properly. Aro was right, Carlisle did look particularly 'dishevelled'. "What have you been up to?"

Carlisle shoved the tail of his shirt into his britches and fixed his dress coat. "I just checked in on the guard hall," he said with a nervous shrug.

Magnus' brow furrowed together. "You're spending a lot of time there, again."

Carlisle slunk away to join the rest of the party before any other awkward questions could be asked of him.

"The hall or the dorms?" Basileus asked the juggernaut. He didn't need a reply; Magnus' face spoke volumes. "What's he doing in the guard dorms?"

"Really? You need me to explain that?" Magnus offered the man a cocky smile. "How old are you?"

Basileus, Magnus and Marcus were well away from everyone else, but they all turned in time to catch Magnus' comment, and they joined in laughing at Basileus' age.

"I'm tempted to make you explain, knowing how uncomfortable you feel discussing such things."

Magnus shuddered to Basileus' proposition. The bastard was bang on the nail!

"Carlisle isn't causing any trouble," Marcus assured the man's father. "He's keeping things private, I believe."

Basileus accepted Marcus' explanation. He didn't have too much objection to Carlisle doing … whatever he was doing with the guards, so long as it was kept a very private matter. He did, however, question his son's ability to keep it private.

"What can you tell us about the girls, Marcus?" he asked, getting on task. "Anything that can give us an advantage?"

"Kate and Tanya," Marcus began, fixating his gift on the two of them. "They are much closer to each other than they are to Irina."

Basileus thought back to his memories of the girls when he had been with Sasha. He'd met Sasha before she had any of them, but he had called on her after she had turned the three of them, also. Though he'd not met them at the time, he'd seen the girls in Sasha's memories and how they all interacted with one another.

"That makes sense," he mused. "They've always been stuck together. They've always been kids, too, in the main. Sasha treated Irina as her best friend whilst Kate and Tanya were her children."

"Irina's bonds are loose," Marcus continued. "She doesn't even appear attached to her sisters to the degree I would have expected."

"So we could lose her without too much trouble, if we had to?"

Both Marcus and Magnus baulked at that idea.

"I wouldn't go that far," Marcus said quickly. "Even though their bonds to each other are strained, they are still the only bonds they have. If you want to lose Irina, you will have to wait until Kate and Tanya have bonds with other people that outweigh those they have with their elder sister."

"We can work on that," Magnus said confidently.

Basileus rubbed his chin until he came up with an idea to speed up the process. "We could have Chelsea sort it?"

Magnus was immediately reminded of the Demetri / Lucy debacle and wanted to put that idea to rest, quickly! "Using such a gift on children has brought devastation to our own before, would we really wish to risk a repeat?"

Basileus glanced in his grandson's direction. "No, you're right, leave Chelsea out of it."

"We are vampires, we have time, let the bonds develop naturally." Marcus pointed out the girls in question across the room. Kate and Tanya chatting with Carmen, the picture of ease already and they were still in the very beginnings of getting to know each other. "The younger girls are already open to such growth. Irina, too, in her way."

Irina, more concerningly, seemed to have formed an attachment with Athenodora. Magnus' dead heart sank. "I hope you don't mean with Dora?"

Marcus smiled sadly. "My commiserations, my friend."

Magnus squeezed his eyes tight shut. Fuck, he cursed. That's going to cause me problems.

Atia coughed very loudly to get her mate's attention. "If you aren't going to join us, you could at least top up our glasses."

"I believe that would be our cue to get over there." Basileus collected the whiskey bottle on the way and Magnus picked up a glass for Caius, as he still hadn't replaced the one Freyr had confiscated.

With all the seats taken, Aro pulled Alec back into his lap to make space for Marcus and Demetri moved without being asked for his grandfather. Magnus offered Caius the fresh glass, holding it just out of his height. If Caius wanted it, he was going to have to lose his seat.

"Don't be a dick," Caius hissed, swiping for the glass and missing.

Magnus wiggled the glass. "Move."

Caius looked to Freyr, hoping for her to call her man off. Then he remembered the comment that had seen Freyr taking his whiskey in the first place. Announcing that you'd like to fuck the new girl was hardly a high point … Freyr wasn't going to help him. She'd happily see me whiskey-less for the rest of the day, he thought. If he hadn't wanted some alcohol so badly, Caius would have stayed put. As it was, Caius didn't enjoy any social occasion that didn't come with drinks on tap, so he reluctantly slid off the chair and sat on the floor - with the kids. But at least he had his whiskey.

"Magnus," Felix turned to face the juggernaut, leaving the card game in which the others were engaged. "Can I come on your mission to France?"

"Nope." Magnus didn't even pause to consider it.

Felix tutted. "My Dad said I can."

"Is your Dad planning on coming?" Magnus looked to Aro for confirmation, who shook his head. He wouldn't have minded the sport, but Aro knew he wouldn't be able to leave Sulpicia with their brood for six months, and it could possibly be longer than that. "Then neither is Felix," Magnus finished.

Caius clicked his fingers to get the boy's attention. "It's my mission, Felix, not his."

Magnus nudged Caius with the tip of his boot. "Do you want to take him?"

"Hell no!" Caius replied, quashing Felix's hopes.

Magnus shook his head. "Then why be disagreeable in the first place?"

Caius folded his arms and leaned into the leg of the sofa where Magnus sat. "It's a matter of principle."

Magnus caught Basileus' eye who winked at him, and then asked Caius, "Who are you taking on this mission?"

Bollocks, Caius thought. He couldn't remember who'd they pulled out to take.

"Caius?" Basileus pushed.

"Erm … " Caius stalled. "I haven't decided yet."

"It's on the paperwork," Sulpicia said, having gone through the plans already for costing. "Alexander, Afton, Phillipe, Odi, and Richard."

Magnus leaned down close to Caius' head. "Your mission, huh?"

That was the first Freyr had heard of who they planned to take. "I thought Alexander was on block?"

Being on 'block' was the term they used when a guard had been disobedient enough to be pulled from all duties. In practice, only three guards ever found themselves on block - Alexander, Afton, and Odi.

"He's only got a week left," Magnus replied, waving away his mate's concerns. "We can let him off a couple of days."

"What's he done now?" Aro asked. He didn't like to involve himself too much in guard life, but he liked to keep abreast of any issues.

"Fighting," Freyr explained. "Same as always."

"Who with?" Aro asked.

"Me," Magnus said, shaking his head. "Though it started with Odi. Alex has always been unnecessarily aggressive. He spends more time confined to his dorm than he does out of it."

Alexander was one of the guards Caius had taken a personal interest in and trained him up with particular skills. It made him fantastic for mission work, but difficult to manage in down time. The masters had considered killing him off a few times, but every time a mission rolled around he proved his worth and saved his neck for a few more years. Aro was happy with the explanations he had heard. Well, not happy, but he was glad it was just Alex being Alex.

"Are you really going to run a mission to France to help Henri?" Basileus asked the juggernaut. He wouldn't have blamed Magnus for refusing with how disrespectful the French leader was towards him.

"Caius wants to go," Magnus offered. That was his only reason for bothering himself with the task. It certainly wasn't for Henri's benefit.

"I can imagine why Caius wants to go," Basileus said, looking down his nose to the man at Magnus' feet. "Henri took a whole barrel of dungeon blood back to France."

Magnus bobbed his head. "Which is why I'd rather Caius didn't go alone."

I am fucking here! Caius fumed on the floor, chuntering into his whiskey about which topics were suitable for private conversations and ones that were suited to public. Aro found it highly amusing, of course, as did Carlisle and Felix. Immature pricks, Caius thought. Although if it had been one of them in his position, Caius would have been the first to find amusement in such shaming.

"I could do with some new werewolf pelts, Magnus. They make for the most welcoming rugs." Sulpicia offered a broad smile to go with her heavy hint.

"I will be sure to bring you one back, my queen."

"Now, now, Magnus," Carmen jumped in. "No playing favourites."

"I'll bring one for each of you, my ladies," Magnus replied, bowing his head lightly before going on to promise the same to Freyr and Atia.

My ladies?! Dora repeated to herself, feeing irritated. That was the term Magnus used for her and Freyr in their chambers, and though it was a common term, it felt special to Dora and she was pissed to see him casually apply it to Sully and Carmen. I notice I'm not being offered any pelts, either, she added, winding herself up.

Dora and Irina were the only two not sitting with the gathering in front of the open fire. They were sitting on Aro's desk, smoking his hash, and had long since decided against joining in with everyone else. It annoyed Aro to see them sitting on the old polished oak like it was some bar bench. He had caught Irina dropping some smouldering weed onto the wood and he had fantasised about ramming the pipe down her throat, but he'd said nothing. He, like everyone else, was trying to be understanding of Irina's position. The girl was being forced to reside with her mother's executors. He'd give her the day.

To get his mind off his beloved desk being poorly treated, Aro turned back to the conversation about the mission. "All these promises for pelts," he started, looking at Magnus. "Think a lot of yourself, don't you, big guy?"

"I could kill werewolves in my sleep." Magnus didn't see the issue. He could make good on his promises.

"Could you kill fifty?" Freyr asked, challenging her mate.

"Fifty?!" Magnus repeated. That sounded like a lot of effort.

Freyr gave him a nod. "It would make a nice Christmas gift for the guards, don't you think?"

"Aye," Magnus agreed, thought he sounded a little reluctant. "Alright. Fifty it is."

"More murder?" Irina grunted from the desk. "Moron."

"Werewolves are against our kind, Irina," Magnus explained, turning in his seat so he could see the girl behind him. "Clearing them is part of our duty as the royal coven.

"Oh yes, very honourable. Minstrels will write song of your amazing feat." Irina rolled her eyes dramatically and blew smoke into the room. "Please don't think I'm being patronising," she added, sounding perfectly condescending. "Patronising means to talk down to someone."

"Oh, you're a funny one?" Basileus called over. "You have competition Aro."

"Was she being funny?" Magnus asked. "I must have missed it, but then I'm only a murdering moron, apparently. Not very bright, you see."

"My mother used to say she wasn't very bright," Irina mused. "It was a way to remain passive in a volatile situation. That's how she managed to control our lands so close to the Romanian forces. She was, in fact, insanely clever."

Caius chuckled into his whiskey. "Not that clever if she turned a toddler without a second thought for you three."

Thankfully he'd said it quietly and the girls hadn't heard, for it would have upset them greatly to hear their own thoughts confirmed - that Sasha hadn't thought of them at all when she had turned the little boy.

Magnus leaned down and pulled Caius in close by the back of his collar. "Do you want to lose another glass?" He didn't need to say anything else. Caius shut up, quick!

"Those who aren't very bright tend not to realise it," Irina added, blissfully ignorant of Caius' comment.

"I agree with you there, Irina," Basileus told the girl pointedly, and in case she missed said point, that she wasn't as bright as she believed herself to be, he added, "They tend to talk too much, as well."

Leaving the girl floundering and failing to come up with a retort, Basileus turned back to the group. "What were we talking about before we were interrupted?"

Magnus knocked back his glass and set it on the table. "Christmas presents."

"Aha, yes," Basileus nodded. "You will have to start working on your Christmas lists, girls, Eleazar has money to burn."

"How much will our freedom cost?" Irina asked.

Her abrasion is exhausting. It's no wonder Eleazar looks wiped out, Basileus thought, looking at his boy who stared aimlessly out the window like a man lost. "Try and come up with something a little easier to wrap," he suggested to the bitter girl.

Kate and Tanya were more interested. They hadn't celebrated a Christmas before, or any of the other coven festivals. They liked the idea of presents, but they had no idea what to ask for. They started chatting with Demetri and Jane about gifts they had received until they turned to Felix.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Kate asked him.

"A sense of purpose," Felix answered, looking to his father and hoping he heard.

"Deep, son."

Felix heard his father reply and pounced. "I want a job."

Aro sighed. They had been down that road before. "I'm sure Freyr would put you on the guard rota if you could assure her you'd keep your nose clean."

Felix screwed his face up. "A job befitting my station."

"What station?!" Caius asked. He hardly had a job befitting his station, he thought, let alone the kid.

"A prince," Felix said, drawing it out with heavy emphasis.

Aro turned to his little brother as his advisor on all things human. "What do human princes do with their days, Carlisle?"

Carlisle grimaced to his nephew. "They study."

"Carlisle, don't be a dick." Felix moved in the nick of time to avoid the swot Aro had offered for name calling. "Stop pretending to be one of them, it's depressing."

"That's what they do!" Carlisle insisted. "They read, they recite, they learn to shoot and ride, they attend functions … "

"Functions?" Functions sound okay, Felix thought.

"Well yes, older princes act as dignitaries on behalf of their houses," Carlisle explained. "But you aren't old enough for that."

"Or disciplined enough," Basileus added.

"There you go then, Felix," Aro said, clapping his hands together. "You need to spend more time on your studies and riding horses. Wasn't that an easy Christmas present for the boy."

"What do you want Demetri?" Basileus asked his grandson, simply to get the conversation off Felix.

"Do you want purpose too, son?" Aro asked, laughing at Felix's idea all over again.

Demetri beamed at his father. "I want a gun."

Aro burst out laughing. "There's more chance of me giving you my crown than a gun."

"I thought you were particularly precious about your crown, Aro?" Magnus smiled playfully to the coven king after their earlier conversation.

Aro took it in good jest. "Like you said, it wouldn't fit your overgrown head anyway."

"I'd like a new pelt, too, Magnus," Alec asked from Aro's lap. "Please."

"Consider it done, little one."

Magnus heard Caius hiss again that it was his mission. He was getting bored of the man's petulance over the matter. "You can kill the werewolves, then. I'll supervise."

Damn it! Caius thought. I'm not getting stuck doing all the work! "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then stop going on about it," Freyr piped up, glaring at the man. "Unless you really would like to lose that glass, too."

If either of them were going to be so blatant in rebuking him, Caius was glad it was Freyr and not Magnus, but fuck it stung. At least with it being Freyr, Aro wasn't giving him the questioning eye – he wouldn't have fucked with Freyr, either.

"I want a pet," Jane piped up.

"You have an Alec," Aro said, bouncing the boy in his lap. "We'll wrap him up in his new pelt and get him to bark, I'm sure he won't mind."

Alec most definitely did mind! Doubly so when everyone seemed to find Aro's idea funny.

"Put your face straight," Aro said to his boy. "It was a joke."

Alec continued to pug. Wasn't fucking funny.

Alec rarely used the same vulgar language his older brothers used in speech, but that was because he could control his mouth around his elders rather than because such words weren't part of his lexicon. Controlling thoughts was damn near impossible for the child.

The smile dropped from Aro's face and he pulled Alec in close, so the boy's back was tight against his chest. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that," he whispered into the lad's ear. "But it will be the only time I do, so pull yourself together."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"Alec," Aro willed himself to stay calm with the boy. "You have smashed a window, threatened to use your gift, and swore in the space of an hour … you aren't getting any more warnings. Curb your attitude, now."

I didn't threaten to use my gift and I only cursed are in my head, I can think whatever I fucking well like.

Aro didn't say anything, he just stood, taking Alec with him and walked the boy silently through the group, stepping over children as he left to take Alec to his room.

Basileus read his son's thoughts. He could see why Aro was annoyed, but he hoped Aro wouldn't ruin the day by being too harsh with the boy. Then he remembered which child Aro was annoyed with … the worst Alec could expect was being dumped in his room. Just as he thought, Aro soon returned, less Alec, who remained in his bedchamber.

Aro went around the room topping up whiskeys and wines to cover his absence.

Basileus accepted his top up and then turned to Magnus with a proposal. "You can't kill fifty werewolves," he said. "I bet you can't."

"Who can't?" Magnus replied, pushing out his chest. "I'm up for another bet, after winning the last one."

Marcus smiled quietly to himself, knowing of the bet to which Magnus was referring. "I'll back you in that bet, my friend," he told the juggernaut, sensing the easy money to be won from the creator.

Basileus frowned but Magnus preened. "Bring some decent knives with you, Caius, we will have to skin them whilst we are there."

"We?!" Caius spluttered.

"You skin vampires," Magnus shrugged. "I am sure you can skin a werewolf."

"I can," Caius agreed. "I just don't want to."

"You'll have to help the old man out, Caius," Basileus joked. "He won't be fit for much after he's grappled with fifty werewolves."

"He's not my old man!"

Caius' eyes darted around the group, fixing on no one in particular as he moved between them too fast to see if any of them had worked anything out. What they might have worked out, Caius wasn't too sure on. Magnus sensed his panic and pulled him in close again. Caius was getting annoyed with being pulled about, but his focus was on other things at that moment, like trying to work out if Eleazar was just playing dumb or if he had worked out he and Magnus were sharing some sort of secret, illicit relationship. I don't even know what we're 'sharing', he thought. This is ridiculous.

"He said the old man," Magnus pointed out. "Not your old man, don't panic."

"Hang on – old?" Magnus blurted sitting back in his seat. "You have a million years on me!"

"Maybe, but I wear it better." Basileus pushed him away playfully. He was going to miss the old bugger whilst he was away. "When do you leave on this mission?"

"Caius?" Magnus asked, trying to give the guy his mission back.

Caius had no clue when they were leaving, as he had let Dora work it all out. "Oh, erm, I don't know. What did the paperwork say again?"

Dora heard from the desk. "You leave next week," she told her mate, and immediately launched into making plans with Irina for whilst Caius was away.

Cards flew into the air, some landing in the lit fireplace, where the younger vampires crowded on the rug between the seated adults. Felix lost … he wasn't known for being a good loser so neither Aro nor Sulpicia were surprised. Everyone else was taken aback. Having their private home become a semi-public venue was always going to bring issues, but as they had agreed to hosting them all, neither Aro nor Sulpicia felt they could do much about it but let everyone adjust to seeing what their children were really like behind closed doors.

Demetri was thoroughly pissed off. Its why he hated playing any games with his brother. "You're an attention seeking, self-absorbed, t…"

Aro was quick to cut in. "Do not finish that sentence!"

"But he is," Demetri whined.

"I wasn't disagreeing with you, son," Aro pointed out. "I'm telling you to watch your mouth."

Felix, sitting close to his father's feet, turned a frustrated scowl on his old man, hardly wining Aro over.

"I'll get him, Dem," Jane whispered to her brother.

Sadly for Jane and Demetri and their plans to bring Felix down, Basileus caught the girls comment. He, like everyone other than Aro, it seemed, was fed up of hearing Jane outwitting her elder brother. For one, it was an easy feat, for another, the girl was relentless once she got started.

"No," he told his granddaughter resolutely. "No you will not, Jane."

Aro broke away from returning his boy's glare to respond to his father. "If Felix can't hack it, he shouldn't dole it out so freely."

"How are you blaming me for this?!"

It wasn't Felix's fault that he'd lost, he couldn't help his temper when he flipped the cards into the air. Demetri called him … well, Felix was pretty sure his brother was going to call him a twat. And, now Jane's threatening me (threatening might have been a little strong, but not to the boy's overactive teenage imagination) and I'm the one getting it in the neck?! No one did 'poor woe's-me' quite so well as Felix!

With Aro giving his children his best 'you-are-crossing-the-line' look, all the fun of playing cards dissipated. Kate and Tanya, understandably wary of the coven king, joined Carmen and Atia, Felix stayed with his father. Aro hadn't told him to, but Felix didn't want to give Aro the chance to tell him to do anything and embarrass him further. He had bedded all three Denali girls the first time they met, and when he first heard they would be moving in to the Volturi coven he had hoped for regular replays of that happy event. With how emasculated he felt in his own home, simply by being treated the way he usually would be in private, he was quickly losing hope for any action ever again in his immortal life!

Demetri asked Jane if she wanted another round, but she turned him down. It was the first time Jane had other girls to be with and she was making the most of the opportunity. Sulpicia offered her boy a game, but Demetri didn't want to play with his mother, not in anyone else's presence, at least, so he rejected her.

"I'll play," Caius said.

Demetri didn't even ask if he was sure, he scooted over to Caius and started dealing, looking at him with a gormless grin.

"What's wrong with you?!" Aro asked, eyeing his co-master with curiosity.

"Someone should teach him how to play properly," Caius replied, taking up his hand. "And you're shit, so it won't be you."

"Must we continue with the vulgar language?!" Atia had taken about as much as she wished to entertain, and her stern tone hushed the whole group.

Once everyone had quietened, Dora and Irina, who's conversation hadn't halted, were heard by all.

"They argue over who's breathing, its relentless," Dora said about Aro and Sulpicia's children. "I always thought they were mouthy enough in public, seeing them in private has come as a shock!"

She turned just in time to see the whole group looking back at her, most in surprise, some, like Freyr, in horror that she could have insulted her covenmates' children so brazenly. And then there was Sulpicia ... it was one thing If Aro and she were complaining about their children, it was even okay if such observations were brought up within conversation with her - Sully wasn't blind to her children's ways - it was quite another to having someone bitching about her kids in what those people imagined would be a secluded conversation.

She stayed silent just long enough for Dora to start to panic and profess a stuttered apology before she waved them away with smile, saying she understood, agreed even, just to keep the peace. Atia was quite proud of Sulpicia for the way she handled the situation and made sure to tell her so later. Dora felt her stomach twist. Even with Sulpicia being so gracious, she knew their relationship had just suffered yet another blow. As with all the other blows, it was Dora's fault.

"They are just being kids, Dora," Magnus told her, his usual kind tone hidden behind a stony glare. "There's no need to hide who they are in their home. I'm sure you can understand that, can't you?"

Dora wasn't stupid. That was Magnus' way of saying they would be having a conversation about her slip when they were in their home. "Yeah, sure," she muttered.

That wasn't enough for Freyr. Dora could be a liability in public at the best of times, speaking before she engaged her brain, sitting with Irina and smoking weed wasn't going to help matters. "You two should join us, I think," she said, making space for Dora to sit next to her.

Irina didn't want to sit with them, Volturi scum, but noticing how painfully awkward and riled up Felix appeared, she decided to have some fun taunting the young prince. Planting herself so close to Felix that she damn near sat on him, Irina took to whispering indecent proposals in his ear, riling him up in an entirely different way.

Alec came creeping down the stairs. He'd only been in his room ten minutes but Aro didn't say anything when he re-entered the room, though Alec had the sense to stay with his mother. Like his temporary removal, hardly anyone noticed Alec's reappearance. Basileus did, though, and he was annoyed. It wasn't so much that he felt Alec deserved any punishment at all, it was Aro's wildly different expectations of his children that pissed the creator off so much. It caused nothing but trouble, though Aro claimed otherwise in his many conversations with his father on the matter.

Thinking on what Dora had said, about the Volturi kids arguing over who breathed, Basileus agreed with her. "It wouldn't be so bad if Aro engaged occasionally," he was thinking out loud and hadn't realised he'd spoken said thoughts until Aro turned to him, tutting.

"I do engage!" he insisted.

Sulpicia burst out laughing.

"No, you wade in and smack them all when Sully's had enough of battling with them." Basileus stopped himself. "Not all of them," he corrected. "Which is another issue."

Aro continued to scoff, but Sulpicia was in full agreement. "I'll tell you the difference in parenting here," she said. "I get: Mom, I'm hungry! I'm cold! I'm hot! I'm bored! Can I have? I want! I need! Can you help me? Can you ask Dad? He hurt me! She set me on fire! He said! She said! They did! I didn't! I want to go there! When are we? Why are we? Why can't we? But, but, but! Why, why, why?"

How she had managed to say all of that in one breath was anyone's guess.

Sully turned to her mate. "What do they ask you, my love?"

Aro thought about it for a moment and smiled. "Where's mom?" He had to laugh, he couldn't help himself. Seeing that Sulpicia didn't find it funny, even though everyone else did, Aro thought it best to defend his parenting, a little. "I tend to them when I need to," he said, hands outstretched as if to ask what else he could do.

"In one way, only," Sully shot back. "Basileus is right on that score."

"It's the only way to tend to them, my love." Aro took a playful swipe at Felix's head, as he was closest. "You should try it, it works."

Irina's flirtation with the young prince had already switched to ribbing him for his childish treatment. The fact that he was physically chastised, she already knew, but to see that such chastisements weren't in the fashion of the adult members of the coven, but as a child could expect, amused her greatly.

Felix glowered at his father whilst he tried to ignore Irina. "Dad, please stop."

"No, don't stop!" Irina half shouted, she was having far too much fun. "I like seeing this side of your life, Felix."

She made the mistake of trying to stroke the boy's face and he erupted, shoving her away with a loud and clear, "Fuck off!"

Aro caught hold of Felix's hand before he could do anything else to the snide little bitch winding him up. "If you carry on like that I am going to be forced to really embarrass you." Don't force my hand, son. "Do we understand each other?"

"Perfectly." Felix hung his head, trying to ignore Irina's cruel giggles at his side. Right at that moment, he felt about as sexy as a syphilitic donkey. Even if he hadn't felt so dejected, he wanted nothing to do with Irina.

Aro was pissed off with Irina, too, and whilst he was willing to allow the brat to disrespect him, and even his property, his kids were another matter entirely. If no one else was going to step up and say something, he would. Grabbing the young woman by the scruff of her neck, he told her, "If you find it so funny, you will be next."

Irina stopped laughing and a gasp went around the room. No one thought Aro wrong, not even Irina's sisters, which was telling, they were mostly surprised to see him turning on a girl - especially thinking of the annoyance Jane got away with.

"I don't fucking think so," Irina hissed, snatching herself away from the coven king to another gasp, this time for Irina's words. "Go ahead," she told them all. "Underestimate me, that will be fun."

"You aren't my problem, Irina," Aro sneered. "I'll leave you for Eleazar."

"He couldn't handle me even if I came with instructions and we both know it."

Irina chuckled in condescension. Having no experience of Eleazar's wrath, she had good reason to doubt the man as a threat. Felix and Demetri could have told her otherwise, both having been on the receiving end of one of Eleazar's hidings, but neither felt they owed her any support.

"Excuse me?!" It was the first time Eleazar had spoken in an hour and he wasn't happy. "I think … "

"Not to be rude," Irina held up a hand to cut Eleazar off. "But I don't really care what you think, like, at all."

Everyone expected Eleazar to blow. Most of them wanted Eleazar to blow! But he didn't. Stretching out the stress he felt building in his neck, he got up and walked away to calm himself.

Magnus was doing his best to maintain the emotions in the room, but with so many people and so many conflicting responses, he was struggling to do more than keep hold of the extremes.

Dora wore a quiet smile as she looked at Irina, seemingly completely unbothered by the powerful men flustering around her. We are going to get on very well indeed, she thought happily.

Carmen walked away, too, under the guise of refilling the wine jugs for the table. She was grateful that Atia had followed her. "I can't do this on my own, Atia. I don't want to do this on my own."

Atia hushed her gently, seeing tears already forming in her daughter-in-law's eyes. "You won't be, my dear," she assured. "You have me, you have Basileus, there's a whole coven behind you in caring for those girls and you can call on any of us when you need to." Atia took over filling the wine jugs to allow Carmen to tend to her tears.

"What about El?" she asked, looking over her shoulder to her mate. He paced the far wall, walking off his frustrations.

Atia saw him too and wondered why her mate was sat on his backside when their boy could do with some support. Truth was, Basileus expected Eleazar to be alright on his own. It was the curse of being the eldest child - parents tend to see the oldest as capable and self-sufficient and therefore largely ignore them unless they screw up or are needed to be capable and handle something. That was the relationship Basileus had with Eleazar. He never expected his eldest son to need him. The opposite of how he saw Carlisle, as his baby, who would always need him whether he wanted him or not!

"Eleazar will pull himself together," Atia said. "Is the shock of it all happening so quickly, that's all."

"Until they are moved on?" Carmen questioned. "I don't want to get attached if I'm going to lose them."

Atia knew why Carmen had such thoughts. Basileus had told Eleazar the girls were only his 'for now', not 'forever'. "Kate and Tanya won't be going anywhere, my dear." Of that, she was sure. "Eleazar needs to believe there is an end point, for now, that doesn't mean there is one."

Relief flooded Carmen's veins. Though there was a sticking point. "What about Irina?" she asked.

Atia didn't want to lie. She had been following the general thoughts in the room towards the eldest Denali girl and couldn't see how Irina could be a permanent member of the coven, not if she remained as she was. "We'll see how she settles." It was as close to the truth as Atia could offer.