AN: I'm so relieved to have you lovely people still around! Thank you for sticking with me through a monumental break, I truly appreciate it.
Right, Irina, Odi, Felix, and Kate are seriously miserable young vampires. What does misery love? :D We're going to start back in the South Tower and as I've had a few messages about it, I'm going to include the 'missing scene' with Felix and Aro – It's not my fault it wasn't included in Felix's chapter - Demetri fell asleep and Felix stopped talking! So blame Demetri for us all having to wait :D
Misery loves company - Part 1
JANUARY 5TH
"We wouldn't need that fire going if you put some bloody clothes on."
The boy merely scowled at his father before turning his face into the cushion. He might have offered a cleaver retort, but his little witch of a sister followed Aro into the main chamber and Felix couldn't face her goading. The goblet of bloodwine Demetri had brought him the night before would usually have been enough to see Felix back to his bouncy self… but it hadn't been enough. Of course it wasn't enough, the boy huffed. Not after the thrashing he gave me. Bastard.
It had been a shit show…
"I'm sorry, my darling," Sulpicia said, resting her hand on Felix's leg. "You've gone too far. There is only so much disobedience we can take before some sort of punishment is called for."
Felix really started to sweat as he looked at his mother askance. Are you throwing me to the lions?! Surely not?! He wiped his damp palms on his thighs where his hands soon found the belt Aro had earlier laid there. Oh hell!
"Pick it up," Aro commanded, seeing his boy's fear mounting as he felt the implement in his lap. "Bring it to my room so we can talk."
"Dad, I'm really…"
"You'd better be," was all Aro said as he cut the boy off mid apology. "You will be, at least." With that, Aro headed for the stairs expecting his son to follow.
"Mom?" Felix asked, turning to his would-be saviour. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Corin will never come here again. I swear it."
"You've swore it before, my darling," Sulpicia replied. "Your father and I have both tried to be understanding about your new friendships and your relationship-"
She sounded so patronising, but Felix clung to the hope she would offer something to save him.
"-and we've let a lot go, but you've pushed us too far."
No, Mom! Don't do this to me.
"FELIX!"
Aro's voice bounced down the stairs and across the main chamber floor. It hit Felix like a slap in the face and the boy paled.
"Go on up, my darling," Sulpicia encouraged, nudging her boy towards the stair case. "Don't keep you father waiting when you're already in trouble."
He went. Trudging to his doom at a snail's pace; his shoulders seemed to sink lower and lower with every step. Having to visit his parents' bedroom to talk was the 'at home' equivalent to getting a whipping in a coven meeting for the coven side of life so Felix knew he was in it up to his neck. The boy carefully stepped through the bedchamber door with his head bowed hoping he looked respectful. Toeing the line with his father was his final hope for convincing the man there was no need to beat his ass.
Aro wasn't convinced. He nodded at the bed and waited for Felix to sit down. "I don't even know what to do with you! I am furious with you, Felix!"
Right about then, Felix would usually have played for time, or offered a witty remark of some kind. Not then, though. The kid was brave, but he wasn't stupid. Aro didn't leave much of a break for Felix to interject anyway.
"I backed off last year. You had a whole year of playing the fool with your mates and I really tried to give you space to grow, to mature…"
Yeah, that's true, Felix realised. He had taken a walloping at Midsummer from Magnus and later his father for spiking the bloodwine, and again at Halloween for the disaster that had been. But the rest of the year, Felix had escaped with no more than the odd warning cuff from his old man. Although, I had been on my best behaviour, he thought. His parents would have disagreed.
"We are five days into a new year, and I have already run out of rope for your behaviour!"
Felix cowered away from his father's rage, leaning back on the bed as Aro towered over him, purposely intimidating his son.
"You know the rules about having your conquests in this house, and you deliberately disobeyed them today! Again!" he seethed. "What is wrong with you?!"
As Aro listed a laundry list of failures, Felix felt his mounting shame overwhelming his senses. "I'm sorry," he squeaked, tears running down his face. Swiping at his eyes, Felix wasn't sure when he started crying, but suddenly he couldn't stop.
"Don't you dare sit there with your crocodile tears. I'll be giving you plenty to cry about. I'm done with your behaviour, I'm done with your disrespect, I'm done with your insolence… DO YOU HEAR ME?"
"Yes!" Felix cried.
Aro took a steadying breath and sat next to his boy, shaking his head. "I blame myself for this, son."
Felix wiped his face and started breathing easier once his father had stopped bellowing at him. Blaming yourself is much better than blaming me.
"I've been too lenient with you and it has led you to believe you can behave as you wish."
Felix side eyed his father. Okay, that doesn't sound good…
"We're going back to basics, son," Aro said, tapping his knee. "Come on, let's get on with this."
No, absolutely not. The boy began to tremble.
"I think a spanking is exactly what you need," Aro finally concluded. "I think you need to learn a lesson in humility before you go too far."
Eugh! That word! Felix shook his head. Why did you have to use the 'S' word?! "I'm sorry, Dad!" He gathered his thoughts quickly, relisting the things his father had accused him, promising they wouldn't happen again. "I won't have Corin here anymore, I'll include Demetri again, I won't argue with Jane, I'll stop the pranks…"
Aro only shook his head harder. "I've heard it before, Felix. Warning you isn't working, neither is grounding you, or stopping your allowance…"
"It works!" Felix insisted. "I'll prove it!" There was nothing Felix hated more than spankings. It was so, so, so emasculating. Aro had threatened a few in the previous year, but the boy had escaped unscathed. (Or rather, he'd escaped with a heftier punishment, but he preferred that). "You tried doing that two days ago and it made me worse with Jane," he said, Felix logic at its best. "So sp… span… spankings don't work," he stuttered.
Aro's eyebrows disappeared into his hair line! "Oh, is that so?" he ground out, thoroughly unimpressed. "I clearly need to put more effort in, then. Stand up."
"Dad, no!" Felix sobbed, his head in his hands.
I'm not fighting you on this, Aro thought, knowing exactly how to play his boy. He stayed calm, and simply offered an extra threat. "Either you stand up now, or I'll take you to the guard hall to get this done."
Felix's head spun around to face his father with a look of abject horror etched on his features. It had only happened once before, but that once, that battle of wills that saw Felix spanked by not his only his father, but two other coven masters, his grandfather and uncle in the guard hall would forever be his very worst memory.
"Five," Aro said, calmly. "Four."
Felix made it to his feet before Aro could get to three.
"Much better," Aro said, giving his boy a smile. Being so calm really twisted the knife and Aro knew it. The calmer he was, the worse Felix felt. Good, Aro said to himself. He wanted his boy to feel wretched for forcing his hand yet again.
"Britches down," he instructed. "And get that tunic off."
Losing his tunic was okay. Easy, even. The thick, black Volturi tunic made no difference to Felix at all, in fact. He still had his shirt beneath, he still felt fully dressed. As he fumbled for the ties to the front of his britches, however, reality hit home. Felix paused and locked pleading eyes with his father. Sadly, Aro's were resolute.
"If you're going to act like a child, I'll do it myself." Aro grabbed at the waist of his boy's britches and yanked him closer.
The force of Aro's manhandling teared the material and Felix felt, rather than saw, his britches drop to the floor, only attached to him by the ties as his knees. How humiliating.
"Shorts, down."
"Can… can I leave them on… please…" Tears burned at the boy's eyes as he stuttered to retain some semblance of dignity. "Please Dad…"
Shaking his head, Aro laughed lightly. "You really need a spanking, don't you?" he said, making short work of ripping the boy's braies down, too. He patted his knee again, much to his son's horror. "Get in position or we're going to the guard hall."
Just before he could, Felix heard muffled sounds of conversation downstairs. He looked back over his shoulder to the door and realised he hadn't closed it. Listening carefully for a moment, Felix tried to work out was talking.
"It's your uncle Eleazar and your Grandfather," Aro helpfully informed him. "And their presence changes nothing."
"But, Dad…"
"Although," Aro mused aloud, giving his boy false hope. "I could invite them to watch, I suppose… if you don't start cooperating?"
A wave of nausea passed over the teenager. What a punch in the guts!
"FELIX!"
The roar from his father shocked the boy into action. He bent himself over Aro's legs, laying his chest on his parents' bed and gathered the sheets to his face, hoping to muffle his sobs. He was convinced that was the worst part of a spanking, having to present himself for punishment like a child. He was a child - a giant-sized vampiric child with poor impulse control and a royal 'fuck you' attitude. Before his father had laid the first smack on his backside that attitude had gone. Felix had already been put in his place, he felt, which made suffering the smackdown pointless in his mind.
Aro heard his boy's thoughts on the matter, so he made sure it wouldn't be pointless. The anticipation of the first strike was the most fear-inducing, so Aro waited. Felix held his breath as he waited, too. Eventually, his sobs calmed, and the boy dared to look back over his shoulder - which is exactly what Aro had been waiting for. He began. Catching the boy off guard, Felix couldn't hide his reaction. He yelped, he gasped, he soon began to cry, and sooner still, he began to beg.
"Dad…I'm sorry…" he cried. "Stop! It hurts…oh, it hurts so bad…"
Aro resisted telling his boy it was supposed to hurt, and instead, ramped up the temp in response. "If you act like a child, you'll be punished as one," he said. "You know the score - it's been the same since I brought you home and it's never going to change, got it?"
With some particularly vicious strikes added to his upper thighs, Felix knew he was supposed to answer, but he couldn't form the words. He gasped and nodded, crying hard into the bed, hoping that would be enough to placate the man. It wasn't.
"Got it?!" Aro asked again, striking his boy with force.
With a strangled sob, Felix said yes, before collapsing into hysterics. Finally, Aro stopped, and dragged his boy back to his feet. On wobbly legs, the boy got himself under control.
"Right," Aro bobbed his head. "That's that warm up taken care of…"
Felix's head snapped up. What the fuck?!
"Now where's my belt?"
You cannot be serious?! Felix already felt like he was sitting in the fires of hell. And now you want to strap me?!
"Where is it, son?" Aro asked. "I told you to bring it up with you."
"I… I…" the boy paused, sucking in the air around him to calm his breathing. "I left it down stairs, Dad."
Aro's lips turned up at one corner as a smirk took over his face. Shame for you, he thought. "Fetch it," he ordered. "And be quick about it. I've wasted enough of my evening disciplining you as it is."
"But… but… down there?!" Felix panicked. It would have been shameful enough to face his mother in such a state, let alone his uncle, too. He knew his grandfather would have something to say about the whole Corin in his bedchamber disaster. "Please Dad," he begged. "You have other belts in here…"
Aro watched his boy for a moment. He seems contrite, he thought. Not that contrite was enough for the coven King. Aro knew only too well that a contrite Felix would feel genuine remorse for what he'd done, but it wouldn't be enough to stop him committing the same errors again any time soon.
"Fine," he eventually said.
Felix felt awash with gratitude and relief for all of two seconds.
"We'll fetch it together and I'll strap you with an audience."
No, no, no! "I'll go, Dad," he insisted, whipping up is shorts. "I'll fetch it, right now."
Thought you would, Aro smiled to himself. "If you keep me waiting…"
Felix didn't need to hear more than that. His torn britches couldn't be fastened, so he held them together at the waist as his limped from the room.
Entering the main chamber, Felix kept his eyes glued to the floor, but he still received everyone's full attention.
"We're late for our card game because of you," Basileus said. "I suggest you stop messing around unless you want to be taken with us for the rest of your punishment."
"Leave him be, Dad. We've got all night to play cards."
Felix swiped at his eyes and offered his uncle a grateful smile.
"Leave him be?" Basileus repeated. "He's causing trouble with the guards again."
"One guard, Dad," Eleazar said. "His girlfriend. That's all."
Ignoring his son, Basileus flashed to the boy as he collected his father's belt from the sofa.
"If you want to act a prat with the 'king of the kids' persona you've crafted for yourself, you do it without involving the guards, got it?" I'm telling Magnus to sort his kid out because he's disrupting the guard and my own grandson is causing the same trouble! I'll not stand for it. Of course, he couldn't tell Felix that. "I asked you a question!"
The boy winced at his grandfather's harsh tone. "Yes, sir. I get it. I'm sorry."
"Any more trouble like this and I'll make sure…"
"Felix, sweetheart," Sulpicia interrupted before her father-in-law could issue his own threats to further traumatise her son. "Hurry yourself along. It's too late for you to still be up."
That was all the boy needed to hear. He made a grab for the belt and flashed from the room, pausing on the stairs to collect himself. Moving so fast had really, really hurt his aching, battered hide. He didn't pause for too long, though. The very last thing he wanted was for his father to find him and make good on his promise of an audience. Then, like a thunderbolt, Felix had a wonderful idea. Perhaps Dad just sent me to fetch this blasted thing as punishment, he thought, feeling the belt in his hand. Perhaps that was the punishment and hes just going to send me to bed now? With that happy thought, Felix continued up the stairs.
By the time Felix returned to his parents' bedchamber, Aro had changed for his evening out. All besides his dress coat which lay waiting on the bed. His sleeves were rolled up ready, telling Felix there was no way he was getting away without a strapping.
With a gulp, Felix offered his father the belt. "You don't have to do this, Dad…"
"Get over the chair," Aro commanded.
Felix didn't have to ask which chair, it was always the same chair. He and Demetri knew that chair well. The wooden armrests were forever damaged by the boy's own firm grip where he had forced himself to stay in place lest he receive more strikes for breaking position. As Aro hadn't instructed otherwise, Felix kept his britches in place, and he bent over the back of the chair.
"Dream on," Aro told him, ripping down his lower garments in one. "Count."
Crack!
Holy hell!
Crack!
"Two," Felix rushed to say, catching his breath.
"No, son," Aro replied. "One. You know the score."
Felix nodded glumly and agreed. If you're told to count, and you miss one, it doesn't count.
Crack!.
Aro barely left room for the boy to call out the count before levying another one at his backside, but Felix finally made it to a count of ten (which, he bitterly realised, took at least fifteen strikes).
"Alright, get up."
Peeling himself from the chair, Felix slowly bent down to retrieve his britches. I must have been kicking out more than I thought, he realised, seeing the state his clothes were in. Mom's going to have a hard job darning those.
"Rip them off," Aro told him, straightening out his shirt sleeves. "They're fit for rags now and you're going straight to bed."
Felix didn't complain. Hearing the grandfather clock from the main chamber chime for midnight, it was his bedtime anyway. Still, standing in his parents' bedroom dressed in only his shirt and a pair of boots with his blistered backside hanging out… I must look pathetic. A pathetic little boy.
As if hearing his boy's thoughts, Aro jumped to answer them. "Do you know what I see when I look at you right now?" he asked. "I see a pathetic little boy who needs to be reminded of his place around here."
Yup, Felix bobbed his head. Just as I thought.
"And I'll remind you every time you step out of line, my boy."
Lucky me.
"Bed," Aro said. "No blood, just bed."
Felix shook his head into the cushion as he laid on the sofa in an attempt to rid himself of the memory. Feeling his bottom burning was enough, he didn't need to mull over the whole sorry episode again. And then he waltzed out the door to go to a card game, he remembered bitterly. A card game! How could he play cards after doing that to me?! Utter bastard.
"Well?!" Aro demanded.
Felix jerked his head out of the cushions at his father's voice. Was he talking to me? Crap.
"Well, what, sir?" Poor lamb, he really did try to sound sincere, but Aro took offence to having to repeat himself anyway.
"I said…" he began, before thinking better of bothering and simply whipped the back of his boy's shorts down to check for himself.
"Jesus, Dad!" Felix grabbed for his braies and redressed himself, but his father already had the information he needed.
"DEMETRI!" he bellowed up the stairs. "Get your backside down here, now!"
Glancing around to see who would have witnessed his father baring his arse, Felix locked eyes with Jane. That's weird! Felix checked his sister's face again. Why isn't she laughing at me? Not that he wanted her to. Aha, here we go, he thought, as the girl moved to sit beside him.
"Dad lost a lot of money last night," she whispered to her brother. "I heard him telling Mom."
Felix was lost for words. He wanted to ask her why she wasn't taking the piss out of him but thought better of tempting fate.
"And he came home really drunk, so he's probably hung over," she added, nodding sagely.
Chancing a look to his father, Felix nodded, too. "No wonder he's in such a shitty mood."
Aro caught the boy looking his way. Seeing Jane and Felix sat together had become a rarity and he didn't like the scene one little bit. "If you pair are tormenting each other again there will be hell to pay!"
They both knew only Felix would be making a payment, and the boy hunkered down into the sofa. He couldn't take another round with his father - Aro seemed hell bent on finding a reason to give him one.
"Don't think you can spend your day lazing around just because you got hiding last night..."
"I assumed I would be on restriction?" Felix hoisted himself up and peered at his father from over the back of the sofa to hear the answer.
"You should be," Aro replied, one eye on his mate. The eye she returned told him not to push the matter.
"I'm too busy to have him moping about under my feet all day."
Gee Mom! Feel the love! Felix tutted and slunk back into his chair.
To be fair to his mother, Felix could see she was up to her eyes in scrolls and had been all morning. He'd been lying on the sofa since six, trying to elicit some sympathy from the woman as she worked to no avail. He'd been told to quit his moaning a few times, and eventually did when Sulpicia had walked over and planted a harsh hand on his backside. I thought I was getting a cuddle or something, he muttered to himself.
Demetri made his way down the stairs, bleary eyed, to come face to face with his father. "What did I do?" he asked, irritated at being woken, or rather, tried to ask.
Aro already had a grip on his small bicep before his foot had hit the bottom step, dragging him into the room. "Who gave that prat bloodwine last night?"
Demetri gulped. There was little point denying anything when your father could read your mind at will, so he didn't bother trying. He tried squeaking out an apology, but Aro didn't wait to hear it.
"Do it again and I'll drown you both in the barrel!" With that rather harsh threat ringing in his ears, Demetri felt a blaze ignite in his rear end as his father began spanking him in full view of his mother and two siblings.
"Aro!" Sulpicia called over the din their middle boy was making. "Must you do that now?!" The poor woman was utterly exasperated, and her hungover mate was only adding to her stress.
Jane rolled her eyes to her eldest brother. "She's got no sympathy for anyone today."
"Tell me about it!" Felix agreed.
Aro quit his assault against his son, but he still wasn't satisfied. "The pair of you had better get dressed, now," he directed at his boys. "You aren't sitting around my house in your damn underwear."
Felix decided against arguing with the man when he was already so irate, but his brother had other ideas. "You called me down here!" Demetri shot back. If he'd changed out of his bedclothes first Aro wouldn't have been happy about it.
"Move, or you'll both have a taste of the strap."
That sent both boys scurrying for their rooms.
By the time they returned, both fully dressed and with plans made for the day, they had a house full of family. Sulpicia and Carmen worked quietly at Aro's grand desk whilst Aro joked about with his two brothers.
"At least he's calmed down," Felix whispered to Demetri.
Yeah, Dem agreed. Too late to save me any embarrassment, though. It really stuck in the boy's craw that Aro thought so little of punishing him in front of others. It was rare, very rare that he would do such a thing to Felix, but the coven King seemed to think nothing of giving his younger boys a good smack regardless of company.
Jane had disappeared, no doubt with Tanya as she wasn't there, either. That left Irina and Kate, and Alec of course, who sat sulking alone.
"We're going to the woods," Irina told the boys. "Want to come?"
The boys had made plans to visit their girlfriends before going elsewhere, (girlfriend was a strong word for Adrianna - she and Demetri really weren't that serious). But they figured they could make their visit a quick one.
On Auto pilot, Sulpicia opened the draw to Aro's desk to retrieve her sons' emblems - one was noticeably missing.
"Felix," she called. "You didn't return your insignia."
"What was that?" Aro asked, pouncing on his son.
Sully shook her head. "Just fetch it, my darling," she told her boy. Before your father has a heart attack.
Felix winced before he replied, biting his bottom lip. "I can't, I lost it."
"How can you possibly have lost it?!"
The boy back up a step from his father. "I don't know," he said. "If I knew that then it wouldn't be lost anymore.
"You're a vampire, you idiot," Aro reminded him. "All you have to do is engage your brain and you will remember where you put it. You can't forget!"
Felix cringed as Aro took a hold of his arm in one hand and raised the other ready to strike.
"It was in my room, Dad," he rushed to reply, attempting to put as much space as possible between himself and his father, which was particularly difficult as Aro had a firm grip on him. "I know where I left it. It's not there anymore."
Alec bravely spoke up. "He wasn't using it and I wanted it… so…"
Forgetting Felix for the moment, Aro turned on his youngest boy. "So you stole it?" he asked, looking back to his mate. Felix hadn't been the only child the two had discussed in recent days. All of their children were acting out one way or another, though Aro defended his girl's behaviour and in return, Sulpicia defended their baby boy.
"It will turn up, I am sure," Sulpicia said wearily.
"Is that it?!" Felix spat. I was about to get a smack off him in front of everyone for something the brat has done, and he walks away unscathed? Typical!
"If you had returned your insignia rather than left it lying around…"
"It wasn't lying around, Mom," Felix snapped. "It was in MY room."
Aro glared at his boy until he backed up and checked his attitude. It didn't take long before Felix grunted out, 'sorry' to his mother.
"You don't need your insignia today anyway," Aro reminded his boy. "You may not be grounded, but you're still restricted to the coven."
Felix closed his eyes hearing Irina sniggering. Why are you doing this to me, Dad?!
"I don't know why Irina's laughing," Eleazar said, joining them all. "She's not leaving the coven, either."
Oh, is that so? Felix opened his eyes and smiled at the girl, feeling smug. Irina didn't argue. She merely tutted and looked away. So it's true?
"Hey!" Aro clicked his fingers in Felix's face. "Do you want to go out today?"
"Sorry."
Aro nodded, satisfied. "You can take Alec with you to play."
"What?!" Felix snapped. "I'm taking Demetri, isn't that enough?"
"Taking me?" Demetri repeated, the words leaving a sour taste on his tongue. "You invited me!"
Felix turned to his brother, shaking his head. "Shut up, Dem! Dick head."
Seeing her mate was about to start again, Sulpicia jumped in. "Felix and Demetri will be out with their friends, Alec can stay with us."
She had meant to be kind, but Sully had unwittingly reinforced the idea that everyone, absolutely everyone had friends in the coven and interesting things to do other than Alec. The poor boy felt so lonely.
Even Felix was sensitive enough to see his baby brother looked crushed. "We're going on a double date, buddy…" he started to say.
"I think not!"
Oh great! Demetri scowled at his big brother. Now you've got Mom on our backs, too.
"Don't worry," Aro told his wife. "Magnus has given me his word our boys will not be going up to the guard dorms for a while, and I doubt they'll be brave enough to argue with him."
"Dad!" Felix stomped his foot into the floor, much to his shame. "I'm seeing Corin…"
"And if you would like to continue seeing Corin, you will start behaving better. That is what we agreed, is it not?" Aro waited for a response, but Felix had his mouth clamped shut. "Do I seriously need to spank you again already?"
Oh my fucking God! Felix fumed.
Alec sidled up to his brothers. "If you're not double dating, can I come?"
Felix damn near snapped the boys head off. "NO!"
The young boy backed away, his lip quivering. Felix didn't mean to be so harsh with him, but he was more concerned about his own shame than his baby brother's feelings.
Sensing her living chamber would erupt at any moment, Sulpicia decided enough was enough. "Felix, just go," she said. "In fact, why don't the four of you go out into the grounds. Get some fresh air."
When Irina and Kate went with Felix and Demetri, Alec realised he wasn't included in the 'four' and flashed to his room, crying.
The Outcasts didn't get very far with Aro blocking their path. "He's not going anywhere until he answers me."
"Dad, please…"
Aro shook his head. "Do I need to sp…"
"No," Felix snapped, before checking his attitude. "No, Dad. You don't need to do anything," he said in a calmer manner. "I'll behave, sir."
Giving the kid a satisfied smile, Aro allowed them to pass. "Make sure that you do," he called after his boy.
Felix stalked ahead of the group on the way to the guard hall. He couldn't let them see the tears in his eyes. They would think he was upset, or something weak like that, and he wasn't upset, not in the slightest. He was furious! How dare he embarrass me like that?! Prick! If Irina says one word…
"Your father is a prick."
Felix stopped walking. Actually, maybe Irina can speak if she wants. He turned to face the girl. "Seriously?" he asked. "Aro? Not me?"
"What did you do? He was the one throwing his weight around," she said. "There was no need. What an overzealous prick."
She seems to mean it, too, Felix thought. Suddenly he loved Irina!
"Hold it!" Magnus was in front of the little group before they could step foot in his hall. "You aren't coming in today, young ones."
Irina scoffed at the man. "What are we being accused of now?"
"I'm not accusing you of anything, my dear," Magnus replied evenly. "But you aren't coming in my hall today. Parental request."
"I have no parents."
"Irina, don't," Kate hissed.
Magnus looked back into the hall. "Ren, fetch Corin down here." He looked back to Demetri. "Would you like someone to fetch Adrianna for you?"
Demetri looked back, confused. "Why?"
"I thought…"
"We only see each other for fu… one thing."
Magnus shook his head and sighed. I'm too old for this. "I think you lot should spend some time outside. Get yourselves some fresh air."
The Outcasts shared a look between them, all thinking the same thing. Why is everyone so obsessed with fresh air?!
"Yes!" Corin snapped at her fellow guard, gaining he attention of the guard hall and beyond. "I get it, Ren!"
"Oi!" Magnus barrelled around, grabbing hold of Corin and dragged her in close. "You had better watch your mouth, my girl."
"I only said…"
"You will speak to your elders with more respect," he ground out. "You're on thin ice with me already."
Corin nodded frantically, offering both Magnus and Renata an apology as she did so. If Ren wasn't constantly on myback about hanging out with Felix… there was little to be gained from thinking on it. Renata was right, anyway. Corin couldn't afford to attract any more trouble for a while.
Magnus eventually released his young guard and told the five of them to stay out of his hall for the day. He wanted a break from their childish dramas.
It took them all of a yard to start discussing their overlords. Overlords was Irina's term for the elite, but it was catching on with the coven youth - it seemed particularly appropriate when masters and parents alike were being so domineering.
"What is up with the overlords around here?" Irina asked as they walked. "They're all being such miserable arseholes."
"You guys had trouble, too?" Corin asked, linking her arm through Felix's.
The boy scoffed. "Trouble?" he repeated, feeling the welts from his strapping rubbing on his britches. "That's one word for it."
…
The little group of Outcasts enjoyed the fresh air for all of five minutes. There was simply nothing interesting about fresh air, and being vampires, there was no benefit to it, either. Luckily, Irina had something to change that. She still had a bag of hash from the Halloween party and though no one wanted to be reminded of that horrible event, they were all keen to get stoned. Before long the girl had returned to her chambers to fetch her haul and they were all spaced out on the grass, cloud gazing – far preferable to fresh air.
Felix took a long drag on the hash pipe and blew a cloud of his own.
"Do you think the clouds look at us and say shit like 'look at that one, it looks like a blob'?"
"No," Corin told him categorically, though she laughed at his goofiness. "Stop smoking that shit," she said, taking the pipe for herself.
"Heads up, kids," Alex hissed at them from the wall. He was walking on patrol, but he was going in the wrong direction heading their way. "The King is coming your way."
That was probably the nicest thing Alex had ever done for anyone, and he even offered Irina a wink before he flashed away. He hadn't paid the girl yet for the goods she had procured on his behalf, and he was trying to keep her sweet.
"Shit!" Felix cursed, rubbing the ash around him into the ground. "If my Dad catches me with this I'm done for."
Irina looked startled, too. She didn't want to give Eleazar a reason to follow through on his new order thing. She started stuffing hash and pipes into her bag in a panic.
"Give it all to me, quickly" Corin suggested. There was nowhere to hide the evidence, and she was the only one among them who was 'allowed' to smoke hash, being a guard.
The young guard had been right. The stench of weed was high in the air when Aro turned the corner of the castle with both brothers in tow. He made a beeline for his sons.
"Whose is that?" he asked, toeing the bag in front of Corin. There was no need to investigate the contents, he knew the smell well enough being a keen smoker himself.
"Mine, Master," Corin said respectfully, keeping her head bowed. If she locked eyes with the King she would have crumbled, so she fixed her sights on the ground. "Guards are allowed to smoke, Master."
Aro raised an eyebrow at the little gathering. He wasn't stupid - if Corin was smoking, so were the others. But he'd had some hair of the dog and he wasn't in such a bad mood anymore, so he decided to let it go.
"For now, maybe," he agreed with the girl. "Have you calmed down now, boys?" he asked his sons.
"Have you?!" Felix shot back, still resentful of his father's display that morning.
"Watch it, Felix," Eleazar warned the young prince, whilst placing a steadying hand on Aro's shoulder. "Leave them, brother," he said, wanting a peaceful afternoon. Eleazar wasn't the sort to look for work to do. "What are you lot up to?"
"Nothing," Kate said, quickly… a little too quickly she realised when her sister and co turned to her and rolled their eyes. "Why would we be up to anything?"
"Whats to get up to around here anyway?" Irina asked, doing her best to appear disinterested.
"No Odi?" Aro asked, smirking to his brothers who both knew where the guard masters' son would be. "I thought he was part of your little gang?
"Haven't seen him," Felix said. "Magnus wouldn't let us stay in the guard hall but Odi wasn't there."
"Ah, well," Aro replied. "Hardly surprising under the circumstances." He and Eleazar actually chuckled, though Carlisle didn't seem to see the funny side which set the cogs turning in Felix's mind. "Behave yourselves, all of you."
"We don't need telling that, Dad," Felix huffed at his father. "Who do you think we are?!"
"We know who you are," Eleazar replied before Aro could say something further to wind up the boy.
Aro stooped down and collected 'Corin's' bag of goodies from the floor. "I'll let Magnus know about this, my dear," he said, sly smile on his face.
Corin swallowed hard and tried to defend herself. "Guards are allowed to…"
"Lie to their King?" Aro finished for her, cocking his head to one side, tutting. "Go and see Odi at home, I'm sure he'd appreciate the company," he suggested before he left them all. "You can tell him from me to start behaving himself, too."
"Carlisle," Felix hissed at his uncle, beckoning him to stay with them. "Whats happened with Odi?"
Carlisle looked to his brothers only a step away. "He went crazy last night," he whispered. "I'll tell you later…"
"You will not tell him anything," Eleazar told his brother resolutely. "Grow up and get moving."
There was something rather not grown up about having your elder brother demand you grow up, but Carlisle knew he couldn't stay with his nephews. They would have been more fun to hang out with than his brothers, sure, but his father had waned him against getting involved in the strife of children, again. Aro had had his say on the matter, too. No, it just wasn't worth the stress for the time being, so Carlisle dutifully followed his brothers and gave his nephews an apologetic smile as he left them guessing about their friend.
"Well, I want to know whats happened to Odi," Irina announced, dragging herself up from the floor. "We'll have to go and find out from the horse's mouth. Come on."
Irina always sounded confident, whether she felt it or not, but she was pleased to see her new merry band of misfits follow her along. Corin even apologised to the girl for having her hash confiscated. Irina played it cool, telling Corin not to worry about it. Truthfully, she was grateful Corin had taken the fall for them all. It was clear as day that she was lying, and she'd heard Aro tell her that he would be telling Magnus about it. Even I might have buckled under that threat, Irina thought. She didn't tell Corin she was grateful, of course - that would have given Corin leverage over Irina. No, much better to leave it with Corin being apologetic for losing the happy stash.
Heavy pounding brought a nervous Odi to his chamber door. After making a silent prayer to the Gods that I wasn't Caius on the other side, he creaked it open a tad. Oh! Seeing it was his fellow Outsiders pleased the kid, though he wasn't sure he should let them inside. He had never had guests before. Like, ever!
"I'm not sure you're supposed to be here…" he began to say.
"We're on the King's business," Felix said, high and mighty, pushing passed Odi to make way for the five of them. "My dad said you need to start behaving yourself."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
Felix burst out laughing at the shock on Odi's face, before long, the other Outcasts joined in.
I've got my mother telling everyone to be nice to me, the King telling me to behave myself, and the coven clown laughing at me. How low have I fallen? Who knew rock bottom had a dungeon?
"Come on then," Felix said, pulling Odi out of his own head. "Spit it out."
"Spit what out?" Odi asked, trying to play it cool by flopping into the sofa next to Kate. He soon sprung back to his feet - the creator had really walloped the kid the night before, and with Odi's ongoing refusal to feed, he could still feel every strike pulsating.
Felix gave Odi a knowing smile. He was standing for the same reason. "Why are you grounded?"
Grounded?! Odi shook his head. "I am not grounded!" Only children get themselves grounded.
"Oh, cool," Felix replied, leading Odi into a trap. "We'll go out, then."
"I'll grab our insignias and we could go for a hunt," Demetri offered, knowing only too well that Odi was lying through his fangs.
"Great idea, Dem," Felix replied, clapping his hand on his brother's shoulder. "You up for it, Odi?" No reply from the guard masters' son. "Odi?"
Odi sighed, crossed his arms, and leaned his hip against his father's chair where Irina sat watching the scene. "I'm on restriction."
The Outcasts all looked to one another before falling about in hysterics.
"Sure you are, pal," Felix managed to get out between chuckles.
They all did that - said they were on restriction rather than grounded, same as they would say they had a whipping rather than a spanking. Anything to preserve some pride and sound slightly less pathetic. Even Odi laughed, eventually.
"We can't go off base anyway," Odi said once they'd all calmed down. "Irina isn't allowed, and I wouldn't want to leave her out."
Irina gave Odi her full attention. "What makes you think I'm not allowed off base?!"
Odi smirked at the Denali girl. "Just something I heard last night."
"You heard wrong," she lied.
Felix, Demetri and Kate started laughing again, as they knew Odi was bang on the nail. Truth was, only Demetri and Kate were technically free, but neither of them ever left the coven alone, so they were effectively on restriction, too, with their older siblings.
"Come on, then," Irina said to Odi, trying to get attention back on the kid. "What on earth did you do last night? Carlisle said…"
"Fuck whatever Carlisle said," Odi replied. Would he rat me out? Would Carlisle really do that? He took to pacing the room lightly. Felix had stirred the bloodwine cauldron suspended over the fire place and the smell assaulted his senses… at least, that's what he told himself. Odi breathed a sigh of relief when he remembered Carlisle had already left before Basileus had taken him to task the night before. So Carlisle doesn't know what happened, he realised. "Carlisle doesn't know what he's fucking talking about."
"Alright, calm down," Felix said, amused by Odi's extreme reaction.
"You know," Odi smirked right back at the young prince. "I heard a few things last night about you, too. Your old man was quite chatty about a certain someone being caught in his chambers, and another certain someone ending up over…"
A split second passed before Felix had Odi by the throat. "Not. Another. Word." The boy had never sounded so serious in his life, and he didn't release Odi until Odi nodded his consent.
"The only reason Felix isn't grounded is because our mother doesn't want us under her feet," Demetri explained, trying to ease the sudden tension in the room. "Theres some shit going down with the French coven, I think. I'm not sure what, but our Mom is really stressing about it."
Felix knocked down a goblet of bloodwine and felt a little better for it, well enough to apologise to Odi, at least.
"Don't worry about it," Odi replied. "We're tense for the same reason."
Felix started ladling out more goblets and handing them around the room. "Want one?" he asked, when he got to Odi.
Odi shook his head. "I'd rather starve."
"That will take a good twelve months, pal," Felix said. "At which point the insanity will start kicking in."
"It won't take that long," Irina said. "Magnus and Basileus said they will be force feeding him pretty soon." She had heard Freyr and Atia speaking about it the night before when the shield maiden had expressed her concerns for her troubled boy.
That got the hackles rising on Odi's neck. "When did you hear that?!"
Irina merely smirked. "We've all heard things, it seems."
"I haven't heard anything," Kate muttered, folding her arms.
"Neither have I," Corin added, glaring at her boyfriend for answers.
Felix sighed to himself. We're going to need more to drink if we're swapping war stories, he thought, pouring himself another glass of bloodwine.
Odi thought the same, but he refused to join in with the drinking. The other Outcasts did manage to pry a few choice details from him, however. It turned out not to be as terrible as Odi imagined - having a few likeminded friends who were suffering similarly actually helped the kid feel less isolated, which he desperately needed. Felix and Demetri did, too, for that matter.
Somewhere around the middle of their over-sharing, they were all laughing at the foolish overlords who understood so little - by the end, they were roaring obscenities about those men and their pathetic attempts to bring them in line.
Their exuberance brought a furious Caius to the middle floor.
"Will you lot shut the fuck up?!" he raged, the door ricocheting off the wall with the force he employed to throw it open.
Four of them cowered at the coven master's entrance. Not Irina, though, and not Odi, either. Caius wasn't happy with that.
"Should you all even be here?!" he spat, glowering at each in turn until they had the sense to avert their eyes. It took longer than he would have liked for Irina show some submission, but she got there. Odi, though… he continued to glare.
"Big shot, huh?" Caius asked, laughing mirthlessly from the door way.
Odi squared his shoulders. The night before, Odi had bounced from hope to no hope to hope again for a future friendship with Caius. Caius had cruelly dashed those hopes at the final hurdle and Odi had no fucks left to give. His mind set, he started stalking towards the coven master.
"Odi," Felix hissed at the kid, trying to pull him back. "What are you doing?" the young prince would have liked to join Odi, or at least hold him back from making mincemeat of himself, but he wasn't willing to go toe to toe with Caius.
Caius stayed in the door way and continued to mock the kid. "Do your parents know you're entertaining when you are supposed to be contemplating your behaviour?" he asked.
"Fuck off, Caius," Odi spat. "You're such a cunt." And then he slammed the door in the coven master's face and bolted the locks!
That right there, that was the moment, his moment! Odi felt like King of the world!
The others agreed. "Oh my god!" Irina exclaimed with glee. "Am I dreaming or did that really happen?!"
Felix crowed, hooting and hollering. "It's like all my wet dreams have come at once!"
The girls weren't quite so keen on that analogy. "That's disgusting," Corin told her boyfriend.
Demetri understood. "I'm with you, brother!"
If Caius thought the noise from the middle floor suite was annoying before he'd complained, it quadrupled after he left. Felix and Odi were the loudest voices he heard. That pissed Caius off most of all. Odi's attitude towards him was understandable, if inappropriate to display before others. Felix, however, had absolutely no good reason to show such disrespect.
"I'll be telling Aro about this," he said to his mate, thumping his fist on the table. "That insolent brat won't get away with it. Neither will the other one."
"Which other one," Dora asked, only half an ear on her mate's ranting.
"Fucking Odi!" Caius spat. Obviously.
"Why are you going to tell Aro about Odi?"
Caius' nostril flared. "I'm not telling Aro about Odi. I'll be telling Aro about Felix. Are you listening to me at all?!"
Another round of catawalling erupted from the ceiling and Caius was done. The cheering and jeering was so loud that he demanded his mate fetch Magnus to control the brats in his chambers. Dora only agreed to stop Caius going back up there.
Dora did as she was bid, though she went to Freyr rather than Magnus - she had no desire to land the kid in any trouble and she knew Freyr would be a better bet for being able to placate Caius without making life worse for Odi.
Luck was on Dora's side and she found Freyr walking the halls alone.
"Dora, dear," Freyr greeted her. "You seemed concerned?"
Dora chuckled to herself. She couldn't hide anything from the shield maiden. "And they say you have no gifts?" she said, before getting the crux of her concern. "Caius has sent me to complain about the noise coming from your quarters."
"The noise?"
"Apparently its deafening, but I had to stop moving and breathing for that deafening noise to be heard. It is a little louder now, though."
Freyr didn't understand. "What noise would be coming from my chambers?"
"Odi has a few friends round, that's all. It's just Caius being miserable because he's still suffering…" Dora paused and looked up and down the hallway, making sure no one was about. "From last night."
Freyr nodded her understanding. "I'll deal with it, my dear," she assured the young woman, walking back to the north tower with her.
By the time Freyr arrived, conversation in the middle suite had taken a change in direction. The Volturi Outcasts were all unhappy with their lot, that much they could agree on. None of them, however, could quite see a way to change things for the better.
"What specifically about your setup in annoying you the most, and what's the least that could be done to resolve it?"
Eloquently put, Irina. All but Kate started offering ways out of their current situations. Kate stayed quiet, as the reason for her dissatisfaction was sat right next to her - If Irina could be happy here, I could be happy, too, she thought. Aha! Irina's right. The least that can be done, is to make Irina happy. If I concentrate on that, I won't feel ill anymore.
The others, well, they came up with a simple solution, too. They all needed to prove their worth.
"But, what is our worth?" Demetri asked, bringing the mood down a little.
"We used to fight front line," Felix reminded his little brother. "All of us."
"I didn't," Irina pointed out.
"Yes, you did," Felix insisted. "Not for the Volturi, I know that. But you've told us loads of stories about living with Sasha - you defended your coven, your lands."
Corin knew exactly how the Denali girls had 'defended' their coven and she wasn't sure if laying on their backs really counted as fighting front line, but she let it go for the moment.
"Now they treat us all like useless little kids!" Felix knocked back the dregs from his goblet. He'd drank enough to be fully recovered from his most recent episode of being treated like a little kid, but boy, was he still bitter.
Irina's overall objective, as far as anyone knew, was to win the right to take her sisters and leave the coven, although, she wasn't as sold on the idea and she made out. Regardless, she wanted to be seen as a competent, self-advocating, independent woman, rather than some prissy princess in need of protection.
With that in mind, Irina looked around her gang of Outcasts and told them confidently, "We need to show the overlords that we aren't weak. We have worth. We aren't their fucking property."
They all agreed with that. Who wouldn't?
Freyr had heard enough. She tried opening the door to find it locked.
"Caius!" Odi called out without bothering to move. "Get a life and stay out of mine."
Tittering spread through the room giving Odi yet another ego boost.
"I'll pass that on to him, son."
Felix cringed. "Is that your mom?!"
Odi didn't reply. He barely moved. His mouth hung open and his eyes spread wide, but other than that, he didn't move an inch. It was left to Corin to unbolt the door and welcome the guard master into her own chambers.
"My lady, I…"
"You are perfectly fine, my dear," Freyr told her young guard. "I have received some complaints…"
"Caius?" Felix asked, trying to hide his empty goblet behind his back.
Freyr followed the boy's hand and made it clear she knew what he was doing, but she didn't pass comment. "Whoever else?" she asked.
"Erm…" Demetri's throat felt dry, but he had to ask. "Who has Caius complained to?" Please don't say Aro, please don't say Aro.
Freyr understood the boy's concern and put his fears at ease. "I believe you are in the clear so far, little ones."
And that was it, silence fell around the room with no one quite knowing what to say. Even Irina stayed quiet. Freyr wasn't sure what to do, either, come to that. Odi had never brought his friends into their home before. Actually, she realised, he's never really had friends who he would have wanted to bring to our home. She really didn't want to ruin things for her son. He needs friends. But still… Odi is grounded. Magnus had made that clear to the boy and Freyr was pretty sure that meant not throwing an impromptu party in the middle of the afternoon. She glanced around the room at the used goblets and a half empty cauldron and saw a way to make a compromise. 'Yes, love', she imagined herself saying to her mate. 'Odi has had his friends around all afternoon, but he's drank some bloodwine and is in a better mood for it so all's well that ends well'. Yes. That will work.
Freyr collected up the discarded goblets and set them in a bowl for washing later. "You needn't worry," she told the young ones, seeing them all flinch, no doubt expecting to be told off. "A sociable drink with friends is perfectly fine in my book."
"You have the coolest mom in the world," Felix whispered to his young friend. "My mom would have flipped her shit by now."
"Mhmm." That was as much as Odi could say. He knew his mother was not 'cool' in the slightest and he was waiting for her to ruin his life again at any moment.
"Have you had a drink?" Fryer directed at her boy.
Here we go. Odi shook his head.
Freyr sighed. If he hasn't drank any bloodwine then my compromise goes up in smoke. "Why not?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light. She filled a cup for the boy from the cauldron and presented it to him.
"I'm not allowed to, am I?" Odi sneered, pushing away his mother's offering. "Not until the great almighty gives his consent."
"Drink it," Freyr insisted with a tight smile.
"I wouldn't want to break any more rules."
"I'm telling you to drink it."
"And I'm telling you to shove it."
"What is he doing?!" Demetri had to look away. He wouldn't have dared to speak to his mother that way… well, okay, he might have dared, but he'd have paid dearly for it.
Felix was of the same mind. "Odi, man," he called to his friend. "Just drink it."
Odi's eyes flickered to Felix, and then Demetri, both willing him to see sense. Kate couldn't even look at him, she had her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach and kept her eyes glued to the floor. Corin employed the best of her guard training in making herself invisible - standing at the door where Freyr had left her with her head bowed. He nearly took the goblet. Very nearly. But then he saw Irina. Odi did a double take when he saw her expression. It wasn't one of pity, like the boys, and it wasn't sneering or mocking as he had expected from the Denali girl. She looked… impressed! This is just what she was talking about, Odi realised. They don't own us, they don't control us. We aren't weak.
With new found resolve, Odi eyeballed his mother. "Drink it yourself."
The boys gasped, Kate groaned, Corin cringed and Irina smiled. Oh, my boy. You've brought this on yourself. "Say goodbye to everyone, my darling."
"What?!" Odi shot out.
Felix and Demetri looked to their fellow outcast and shook their head. What else do you think would happen, Felix thought to him. You dick.
Irina was still learning how this family thing worked and she was curious. Sasha never made demands of her girls or tried to control their behaviour. There were things the girls had to do, such as entertaining the random men Sasha brought home, but those situations were presented as do it or we'll die, so they didn't blame Sasha, (or Irina didn't, at least. The younger Denali sisters felt differently. If Sasha didn't like the way her girls behaved, she simply removed herself until they were acting differently, which, again, Irina didn't blame her for… and again, the younger sisters felt differently.
"Say good bye to everyone," Freyr repeated. "You're currently grounded so you shouldn't have your friends here," she explained. "I was going to overlook it in the spirit of good will, but as you still have an attitude problem, I now feel less inclined."
"Mom!"
"Say goodbye, drink your blood, go to your room." There was no room for manoeuvre in Freyr's tone and Odi knew it, but he still refused to relent.
"This is such bullshit!"
Odi snatched the cup from his mother and threw it clean across the room. Bloodwine bespattered the fire place, spitting in the flames, whilst the cup made a pleasing splash in the cauldron before sinking to the bottom. And then he turned on Freyr.
She didn't give the kid time to land himself in deeper waters. Before he could spit whatever diatribe he had planned, or worse, she drew her hand back and slapped it clean across his face!
The whole room cowered as the crack burst through their ear drums. Freyr could land a slap like she was throwing a punch!
"The party's over," she told them all.
They didn't need telling twice. The Outcasts fled from the room as Odi stormed to his bedchamber, cradling his cheek.
…
Caius waited for Magnus to get home before visiting the second floor again. He was still incensed at Odi's performance and he wanted the kid brought into line. He planned on telling Aro to have a word with Felix, too, when he saw his fellow master.
"I am asking you not to do this, Caius," Dora pleaded, hanging off her mate's arm as they ascended the stairs.
He soon shook her off. "I heard you."
Caius wasn't solely planning on getting Odi in trouble - that was just a happy sweetener - he wanted permission to have a drink! He couldn't tell Dora that, though he assumed she would know. Saying out loud that he was seeking permission for some blood relief would have been almost as embarrassing as the reason he needed the damn blood in the first place!
Magnus flopped into his trusty old chair and planned to stay there until morning. He rested his head on the back rest and closed his eyes. Odi was in his room, no doubt, but the kid was still avoiding his father. On a better day Magnus might have tried to do something about it, but he was already feeling down, having given Corin yet another round of fucks - this time for lying to the King. He'd put his young guard on lock down in her dorm and that's where she would be staying for a while. He'd made quite the show of taking the girls dorm key and locking her inside. It was symbolic, off course, as Corin could easily climb out the window and scale down the wall. Still, the message hit home. If she had been left in any doubt, Magnus told her, 'next time you need locking up it will be a cell in the dungeons for you, my girl!'. He'd left the key with Renata, hoping the woman could talk some sense into Corin. Lord knows I can't.
"Where's the brat?" Caius asked, kicking open the door.
"Whose door are you kicking?!" Freyr shot to the disgruntled man.
Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose. He really wasn't in the mood for another row with Caius. "I've had a long day," he said. "So don't rock up at my door and start with your mouth."
"My mouth?" Caius repeated, leaving Dora to close the door behind them. "What about his mouth?" (Odi's, naturally, though the kid had yet to appear). "He called me a cunt today and told me to fuck off in front of all his little friends."
Magnus opened his eyes and watched Caius for a moment, getting a read of his emotions. Honest, he soon realised. Though Freyr's threw him off a little. Why would she feel regretful? With a sigh, he called out for his son to join them. He had to add a rather threatening 'now!' before Odi appeared, looking just as sour as Caius.
"I know you heard him, and I know he's telling the truth," Magnus said to his boy. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Freyr watched her poor mate in action. He sounded so tired. Adding her own tale of woe about their son's behaviour would only add to Magnus' load, so she decided to keep the matter to herself.
"I speak as I find," Odi replied to his father, though his eyes were fixed on Caius. "If that offends people then they should change what I find."
Magnus sat up straight in his chair. "You'll be finding something else if you don't check your attitude."
"What does that even mean?" Odi scoffed. His ego had been given such a boost that day, despite his mother doing her best to utterly ruin him, that he was ready for a row if his old man wanted one.
Dragging a hand down his face, Magnus saw any hope of a quiet evening going down with his son's attitude. "It means royal brats are not above a damn good hiding when they beg for it." He stretched out his neck, soaking up the tension from Caius and Odi. Dora's anxiety wasn't helping much, either.
"I'm not royal," Odi replied, still glaring at Caius.
"Oh, but you are," Magnus told him. "Reluctant and truculent, but still royal. You are damn close to becoming a liability to this family!"
He reached out and flicked his hand against Odi's leg to get his attention. It had the desired effect. Odi narrowed his eyes and glared at his father instead of Caius, completely shameless.
"Family?!" he scoffed.
"Boy," Magnus warned, getting to his feet and towering over his son.
He was pleased to see Odi taking a step back. Seeing sense? He wondered without much hope. The boy looked a mess; bags under his eyes, one purple cheek - I hope Caius hasn't done that to you? - and pale, so pale, even for their kind.
"Sit down, son," he said, pushing his boy down into his own vacated seat. "Right, what has gone on today?"
Caius was only too happy to tell his tale in glorious technicolour. Not that there was much to tell, really. Odi laughing really didn't help Caius' temper, or his father's for that matter. When Caius was through, everyone looked to Odi expectantly. An apology would go a long way to resolving matters…
Odi simply shrugged. "May I be excused now?"
"You most certainly may not!" Magnus shot back. "I can't pretend to know whats going on in your head right now, but I'm damn sure you know better than to run your mouth like that to a master of this coven!"
"It's only Caius."
This time it was Magnus taking a step back. Partly to keep Caius away from the boy, partly to keep himself away!
"It's only Caius?!" Caius repeated to himself.
He turned away breathing fire through his nose whilst he got himself together. He wasn't going down for Odi again. Sure, he wanted to rip the kid a new asshole, but he wasn't about to offer himself up for another whipping so soon after the last one. Odi was right in one way, Caius realised. He was 'only Caius'. Much of Caius' standing in the coven came from him being a miserable, no nonsense sort who would put a man on his arse just for looking at him the wrong way. He had worked hard to overturn those natural inclinations, but where was he left now? Now I've got half the coven youth laughing at my expense! Nu uh. That could not be allowed to pass.
Magnus was more worried about his wife's emotional state. "What are you keeping from me?" the man snapped at his mate. He quickly tacked on an apology for his terse tone, but Freyr understood the strain he was under.
"It doesn't matter right now, love," she said.
"I'll tell you what she's keeping from you, Dad," Odi snapped, the foolish, foolish child. "She slapped me today in front of the Outcasts…"
"The Outcasts?" Dora asked. She hadn't heard that name before.
"We're the ones no one wants around."
It was Caius' turn to laugh. "So dramatic," he said, shaking his head. "Dramatic and pathetic."
"Knock it off, Caius," Magnus warned, turning dark eyes on the young master. "Why would your mother slap you in front of your friends, Odi?"
Odi shrugged. He knew how much his parents hated shrugging, so he was making sure to do it at every possible opportunity. "Because she's a bitch?" he offered.
He knew he'd gone too far before the words had left his mouth, and he looked as shocked as everyone else!
"I…"
That would be all Odi could squeak out before other voices drowned him out. Between Dora's huffing and gasping, Caius throwing insults at the kid in defence of Freyr, and Magnus asking him who the hell he thought he was, Odi couldn't hear his own voice. The only one not to speak was Freyr. Just like her mate when he had arrived home, she simply looked worn out by it all.
Odi wasn't stupid, or not entirely stupid, at least. He knew his father would fly into action soon enough and he needed to get the hell out of there if he was going to save his own skin. Problem was, he had few places to run! His father stood in front of the chair where he sat, which meant Odi was basically pinned into the bloody thing. What the hell am I going to do?! Brain wave - go up and over, he thought.
Magnus may have been too busy yelling to notice at first, but Caius saw Odi twist in his seat and he knew what the boy planned. He waited until the last second before he made his move - as soon as he saw Odi spring up, Caius was right there, holding him down.
"And now you try to run from me!?" Magnus roared.
Taking over from Caius, Magnus took his son by the scruff of the neck and held him in place, bent double over the back of his chair. Odi had unintentionally manoeuvred himself into the perfect position to face his father's retribution.
"I'm sorry!" he screeched, as though it would do any good.
"You will be, boy!" Disregarding the pitiful sobs from his son, Magnus began relentlessly spanking the kid.
Freyr tried to call him off, but she was a little bewildered herself. Magnus normally approached life in calm, considered manner. He wasn't one to lash out in anger. Seeing him smacking their son with such gusto came as a shock to the shield maiden.
Being punished in such a way when his father was so damn angry was bad, horrible, but having an audience on top of that? Horrendous! And to make it worse - if such a thing were possible - Odi was so hungry that he had barely any self-control at all. He kicked, he thrashed, he screamed for all he was worth. Nothing seemed to put his father off, though. When Odi threw an arm back to block his father's hand, Magnus simply twisted that arm right up Odi's back and forced him back down for more. When Odi tried in vain with his other arm, that one soon joined the first. All Odi gained for his efforts were some extra hand smacks to the back of his flailing legs.
"Magnus!" Freyr called to her mate. "That is enough!"
If he heard her at all, he didn't react. It was Caius who brought an end to Odi's punishment by grabbing hold of the juggernauts swing arm mid strike. He took a slap for that himself, but it stopped Magnus going too far with the boy.
"If you ever speak about my wife that way again I'll…" Magnus' words hung in the air as he stalked away from Odi. He paced the living chamber with his hands running through his long hair, tugging at the roots to ground himself in the present. "Ever, Odi!" he said. "You hear me?!"
Odi slowly peeled himself from the chair. His arms ached almost as much as his behind from the way his father had pinned him down.
"Odi!" Magnus snapped again, wanting an answer from the boy.
The boy blinked back the tears, but fresh ones kept coming. His legs wobbled beneath him like a new born colt and he had no idea what his father was asking.
"Just say yes," Caius hissed in the kid's ear.
"Erm…" Odi wasn't sure he should trust Caius, but with nothing else to say, he did as the man suggested. "Y… yes, sir."
Magnus bobbed his head and turned his back on them all while he filled a tankard of bloodwine for the boy. "Drink your blood."
He took the tankard pressed into his hand, but the boy couldn't have swallowed that blood if his life depended on it. With his chest heaving beneath ragged breaths, he was likely to throw up on the rug if he tried putting the glass to his lips.
Magnus felt the last of his patience slip away. "Drink it!"
In an odd turn of events, Magnus being so angry with the kid induced an odd feeling in Caius. He suddenly felt protective of the boy in some way, he felt… bad. (Guilt, Caius. It's called guilt!) he braved getting in the way of the juggernaut and shielding Odi from his father for a moment.
"You need to calm down," he told the kid. "You can't control your emotions when you're so hungry, Odi. All of this will end when you drink the fucking blood."
No, it won't. Odi thought, still gasping for breath. You'll still hate me. The guards will still mock me. My parents will still think I'm useless. Nothing will end.
Maybe if he'd said all that out loud, things might have worked out differently. Or he could have explained that he wanted the bloodwine, but he wasn't in a fit state to drink it. He didn't, though. Odi just stood there rubbing his arms and wishing the room would empty so he could rub his aching backside, too.
Understandably, Magnus took his son's inaction as continued resistance.
"You just don't want to learn easy tonight, do you, son?"
Odi's eyes widened and Caius spun around to see why. Seeing Magnus reach for his belt startled everyone.
"Enough!" Freyr stormed between the three men in her life and ended proceedings. "You," she snapped at Odi, grabbing the boy by his arm. "Will stand out of the way until you have calmed yourself down." Her words were redundant as she frog-marched her son to the back of the room to give him some space.
"And you," she said to her mate. "Will sit down and think things through before you make this any worse."
Magnus huffed and puffed about it, but he did as he was bid. Sharing the room with a volatile, overly emotional vampire, and, well, Caius, was too difficult for the empath to bear. That, along with Basileus' warnings to get the kid under control, and the day's drama in the guard hall had all been enough to tip Magnus over the edge.
"We should leave," Dora whispered to her mate once the room had settled. "Caius…"
"I'm not leaving when he's like this."
Dora was unsure which 'he' Caius was referring to, but she was proud of him for wanting to help. So proud, in fact, that she resisted the urge to tell him that he was at least partly to blame for the whole debacle.
"So what if I don't want to drink some bloody blood?" Odi asked from his corner, still facing the wall. "It's up to me when I feed. Not you." He had regained control of breathing, thankfully, but he seemed intent on using his new skill to blow his father's brains. "You don't own me. You don't control me. I'm not breaking any laws…"
"He had better be joking?!" Magnus said from his seat, gripping the arm rests to keep himself seated.
"No, love," Freyr said to her boy. "You're not breaking the law. That doesn't mean you're not breaking our rules."
"I don't want to live by your rules."
"You don't have a choice, son," Freyr replied before Magnus could say a word.
"Yes, I do." Odi turned and faced them all. He seemed eerily calm considering all that had transpired that evening. He placed his tankard, still full, on the table and squared his shoulders. "I can go back to the dorms."
"Oh, Odi, no. Don't do that." Dora literally face-palmed. "You can stay with us if you all need some space," she offered without thinking, although Caius didn't disagree.
"Let him go back to the guard," Magnus said, laughing at the very idea, though he didn't sound amused. "But I'm warning you, Odi," he said, standing to meet his approaching son. "I will treat you as one."
Odi scoffed in the juggernauts face. "Whats new?!"
"Much!" Magnus jabbed the boy in the chest with his index finger, pushing him back. "I've never treated you as a guard and you damn well know it. If I had, you would have been up for a whipping every week in the coven meeting."
"Perhaps if you'd treated me as your son we would never have come to this?" with that, Odi jabbed his father in the chest right back!
Magnus grabbed at Odi's wrist and glowered at the boy. "What did you just say to me?!" he ground out through gritted teeth.
"Magnus, love…" Freyr tried.
"I'll wring his damn neck!"
"Whatever," Odi snatched his hand free and brushed himself down. "I'm choosing to join the guard, Master."
Freyr turned sad eyes on her son as her heart lurched up to her throat. "So, that's it, complete rejection?"
"I'm just following my dear old Dad's example."
"You want to leave?!" Magnus asked, raging again. "Go! Go on!" he said, dragging his boy passed Caius and Dora to the door. "See how well you do out there on your own."
Odi looked at his mother and smirked. "Does this remind you of anything, Mom?" They had heard those words before, right before Ivar and Sven left their lands, never to be seen again. "You've lost all your children because of him."
The juggernaut flew at the boy with his fist pulled back.