AN: Including this one, there will be 4 more parts to this bunch of chapters.

Sending love and good wishes to you all :)

All Ends That Ends Well: Part 1

JANUARY 31ST

At ten minutes past 6pm, Magnus began to round up those on report so he could deliver them home. They had more Volturi members than usual in the coven, as a few who were at outposts had returned recently, like Daniel and Timon from the Greek outpost. As had those who spent most of the time out of the coven as royal messengers, like Netty, Jennifer, and many more besides. The guard hall was heaving with guards reacquainting with each other before the next inevitable assignment.

For Carlisle and Odi, this meant hearing the details of the King's new programme for dealing with the coven youth on repeat. The guards informed their friends that the new plans applied to both Carlisle and Odi, which was hard for the returners to grasp.

Some guards were kind enough to the young men to explain the king's reasoning in a gentle, less humiliating fashion. Others, like Afton and Alex, relished in less discreet explanations where Carlisle and Odi were relegated to the kids' table because of their immaturity, their unreliability, and just about any other reason real or imagined.

Carlisle had listened to such conversations for two hours and his ears were bleeding. It was only the embarrassment he felt over the entire episode that kept his mouth closed. Odi reacted a little differently and responded in self-defence every time Afton and Alex spoke about him. Felix did likewise, and both ended up with an earful from Magnus about it. To be fair to Magnus, he gave Afton and Alex a round of fucks for their puerile play, too. They all continued, regardless.

When Magnus realised his supervision of the young ones was over, he couldn't round them up quickly enough. Finding the little sods proved more difficult than he'd have liked. Carlisle and Odi were the easiest to find as they were both sat at the table nearest the guard hall door.

"Time's up, lads," he said, placing a hand on Carlisle's shoulder, much to the amusement of Afton and Alex.

Carlisle swirled the last of his bloodwine around in his goblet before downing the dregs in one gulp. He could kill his father for this. He didn't comment and merely nodded at Magnus to show he'd heard him.

Typically, Odi had more to say. "I'm staying in my dorm tonight," he told his father. "So I might as well stay here."

If Magnus heard him, he said nothing. Spotting Corin and Felix coming down the stairs from the guard dorms, he left his son for the time being and went straight to the young lovebirds.

"I told you pair to stay where I could see you."

Felix made a show of looking around the hall. "There's no room in here to see anyone, so what difference does it make?"

"The difference is you were told to stay down here." Magnus placed his hands on his hips and stared the boy down. "Do you need another reason beyond my direct command?"

Corin tucked in beside Felix, nudging behind him slightly and telling her boyfriend to back down. Magnus rarely commanded anyone to do anything. He was more of a softly, softly, make suggestions kind of guy. There was something off with the guard master that afternoon. He appeared on edge, agitated, and a little unpredictable.

Corin decided to 'help' him by using her gift on him - something she knew she shouldn't do on anyone uninvited. It was a coven rule that guards and kids kept their gifts to themselves unless instructed or invited. She took a risk by using her gift on an unsuspecting coven master, but she needed him to be less pissed off!

Her attempt at inducing contentment barely left her psyche before Magnus worked out what she was doing, and he moved immediately from agitated to angry.

Taking the girl by her arm, he ripped her from the safety of her young lover's side and marched her back towards the door. He hissed in her ear as they went that her ridiculous attempt would be noted in her report. Felix followed them, chuntering about the unnecessary abruptness of the guard master (though his language had been more colourful).

Demetri, the Denali girls and Jane realised it was home time and followed suit, all meeting at Carlisle and Odi's table.

Carlisle still couldn't understand how he'd fallen from grace so drastically, particularly when he'd done nothing wrong. "Is all of this entirely necessary?" he asked, more to himself than Magnus, though Magnus answered anyway.

"It is. Don't give me any trouble now, most of you have…" Magnus drifted off spotting Felix and Odi watching him with trepidation in their eyes.

"Is my report really that bad?" said Felix. As Magnus made a non-committal noise in response, he knew he was screwed. "I'm dead."

When Magnus went to find Alec in the crowded guard hall, Odi expressed the same sentiment as Felix.

"I'm so dead," he said.

Odi tried to shake the memory of his two hours in the woods but his brain wouldn't comply. Mouthing off at Caius? What was he thinking? He couldn't even blame it on extreme hunger with his parents forcing him to chug bloodwine whenever they set eyes on him. No, it wasn't hunger that saw Odi take a leave of his senses this time. It was pure, 'blatant disobedience' - that's how he expected his father to frame it.

Magnus returned with Alec, telling Felix to keep hold of him for the time being.

"You pair!" he then called toward the bar. All the guards nearby straightened up wondering who Magnus was calling on, but once they saw he carried the young ones' books of doom, they went back to their drinks. Turk and Irina, however, guessed he was talking to them.

"Are our names on that list?" Irina asked in a tone of dismay. After being escorted between classes, being escorted 'home' wasn't a surprise. Turk was already 'home' - unless Magnus planned to escort him to his dorms?

"Aye," said Magnus. "Shift yourself." He pointed at the office and sent them on their way.

He was about to instruct Richard to stay on the bar, but the man beat him to it, telling the guard master he'd hold the bar before the request was made. Magnus silently thanked him for being so useful, so predictable, so stable. Why couldn't all of his guards be that way? Why couldn't his sons be that way? His sons were a major bone of contention.

He'd had Basileus in his ear that afternoon—again!—for Caius's attitude to instructing the coven youth. That attitude now extended to mouthing off at Freyr and Atia in the training fields. Between that, and the few things he'd picked up about Odi's behaviour on his first school day, Magnus was teetering on the edge of dispelling all reason and going straight to thrashing both into submission. He hadn't even read Odi's report yet and he was truthfully dreading the prospect.

To a lesser degree, Turk and Corin had brought some shame to his door, too. He'd witnessed first hand Corin's disregard of coven expectations in the guard hall that afternoon when the ladies were sewing. The things he'd read in her report were similarly disappointing. Turk's report genuinely shocked him more than anything else that day. The young barman was a reliable, well-behaved coven member, usually. As they were both guards—his guards—Magnus felt they had let him down personally. If he was feeling shame on their behalf, he planned on making sure they felt the same.

Not a single one of his young tribe were paying him any attention. They were chatting away like they were on a jolly, dragging out moving to the office where he'd told them all to go.

"I'm not standing here for my health!"

The force of Magnus' voice caused the entire room to flinch. The young ones jumped to attention, flashing to Magnus's desk in the guard office.

"I'm staying in my dorm tonight," said Odi. Again.

Magnus raised an eyebrow in response and Odi said no more about it.

Alex and Afton hung around, waiting for Carlisle and Odi to move - they wanted their chairs and they wanted to gloat even more.

"Go on, then," said Alex with a glint in his eye. "Off you go, kids."

The young men miserably rose from their chairs - feeling most aggrieved at being treated so appallingly childishly. It really stung when Alex and Afton took the seats they only just vacated, both smirking wildly.

Magnus had had enough.

"Anyone who finds this funny will add themselves to my list."

"Dad, its fine," said Odi in a hurried whisper. "Don't get involved."

"You!" said Magnus, jabbing his finger in Alexander's direction. "You are now on my list."

"Magnus!" the coven warrior called in shock. "Come on!"

Odi whined more forcefully than Alex. "What are you doing?" He willed his father to back down. The guards would make his life hell if they joined his ranks in the school program. Especially if they ended up there for goading Odi in the first place.

Magnus waved his boy away. "I am sick of the bad attitudes in this hall," he explained for Alex's benefit as much as Odi's. "We are trying to create something positive here and I will not stand by whilst a few bad apples spoil the crop."

Alex groaned and shot daggers at Odi.

"Lay off the beers tonight, Alex," said Magnus. "I want you in the office at dawn and I will personally escort you to the library. You will be released at this time tomorrow. If you have any shifts during that time, you had better see Freyr to rearrange because you won't be making them.

"All the classes?" Alex questioned. "I have to do them all?"

Magnus wore the same smirk Alex had earlier towards Odi. "The classes shouldn't worry you. It's being on report that will be your undoing."

"Magnus, please—"

"You need an attitude adjustment, pal," said Magnus, gruffly bopping Alex on the head with one of the kid's reports. "Anyone else want to join him?"

Afton was as surprised as Alex at Magnus's punitive decree. "Nice one, Odi," he said to the retreating young guard. "Hope you're happy."

Magnus didn't miss a beat. He pushed Odi in the direction of the office and blocked Afton's eye line to his son. "Afton, you're on report." Before either Afton or Alex could plead for a reprieve, Magnus held up his hand to silence them. "One more word from either of you can both kiss goodbye to your wages as you'll both be on block, too."

He left them both stewing on their unfair lot in life and snapped in Renata and Phillipe's direction.

"Whenever you're ready?" said Magnus, dripping with unusual sarcasm. "Don't rush on my account."

From the brief flash of confusion on their faces, it was clear neither guard knew they should accompany the young ones in the guard hall. They apologised regardless, as Magnus seemed to be a man on a mission as he stalked into the office.

Freyr was already there when they all arrived, shaking her head at her husband and tutting at his bad mood.

Magnus concentrated on the young ones. "From now on, when you hear the bells ring for 6, you are stood at my desk." He flipped through the kids' reports, bringing Turk's and Corin's to the top of the pile and handing them over to Freyr. "I am not running you down every day. If you can't be relied upon to be stood here when you should be, you'll spend your entire time here at my side. Got it?"

"Running them down?" said Freyr. "You only had to look around a single room, love."

"6 bells, my desk, or my belt."

A chorus of 'yes, sir' replied. Even Irina agreed.

Magnus nodded slowly as he considered each in turn until he decided they were true in their agreement, then he sent them to wait in the hallway. Pulling Corin and Turk out of the group, he told them to start explaining themselves to Ren and Phil.

Freyr stroked her husband's arm, running her hand down until it met his and clasped together. "I know he's riled you—"

Magnus looked to the heavens. "Basileus hasn't riled me."

"I didn't mean him, love. Caius?"

Freyr's assumption that Caius had riled Magnus was correct. But so had Odi, and Corin, and Turk, and about a quarter of the guards and yes, Basileus, too. And he said as much.

"They all need a good hiding," he huffed, and asked his wife to check over the guards' reports.

"I'm not sure why I'm reading them – Ren and Phil could do this."

The guards in questioned followed her to Magnus's desk where she flopped into his high-backed chair and began reading Corin and Turk's reports.

"It seems you've both had a good day on the whole," she said, "As I expected," she added, smiling warmly.

"On the whole?" Renata asked, pulling Corin a little closer and began hissing questions into her ear.

Freyr murmured along as she continued to read. Evidently some parts were surprising by her expression. "Teething problems, perhaps?"

Phillipe took a step forward and looked to Turk for an explanation. When none came, he asked Freyr about the 'teething problems'.

"Why are you asking anything?" said Turk. He couldn't stop himself. It was the same feeling he'd had in the woods – a bubbling need to assert authority over his own life, the urge to maintain separation from Phillipe and Richard. "Stop parenting me! Freyr's 'receiving' me, not you."

It was Magnus's turn to step forward.

"Phil, when you've finished here, I want you to read his report in detail." Watching Turk for a second and seeing the young man's scowl, his resolve hardened. "Then take him to his dorm and set him straight."

Turk's mouth dropped open. What did that even mean? Other than 'nothing good', Turk wasn't sure. Sadly for Turk, Magnus made his instruction crystal clear.

"A damn good thrashing would be my first recommendation," he suggested with an uncharacteristic sneer. "He has certainly earned one today."

Turk didn't know what to do. He didn't even know where to look! He could see Odi peering around the hallway in his peripheral vision, so he definitely couldn't look forward. With Magnus breathing down his neck, Turk refused to look up. Freyr continued smiling sadly and he couldn't cope with her pity on top of everything else.

The general lack of resistance to Magnus's order stung just as sharply as the order itself. Freyr agreed with Magnus, or she'd have spoken in Turk's defence. Odi wasn't brave or stupid enough to rally for his mate in front of his parents (at least not with the rest of the coven youth and a load of guards looking on). Renata clearly thought a 'damn goo thrashing' was necessary, too. Then there was Phil. Phil who would do the deed. Surely he wouldn't actually punish Turk? A round of fucks, perhaps a cuff across the head if he wasn't paying attention, sure. Turk could deal with that - he expected that. But a 'damn good thrashing'? Phil wouldn't go there, surely?

But Phil hadn't objected either. Turk had to see where he stood with the man and turned to face him.

"Phil—"

"I told you to behave today," Phil replied before Turk could utter more than a word. "You were warned."

"Warned?" Turk repeated. He began to sweat - the back of his shirt clung to his skin. It was all so bloody awful!

And Magnus seemed intent on making it worse.

"Guards do not square up to other guards," he said. "Young guards are never to show such disrespect to their elders as I have read in there."

To make his point, he jabbed his finger sharply on the book in Freyr's hand. The force caused Freyr to drop the item. She tutted at her husband for his annoyance, but Magnus took no notice.

Turk silently cringed. He dreaded to think what Caius could have written in that leather-bound book. Aro had written in it, too, he believed. He suddenly felt quite queasy.

"You're lucky Rich and Phil have taken you under their wing," said Magnus. "If either of them thought of you as just another guard, they would have knocked your teeth down your throat."

Phillipe nodded, his mouth set hard as he agreed with every word.

"You are on the bar until closing," said Freyr, passing Turk's book to Phil. "And that's where you'll go when you've finished talking to Phillipe, unless he decides otherwise."

Phillipe scanned the first page and scrubbed a hand down his face, already in disbelief. "There won't be much talking, my lady."

Turk winced and looked away. He couldn't decide whether he was awake or not? Surely he must be having some sort of nightmare. Turk didn't sleep every night, and he had no memory of going to sleep, but it was the only reasonable explanation. Since Turk directed much of his attitude in the woods at him and Rich, Phil obviously knew about that. But the library hours had been a disaster and Turk dreaded to think about what Phil was reading. Would he have behaved any differently if he thought Phil would personally read his report? Unlikely. He still didn't like it, though. It was a disastrous end to a half decent day.

"It's not all been bad," he said, trying to appease everyone.

"I'm glad to hear it," said Freyr. "It's rather a shame that you've ruined your evening."

With slumped shoulders, and to the tittering of his so-called mates in the hallway behind him, Turk trouped out of the masters' office. As they moved through the sea of guards, Phil read out condemning statement after statement, his tone becoming more incredulous and more resolved each time.

"Stop reading it if it's pissing you. It's mine, not yours."

Phillipe shook his shoulder free of the hand Turk had placed there. "Throwing books in the library?" he said, pausing to turn to Turk, shaking his head. "How old are you?"

"Too old to take a round of fucks from you."

Without missing a beat, Phil replied. "Then you should have been better behaved and avoided one."

It hit Turk like a gut punch - Phil was serious. If Turk followed him to his dorm, he would be accepting this new status quo the coven had foisted upon him. He liked Phil and Rich, he enjoyed their company and he did, he realised, look up to them. But he couldn't roll over and accept the less appealing parts of the relationship that the coven seemed intent on fostering. The pointed talks, the 'warnings', the odd slap…he had accepted those grudgingly as a good sport. He would not, however, submit to the 'good hiding' Magnus had suggested from Phil. Accepting one from the coven masters would have been hard enough, let alone a fellow guard!

It was understandably a tough concept for the young barkeep. In his living memory, he had only been properly punished once - a few days earlier by Magnus. All of a sudden, it needs to happen again and this time by another guard! Who would it be next week? Maybe the coven would offer Jane the opportunity to whip him? The more he thought about it, the more ludicrous his present situation seemed.

"No."

Phil tutted without a backwards glance and continued moving around the gaggle of guards.

Turk tried a little louder. "I said, no."

Sighing deeply, Phillipe turned on his heel to find Turk standing resolute with his arms folded across his chest.

Phil wasn't one to be played by a whelp, so he folded his own arms and glared right back at him. He cut a more impressive figure than Turk did, and Turk knew it.

After only a few seconds, the young barkeep felt like a lemon. But he couldn't back down. There was too much at stake. A few more seconds and guards were bumping into him as they drunkenly bumbled around the busy hall. Turk noticed no one dared bump into Phil – they were all much more mindful of his presence.

Phil wasn't a big guy like Magnus or verging on sadistic like Caius and Alex. His gift of flight was inoffensive, and he didn't have a vicious tongue like some of the other guards. He did, however, have a proven track record of hanging others out to dry if they pissed him off. He mostly went about this fairly, legally, within the confines of the coven rules. Going toe-to-toe with another guard in training was allowed and he'd pummel his opponents into a bloody mess to right wrongs. There were four guards who caused the most damage in training – Lev, Alex, Afton, and Phillipe. Whenever they clashed, it would turn into a violent battle where bones were broken and body parts needed to be reattached.

Recently this had worked in Turk's favour. When Richard and Phillipe asked each guard in turn to back Turk when the mini mission crew returned, they achieved 100% agreement. Some of that will have been because Turk was a nice kid, some more because Richard was a well-liked and popular guard. Any who might have considered rejecting the request would have acquiesced because they feared Phil.

And now Turk stood opposite him in the guard hall with a good many guards turning their focus on them. His mouth felt quite dry.

"Oi!" Magnus bellowed through from the office.

The sea of guard froze momentarily, worked out who he wanted, then parted like the red sea to reveal the pitiful standoff Turk was attempting with Phillipe.

"I told you to give him a good hiding."

Turk's face flushed with—thankfully—pale blood, venom pooled in his mouth. Die. Just die. He dropped his arms to his sides where they hung like lead weights. Predictably, the whispers, and titters from his fellow guards began in earnest. Turk half expected Phil to say something in his defence, something to shut the other guards up. Just…something.

Seeing Turk's reaction, Phil looked down at his feet. He wouldn't want the kid to see him smiling as it would only upset him more. Once he was sure he could school his features appropriately, he looked back up to meet Turk's eye once more. The resistance had been whipped right out of the boy, but Magnus had achieved it, not Phil. If this new arrangement had a chance of working, and Phil for one hoped it would, he needed to get the higher ground.

"I think he'd prefer you do it, Master."

Turk's mouth dropped open. Of all the things he could have said, why would he say that? 'We're going now, master, just on our way, master, we got lost, master, a dragon burst through the ceiling and burned us alive, master!' Any of those would have been better, fairer. Why the hell would Phil throw him under the apple cart?

"Why?"

It was all Turk could say. No other words would come. When he heard the guards quietly gasp and shuffle out of the way, he knew Magnus was coming for him.

Phil shrugged at the kid's question. "If you think you're too grown to need defending, defend yourself."

But he was not too grown. In fact, he had never felt less grown in his life! Turk had no memory of his human life before he'd been turned by the Voturi, but he imagined he felt more in need of protection in that moment than he had in those human days, too.

Phil took a respectful step back as Magnus approached, and despite having no desire to see such a sight, Turk glanced over his shoulder to watch the guard master arrive. Magnus was angry. And he'd already removed his belt.

Turk couldn't breathe. He could hardly see. He began babbling but said nothing of worth.

"I'm surprised I'm your first choice," Magnus said, manoeuvring Turk by his left bicep, forcing him an arm's length away. He kept a tight, crushingly tight hold on him. "You didn't fare too well the last week, did you, young one?"

Without nearly enough time to prepare, the guard master's thick, heavy belt lashed across the back of Turk's legs. He clenched every part of his being to keep the expletives inside his head. Then came another, and another.

Magnus almost added a fourth lash, but when he drew his arm back, his belt caught Chelsea on her hip, and she screamed out in shock. Magnus dropped Turk's arm and immediately apologised to the woman. In hindsight, trying to belt someone in a heaving guard hall might not have been his best idea.

"That was for messing Phil about," Magnus said, releasing Turk. "Do you really want me up there with you?"

Surely Magnus wasn't expecting Turk to respond? If he responded, he'd sob, he knew it. And he could not add that humiliation to the ones already inflicted. No doubt he'd be blamed for Magnus' belt catching Chelsea, too, just to tack on a little more misery. Afton would be gunning for him – any excuse was good enough for that man to start a fight.

Turk was not too grown to need defending against Afton. He was not too grown at all. If this whole punishment lark was part of the defending deal, then he'd just have to suck it up. At least Phillipe was offering him the privacy of his dorm.

"Well?" Magnus asked when Turk failed to respond.

Phil reached out for Turk and pulled him to his side. "I can take it from here, Master."

Magnus bobbed his head once and watched them leave for the stairs. Rather than replacing his belt around his waist, he slung it over his shoulder and went back to the office, apologising to Chelsea again on the way.

He came face to face with the rest of the young tribe watching him carefully from around the corner.

"I told you lot to wait in the hallway."

They quickly flashed back out of view. He expected they would have listened to every word – so long as he couldn't see them, that would do.

"And you," he said to Corin. "I have plenty to say to you, young one."

Magnus observed the girl carefully. Corin was a nice girl, a good kid. But she had a fiery temper at times with those she was close to. She was close to Magnus and he received her sharp tongue more often than most would believe. He was not in the mood for it. Especially not after the report he had read on her behaviour.

Basileus' comments, though they unnerved Corin, were fair and mild enough. Marcus seemed to have had a difficult time with all the young ones than morning and Corin had a fair amount of negative comments in her report. Then there was that business with Irina in the guard hall! Her report was an improvement on Turk's, and neither held the worst spot if there were a score board, but they were worse than all three Denali girls and Magnus felt ashamed of them both.

Corin must have realised the precarious situation she was in as Magnus continue to appraise her. She chewed on her bottom lip and played with a loose thread in her tunic. She wasn't looking Magnus in the eye, focussing instead on the belt hung over his shoulder. He was pleased by the effect it had on her and decided to leave it where it was.

"I wasn't that bad," she said, quietly.

"You weren't 'that good', either, dear one." Freyr placed her hand over Corin's as she fiddled with the hem of her tunic. "You needn't be so unkind towards Irina. I saw you today."

"Everyone saw you," Magnus added. "We all heard you, too. It was spiteful. "

Knowing Irina would be listening, Corin had to defend herself for pride's sake alone. "Irina started it."

Both Freyr and Magnus pointed out Irina hadn't started on her in the sewing session. Dora, perhaps, but not Corin.

"I meant earlier in the day, not when you were listening in."

Magnus raised his eyebrow at her sassy reply. He was giving her the chance to back down, to apologise, but nothing came.

"Alright," he said, mainly to himself.

He decided she was too sassy, too cocky, and demonstrated a complete lack of repentance. If he was this pissed off now, Caius and Odi stood no chance later. But damn it, he was done with recalcitrant youth – the gloves were coming off. And so was the belt.

Slowly and purposefully, he took his belt from his shoulder and began folding it in two. Then he just waited for Corin and her mouth to run out of steam. She was offering apologies at last, but he knew she didn't mean them. He sensed the insincerity, so he remained steadfast on his chosen path.

He pointed out the spot in front of him with the end of his doubled up belt. "Here. Now."

Corin whined and looked at him with beseeching eyes. Her head spun around like an owl trying to assess how many witnesses there would be. Far too many guards were hanging onto every word from the guard hall doorway. They were pretending otherwise but Corin knew better. More disturbing were those behind Magnus in the hallway beyond the office. Odi, Carlisle, and Felix had all braved looking around the corner again. They watched with horror etched on their faces. Irina was there, too. She wasn't half hidden like the guys. She stood bold as brass and proud as punch, grinning like a Cheshire cat. The bitch.

"Magnus, this isn't fair!"

"Fair?" Magnus snatched her from the spot and lobbied his belt across the back of her thighs. "I'll tell you about fair, young one." He gave her another two stripes to add to the first. "You are my guard and your behaviour reflects on me." And another one. "You will behave yourself or suffer the consequences."

The first four strikes had been bearable. Corin had tears in her eyes and she'd yelped at the shock each time, but Magnus hadn't been hard on her – she had enough experience with the man to know the difference. The last strike, however, was intended to hurt, and it did. Corin cried out and yanked her arm free of the guard master.

"Alright!" she said, "I get it!"

For a moment she feared there would be another round for her tone – Magnus appeared to be considering it, too. Then he dropped the buckle end of his belt and used the tongue to swing it back over his left shoulder.

"I hope you do, young one. Unless you'd like the same as Turk's getting?"

No, Corin did not want that at all. She sidled over to Renata, who put her arm around the girl's shoulder. The comfort Ren offered calmed the girl.

"I can't get the same as Turk," she pointed out, trying to get Magnus back on side with a joke of sorts. "I don't have one dad, let alone two."

Corin's humour fell flat.

"I'll tell you what, young one."

Magnus was in her face again. She was pinned in place with the desk behind her, Renata on one side, and Freyr's chair on the other. There was nowhere to go.

"For today," Magnus said, as he pinched her chin between his finger and thumb, forcing her to maintain eye contact with him. "I'll be your dad. And tomorrow I'll go out and turn the ten biggest men I can find. Ren can take her pick to find you a brand new daddy. Hell! She can have all ten if she likes! What do you think of that, young one?"

Corin was too stunned to speak, though Renata melted at her side with a dreamy expression. "Don't tease me, Magnus," she said, half wishing he were serious.

Freyr chucked and stood, pushing her husband back a step. "Magnus, go. Take the rest home."

Magnus looked back over his shoulder to see the young ones bolt back out of sight. He was already half an hour late in getting them home where they belonged. Finally, he kissed his wife on the cheek, gathered the rest of the books, and warned Corin to avoid a similar report in the future.

Naturally, she readily agreed.

Once the disgruntled guard master was clear of the office, Freyr pulled Corin away from Renata and embraced her, wrapping her arms around the girl.

"You have a shift on guard this evening, yes?" she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. When the girl nodded, Freyr released her. "Off you go, then."

Corin took a few steadying breaths and nodded again. Before she left, she had to ask one question. "Do we have to do this every day?"

She hoped to goodness that wasn't on the cards.

"No," Ren answered before Freyr could. "Because tomorrow and every day going forward you will receive a lovely, glowing report and we'll avoid this shit show."

Freyr chuckled softly again and sent them both on their way.