A sire's gift (Frederico and anyone in his house) - Frederico's Haven

His voice was steel.

"I told you not to address me as such."

He looked down again.

"Yes Frederico. But that is always what you will be. In my heart and in my soul. No matter what you command me. You cannot command me to stop loving you."

He shook his head.

"After all this you still think I do not love you? How can you think that?"

He sighed.

"Your own actions, Estaban. Now, was there anything else you needed, or can I free myself from your presence?"

"And how do my actions show I do not love you father? What have I dont that makes you think I have betrayed the feelings I have had for you since that first day?"

Frederico just stared.

"Are you dense? I have explained this already, over and over again. I do believe that in the last two years, your brain has begun to produce a chemical that blocks out my voice."

"Over and over you have told me that you think she is controlling me. That I am going to crush her heart. You say that I should go out and make love to others, that I should abandon Ra'idah. Thank you think she will destroy our family. But what have I done to YOU? Or is it simply that I haven't done what you wish?"

Despite words that could be taken as heated, the tone and manner were always soft and that of a loving son. Which he was.

He shook his head.

"Yes father. But this is not your anger at me letting the family down, which we both know I have not. If anything i am working harder here than any other of our family to unite these people nad strengthen us. Please notice that since I have arrived we have gone from a clan of one to the largest group. We advise the Prince, one of ours being his wife and another living in his house. I advise the sheriff and another of ours is the harpy. I have not betrayed our family.

And this is personal. I can feel it father. I know you. Tell me father. Do not dress it up in these well planned obfuscations. How have I truly hurt you father?"

He tilted his head.

"If that is true, then why are there more than one Rose coming to me to speak on how to fix the way this Clan is run? How to motivate you to be a true Primogen? Please, Estaban, do you really believe that I simply do things to vex you?"

"Because Roses are bitches, me included."

The words were said with love.

"I know Areron spoke of me. But two, that hurts."

"Fath.. Frederico I have never once thought you foolish. Or evil, or hated you. I love you and always have. As my Sire, as a Toreador, as my mentor."

"I have never thought anything you said was nothing. Your words mean more to me than you will know. The kind ones and the harsh ones. Is there nothing I can give you besides my misery that will prove my devotion and love to you father?"

He stopped and looked down.

"There is something... something I have never given her, never even told her about. She doesnt even know it, though it could save her life some day. I had been keeping it for her birthday a few months from now. Would you... take it.. as my proof?"

His brow began to arch.

"What is this babble about?"

He still looked at the floor.

"A method of using the strength of the blood to hake you harder to kill. Any one can be strong but the fortitude of the blood can fail someone no matter how tough they are. By combining the two..there are no weak points. Your strongest point and your weakest point are the same. It would make someone who knew it... extremely hard to kill."

He snorted and waved a hand.

"I've told you what I require. I am amused that you continue to offer me everything you can think of, in an attempt to make me forget that."

"To leave her...you ask too much father. How can only my breaking two hearts prove I still love you?"

His words will still soft, still calm.. but there was pain in them.

"Because then I will know that you feel what you have made me and your sister feel, as well as others."

Just as calm as you please.

"You believe I have broken you heart, and Rosita's? By loving Ra'idah? How is this possible?"

"I have talked to my sister. she only seems hurt by your pain."