#verin de clermont

[adarafaelbarba]

What would happen if their mate died/was killed:

Not including Ysabeau, Miriam and Fernando as they’ve already lost their mate ❤️ but I’m including ocs for Baldwin, Gallowglass and Hancock 🥰

Matthew: He would let the world burn to find whoever killed Diana. And he’d make it hurt, getting his revenge. There’s nowhere her killer can hide. Even if the death was accidental. Matthew wouldn’t care, all he’d care about would be to find and end the person, his blood rage taking over his entire mind, fogging any sort of consciousness or better judgement. And at the end he might want to join her.

Diana: If Matthew was killed, you’d better pray you can fight Diana. Seeing what she did to Benjamin, she wouldn’t spare you, whether or not she’ll make it hurt depends though. You might get lucky and she’ll just kill you, like with Benjamin—or she’ll drag it out.

Baldwin: There’s no place on heaven or earth in which you’ll be saved. This man is skilled in killing, and in strategizing said killing. He will kill first and grieve second. 

Nora (oc): If you wonder how Philippe suffered, you should stay away from Baldwin as long as Nora is in his life. Should he die, you’d wish your own end would come swiftly. She will make it hurt, but wouldn’t kill you, just break you, bit by bit, until there’s nothing left.

Delphie (oc): She will call on Zeus, Hades and any God or Goddess who would listen, begging for Baldwin to be returned. When that doesn’t work, she’ll want revenge. And it will be painful for the ones at fault. At the end they would want it to just be over with.

Minerva (oc): She’s lost a husband before. But loosing Baldwin might be what actually kills her. She wouldn’t be able to go through the loss again. Whether it was back in their own time, or during present times, she would follow him into death without a second thought.

Gallowglass: This man might be a big teddy bear, but should you cross him, you’d better be good at hiding. And if you kill his mate — Oh BOI! This man never really gets mad, but he will quickly let his anger take control, and kill you in an instant, no hesitation.

Lyra (Julie’s oc): She wouldn’t be able to process it, the grief hitting her harder than either of her parent’s death (might have to do with her parents death being self-inflicted, even if they were accidental). If Gallowglass gets killed, she would never recover, bringing the grief with her to the grave. No flowers will ever grow again from her magic, depending on her strength, she might even stop practicing magic all together.

Catriona (oc): She would be inconsolable, turning to her dad and Fernando for support and guidance, unsure what to do, wishing she could get him back. She’ll hit the depressed part of grief pretty fast, and has to get help doing the most basic things.

Marcus: Our token healer would switch to a cold blooded killer should his mate get killed. He definitely protects those he loves, to the very end. Don’t cross him. He knows ways to kill and make it look like an accident, a suicide or in some cases, the body will never be found, just a note stating said person had run away to be with someone. 

Phoebe: If it’s human!Phoebe, she’d bargain, trying to sacrifice herself so he could live. If it’s vampire!Phoebe, specifically newly turned Phoebe, you should be careful, she’ll drain you before you can stop to think. 

Hancock: Like Gallowglass, Davy is a gentle giant, but cross him and it would be the last thing you do. If you kill his mate he’ll let you bleed, feeding, stopping, feeding again, to drag it out until you die from blood loss.

Annie (kinda oc): She’ll go through all five stages of grief. Not sure what to do to change the outcome. She wants justice, sure, but doesn’t think it’s right to sink to the killer’s level by killing them. Someone else would probably do the killing in her honor.

Valeria (oc): She’s not nicknamed the Bloody Mary of Barbados for no reason. Wrong her and you’ll be dead within hours, and that’s a promise. You think her maker was bad, Val learnt from the worst, watching the ways Louisa made others suffer. She’ll make it painful, and dragged out.

Patience (kinda oc): Patience definitely does not live up to her name. If you cross her she will not be patience with you. She’ll have your head and/or blood before you have a second to think. She might not have blood rage, but she does have some underlying anger issues that would have come both from her father’s years of abuse while they was human, and from watching her family suffer after Matthew and Juliette killed most of her nieces and nephews. Kill her mate, and you’ll be 6ft below in no time.

Ransome: This man might look calm, and scarily so. He’s already lost so much from his grandfather and Juliette paying New Orleans a visit. So should you take out his mate/life partner, you better write your will and get your affairs in order, because judgement day is close.

Jaqueline (kinda oc): She’s a kind, soft spirit. That being said, she’s got a unique gift only a limited amount of vampires have, that and a very close friendship to some of the strongest witches and vampires in New Orleans. Jackie might not be the one to kill the ones who killed her mate, but if you cross her, you’d wish she was the one delivering the blow.

Benoit (Julie’s oc): Ben is very much his father’s son. Born, raised and reborn a soldier, he’s a skilled fighter and killer. Should you have the misfortune of killing his mate, you might find yourself in an old, abandoned castle real fast, with some medieval torture methods waiting for you. Like Baldwin, Benoit will kill you first and then grieve second, heck, even join her in death if he can.

Amelia (Julie’s oc): Amelia has a heart of gold, she would never hurt anyone. She’d go through the five stages of grief, but instead of acceptance, she’d join her mate in the afterlife, knowing without him there’s no sense in going on with life. He’s her whole world, and as she can’t avenge his death, she’ll join him instead. That being said though, if she looses her mate you better run—Miyako is not as forgiving as her sister-in-law.

Verin: It’s inevitable that he will die. Ernst isn’t exactly getting younger. But should his death be unexpected, or rushed…if Ernst is robbed of his end, Verin will tear the person who did it into pieces. 

Ernst: He thinks the world of his never aging wife. Should she meet the end, especially in his old age, he wouldn’t be far behind in joining her. The grief would be too hard on his heart, after all he’s loved her for years. 

Pierre: His heart would simply break, shattering into a milion pieces. In simple terms, his life would be over, he’d leave Sept Tours, and the de Clermont family, unsure of what to do with himself. Pierre loves with his entire being. He thinks the world of his mate, and without her, to him life has no more meaning. He wouldn’t get revenge though, that would be all Gallowglass and Jack’s doing. His «sons» would do it for him knowing he wouldn’t hurt anyone (unless for feeding) because it’s not what his wife would’ve wanted.

Hyacinth: Being a somewhat «public» figure, Hyacinth know’s she can’t kill his killer, not that she would’ve know how to. She would lock herself away, grieving until she had no more tears to spill, and then she would just lay there, wasting away until she can be with her love again. Like with Pierre, someone else would get revenge for her, but would make sure it wouldn’t come back to hurt her or her family’s reputation. It would either be Jack and Gallowglass or Matthew, heck even Francoise, the older woman adores Hyacinth.

~~~

Tagging:

@plaidbooks @xoxabs88xox @beatrice-san @adowbaldwin @butternuggets-blog @rozalynfrozen

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[apinchofm]

The Children of Philippe de Clermont

The de Clermonts are an ancient vampiric bloodline that had ruled over Western Europe, playing an integral role in its shaping. Philippe de Clermont sired many children, all of them serving a purpose. They were intelligent, sharp and dangerous.

[lady-of-the-spirit]

I think Verin should have gotten to stab Matthew for slutshaming her and frankly I think Diana should have let her.

[butternuggets-blog]

FOR WANT OF A NAIL

@baldwin-montclair @adowobsessed @sylverdeclermont @nicki-mac-me @thereadersmuse @kynthiamoon @wheresthesunshinesblog @adowbaldwin @beautifulsoulsublime @lady-lazarus-declermont @adarafaelbarba @dogblessyoutascha

Part Fourty

Summary:  Baldwin Montclair had a string of ex girlfriends, a single child, and a  lifetime longer than most people could dream of to make all kinds of  mistakes. His family knew one which kept coming out of the woodwork to  irritate him every other century.

Also on AO3

They had been racing each other through the forest to see who could reach Sept Tours first. Try as he might to push his horse forward, Baldwin hadn't been able to outpace Martin since they started, which was why Martin saw the strange display in front of them first.

Martin burst out laughing, then called back over his shoulder to Baldwin as he caught up.

'Are we expected to dine in the grounds?'

'What?' Baldwin peered past him, confused, then stared.

Every single piece of furniture that the De Clermonts owned appeared to be scattered across the grass.

Astrolabes and books, scrolls and clocks and linen, cutlery and paintings and the paraphernalia of over a thousand years of life perched on or in the desks, chairs and tables. In the center stood Marthe; from where they were they could hear her muttering curses under her breath and loudly directing the servants on where to put everything.

'Smells of damp' Martin said, sniffing the air. There was a definite tang of mould; some of the furniture had been placed to one side, and a handful of kitchen boys were enthusiastically attacking the pile with axes.

They rode up and dismounted, leaving the horses tied to a boudoir to graze as they wound their way through the labyrinthine mess until they reached Marthe.

'What has happened here?' asked Baldwin.

'Matthew happened.' Marthe paused, then sighed and gestured helpelessly around her. 'He set up a new rain-catching system on the roof of the armoury and..'

'How unfortunate.'

'How far did the damage spread?' asked Martin, as Baldwin began happily snooping through everyone else's belongings.

'Only the armoury and the central tower, thank the gods.' Marthe nodded at Martin. 'A bed in the northeastern tower has been set up for you, and your usual rooms have been prepared for you as well, Lucius.'

'Thank you' said Martin. Baldwin looked up and nodded gratefully.

'Thank you Marthe.'

________________________________________________________________

Philippe and Ysabeau had cycled through the five stages of grief very quickly, so by evening they were laughing at their youngest son's lesson in failure. Marthe was still frosty, but Matthew had promised to help with the clean up which had gone a long way to thawing her temper.

'But what went wrong exactly?' Baldwin asked, while they ate dinner.

'I do not know.' Matthew shrugged.

'Perhaps it was the pipes.' Martin offered.

'Perhaps. There was nothing wrong with the receptacle when we tested it.'

Verin, who happened to have been available to join them for the night, pointed her knife at her brother. 'Fix your pipes Matthew!'

'Yes Matthieu, fix your pipes.' chortled Philippe.

Matthew's mouth twitched in a premonitory smirk. 'There's nothing wrong with my pipes.'

The table dissolved into giggles.

Author's Notes

Baldwin's just happy it's not his stuff that's been destroyed.

Toilet humour makes the world go round 😅

[softersinned-arc]

i think that as much as astoria likes most of the de clermonts her relationship with many of them grows tense with the passage of time. philippe’s death isn’t the cause of it but i think that’s when it starts to become clear, and irreversible. she and matthew get along well enough when they’re arguing but i don’t know if she ever fully forgives him for keeping the knights; she certainly doesn’t forgive him for refusing to let baldwin have his justice for philippe’s death. by time time diana arrives on the scene, astoria has been quietly seething for decades: matthew has been allowed time and again to endanger the family, his blood rage controlled but still present, and in her eyes his vices and failures are allowed and even indulged because of philippe’s whims and ever-shifting favor. she likes marcus very much (he’s her favorite nephew) but she thinks he’s a fool for trusting matthew as he does, particularly after new orleans, and then again after finding out he’s been lied to for so long. she like gallowglass but he’s never around, and with diana’s return she resents gallowglass’ willingness to ally himself with matthew above baldwin. same with fernando. i don’t think she spares ernst enough thought to have an opinion on him besides “entertaining company.” and i don’t think she quite knows what to make of jack.

          as always her relationship with the women in the family is the most complex. i don’t know how she’d feel about miyako or frejya or stasia yet, but i think she’d like them all. verin makes her uneasy, particularly considering the conditions under which she and ernst are mated, but she can tolerate her for the support she offers her brother. there’s a fair amount of tension between astoria and ysabeau as well—astoria as the head of the family’s consort means that she becomes the highest ranking woman at sept-tours when they’re there. astoria makes an effort not to blatantly disrespect her by making demands regarding the running of the household, but she also will gently correct anyone who refers to anyone but her as ‘madame de clermont,’ as if she can understand the confusion and it’s an honest mistake but one that needs to be remedied all the same, and any deference to ysabeau’s decisions is very clearly that (a gesture, a gift even, out of respect for her husband’s mother—not because she should rank higher than either of them). and she likes diana in theory but she’s furious that diana’s willing to risk the entire family for the sake of her own desires, and her disdain for matthew feeds into a disdain for diana. the formation of a separate scion doesn’t help matters. like ysabeau, diana is treated as having rank and deserving respect as a result of her rank, though unlike ysabeau, diana has not earned that respect, in astoria’s eyes. she’s much more willing to pull rank over diana. phoebe has done nothing wrong ever in her life, and while she shows diana the respect necessitated by her role and rank, it’s phoebe to whom astoria shows the affection and respect she would a sister.

          the twins, ftr, can do no wrong in her eyes.

[vincentcatagainsttheworld]

#Repost Deborah Harkness FB page SHADOW OF NIGHT Read Along, chapters 25, 26, & 27 “No one goes into battle without proper armor,” Mary said with her characteristic blend of airiness and tartness. “And Her Majesty, may God preserve her, is a formidable opponent. You will require all the protection my wardrobe can afford.” “Nervous, I smoothed my skirts and took Matthew’s arm. The dozen steps between the queen and me seemed to stretch on to infinity. When at last I reached her side, Walter looked sharply at the floor. I sank into a curtsy and remained there.” -SHADOW OF NIGHT “The historical character I knew best was probably Elizabeth I. I wrote my master’s thesis on how Elizabeth relied on the symbolism surrounding the goddess Diana (both the virgin huntress and the wilder, witchier side of the goddess) to bolster her own power. I’ve been fascinated by Elizabeth Tudor since I was a teenager, studied her life and reign through my undergraduate education and into my graduate-school training. She is a fixture of my teaching now that I’m a professor. Reading her personal writings each year with my students gives me fresh insights into her character and her voice. Even after forty years, however, Elizabeth still manages to be elusive. I’m not sure I will ever figure her out.” -THE WORLD OF ALL SOULS, pg 7-8 👉Let’s discuss. What did you notice when you read these chapters? In the comments below, please share your observations, favorite quotes, musings, questions, half-baked ideas, or deep dives with the rest of us! If this is your first time reading SON, what did you think? What are your questions? If this is your 2nd, 3rd…100th time reading SON, did you discover anything new? Did you discover anything new with your dive into THE WORLD OF ALL SOULS? 👉Other terms from these chapters to search in THE WORLD OF ALL SOULS, or topics to put into your Internet search engine: Alchemy: Arbor Dianae Character: William Cecil, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, Verin De Clermont & Ernst Neumann, Karolina and Tereza in Prague, Emperor Rudolf, Tadeus Hajek, Ottavio Strada (w/brief mention of Katharina Strada), Edward Kelley, Mary Sidney. https://www.instagram.com/p/ClY9XqLoNd0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[shippingcannons]

You know who I don't like right now? Every. Single. Child. Of. Philippe.

[marirable]

requiem (adow fic)

Sept-Tours, 1945. Philippe de Clermont’s death hits hard for the remaining members of the family.

Read on: AO3 | FF.net 

(gif by me)

[krsobsessions]

I really need stories of Philippe’s 3 daughters. Verin seems cool. Freyja seems fun. Don’t know about Stasia but looking at Verin & Freyja, she may be the same. More importantly I really want to see them bullying the boys. What did they do to make the boys fears them?

[shieldofrohan]

All Souls Trilogy + Vampires

de Clermont Blood-Line Vampires*

(*which were active in the books*)

“The wolf who wins is the wolf you feed. The evil wolf feeds on anger, guilt, sorrow, lies, and regret. The good wolf needs a diet of love and honesty, spiced up with big spoonfuls of compassion and faith. So if you want the good wolf to win, you’re going to have to starve the other one.”

[apinchofm]

hiiii, do you have a hc for the full name of philippe's daughters? 👀

I had to put a lot of thought into this - if you look at the various meanings of the names, that kind of gives ideas of their personalities.

Verin Arielle Lena Adelheidde Iris de Clermont

Freyja Lara Audhild Mathilda Elena de Clermont

Anastasia Esmée Philippa Selene Cleo de Clermont

[witches-unruly-heart]

I’m a big fan of picturing the faces of the different characters I have in my stories. But seeing as there are some de Clermont family members we don’t have a face for — here’s my fan cast 🥰

I am in no way saying that this choice is the only choice. You’re allowed to have your own fancasts, it’s just who I picture when I read the names of some character ❤️

First up, let’s look at all of Philippe’s children (who aren’t my beloved Baldwin):

Henry Cavill as Philippe’s eldest son, Hugh

Florence Pugh as his Philippe’s eldest daughter Stasia

Annabelle Wallis/Wallace as Freyja

Krysten Ritter as Philippe’s youngest daughter Verin

And Gwilym Lee as his youngest son Godfrey

Now we have a visual representation of two of Ysabeau’s three children, but even so, with the choice for Louis, I couldn’t not have a face for his twin sister Louisa 😅

So here’s Lucky Blue Smith as Louis

And Lucky’s sister Daisy Clementine Smith as Louisa

We know Hugh’s only son, Gallowglass, played by the incredible Steven Cree. But what about Baldwin’s only daughter

So here’s Minami Hamabe as Miyako

And lastly, because I’ve desperately wanted to include someone from Marcus’ past,

I pictured Ella Purnell as Marcus’ sister Patience

~~~

I’m curious to know who your fan cast are, if you have any 🥰❤️

[baldwin-montclair]

It’s a shame we didn’t get to see any of the de Clermont sisters in the show (we don’t even get to meet Stasia in the books).

So, these are my idea of what they look like:

Freyja:

Stasia:

Verin:

[softersinned-arc]

@cllairmont said: ❝ if you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention. ❞

She recognizes him the moment she sees him.

          She is, she’s sure, a sight—red hair falling from the braids she’d pinned it up in and tucked beneath a wide-brimmed capotain, wearing men’s breeches and one of Baldwin’s borrowed shirts to make riding even a fraction easier, mud splattered on her boots. Word had been sent with her measurements and preferred styles, and one of Philippe’s men trails behind them, tending to the relatively few things they’ve brought with them. She is not the woman she was sixty years ago, dressed humbly but fashionably, her smile sweet and her eyes wide and guileless. She has changed, and irrevocably—she’s taller, now, even if only by a few inches, her hips a bit wider, and the sweetness of her smile is undermined by the wholly inhuman aspect of it. And he has changed, too—the style of his clothes, of his beard, even his manner of carrying himself has changed, but Astoria recognizes him at once.

          Astoria is polite and pleasant as Baldwin makes introductions to his father and sister, but when they reach him, her face breaks into a smile, her eyebrows arching up. “I should have guessed,” she says, “that the wearh of Henry’s court would be connected to the de Clermonts.” And the look on his face made it clear that he remembered their debates, too, if only the gist—and that the presence of another creature in the court had been insignificant, even that of another Catholic, when said other was so damnably insufferable.

          When this is relayed, Astoria’s tone mirthful and Matthew’s smile tight, Philippe laughs heartily, and even Freyja smiles.

          Sept-Tours was intimidating from the outside; inside, it’s magnificent. They bring her to rooms they say belong to Verin, one of the sisters whose time home has been limited, and when her things are brought up, she dresses in something more suitable; for a moment she fears her hair might be a lost cause, but she manages something presentable. It is, she knows, as much a test as an introduction—Philippe curious as to the woman claiming any protection or privilege from his family, his name, and understandably so—and the strength of her urge to make a good impression is surprising.

          They dine, served stag’s blood, and they speak; they are generous and curious alike; she feels rather as though Philippe can hear her thoughts, like Elyssa could, but she finds herself revealing more and more as they speak, swept into a sense of both familiarity and awe. When she doesn’t speak, she watches as much as she listens, eyes sweeping over her hosts as if to try and commit each detail to memory—the curl of Freyja’s hair and the set of her mouth whenever she relents and allows herself a warlike grin, the exact shade of Philippe’s eyes and the pitch of his voice when he turns his attention to his elder son, the timbre of Baldwin’s laughter, different in a way she cannot identify than what she’s heard when they’re alone or the weight of his hand on her shoulder when he stands and passes her, as if to remind her to have courage even in the face of Heracles himself.

          Most of all she wants to commit to memory the look on Matthew de Clermont’s face when his passing comment on Henriette d’Entrangues is met with immediate resistance. For her part, Freyja looks delighted, though she says nothing, and Astoria catches an amused glance exchanged between father and son out of the corner of her eye as Baldwin sits back down beside her.

          “Do you often take the part of scorned mistresses?” Matthew asks mildly, already moving past his initial displeasure, and Astoria grins, now, a warlike imitation of his sister.

          “More often than I take the part of unfaithful kings.”

          “You cannot mean to suggest that the Medici alliance was a mistake.”

          “Certainly not—but I can hardly blame the Marquise for her anger, or for the attempt to see her son acknowledged as the king’s heir.”

          Just as Matthew takes in a breath to argue, Baldwin stands again, nodding at his father. “This will take some time,” he says with a laugh, and they excuse themselves, Freyja settling in all the more comfortably to watch the spectacle unfold, though neither Matthew nor Astoria seem to notice their absence beyond a vague nod or smile of acknowledgement.

          From Henriette d’Entrangues they touch on the role of wife versus mistress, then reasonable expectations of a queen—and here Freyja does join them, slipping easily from one alliance to the next and mercilessly eviscerating the both of them at the first sign of weakness in an argument, though she leaves shortly after that. Two hours have passed before Matthew and Astoria have taken the argument to Philippe’s library, and when Philippe passes by he’s greeted by the sight of the both of them standing with an open book, their argument half in Latin as they all but shout quotations from great philosophers at one another.

          He looks between the two of them, Matthew standing behind Philippe’s desk with a finger jabbing at a page and Astoria seated with a book balanced on each knee, the two of them looking up at him in surprise and perhaps a hint of embarrassment, and he simply moves along, as if unwilling to get in between them. She has no doubt that he’ll join in later on, once he’s gotten a better measure of her, but for now, she’s enjoying the battle before her.

          An hour later still they’re at a standstill, retreating for a glass of wine, voices a touch hoarse, though they’re closer to friendship now than they were at the start, bonded somewhere between the fifth and sixth shift in topic and Astoria’s bitter defense of Machiavelli. He watches her curiously for several long moments before he speaks, words measured carefully.

          “How long do you intend to remain with Baldwin?”

          There is an immediate answer sitting on the tip of her tongue—as long as he’ll have me, as long as I don’t cause him harm—but she swallows it, giving herself a moment to think before she speaks. “I cannot say for sure. I suppose your father will have significant influence over the answer to that question.”

          “Proximity to a de Clermont comes with consequences.”

          “I’m sure,” she says softly. “Proximity to power always does.”

          “This isn’t Henry’s court,” he points out. “There is no new beginning with a new wife or a new religion. My father’s will is immovable and his anger is unyielding. Bringing harm to his family would have consequences beyond your imagining.”

          She has no intent to harm the family, but such harm can happen whether or not she means it. “Then I will be careful,” she says simply. “What else is there to be done?”

          “He may ask a great deal of you.”

          “I benefit a great deal from his son’s guidance and protection. I am happy to do whatever I can.”

          His eyes narrow for a moment and Astoria wonders if they arrived in the midst of some battle between them, if Philippe and Matthew are at odds with one another. “I doubt your happiness will make much of a difference to him,” he points out, voice a bit clipped.

          “I suppose, then, that it’s a good thing I am only dependent upon his good will for my survival and safety, and the happiness will have to be of my own making.”

          He lets out a sharp bark of laughter, then. “If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.”

          For a moment, she swears she sees hellfire in his eyes, some ghastly warning of what remains to face them when they can no longer run from death. They have spoken enough of faith that she doesn’t doubt that their images of hell are much the same, and she thinks that Matthew must think often of the state of his soul, given the way he looks at her now.

          “I think we are immortal,” she says airily, “and we need not worry yet about endings.”

          She thinks he might argue with her, but he simply waves a hand, either too irritated or too tired to continue.

          (They resume arguing the next night. If fate keeps her tied to Matthew de Clermont in any way, she thinks, it will always be like this, whatever thin cords of friendship that link them forged only through bickering or debate. She’ll never admit it, but she hardly minds the thought.)

[butternuggets-blog]

OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER

@baldwin-montclair @adowobsessed @sylverdeclermont @nicki-mac-me @thereadersmuse @kynthiamoon @adowbaldwin @profoundme444 @beautifulsoulsublime @lady-lazarus-declermont

Part Forty

Summary: Baldwin de Clermont manages to upset an ancient hag. He wakes up.. different.

Father's Day was always...difficult...at Sept Tours. Baldwin avoided Phillipe's office in the morning- Ysabeau usually sat quietly at the desk reminiscing old memories- but in the afternoon he would go up with a bottle of wine and toast to the old days.

This year was slightly different.

'-and the tin was brought from Dijon' Liv cradled the seal carefully in her hands as Baldwin explained its origins to her. The Knights of Lazarus were a poorly-kept secret even before the re-making of the Congregation, but now its charitable acts were spread throughout the human and creature community. Marcus took great pride in his work.

Phillipe materialised in the corner of the room.

‘I had planned to import copper ingots from the Timna Valley if we had been allowed to settle the Knights in Jerusalem’ Phillipe sighed, ‘But unfortunately we were not.’

Baldwin turned and looked directly at Phillipe. ‘Well we can’t always get what we want, can we?’

Phillipe’s jaw dropped.

‘...you can...see me?’

‘Since November 2011′

It had happened a week after the twins’ first birthday, as the last leaves of Autumn were still clinging to the trees below their bedroom window. He had been gently rocking them off to sleep for their afternoon nap when the thought snapped into place.

He was free.

He hadn’t really been leading the family. He had been a placeholder while the cold, dead hand of Phillipe de Clermont puppeteered them through his plan to dismantle the Congregation, and then out the other side.

He could lead them now.

‘Why haven’t you talked to me?’ Phillipe stammered.

‘Because you left!’

If it was anyone else Baldwin would have been screaming.

‘You left, and I couldn’t follow’ Baldwin scowled. ‘Then you went and got yourself killed.’

Baldwin reached blindly behind him for Liv; she took his hand and squeezed it, but said nothing.

‘I haven’t been responsible for shit, have I? It’s all been you. Perpetually, Phillipe de Clermont. You are obsessed with control!’

‘I trusted you to lead this family’ Phillipe said firmly, ‘That is why I made you its’ head’

‘But you didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was coming’ Baldwin spat, bitterly. ‘Did you honestly think I would sabotage our family out of spite??!’

‘And speaking of Diana-’

Phillipe drew himself up tall.

‘-look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn’t have had her killed if she wasn’t a weaver?’

Phillipe said nothing.

Liv’s stomach dropped into her shoes.

Baldwin’s smile was triumphant and bitter.

‘To hell with Matthew’s feelings on the matter; if Diana wasn’t powerful, you would have slit her throat and dumped her in the rose bushes. I love Liv and Matthew loves Diana but bonds don’t mean anything to you if they’re not ‘useful’ to the family. To you.’

Baldwin stopped to take a breath, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

‘You didn’t want a son who was a leader. You wanted a soldier with no imagination. You made Matthew - the Catholic - the family assassin. Why not Verin? You never...’ Baldwin took another deep breath. ‘It was the Roman way. I understand. But if you'd told me once, just once, that I had leave to use my imagination I would have been comfortable forging my own path for this family instead of trying to hobble along in your shoes.’

Baldwin stared pointedly at the door, then back at his father. ‘Get out.’

Phillipe glanced at Liv, but found no support in her expression. He looked at Baldwin, then turned away, slumping dejectedly as he hovered out of the office.

Baldwin allowed Liv to wrap her arms around his waist and gather him up in a hug. They held each other in silence for a very long time.