It had been easy to see why Didyme and several members of the guard had become attached to Juvenal. It was as if the vampire blood had increased the natural instincts that most of those around him had to protect children from harm. There were only a few that remained unaffected. Caius and Athenadora avoided the boy and therefore did not become attached. Aro merely wanted to study the boy and that was the only interest that Juvenal held for him. Sulpicia had always been a bit of a vain, self-centered creature so he was not surprised to see that she didn’t take a passing interest in the boy.

As for Marcus himself, he was happy as long as Didyme was happy, though the lingering concern stayed at the back of his mind as he watched her mothering the boy. Yes, due to her gift she might know when death was coming for Juvenal, watching Aro this was obviously an unavoidable inevitability, but was she truly prepared?

Just because one knew that death was a given did not mean that one was necessarily prepared for it. He wondered if anyone truly could be prepared for losing someone that they loved. He couldn’t imagine having to prepare himself for such a thing. Wasn’t it one of the things that had driven him to turn Didyme into a vampire? The thought of losing her forever had been too much to bear.

But, yes, it was apparent that Juvenal’s demise was inevitable. The boy might be coddled and loved by his wife and members of the guard, but even they could see how the boy had no self control or restraint when it came to the hunger that plagued their kind. This had first become apparent during the early days of his stay.

They had always kept a number of humans around to assist with mundane things such as the day to day operations of the coven and guard. No vampire wanted to spend eternity in the drudgery of everyday chores such as cleaning and making clothes. These mortals were also necessary to keep up appearances to the outside world at times. He and his brothers knew that these humans merely stayed on with them, knowing what they were, in the hopes that they too would be invited into a life of unaging immortality.