Listen close enough you could probably hear Aleera's heart breaking, even if she did sort of expect that particular reaction from her oldest. "Jared..." The name sounds so foreign to her. She had called him Vladamir for years in her thoughts, sometimes shortened to Amir as she had called him when he was a child.<br/><br/>It stings when he flat out says he didn't want to come. She could guess what her sons had been through, due to what the vampire council had told her to torment her through the years. "I do know what you've been through son. The council would tell me to be able to torment me, to drive me into taking my own life. And they very nearly succeeded except for the care of my lover." After the Paris disaster Aleera had been sorely tempted to kill herself to end the emotional pain.<br/><br/>"Son... I knew you two would be in danger from the day you where born. You are half breeds, and I knew even then that there would be slayers and those who believe in only purebreds after you." She wants so badly to wrap him in her arms, to comfort him, to stroke his hair like she had when he was a child. The few moments that she could comfort him. Makota was the one that liked to be held and coddled. Makota would seek out her attention while Vladamir would have to ask for it. Another thing that had troubled her. She would do better now.<br/><br/>Red tears well up in her eyes. For so long she had thought about what to say to that question... "When the slayers came, I sent you two away in case the castle was taken. For my own safety I hid away in a unknown spot. My trusted servant was supposed to come and wake me when the danger had passed. Unfortunately she was killed, and I pasted in hibernation for centuries because of lack of blood. When I woke the council black mailed me with mere droplets of information about you two. I wouldn't have rested easy until I had both of you securely under wing I promise you Amir. I just hope we can be a family again." Without knowing it Aleera had placed a hand over her still flat belly.