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Making our way down the halls of the castle, I found myself entranced by the intricacies of the miniature models of so many great structures in the world. Over the centuries, it seemed like the Volturi had seen the majority of the human world, bringing back the images in the form of these bite-sized buildings. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Great Colosseum in her prime, and many more unrecognizable places littered the mantles of the hallways, finding themselves stuck in a time long forgotten.

My focus, while also on Aro and all of his explanations, was mainly on the guards that lined the clock tower hallways, standing guard and ready to attack at any time. When we came by, I could sense many of them holding their breath.

Time almost felt stopped in the moments I was there, as if I had finally found a place to call my own. My uncle and his home, while a good temporary home, did not provide me the same comfort that the ancient walls of this castle did. Comparisons would be useless, this castle was the most magnificent place I had seen in my seventeen years of life. No time spent wandering around the Italian countryside could compare to the freedom that was felt on the inside of the vampire coven's base.

"As I was saying, the Great Colosseum was a bloodbath in it's best years. We were about a thousand years old when we first came to see the shows. Absolutely spectacular! Horrific as well. It could test any vampire's control, but we held it together long enough to enjoy a good show," Aro explains some of the paintings of gladiators in Rome. "Great place for a date."

"You did take us there quite often, didn't you, mio caro," Marcus chuckles, "I wish la nostra cara Astraea could have been there to see the battles they would have. Caius used to get so into those games. We lost quite a bit of money just from his gambling."

"If fighting comes back, we shall take you, amore. Brutal, but a human fight to the death is something worth seeing in a lifetime," I laugh at their love of the gladiators, "The best thing humans can come up with now is boxing. Ugh, awfully boring. So many rules. Don't hit here, you can't do this or that. We want to see blood and chaos, not a playground fight."

"The next best thing would have to be Jane and Alec's battles. When they rile each other up it is almost the same as a gladiatorial fight," Aro hums in agreement, smiling and nodding to some of the guards. "You will find, mia cara, that many of our guards are quite powerful. Aro likes to collect vampires with gifts."

"I do not-" Marcus cuts him off.

"He collects them like cards. Which ones are the most powerful? Likely the elite guard's cards. We have cards of our own, but when have we ever used them?" Aro scowls at our mate, who simply chuckles and pats him on the back. "Do not deny your immortal obsessions, my mate, for I can see past them."

Finally reaching a room at the end of the hallway, Aro stops at the door and knocks politely. Okay, at least the vampires I have for mates are polite. Lord knows how many times I have had to yell at my cousins for walking in during times I would rather not have them witness. Ah, the joys of being one of the only women in the house.

Caius' tall figure opened the door, looking at the three of us with a perplexed look. "Why are you all here?"

"Do not be rude, Caius," Aro snaps, "Pay attention to our mate. No more avoidance from you and your blonde arse. I want to see you two grow your bond and you will enjoy every single second of it."

"Mi dispiace, Il mio amore," his voice turned much softer than before, looking at me with much more care. "Mi scuso per la mia maleducazione, mia compagna, desidero passare del tempo con te."

"Much better!" Aro cheered, "I shall leave you two alone then. Marcus and I must do some more paperwork. New coven registration."

The brown-haired king let out a groan at the idea of monotonous paperwork, but still complied with his mate in doing the horrendous task. My blonde mate let out a huff before opening up the door further, allowing me inside the room.

Inside what I assumed was their shared room, gold and silver lined the walls, shimmering. The entire area, clearly fit for royalty, had its own distinct scent. While I had never had the best sense of either direction or smell, going inside had opened my nose up to the sharp smell of mint and wind that radiated off of the furniture in waves, calling me forward. Never had I smelled something this enticing.

"How did you get the room to smell this good?" Caius laughed before closing the door behind us.

"Vampires have a tendency to scent things that belong to them. Since this is a room we are often in, the place has been scented constantly over the past thousand years. It seems that our bond has allowed you to smell things that most humans can not. A human's nose is much weaker than an immortal's, with only the best smellers able to get even a small whiff of our scents," he explains, picking up a snowglobe from one of the three desks, "Most gifts get scented before they are given. Covens have certain scents as well, as being near the same people at almost all hours of the day would imply."

"I've never had a good nose," I admit, "My cousins tease me relentlessly on the matter."

"If you ever wish to turn, that will change," he says as he puts the snowglobe down, "Many things will get better as an immortal All senses are heightened, bonds will affect you more than they ever could have in your mortality. Emotions will grow and never break their hold on you, eternally set in stone."

"Vampires must turn on each other once in a while," I ponder over the ideas of what immortal betrayal could look and feel like, "There will always be evil people. Evil is in everything, so betrayal must be something that many vampires have felt."

"The feelings of misplaced trust are not as common as in the human side of the world. Not only do immortals feel their positive emotions with unimaginable fervor, they do the same with the negative. Those who take advantage of another vampire, whether it be intentional or not, will see their victim flip a switch, so to speak, all of that positivity turning negative. Feelings of betrayal never go away, once a relationship has been ruined in that way, they can not move on," Caius clarifies.

"Do you never move past anything?" I ask. What a hard life, never being able to forget what people do to you.

"Some can, some can't, but the ones who can don't ever truly forget. Our memories are set in stone, we are unable to forget any detail, any small intricacy of what happened. It is both a blessing and a curse," I nod, understanding what he was hinting, "I would rather be able to remember what my enemies have done, as it gives me the ability to remember all of the good times as well. We are not a species of hatred and betrayal, though some still do reminisce a little too much on what has happened in their immortal lives."
It was the last thing that he said to me before I made my way to the window, opening the blinds and looking out to the crowds of red-hooded people celebrating Saint Marcus Day. Within a sea of red, I could see some of the black and grey coats that were littered amongst the humans. Vampires, likely out to find the criminal that had turned my cousins.

My newfound mates had kept their promise to me, something that I would have to take into account. I could only be near those who kept their word. Too many times I had placed my faith in the wrong people, leaving me hurt and angry. Integrity, easy to lose and so hard to gain, was what I cared about above all else.

So many things had changed in a matter of a few hours, but I still did not feel overwhelmed. Today was my birthday, I would find the time to worry tomorrow.

I was sure that I had stared out the window for at least an hour before I turned around, only to see the blonde king gazing at me. Situated on his bed with a book in his lap, his skin glowed, lighting up like shimmering diamonds. All areas of his exposed skin had the same glittery look. What had triggered such an occurrence remained foreign in my mind. Creatures of the night, these feared and renowned creatures, turn into diamonds?

"This is why we don't go out in the sun," Caius deadpans. "We are obvious to any human wishing to harm us during the daylight. The venom in our system, the same venom that coats our teeth, runs through our veins and creates this effect in our skin."

Nodding, I simply turn to him, taking in his newfound features. It was safe to say that he resembled an angel, with his red eyes the only hint to him being a predator of any sorts. All aspects of him, not only his linguistics and memory, were shaped to perfection. No human I had ever seen could compare to his beauty. Even exposed by the sunlight, the blonde king of Volterra had an air of authority, commanding with his very presence.

"I think that the sunlight wouldn't be what gives you away," he gives me a curious look, "Look at your eyes, red as the blood you consume. Humanity should be able to notice that humans don't have red eyes."

My mate lets out a genuine laugh and nods, "Right, cara. Clearly this shows the lack of common sense in your species, although you have been able to surpass their mental limitations with pure wit."

"Many humans are smarter than myself, Caius," he let out a huff before sticking his face in one of the books he had taken from the black nightstand. "You must know that I am not the smartest human in the world, Caius. There have been billions of humans before me and there will be billions of humans after me that will gain more knowledge and wit than I could ever dream of."

"Over three millennia I have met tens of thousands of human beings, but none with the same ability to reason your way into finding a vampire coven such as our own. Such a feat should not be underlooked," He sighed, placing the old book back down on his nightstand, creating a kind of silence in the room. I closed the blinds, letting Caius' skin to go back to a translucent white.

"You give me too much credit," I say, walking past him and opening the door, "I'll be back later."

---

Caius had not come to find me in the past three days, staying as far away as he possibly could. I could not comprehend why he would be avoiding me so fervently, but the blonde king had not come into his own room during my stay in their castle.

Knowing that starting any conflict on the matter would do me no good, I simply allowed him to do as he pleased. It was not my place to push him for answers. If he wanted to spend time with me, he would. No matter how much it hurt me to see him hanging out with his other mates and not me, I kept quiet.

Aro and Marcus had spent most of the last three days getting me accommodated, making sure that everything I ate or drank was to my liking. Seeing them so attentive did make Caius' neglect more manageable, but nothing could truly soothe the burning ache in my heart that longed for the blonde king to give me some form of attention, whether it be a look or a chat.

He had complimented me one day and then just dropped me like I was nothing to him, just some random human girl that had to sleep in his chambers. Even during the time that he was in my presence, it wasn't like he was actually there with me, often stuffing his head in a book or looking out the window.

I could not see what I had done so wrong, what I could have done to make him this neglectful and almost cruel. All of our interactions before had been positive. I had made no comments that could possibly warrant this kind of treatment. For the most part he had been the one to compliment me and tell me how intelligent I was. Now I just felt like the biggest idiot in all of Volterra.

Not only could I not figure out what was going on between us, I couldn't figure out why I was so upset about it. My life has been full of ups and downs, but no one person has ever left me feeling like I wanted to eat ice cream and cry while watching TV. I didn't do the whole heartbreak thing. Hell, I had never done the whole relationship thing until three days ago. So how did one man have this much power over my heart already?

Why did I let him in this deep when I knew that he could reject me?

"Amore," Aro crooned from my side, "What is wrong?"

"Nothing," I lie terribly. Lord Ambrose and Astro were right, I can't lie to save my damn life. Well, let's hope he's stupid. Please be stupid and believe me. Or just leave it alone. That would be okay as well.

"Don't lie to me, Astraea," his tone turns much darker, "What is wrong?"

"As I said, nothing is wrong," but nothing is really right. I wished I could tell him, but putting that kind of relationship drama on him would just make me feel worse about whatever it was that I had done. "Don't worry about me, Aro."

"You know that is not possible," he mutters, "You are my mate, Astraea, and I will always be worried for you. Whatever is happening, I wish to help you resolve it."

"Just leave it alone," I seethe, standing up from the couch and huffing in my own frustration.

"I can't leave-" I cut him off.

"Leave me alone!" The shout falls from my lips faster than I could think. The guards posted at the doors turn their heads, not making a sound after my outburst. It took me no time to realize that I had yelled at my mate. My mate.

Aro's face had turned to one of sadness. Thick salty tears filled my eyes as I ran from the room, running absolutely nowhere. I couldn't find anything. I had only been in the castle for three days, finding my way around would be impossible. Even then, I didn't care. Overwhelmed with the emotions I was feeling, I ran into the only place that I really knew how to get to from the library.

It had been by chance that nobody ran after me. I was here, in the gardens, alone for the first time in days. No vampires, no humans, just me and my damn broken heart. Why did I have to do this to myself? Out of all things I could have done, I had to screw up the relationships that I'm supposed to have. They're my soulmates and I ruined it. I ruin everything!

Letting the tears stream down my face, I took a seat on one of the benches near the beautiful ponds. The daylilies were in perfect bloom, canary yellow to match the sun on this summer day.

Nothing had been going right. My cousins were vampires and I hadn't seen them since they were bitten, I found out that I'm mated to three vampires, and now one of my mates is ignoring me. Not only all of that, but I had yelled at the mate that just wanted to know what was going on. All I wanted was for them to love me, but now I'm the one who isn't showing them enough love. I don't know what to do.

Sobbing into my red sleeves, I watched as the sun started to set. I had never not known some way to get through something before. Having the answers was what made me function, without that logical side of me I had nothing. I had become nothing. I have no means to figure this out. Logic can't be used with emotion.

It was then that I realized my fatal flaw was what made me strong in the first place.

"Tesoro," Marcus' voice cut off my trance. "Don't cry il mio bellissimo angelo."

His words did nothing to still the sobs that came out of my mouth, if anything it had made me feel worse. Go away, I look hideous.

"Amore," he whispered, coming much closer to the pond and the bench. Looking down at the ground, I bit my lip, stopping the cries of sadness from escaping my mouth. "What happened with you and Aro? Tesoro-"

"I'm sorry, okay?" It came out more as a plea, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I didn't mean to make him upset."

"I know, tesoro," standing next to me, he wraps his fingers around a few strands of my messy blonde hair, "I will ask you the same question he did: what's wrong? We can't fix anything if we don't know what's going on with you, il mio amore."

"I don't want to ruin things," Marcus sighed.

"Nothing you could do would ruin things between us, my mate. We are meant to be," the vampire kissed my head, "Please?"

"Caius is avoiding me," I admit, "It hurts so bad. I don't know what I did wrong. He just hasn't talked to me at all. He spends time with you but he doesn't speak to me."

Marcus wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head as he held me in his arms. The tears that had been streaming down my face stilled as I let out one last cry into his shoulder, needing the comfort.

"Let me carry you. It is far too late for you. You need your rest," I nod, allowing him to pick me up. I snuggled myself into his arms.

Closing my eyes, I fall asleep on the way back to the bedroom.

---

ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ:

la nostra cara Astraea. Our darling Astraea.

Mi dispiace Il mio amore. I'm sorry, my love.

Mi scuso per la mia maleducazione, mia compagna, desidero passare del tempo con te. I apologize for my rudeness, my mate, I wish to spend time with you.

il mio bellissimo angelo. My beautiful angel.

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