Alethiology in Volterra (Volturi Kings/OC)

14

Chapter XIV: Intimacy and Smoke

Travelling from Palaia to Volterra had been a strained, hushed endeavor. When the muted view of Volterra's forested borders streamed into his line of sight, Aro allowed his stiff shoulders to loosen.

The portrait of his beloved township was a welcome reprieve rising from the break of dawn.

Aro's hands tightened around the steering wheel. Clearing his throat, "We'll be home in thirty minutes."

His passenger gave no indication that she'd heard him. The rustic scenery seemed to hold her attention, but her gaze was blank, unseeing, and her breathing – too even.

Aro frowned, but allowed his companion sit in silence. The last twenty hours had been hard enough – tranquility and quiet were the least of things he could give her.

When they passed the main blocks of the city and drifted into the obscure roadwork leading to the castle grounds, the woman next to him finally roused from her dazed musing.

From the corner of his eyes, Aro watched the scholar slowly unclench her hands. The thick fabric of her brown leather gloves gave a slight scraping sound from the movement.

"My head still hurts." Altheia finally uttered, her throat rasping. "Not as much as yesterday, but..." she struggled for words, eyes downcast on her lap, "In my head it's like... a dull, screaming ache. I couldn't sleep at all."

Aro's eyes hardened. He nodded once. "Thoughts... echo often. They don't simply... pass."

"I see."

It was when they pulled into the expansive garage that the scholar had no other choice but to to meet the mindreader's dark, intense gaze. Her gloved fingers twitched from where they laid on her lap.

"Aro, I..."

Aro turned off the car engine and released a sharp breath through his nose. His tone impatient, "Are you scared of me now? Is that it? Having read my thoughts, my memories, you can't stomach me?" Teeth gritted together. "Perhaps you've changed your mind about us."

Altheia's eyes widened. "No!" she denied instantly. Shaking her head then speaking softer, "No. That's not it at all." she paused and frowned. "I'm sorry if it seemed like that."

"Three touches so we could confirm." Aro's jaw clenched. "Then you ran into the bedroom and locked yourself in. When Caius called and told us about Amun's news—" The monarch cut himself off and glared. "You wouldn't look at me. You wouldn't talk to me. You shut me out," Aro accused.

Altheia's lips pinched together and trembled.

Aro calmed himself with long, deep breaths. "But it's fine. Take the time you need." He spared a glance at her gloves, and the long-sleeved, high-collared ensemble she wore, "You can spend the day in your bedroom. Rest. In the evening I'll come find you. No one will bother you." He promised, curt, resolute. "No one will touch you."

Although gratitude crept into her features, Altheia hesitated. "But..."

"But nothing. Marcus will understand. Caius will understand." Their guests would be restless, but he'd make them understand. He'd behead them if it meant she'd have her peace of mind. "No one will touch you," he repeated.

It was the least he could do.

Altheia muttered her thanks under her breath, then her hand reached out to unlock the passenger door. But before she could leave, she paused and turned to him again.

"I'm not scared of you, you know." She tried hard to paste an assuring smile, but all it did was deepen the frown on the telepath's face. Altheia noticed and dropped it. "I'm really not. It's just... my mind is screaming, Aro. I can still hear all of it. All of it. Echoing," she confessed in a wavering tone. "Your thoughts, your memories; the screams of—of the people you killed." Aro flinched as she took in a choked breath, "I can't find my voice in my own head. And that—... that scares me. More than anything."