𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐃, 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.

𝟎𝟓.

"I DON'T LIKE surprises." I tell Caius as we walk up a flight of stairs. I've been trying to get him to tell me where we're going, but he won't conform.

"It's not a surprise." Caius replies simply.

"Can you just tell me?" I sigh.

Caius halts to a stop and places his hands on my shoulders, he spins me around so I'm facing a door.

I furrow my eyebrows at it, "A door? Wow." My voice is laced with sarcasm. I don't know why, but I already felt comfortable with Aro and Caius, I was so comfortable with Aro I fell asleep while he was with me, which is shocking and slightly frightening.

"Humans," Caius mumbles under his breath, "behind the door."

I push the door open and is met with the smell of paint, I inhale deeply; the scent of paint reminds me of my mother, she was a painter, she loved painting. I sigh somberly, I haven't thought of either of my parents at all since I've been here—I feel guilty.

"Are you okay, Isadora?" Caius is suddenly in front of me, looking down with a slight worried expression.

I look up at him and blink the blurriness away, I smile at him and nod, "Yeah, I'm great." I break the eye contact we made and look around the room, paintings hang on the walls, some are leant against the walls as well, there are multiple easels stood all around, "what is this place?"

"It's where I come to paint—an art studio." He answers.

"You have your own art studio?" I raise an eyebrow; I remember my mom saying how much she would have loved to have her own studio.

"Yes, it keeps me entertained. Being a king has its perks." He says and walks over to one of the easels that stands in front of a large window, I follow after him. Its still odd to think I'm soulmates to three kings.

I chuckle, "I'd say."

"Do you paint?" He asks and hands me a paint brush, he adds paints of every color onto a paint pallet, he hands it to me.

I look down at the little blobs and shrug, "I used to."

"Used to?"

I look up and see that he has an easel in front of him and a pallet in his hand, I blink—how long was I looking down for?

"I guess I just lost the inspiration for it." I say, my voice just slightly above a whisper.

He doesn't say anything after that, he just dips his brush into the paint and begins swiftly moving his brush against the blank canvas, the movements look graceful.

I follow after him, much less gracefully.

—V—

I BACK AWAY from the canvas to see my painting better, I smile at it, feeling confident. Its a flower, my mothers favorite; a sunflower.

But then, I look at Caius's and all of my confidence drains away, his painting looks like a real picture.

"Wow." I gape.

He turns his head to look at me, then he looks at my painting at smiles, "Where'd you learn to paint?"

"My mom." I answer, smiling at the thought of my mom and I painting.

"She must be very talented, then." He places his paintbrush down.

I press my lips together, "She is." My voice cracks at the end, I quickly clear my throat.

"Are you okay?" Caius sounds worried.

I take in a deep breath, "Yeah."

His eyes linger on my face for a few more moments, I grow nervous and looked down at my feet, still feeling his eyes burning into the side of my head.

"Where'd you learn to paint?" I ask him the same question he asked me only a few minutes ago, I look up at him finally.

"I taught myself over the years." He answers.

"How old are you?" I become curious, he doesn't look much older than twenty.

"I was in my mid twenties when I was turned." He says, answering my unasked thoughts.

"How long ago was that?" I feel stupid asking all of these questions—but I'm very curious.

Caius pauses, seeming to think over my question, "Marcus will be here soon."

I blink and raise an eyebrow, "You're not going to tell me?"

"It's quite shocking." He sighs.

"I don't think I can be shocked anymore." I laugh airily.

"My brothers and I are all around the same age, we're–"

He gets cut off by the door opening, I spin around and see Marcus approaching.

"Marcus." I smile at him.

He smiles back, "Good evening, Isadora."

I step over to Marcus and stand by his side, I send Caius a smile.

"I'll see you soon, Isadora." Caius says before going back to his canvas and picking up his brush.

Marcus turns around and starts walking for the door, I follow after him.

"So, what are we doing?" I ask as we walk down the staircase.

"I was thinking we could have dinner, are you hungry?" He quickly glances at me.

I really hadn't realized until now that I was starving, I slowly nod. "Yeah, a little."

He takes my hand—I don't gasp at the coldness this time—and leads me through the halls, until we meet a pair of large steel doors.

yes, i changed the kings canon ages👍🏼