Born in Flames / / C. Volturi

{17 Troubled Waiting}

Adela Volturi

"My Queen come quickly"

If my heart could have stopped it would have, the sight before me was one that I could have never predicted in my worst nightmares. Caius was injured on the ground and looked like death itself. His once pristinely porcelain skin looked almost grey and heavy. His usual sense of power and pride was non-existent as his body lay collapsed in the snow. The only sign of what had transpired was the sight of the child of the moon's corpse not too far off in the tree line. I couldn't tell just how long ago the fight had taken place, but there was the sour stench of decay that was slowly permeating the air. The once-hot blood had begun to darken to a near black as it seeped through the snow, leaving half-melted patches and pockets of thick crimson in its wake.

The worst part of it all was that Caius had no signs of life to give that could give us any hope. There was no clinging to faint pulses or laboured breathing, clammy skin or sweating foreheads. Caius just was. Laid there much like the stone his skin embodied, the venom had repaired his one torn skin but he had not awoken from his comma. All that we could do now was wait and hope that Caius would once again open his eyes but unfortunately, this was only a luxury that time could tell.

Aro Volturi

Despite the constant calm and friendly disposition Aro always had, even he was not exempt from the feelings of loss and guilt. Looking at the marble like corpse of his brother was filling Aro with a sense of sorrow and fear, sure he was angry and stern with little emotion for anyone aside from his family. He was no stranger to his sadistic ways and cruel behaviours. But even someone as cruel and as harsh as Caius did not deserve to waste away in such a manor, having not a single ounce of control over his own fate.

But more to his concern Aro could sense a dark aura lurking through the stone halls of Volterra Castle, something foreboding and vengeful. If Aro was a foolish man we would have assumed that this emerging feeling was nothing more than grief overcoming him after the fall of his much-beloved brother.
But Aro knew better.
If he couldn't find the source of this potential dread then the fate of the world, at least how he knew it could very well be changed for good.

Although he would never openly admit it, the monarch was scared of losing power. He had worked hard to create the coven that he had and to gain such a standing in the vampire world. Aro feared that if they did make such a move as to fight the children of the moon then they may not come out of this fight on top. But on the other hand, Aro understood. He could not fathom the idea of losing his own mate especially not to something beyond his power yet he could not decide on where he would want to stand if he had to be in Adela's place.

"Adela please think about this!" The inky haired king pleaded desperately, panicking at the mere thought of this genocide going wrong.

"I have Aro and my mind will not be changed" The queen was unrelenting in her decision and Aro could tell that he wouldn't be able to change her mind but felt like he needed to at least make an attempt to. Her face was the perfect picture of stoicism yet if you glanced closely into her eyes you could see the burning vengeance fighting to take over her features and in that moment Aro could almost describe her as the picture image of Caius.

"Are you not worried about how this could affect us all? What could happen if your plan does not have the outcome you expected?!"

"I respect you Aro I really do, but I will not be talked down to or ignored in this, I am going to end every single child of the moon that I lay my eyes on and I will do so with great pleasure" Her voice was unnaturally calm with spite lingering behind each syllable.

Aro knew that he couldn't stop what was going to happen, but he could only hope that the Volturi would pull through and come out victorious.

I'm so sorry that this update has taken so long to publish. Uni took up more of my time than I thought it would and half of our course has left during the first year haha. I want to apologise for how long this update took to come out and want to hopefully publish the next few chapters quicker than this one. Thank you so much for having patience with me and for continuing to read my work, it really means a lot to me.

Thank you for reading~