A/N: If you hate it, blame no one but me. If you like it, you can thank darknnerdy and scuitolover for "strongly encouraging" me to continue my one shot. Also, special boobie gropes go to GemmaLisax for giving me the final push over the ledge to put this out here. All three of them are wonderful writers with awesome stories...you should all (after writing your review for this) check out their stuff.
SM owns Twilight. Not me.
Jasper Whitlock is in Volterra. Yes, I invited him. My brothers were not happy with my decision to meet with him. They are afraid. They are afraid of his power and his charisma, but more importantly, they are afraid of his army.
I have no fear of Mr. Whitlock; I have a certain amount of admiration. This is what led to my invitation. I have a proposition for him, and I certainly hope he will take me up on it.
"Ah, Mr. Whitlock. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. Call me Caius," I said, standing and gripping his extended hand as he entered my office. His confidence is amazing. Most vampires have an innate fear of me. But of course Mr. Whitlock wouldn't. He was, like me, born in war.
"Caius, to what do I owe the honor of your summons?" he sneered at me. It wasn't lost on me that he did not extend the use of his given name. Well, young Mr. Whitlock has not had many opportunities to trust I'd imagine. I can understand his apprehension at being requested to meet with me.
"Yes, well, I've been admiring your work for quite some time now. You seem to have an unusual amount of success with the development and use of newborns." I offered him a seat with a wave of my hand as I sat down. He took a seat and nodded for me to continue.
I didn't continue though. Mr. Whitlock was attempting to intimidate me with his silent, commanding presence but I was not easily intimidated. I simply raised my eyebrows at him.
"Let's just cut to the chase here. What do you want from me? I haven't broken any of your precious laws, so...let's hear it." His voice was firm and commanding, not unlike mine when I am giving orders.
"Mr. Whitlock, it seems that we have more in common than I realized. This is why I think that you would be perfect for what I have in mind," I said to him, watching him battle with himself.
"I don't swing both ways and you aren't my type, so if that's why you asked me here, I'm sorry to disappoint you." Now he was being inappropriate, trying to goad me to anger. I knew all of these tricks, because they were tricks that I have used myself.
"I am not trying to proposition you in that manner. I have a mate, and wish for no other," I chuckled to him before calming myself and continuing with a serious voice, "Certain things have come to my attention that may prove themselves to be...troublesome. I wished only to speak with you regarding possible solutions. I will ask that you use discretion with regards to the information which I am about to share with you."
"Can we drop the political bullshit? I'm not gonna go runnin' off at the mouth about bein' here, so you got nothin' to worry 'bout. Just say what you need to so I can leave."
I have thought about how to proceed with sharing this information for quite some time. I know that Mr. Whitlock will not support any opposition that may arise; I'm just not sure that he will support Volterra either. That could be dangerous.
"The Romanians have become a bit restless." I reached for the envelope sitting on my side table and passed it to him. I gave him a few minutes to look through the contents before continuing, "They have recently relocated to an area outside of Cluj-Napocaa in the Apuseni Mountains. Those were taken before the relocation."
"Kill 'em. Can I go now?" he stated in a monotone voice.
"You know who I am, and you know what I do; surely you realize that I already intend to 'Kill 'em.' as you so eloquently put it. Stop trying to play games with me, you won't win," I wasn't angry with him, I just needed him to stop making my job so difficult. "I would consider myself in your debt if you would help me with this."
"The way I see it, you're already in my debt," he said with a cocky smile on his face, leaning towards me. "I ended the Southern Wars 100 years ago with no help from you. You already owe me for that one. Offer me something I don't already have."
It was true; I did in fact owe him a great debt for ending the Southern Wars. That particular situation had been a thorn in my side for almost a century before the rumors of a vicious new Warlord started reaching Volterra. Tales of Mr. Whitlock's...adventures had been reported to us for many years before that. He never broke any laws, so we had no reason to do more than watch him.
So, we did. We watched spellbound as he quickly rose to power under Maria. We watched as he began to play games with her. And we watched as he brought an over-fed Maria into the pit and ripped off her arms, allowing the recently consumed blood to cover her and the unfed newborns to create somewhat of a feeding frenzy ripping and tearing at her body until it was unrecognizable as ever having been human. We watched him systematically take out each and every coven battling in the south for territory. My brothers and I watched him eliminate each and every threat to the peace that he had created in the south.
"I want you to have my throne," I told him adding, "Taking care of the Romanians is merely to prove to my brothers that you are ready."
He stood up and began pacing and running his hands through his hair. I could almost see his brain processing this information, calculating the pros and cons of being a leader of our world. I knew what his answer would be before he did. I relaxed into my chair and waited.
"Okay," he said simply, sinking back into his seat and looking at me. "What do you need me to do?"
"Mr. Whitlock, I have a folder full of intelligence information on my desk for you. You will do whatever you need to do to eliminate the threat," I said to him with confidence that he was already beginning to form plans of attack. "Right now, I would like to know a little more about you personally."
"What else could you possibly need to know, you've been watching me for a while," he plainly stated.
"We have been watching you for some time now, but sadly we know very little about your beginnings as our surveillance was limited. Tell me about your early days." And he did…