Chapter 6- Not Divine Intervention...
Caius' POV
I hated the thought of Athenodora being left here alone. Yes, her family was here and she was in a fully secured palace but her stepfather creeped me out more than anyone had in a while. I was a Lord of Volterra and a ruler of Vampires, yet I couldn't shake this feeling for the life of me. I watched from the ship as my betrothed was forced to be distanced further and further from me. Sulpicia then walked up behind me despite the rain, which she hated so much.
"She'll be fine Caius, dear. We'll be back after we sort out whatever business it is that you, Marcus and my beloved Aro will not tell me about." She always tried to remain cheerful, but it also could be Corin's ability to keep her satisfied with her situation. It was quickly becoming more difficult to tell the difference these days.
"She's my mate, Sulpicia. I shouldn't be leaving her for one second." I replied.
"It will all end well, you'll see." And with that, she retired to her and Aro's cabin, and I returned to watching Athenodora's beautiful face and curvy figure becoming smaller and smaller until I could no longer see it. However, due to my increased senses this took a longer time then it would if I was a mere mortal.
My coven brothers and I had been called away to put another coven on trial over a territory battle. This shouldn't take too long as we commonly ruled in favour of the coven that was originally in charge of the territory, unless other facts ruled against them and in favour of the attacking coven. Still, it killed inside to be apart from Athenodora. She was turning me into a sappy little boy when I'm supposed to be this ferocious predator.
That was when I turned around to meet the eyes of Charmion and I quickly gained the mindset of the ferocious immortal that other vampires saw me as.
Athenodora's POV
Now that I was an engaged women, I had been given my own room until the wedding. I still had to do my duties as a Lady in Waiting; I just had more privacy due to the fact that those duties would be ending soon.
Tonight, I couldn't sleep. I, instead, decided to re read the letters my brother had sent to me. I hadn't seen him in a couple of years. Benedict had since got divorced and was now looking for a new wife, not that he was having any difficulty. My older brother was extremely good looking, as was my sister. I was quite average looking in comparison.
I walked across my room to my mirror. I untied the ribbon holding my hair in its plait, watching as it slowly unravelled itself. My hair was long, to my waist to be exact, as well as blonde and fuzzy. I always had strands of hair sticking every which way but at least it was soft. I pulled my fingers through the length of my hair, thinking about how different it was to my sister's and mother's. My hair was lighter in colour as well as thicker, my mother and sister's hair was always neat and perfect, but was more of a dark blonde. My hair colour was the same as my father and brothers, so my brother had told me.
That was when I heard voices travelling down the hallway; I guess I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep tonight.
I could recognise one of the voices, Master Henri. The other two I didn't. I walked to my door, grabbing the key off of my vanity so that I could make sure my door was locked. Master Henri had been making me increasingly nervous as time went on. He kept acting all nice and kind whenever he saw me, which wasn't often at the moment as Sulpicia had told Aro that she had a bad feeling when it came to him. Master Henri was now only allowed to be in my company when the lords of Volterra, King Charles, his wife and my mother were there to supervise. Aro was probably only doing it for the sake of his wife, but Caius was constantly giving my step father evil looks where as Marcus would now and again give me a small sympathetic smile.
Unfortunately, my betrothed and his coven mates had to return back to Italy on business for a couple of days, and Master Henri wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the palace. My heart started to beat faster and my throat started to get dryer. I then remembered how the palace guard was on constant alert regarding the safety of King Charles and his Queen. There had recently been several threats to the royals' lives as well as a couple actual attempts at killing the royal couple, not that the King and Queen were as close as they once were. That meant there was less security for the rest of us than normal.
As the voices got closer, I began to hear what they were saying. There's was something about taking someone somewhere. I put my key in the lick and locked my door, as I found that it wasn't locked. That was when I heard Master Henri say, "Right, she's in there."
I hesitated for a split second, hoping he wasn't talking about me but part of me knew he was. I was the only person here other then my family or the royals that he could gain anything from. There was then a bang at my door. I quickly moved out of the way and grabbed a tool from my fireplace; holding it out in front of me with both hands and trying hard not show how scared for my life I actually was.
Suddenly, the door came off of its hinges and scrapped across my bedroom floor. I watched as it came to a halt, before looking back at the intruders. That was when I saw two men as pale as the Volturi staring back at me with the same red eyes; only I had no idea who they were. All I knew was that they were vampires.
Master Henri had a deviant smile plastered on his face as he stared at me. I shoved the fire tool to floor and spun around, hoping to be able to get to the balcony. I was only on the first floor, so the jump wouldn't be too hard; I just had to make it there first.
I didn't, instead one of them ran across the room at a speed so much faster then I was. Yes, I was quite fast, but I was also thirsty and tomorrow would be the monthly hunt for the royal household. This fact slowed me down significantly and the adrenaline didn't kick in as fast as I hoped it would. One of the vampires grabbed me at the waist before shoving a silk handkerchief over my mouth and nose.
Everything went blurry, and then it all went black.
