8. ROMANIA
The time had come for the expedition to Romania. Eleazar made preparations for the journey while Aro and Marcus said their goodbyes.
"You must let me come with you!" Renata said to Aro. "I can protect you!"
Aro seemed a little embarrassed that Renata was being so expressive around everyone else. "That is kind of you to offer dear but you cannot come. I can't afford having the Romanian's get suspicious of us now. If we mean them no harm, as I want them to believe, then why should I have a bodyguard? You must trust me in this. I know what I'm doing." Then he turned to his wife Sulpicia and kissed her goodbye as Renata watched. Hurt briefly flickered in her eyes but she turned away to avoid being seen.
"Remember your promise," Didyme reminded Marcus.
"How could I forget?" He caressed her soft face. "Don't worry about us. We're just going to offer them a friendly invitation to the costume ball. They have no reason to suspect us. We'll be back before you know it." Marcus kissed her goodbye and started to leave to catch up with Aro and Eleazar since they were already walking away.
Athenodora stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Didyme then said to Marcus "Don't worry; I'll take good care of her!"
"You do that for me, Athena." Marcus winked at Didyme's sad face and ran off with Aro and Eleazar to Romania.
When they were out of sight Athenodora spoke to Didyme, "I am so happy that you two have found each other. I was beginning to wonder if Marcus would ever find his soul mate."
"How long have you known him?" Didyme asked.
"Oh it's been ages now. Marcus, Caius, and I were a coven long before your brother came along. Then Aro joined us and our lives have never been the same. He is such a visionary. Then he found Sulpicia and then he went back for you and now our family is complete." Athenodora smiled at Didyme but her mind was somewhere else. "Don't worry about Marcus. Your brother would never let anything happen to him. He is too important to the revolution. Nothing can stop Aro. He's very clever." Didyme hoped that Athenodora was right.
The journey was long for Aro, Marcus, and Eleazar. As they drew closer to Romania they had to be more careful to not be out in the day and only travel at night in case any spies saw them breaking the law. Merely traveling at night only made their journey that much longer. Marcus spent his time thinking about Didyme. He missed her touch, her smell, her soft kiss. He imagined what it would be like to be with her again, to feel her warmth against him.
He pushed away the thoughts of Didyme when the black castle came into view. It was time to focus. The three men approached with Aro in the lead. Guards stood at the outer gate of the castle and when the trio approached one spoke "State your business."
Aro offered them a warm smile and said "We are here to appeal to the Romanian Leaders. We would like to extend an invitation to a costume ball held in their honor. It will be at our castle in Volterra."
The guard who spoke motioned for another guard to run in and tell the leaders. He was gone and in a few moments returned. "They'll see you now."
Aro walked past the gate with confidence and the other two followed his lead. They were escorted by one of the guards into a large hall. At the end of the hall four golden thrones were seen but only one of them filled. A vampire with brown hair, papery skin and milky red eyes sat perfectly still in his seat. Two of the body guards stood on either side of him.
"Welcome," the ancient vampire spoke. "I trust you made your way with little difficulty."
Aro said, "Yes, my lord. Your guards have been quite wonderful and we've truly enjoyed the beautiful Romanian countryside."
The vampire seemed impatient and waited for Aro to continue with the invitation.
"My name is Aro and these are my colleagues Marcus and Eleazar. We come to you from Volterra and offer you gifts." Eleazar stepped forward with a bag of gold and a guard met him to receive it. The guard handed the bag to the ancient and he seemed pleased when he peeked inside.
Aro continued, "You have all been such wonderful leaders that we wanted to show our appreciation by holding a costume ball in your honor. Only the highest of vampire society will attend and it will be a night to remember."
The ancient pondered for a moment. "I will speak with the others and then we will make our decision."
"Are they not here?" Aro asked.
"Do you see any other vampires in the room?" The ancient seemed annoyed. He waved his hand and their escort returned to guide them out of the room. They were brought to a small room with no furniture. The guard closed the door behind him.
"Well that didn't go the way I expected it to," Marcus said.
Aro shot him a look to insist he remain silent. The guard could be listening on the other side of the door. Marcus held up his palm to Aro and he received it, allowing the flow of information to pass between them.
The body guard who stood to the right of the Romanian has a very weak tie to them. He almost detests them. The other is much more loyal. Aro pondered this new information from Marcus. Then turned to Eleazar and reached for his palm.
The Romanian leader that we met was Octavian. I sensed his ability to control animals around him. The guard on the left was Anton. I recognized his ability to maintain the strength of a newborn. I do not know who the guard on the right was but he has an ability that we can add to the scroll. He is a very powerful tracker. He can track anyone, anywhere in the world.
Aro was excited to learn that the disloyal body guard had an ability that he had never before seen. He began to plot on how to bring this vampire over to their side. He would have to be very careful. He reached into his satchel and grabbed a piece of paper to write a note. He scribbled something down and then hurriedly hid it when he heard the door begin to open again.
The guard escorted them out of the room and led them back down into the large hall with the four golden thrones. Everything was the same as it was before with all the same people.
Octavian spoke, "I have discussed your invitation with the others. We accept."
Aro clapped his hands together "That is wonderful!" He started walking toward Octavian a little too quickly and the unknown body guard cut him off. Faster than anyone could see, Aro slipped the note into the front pocket of the guards shirt. "Forgive me! I was so excited and I wanted to pledge my allegiance to our ruler."
The guard looked over his shoulder at Octavian and even though he was annoyed with Aro he nodded to allow him to come forward. Aro knelt in front of Octavian and put forth his hand and waited for Octavian to give his hand to him. It was customary to pledge your allegiance by kissing the ring on the hand of the ruler. This simple act would give Aro all the information that he needed from the Romanians. He would know their tactics, their plans in case of an attack. The success of their mission rested on this. However, Octavian did not give forth his hand and Aro could not force him to. Instead, Octavian pushed forth his black boot and Aro had to lean down and kiss that instead.
When he arose he asked "Is there any chance I might pay my respects to the other rulers?"
Octavian had had it. "They're busy! Now why don't you run along before we change our minds?"
Aro nodded graciously and backed out of the room with his friends. The escort led them to the gate and memorized the information for the costume ball to give to his leaders. The trio began their trek home but Aro made them stop at an abandoned cottage not too far from the castle. The sun would not rise for several more hours so Marcus asked why they had stopped.
"We must wait," Aro said.
"Wait for what?" Marcus pushed.
"Just trust me." Aro smiled.
Hours went by and the sun began to rise. A familiar scent approached. It was the nameless body guard. Aro went out to meet him while Marcus and Eleazar waited inside. Marcus expected to be arrested and brought back to the palace to be executed immediately. He thought of what might happen if he failed to keep his promise to Didyme. Finally Aro returned and the guard went back the way he had come.
"Well? Are you going to tell us what happened?" Marcus asked.
Aro smiled. "We have a new ally."
"Who is he?" Marcus prodded.
Aro grinned. "His name is Demetri."
