I'm really excited about this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it. Also, time for some more acknowledgments! As Jasper begins to get settled in Volterra, some of my headcanon has been partially inspired by Helena Mira's wonderful story, Jewel in the Crown. (a New Moon AU in which Bella and Edward were not allowed to return home) This was the first full-length Volturi story I ever read, and it really brought the halls of Volterra to life for me.

I've also gleaned lots of interesting ideas lately from Kyilliki, via her Volturi stories on here and her headcanons on Tumblr. Li's character and some of the aspects of training that you will see in the coming chapters was inspired by ideas from lots of cool people on Tumblr as well, especially Kyilliki, volturisecretary, forksfiction, (mynameisginster here on FF) and panlight.

But most importantly, I am so grateful for all of you! :) Your faithful reading, comments and questions and ideas, and support has meant so much to me. I'm excited to announce that this chapter marks my one millionth word of fanfiction! While my updating speed is a little slower these days, I am still having so much fun and in a way I still feel like I'm just getting started. You guys have given me so much encouragement and confidence... none of this would have been possible without all of you!


As I had hoped, there was no formal examination. On the following Tuesday Chelsea abruptly stood up from the library table and announced that I was doing well enough to move on to the next phase of training.

"You will continue to practice Italian, of course, and you will also begin studying the other languages Caius has selected," she said, leading me through the maze of tunnels at her usual pace: brisk, to compensate for her smallness, but just as smooth as the others. I still hadn't been introduced to any of the other Guards, but I had seen a few more during these short walks, and it was almost unnerving the way they all moved. Like ghosts, or shadows, maybe. Was it a product of their vast age, or some kind of trademark style of movement I'd be required to learn? Felix was one exception, at least, with his broad swagger that nearly filled the width of the hall, but he was just as silent as the others. And he had moved like the others when he and Demetri had brought me in that first night.

"Will you be tutoring me in the other languages?" I asked Chelsea, walking double-time to keep up with her. I was accustomed to running whenever I wanted to get somewhere fast, but running was one thing nobody seemed to do around here.

"No. You will be assigned a different tutor for each one."

She disappeared from view, dropping down through a stairwell to the next level. I rolled my eyes and followed once her billowing cloak had been pulled out of the way. What was the point of the dignified shadow-walking if you were just going to parachute down through the holes between the levels? It sort of took the dignity right out of the whole thing.

But as far as I could tell, dignity seemed to be the currency of choice here in Volterra. The few murmured conversations I'd overheard were painstakingly polite, though I had detected all sorts of emotional flavors hanging in the air. It was disorienting to feel so much going on, and yet have hardly any framework to sort it into.

"This is Jasper," Chelsea announced as she pushed open a heavy door, and I suddenly found myself staring back at a crowd of cloaked vampires. We were in an enormous cavern, dimly lit by torches leaning out from the wall fifty feet above my head. I scanned the crowd briefly, recognizing some of the Guards I had met before, until I came to Caius. He was standing at the far right of the group, radiating his usual disdain. It was nearly lost in the crowd of curiosity, but I was more concerned with the single point of hatred coming from... someone. They were crowded too close to tell. It wasn't Felix; he was too far to the left.

I took a step forward, keeping my attention split between Caius and the emotional landscape. But when my shoe crunched against something, I looked down to find a thick layer of gravel underfoot. The entire cavern was roughly hewn from stone, with the "ceiling" supported by smoother pillars, though they also looked to be sculpted from the natural rock. The entire scene was a blend of white and black and gray, broken only by the cheerful flames of the torches and their light being reflected in more than two dozen red eyes.

"Let's see what you've got," Caius said, stepping further off to the side. The others broke out of their statuesque formation at his silent command, slowly moving to draw a wide semicircle around me.

Now this was more like it. I nodded, waiting to see what would happen next. It was Gustav who joined me in the center of the circle, handing his cloak to another Guard and eyeing me with eager apprehension. I slipped off the jacket of my uniform as well. When no hands went up to offer to catch it, I tossed it over onto a row of hooks mounted along the wall, where it caught nicely.

Was I supposed to wait for Caius' command to begin? In any case, I generally preferred to let my opponent strike first. If this trial period was really just a series of test to measure my civility, then it was even more important to show them that I could be patient. Gustav and I began to trace a smaller circle within the open space, looking each other up and down. I began to feed him a slow infusion of fear. Nothing too obvious.

"Any rules?" I asked Caius over my shoulder.

"No fire, no scars," Caius said blandly. "Begin."

Gustav charged like a rhino. I leapt up at the last second and ran down his back as he passed, eliciting a quiet ripple of laughter from our audience. Gustav turned and scowled, strolling back for more. This time he made a grab for me, and I let him get half a grip on my torso before spinning out of it and slamming my elbow into his gut on my way out. I was rewarded with the shrieking, metal-rending sound that meant the fight had truly begun. I threw a quick glance at Caius to make sure I hadn't crossed a line, but he was merely watching us with interest.

The flesh and bone had splintered nicely, but Gustav wasn't as distracted as I'd hoped. He followed me into my own spin, lunging and grabbing with both hands this time. I tucked myself small and low, bursting back up to throw him off his feet. While he was still in the air I swept around to the other side and met him with a blow that should have put him on his back, but didn't. He somersaulted in the other direction and landed on all fours, swiping out with a clawed hand that sliced the left side of my face to ribbons. The Guards shouted their approval as we rushed each other again.

"Stop," Caius announced, and we both froze in mid-attack. I stood up and relaxed my stance, not sure what to think. Was that supposed to be a win or a loss? Gustav was pleased with himself, at any rate. When he went back to stand with the others, the Guard next to him- the only bearded one- whispered something in his ear, but I couldn't hear what it was.

Felix was next. He surprised me by standing and waiting so I could put my cheek back together, and Caius made no objection. I took the chance to study the emotional field around us. Caius was frustratingly neutral, while most of the others were enjoying themselves. There were whispers being exchanged all through their line: their guesses to how Felix would fare against me. My instincts tingled again as I felt the single point of hatred, and I looked around the thinned-out circle until I found it. A male, mid-20s probably, skin somewhat dark, and nearly as big as Felix and Gustav. His black hair was divided into a mass of thick braids, tied back in a bundle. A stranger. So why did he hate me? His red eyes bored back into mine and his chin lifted with a deep sniff: a challenge. I kept looking around the circle, noting the varying shades of gray cloaks and the almost comical differences in height.

There were two females who were no taller than a child. One of them looked to be not much older than a child, and next to her stood a half-grown boy whose features were curiously similar to hers. The rest were a collection of males with varying skin tones and builds. Demetri was one of the slighter ones. I saw a scar or two in the crowd, but for the most part everyone was perfectly whole and impeccably dressed in gray or black. I could feel varying degrees of disdain and curiosity aimed at me.

I gave Felix a nod once I was ready. Caius gave the order to begin, but neither of us moved. Felix let a slow grin seep out, which I returned. He stayed upright, and so did I. The Guards quieted as the tension rose.

"Jasper, attack," Caius ordered.

I hit him on his right side, grappling with his elbow to try and dislocate his shoulder as I passed. He shoved me away easily and we drew apart, crouching low this time. We both sprang forward and up, meeting in the air with the crash of thunder and falling apart again, both sporting cracked skin. He had slugged me in the jaw and broken it, whereas I had aimed a little higher. He would be partially blind in the left eye for a good ninety seconds, I decided, and swept off to my right to attack on that side. He stumbled backward, grabbing me by the shirt and throwing me into the crowd. I was kicked and punched back into the ring, right into his waiting hands. I panicked briefly as he got a good double grip on my throat. I tried my usual tricks to get out of it, but he was just too strong. He forced me down onto my knees, digging his thumbs into my throat so hard I could taste them. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Caius smiling. But I wasn't through yet.

I swung my legs forward and kicked Felix in the groin. He released me, shrieking through his teeth and glaring daggers at the approving hoots of his comrades. We flew around each other twice and slammed together again. I couldn't believe how quick he was, considering his build. I was used to fighting newborns of this size; he had none of their self-destructive instincts, though he also didn't seem to have any particular strategy either. This time he somehow got a meaty fist around my forearm and twisted until it snapped. I snarled in pain and gave him a savage kick to break free, sending two of his teeth flying out in different directions. He growled and drew back his fist.

"Next," Caius said, sounding bored.

This time it was a towering black man named Zaki. He was practically boiling over with amiable curiosity, but his face was an impassive mask. Like Felix, he waited until I was mostly healed, and I gave him the same nod of grudging thanks. He was even faster than Felix was, and more agile due to his thinner frame. His strategy seemed centered around disorienting me- darting in for a blow or a shove, then retreating and circling. I decided to even the odds by going for his feet, successfully crunching an ankle out of place, but not in time to escape a vicious chop between my neck and my shoulder. My left arm went limp, and he immediately played the advantage. I grabbed him close and rolled both of us into the shouting crowd. Caius called it off.

"Li," he called out. I busied myself with trying to realign my nose, turning in surprise to find one of the little females facing me. I thought she was Asian, but I hadn't met enough of those to be sure. She gave me a restrained smile and the slightest hint of a bow, which I returned cautiously.

I wasn't stupid. For this shrimp of a girl to be matched against me, she probably had some ridiculously powerful gift. Was I about to be set on fire? Thrown into the wall with a mere glance? Made to cry like a baby in front of Caius? I suddenly recalled the more outlandish rumors I had heard about the Volturi, wondering how many of them were true. Or maybe this was another test, to see if I had it in me to maim a defenseless girl if I was ordered to. Judging by her quiet confidence, I highly doubted that was the case. I glanced back at Caius warily, looking for clues. He flicked a finger, motioning for us to begin.

I stepped backwards instead. Whatever she was going to do to me, I wanted to give myself plenty of room. Muted laughter echoed around the cavern, but I held my ground. The girl stepped forward slowly, holding herself loose. When she was inches away I rushed around her left side, grabbed her neck, and shoved her into the gravel face first. But instead of faceplanting, she rolled forward and reappeared behind my arm. I jammed my knee into the back of hers, and again she took the momentum, somersaulting backwards over my head. I grabbed her shoe and pulled down, getting a series of kicks in my face for my trouble. I almost bit her ankle when it grazed my mouth, but remembered Caius' rule just in time. We pulled apart.

She was getting angry, though her expression was as serene as ever. Maybe she wasn't gifted after all? I rushed her again, trying to guess which way she'd evade me. I twisted and dove left at the last second. I had guessed right- my fingers closed around her slender arm and I threw her down, wrenching her wrist out of place as I let go. She hissed and bared her teeth, but didn't miss a step. She rolled clear and bounced back up, her eyes roving over my body with calculated readiness while she tugged on the injured wrist with her other hand. I stirred her anger higher as we circled each other again. She seemed young; not a newborn, but I had a feeling she hadn't reached her fifth year. I pressed harder, trying to boil her into a careless rage.

"Finish him, Li!" someone called. She snarled and attacked from the air, hitting me with such a hurricane of feet and fists that I couldn't make sense of it. I felt a sharp blow under my chin and behind my knees, and my back finally hit the ground. She followed me down, attempting to hook her legs around my elbows. I gritted my teeth to avoid biting, kicking up instead. But I was flipped through the air at lightning speed and landed hard on my face, my arms twisted behind my back an inch from the breaking point. She had gotten her legs threaded through mine like some mutant pretzel. I strained to roll us or throw her, but I kept hitting a wall of my own skin. She tightened her grip on my crossed wrists, preparing to pull. I could feel that her grip on the one side was weaker, though I preferred not to lose either of my arms on my first day.

I finally jerked us over into a roll toward her injured side, but she caught herself and struggled to push me back. Her leverage, some tangled operation of legs and arms and angles, had somehow put our strength on equal footing. We were frozen in place for a moment as we strained against each other. I could feel the torque on my shoulders slowly increasing. The chatter among the Guards was really warming up now, and in her favor too. I finally realized that I could still move my left foot, and began kicking to try and get a purchase on the ground, but the gravel was too loose.

"Enough," Caius said, and I was suddenly fighting open air. Li was already back in line with her comrades, shrugging back into her cloak and looking pretty satisfied with herself. I spat out a mouthful of gravel and slid to my feet, gingerly testing the movement of my shoulders. "Now," Caius went on, "tell us when you were using your gift, and which emotions."

Judging by the rush of surprise that I felt from the Guards, they hadn't known that I was an empath. I tried to swallow my anger, but it wouldn't go down. Did he have to do this? Pausing every fight at the exact moment when my performance looked its worst, and introducing my gift this way- like it was some sort of crutch I couldn't fight without? My hopes that Caius wasn't closely involved with the Guards' training were shrinking with every minute. I drew in everyone's disappointment and forced it to reshape itself into approval, throwing it back in their faces.

"Well?" Caius demanded.

I could lie. I wanted to. But the truth was that my gift was an integral part of who I was... part of the reason I was being considered in the first place. I lived and breathed emotion, and if they wanted that at their disposal, then they'd better get used to seeing it in action.

"Fear, at Gustav," I began, carelessly gesturing toward the giant in question. "Only at the beginning. Nothing for Felix and Zaki. I stirred up a lot of anger in Li in the middle of that last fight."

Caius frowned, though he seemed to be mildly pleased with my candor. I began to influence him as well, ever so slowly dialing up any positive emotion I thought might help me out. I had never needed to make someone feel impressed before; I wasn't even sure what the emotional ingredients should be. "Why didn't you influence Felix or Zaki?" he asked.

I shot Felix the same smirk we had shared earlier. "Didn't need to." I could see Gustav's blinding grin out of the corner of my eye.

"And with Li, why anger?"

I turned back to Caius, ignoring Felix's quiet growl. "Two reasons. One, she was already getting angry by that point, and I find it easiest- and quickest- to work with an emotion that's already present. Two, because although it's obvious she's not a newborn, I'm guessing she's still relatively young...?"

"Two years," Caius agreed.

"That's what I thought. Even though the newborn months are the most volatile by far, I could tell her emotional stability isn't quite settled yet. In my experience most vampires, but especially younger ones, tend to make more mistakes when they've reached a certain point of fury. Even though she's well-trained, I had a feeling that stirring her anger would work in my favor."

"And did it?" he asked, smiling thinly.

I shrugged, looking back her way to mask my influence. "It may have made things worse. Depends on the person. Once I'm more familiar with her style, I'll know. Who's next?"

Caius studied me for a long moment. "Your offense is chaotic and your style is disorganized," he pronounced. "If you even have a style. But it will have to serve as a starting point. No doubt you've picked up any number of bad habits over your years in the Southern Wars. I have to admit that I'm impressed, though; it must have been difficult to restrain yourself from biting everyone in sight."

I clenched my teeth, refusing to react to the insults. Was this his way of saying that I had made the cut?

"If we decide to accept you, it's going to take some time to rid you of those habits," he added drily, turning toward the others. "I have other matters to attend to tonight. Etienne and Santiago, you have patrol. The rest of you, keep working with Jasper." One of the two Guards who swept out of the room behind him was the one who hated me, which made him either Etienne or Santiago.

It was like a switch was suddenly turned off. The remaining Guards relaxed out of their formation and a few drifted in smaller groups. Judging by the way they mumbled to each other inaudibly and continued to look me over, they were probably sharing their impressions of my performance so far. I made my way over to Gustav, wondering who would turn out to be in charge, now that Caius wasn't here. I was hoping for Demetri- he was one of those who seemed ageless and ancient, and there had to be something significant about his cloak being darker- but it was Felix who strolled closer, wearing a threatening grin. Several of the others followed his lead.

Great.

I didn't think he was going to attack, so I stood my ground while he circled me slowly. He grasped my chin and roughly twisted my head to the side, inspecting my scars. He moved my hair aside so that everyone could see the chunks missing out of my neck.

"Didn't know vampires could get the pox."

"Didn't know vampires could squeal like pigs," I shot back. A comfortable sense of humor lightened the wariness surrounding me.

Felix scowled back, but his affect felt a little friendlier too. "We're going to get back to sparring, Pox. You can join us once you find the other tooth you knocked out." He ran his tongue over his teeth, indicating the hole I had left behind. I clenched my half-healed jaw, focusing on the pain to prevent myself from acting on my indignation. I was accustomed to be being the one to give the orders and hand out the insulting jobs. But my injuries really could use some more time to heal, and I knew it would be best to follow the order. This time.

While I slowly combed through the gravel of the cavern floor to look for the tooth, I watched the training with interest. Demetri and the half-grown boy and girl stayed on the sidelines near the row of neatly hung cloaks, but most of the others took turns pairing off in various combinations to fight, sometimes going two against one. As the hours wore on I began to sort out the individual style of each of the Guards, and to learn their names as they called to each other or commented on each other's performance.

Felix's style was typical for his build. He relied- as was only natural- on his size, strength, and wingspan. I expected him to shatter his opponents right and left, but only occasionally did I hear the sound of broken or torn flesh. I wondered if I had broken some unspoken rule by inflicting the level of damage I had in my bouts... just not Caius' rule. There was no telling how many decades or centuries this bunch had been serving together; it was a given that they would have a society all their own, apart from the government of their leaders. I was already seeing hints of roles and rules within that society, quietly watching who deferred to who, who didn't stick around for the sparring at all, and who stood and watched.

There was one male who seemed to be in some kind of trouble, sulkily staying on the wall the whole time. No one had yet spoken his name; they were ignoring him altogether. I hadn't yet learned the names of the boy and girl either, as they had lost interest and wandered off- if they were even members of the Guard at all.

I also wondered who was missing. Afton could possibly be the sulking male, but I knew Chelsea and Renata, at least, weren't in here. There could be any number of others, off on other duties like Etienne and Santiago or excused from training this particular time. But even if this was the whole group, I couldn't comprehend how, or why, they fed all together.

Demetri finally pulled away from the wall. My theory about the dark cloaks must have been wrong, because although I detected a subtle shift in the other Guards' behavior when he swirled his cloak up onto a hook and selected his first opponent, Felix remained unquestionably in charge. He called out instructions to the pairs that were training now and then, and he sometimes arranged the matches, but overall, he seemed to run a loose ship. I'd have to wait and see if I liked that or not.

The most interesting technique belonged to a tall, rather spindly vampire who Felix called Michelangelo- surely that was a nickname, since he apparently enjoyed handing those out? And a couple of the others called him "Spider." At first I thought it was because he was all legs and arms, but then I saw how he liked to run or leap up onto one of the walls and spring away in a new direction. He even did it sometimes when he wasn't sparring... for fun, I supposed, or just to get some energy out. At first I wondered if he had some kind of supernatural ability that allowed him to "stick" to the walls, but on closer examination he had developed a technique in which he rolled his hands and feet against the surface of the stone wall, giving him enough contact time to shift his angle of exit. I'd have to try that... preferably when no one was looking.

Gustav and Zaki felt remarkably similar when they fought: cheerful and eager. But their styles couldn't have been more different. Gustav, like Felix, relied on his size and brute strength, though he was far more reckless. The closest to a newborn in terms of strategy, or lack thereof. Zaki was nearly as tall as Gustav, but had to weigh at least a hundred pounds less. So he also relied on his wingspan in his offensive reach, but otherwise depended on speed, not strength. And he was fast- nearly a blur to my eyes at his fastest, and that was saying something. It made him a natural at defense, and should have meant his offensive strategy was terrible. But he seemed to be employing a few of the odd moves Li had used on me earlier.

Li herself didn't seem to be particularly welcome in the training room. Possibly because of her newness- which didn't bode well for me, if that was the case- but more likely because she was a woman. I had long ago learned the lesson that a female opponent was perfectly capable of dismembering and incinerating a man in less time than it took him to say "well ain't this cute," and I doubted anyone in the Volturi Guard would be so naive, but this training room was unmistakably male territory. The disdain aimed toward her stank more of indignation than of dismissal or amusement. She seemed accustomed to this treatment, though she stuck around for a while.

Not everyone was so dismissive of their sister-in-arms. Gustav and Zaki were friendly enough towards her, and another one called Pavlo seemed especially interested in sitting out with her whenever Felix would let him. They didn't feel like a mated pair, but these things weren't always obvious to my gift, at least not right away. I'd do well to sort out who belonged to who as soon as possible. I was curious to see whether pairing off was encouraged or discouraged around here. As far as I knew the only mated pair was Chelsea and Afton.

Marco and Carlo seemed to prefer to fight in tandem. Like the boy and girl, they shared enough features to make me wonder if they had been related in their human lives. Felix was employing them whenever someone was practicing two-on-one, though he and Gustav had joined forces against them earlier in the night. The cavern actually seemed to shake during that particular match.

I was getting frustrated. Every piece of gravel looked different, especially in the flickering torchlight; how was I ever supposed to find a damn tooth? When I had knocked them out they had flown off toward the door, which was where I had also seen Felix pick the one up, but the other one was nowhere to be found. And if Caius should come back I wanted to be seen training, not hunched over the ground and failing at my first "assignment". I stood up to my full height, angrily surveying the endless carpet of gray crumbs in search of a glint of white.

"What's the matter, Pox?" Gustav called gleefully. "Can't find it?"

"He's got enough teeth, hasn't he?" I growled back, crouching down again to examine the next section of gravel.

Felix boomed out a chuckle, whisking something out from his pocket and flipping it up into the air. He caught it in his mouth, maneuvering his jaw to get it back into place. A clatter of applause and cheers erupted and I shook my head in disbelief, finally grinning along with the others when I could no longer resist the buoyant atmosphere. It felt surprisingly familiar- I couldn't remember any specifics, but there had definitely been rites of passage like this back in my human days. Rude nicknames, humiliating jobs, pranks... dues to be paid when a fresh-faced recruit had been given the honor of joining our regiment. Or was it my own initiation I was vaguely remembering? If I was already being put through those hoops here, I'd take that as a good sign.

"Now you will know where to look next time something is missing," Zaki announced with his heavy accent. "In Felix's trousers!"

The applause shifted into a roar of approval, sending Felix into another scowl, though this time it resembled more of a pout. He sniffed. "All right, Pox, you and Amin."

I made my way to the center of the cavern, studying my opponent as he approached. Amin, the bearded one, looked like he had been changed a little older in his human life than the others. I had only seen him fight twice so far, though I had heard him speak a few times. His accent, like Zaki's, was one I had never heard before. The thought made me realize, with a start, that everyone had been speaking English this whole time. I wondered if that was for my benefit, or if everyone just spoke English here because it was one they all knew in common. I sincerely hoped that was the case.

I hadn't yet been able to determine Amin's favored technique, if he had one, so I carefully watched his movements, his expression, and his emotions as we slowly circled each other. He seemed more serious than his younger comrades; most of his comments so far had been critiques on the training, and now his focus on me was absolute. He feinted to the left, but there wasn't the emotional surge that usually preceded the attack, so I didn't fall for it. We completed another half turn and both decided to lunge forward at the same instant. We grappled at each other's shoulders without success and fell apart.

I crouched low this time, waiting for him to strike first. He finally leapt up and struck the right side of my neck, but the real attack was a low left hook that sent me sprawling. I tumbled back up into the crouch and waited again, working hard not to grimace or alter my stance. I was used to broken ribs, but he had dislodged something that wasn't going back into place like it should. He struck again, but this time I grabbed his arm and vaulted over it, adjusting my aim at the last second so the kick was to his kidney, not his spine. He took it hard, and I couldn't help but let out an audible grunt of pain as I delivered, so Felix called it off.

"Excellent move, Jasper," Amin offered, leaning against the wall and squinting while he healed.

I nodded my thanks, glad that someone was finally addressing me in conversation. And with my actual name, no less. I eased myself down onto the edge of a bench-shaped ledge that had been carved out of the wall. I peeled up the left side of my shirt, twisting to try and see the damage. "Pleased to meet you, Amin. And I'd like to learn whatever you did to my ribs... it's not even healing right."

He smiled graciously at the compliment. Then, without warning, he jammed his fingers into my shattered side and yanked them back out with a crunch. I screamed through my clenched teeth, looking around on the gravel for the rib he had just torn out. But instead I felt a familiar crackling sensation as the healing began.

"I was a physician," he explained.

Everyone had paused their training to stare over at us. I waved a signal that we were all right, and a good half of them winced in unison when they saw my injury, murmuring to each other about my having received the usual welcome from "the doc."

"You'll feel that rib for a good two days," Felix promised cheerfully.

"Thanks," I grumbled up at Amin. He smiled wide, showing three missing teeth. I was not combing the gravel for those teeth, whatever they said.

The jovial atmosphere evaporated a moment later when Caius reentered the chamber. He parked himself at his original spot on the wall and waved his hand for everyone to resume whatever they had been doing.

"I see you've made yourself at home," he said, frowning down at me. "Shall we bring you a pillow?"

I slid to my feet, gingerly touching the injury through my shirt. "I'm ready for more, sir. Just recovering from Amin's "doctoring." I felt a few subdued smiles behind me, but Caius wasn't amused.

"Amin, Marco, Michelangelo, Zaki. You're in the reading room today. Felix, you will escort Jasper to Aro's study."

Felix nodded solemnly, going for his cloak. "Yes, Master."

Master?

The Guards all donned their cloaks and began to follow Caius out of the room, but I just stood frozen as they passed, processing the word I must have heard wrong. Was this some kind of joke?

"Well?" Felix said gruffly. His careless cheerfulness from earlier had vanished. I fetched my jacket and followed him out into the hall, determined to get some answers this time.