Chapter 12

The room was utterly silent, save for the two beating hearts of the unicorns on either side of us. I was looking at Kianna in disbelief, who was glaring at Aro, who was watching me. It was a very silent exchange.

"What?" I gasped when I could finally form a coherent response. She sighed and straightened up again to look at me. The confident look returned to Aro's face.

"Yes, he is my father," she said, her eyes utterly sincere, and full of regret. "Not just my creator. My father. A long, long time ago- longer than you could imagine- I was human, living with the richest family on the countryside. I was daughter of Laelia and Aro Volturi, the most respected aristocrats of their time. My life was perfect, or at least very near to it, from my perspective." She paused, trying to see through the dim memories no doubt. "Then one day, father left." A dark glance in Aro's direction. He looked at us innocently. "He was gone for days. Mother was worried about him, and almost went looking for him herself before he finally came home. We knew all about vampires then- it wasn't just folklore, but an entirely real part of our life- so when we saw his pale skin, his strange eyes, we knew what he had become. Mother was terrified." She chuckled darkly. "She wanted to go straight to the townspeople, tell them what he was, but she knew well that her fate would mirror his if she did so. Anyone contaminated by the undead must die.

She wouldn't even sleep in the house anymore. She chose instead to room with the servants at night, and often suggested that I do the same. I had known there was no reason behind the precaution. If he had wanted to drink our blood, it did not matter where we slept. So I stayed, and every night before I went to bed, he would tell me stories about the undead. He explained how he was so much stronger than everyone else, so much faster, so much better. Naturally I was intrigued." Her face darkened and she turned to glare at Aro again. She continued the story without looking at me.

"Mother disappeared. I was confused, I knew nothing of what had happened to her. Father said she died. He did not bother to hide that truth from me. He said that because she was a vulnerable human, she had passed away, and I would follow her at some time if I did not agree to turn. In a panic, I had agreed. It did not occur to me until later that she had not died of a disease, or an accident…" Her eyes hardened. "She was murdered in a frenzy to feed." I glanced wearily between father and daughter as her words slowly clicked into my head. Aro had killed his own wife.

"Naturally he did not care," she continued once she was sure I understood. "After all, he loved her no more. He was infatuated with the young vampire who changed him, Sulpicia. She had seduced him from the very beginning. She had taken him from us, knowing he would be different. He would have powers beyond any other vampire's. So he was turned, and I after him. We had ruled together, for a time, as a family. We recruited newcomers, fresh talents such as Demetri. But when I found the truth of my mother's fate, I fled. There was only one place where I could go that he would never find me. I was forced to hide under the shield of the triangle for thousands of years, long years, hoping never to have to face him again. And as you can see, it was a futile attempt." Her steely gaze never left Aro's, never even faltered as she spoke of her past. His eyes were calm, almost sorrowful as she told of her unforgiveable past.

"And we were invincible then," Aro sighed when he was sure she was done. At least he was polite enough not to interrupt. "The Romans were no bother. After we gained young Alec and Jane, and with my daughter's venom, they were easy to overpower. No one could defeat us." With the mention of their relation on his lips, Kianna growled softly and crouched down again, intent on destroying the thing that had oppressed her for so long.

"Forget it Aro," she spat, baring her teeth. "I will not rule with you. I denounce any relation to you!" At this comment he looked absolutely baffled, then absolutely enraged. He glared at my friend, his former daughter, with a loathing so strong that I had to take a step back. This was a personal thing, something I didn't want to get involved in. I had agreed to help if necessary, but this scenario had never occurred to me before. It made it just that much more difficult when I had to intervene in family affairs.

"You denounce me, do you?" he sneered, bending into a hunting crouch as well. I disappeared so as not to get in the line of fire. "Well, daughter, if you will not rule with me, you will not rule at all! NOBODY WILL!" He threw himself at her with an abnormally graceful movement, and she just barely dodged out of the way, a little staggered. Apparently she hadn't expected him to show any resistance to his only child. Her eyes were clouded with confusion.

He used this one moment of distraction to his advantage.

"NO!" I screeched as he lunged for the dazed vampire, aiming for her throat. At the same time as I moved my feet to help, there was an ear-shattering cry as Aleka shot from her post by the door. Naturally she beat me to the battlefield, being faster than any vampire.

Everything seemed to happen at once.

A new cry, not one of agony, but more of surprise, came from Kianna as she was shoved out of the way, a gaping hole at least two inches wide right in the middle of her torso. She smacked against the stone wall with a loud *boom.*

At the same instant, there was a loud crack, an unearthly scream, and the gurgle of lost blood as vampire and horse collided. Aleka lay on the floor unmoving, her large body pinning Aro to the ground. There was only one heartbeat in the room.

A sound like breaking glass came from the one visible door, where Kita stood watching, all but forgotten. Her eyes were wide with fear, her legs shaking with rage as she very slowly approached her mother's body, the red-eyed murderer writhing helplessly against the floor. I ran over to Kianna, trying to distract myself from that dreadful image in any way I could.

"Are you alright?" I whispered. Though her wound was huge and went right through her body, her eyes were still sensible, her senses obviously in tact. She shook her head and looked down, motioning to where her heart should be, then to her lungs…

Of course, she couldn't speak. Even if she didn't need to breathe, she still needed oxygen to talk, and she needed lungs to take in the oxygen, and they had been completely torn through.

"What is she saying?" I asked, glancing at the scene in the middle of the room helplessly. Kita was mourning over her lost mother, Aro completely forgotten in the moment of sorrow. With an entire unicorn's body crushing his legs, he wasn't likely to go anywhere any time soon.

Kianna shook her head irritatedly, signaling for me to come closer. I did so hesitantly, not sure what she wanted. She touched her palm to my forehead.

"No no no no no no…" Kita's broken whinnies formed into half-formed pleas with the contact of our skin, and I stared at Kianna in shock. She motioned for me to say something with her free hand.

"Kita, I'm so sorry," I whispered, not sure what else to say. She looked up at me in surprise, large tinted spheres of blue rolling down her face. After a moment of recollection, when she remembered she was not the only one in the room, her eyes turned steely and the fire of vengeance spread across her entire face. Aro would not be alive much longer.

"You killed my mother!" she screeched, the tears of hatred rolling down her cheeks even faster than her tears of sorrow. She jumped over her mother's dead body and thrust her horn downward, ripping him to shreds within moments. I turned my head away until the violence was over.