I slept fitfully that night. The next morning, after waking up and getting ready for the day, I walked out into the sitting area to see Aro at his desk, once again, writing. He looked up at me. "You look less pale this morning."

I assumed that was his way of asking if I was feeling better, but I still looked at him curiously. "Uh, thanks?" He hummed and went back to his writing, so I took a seat in on the sofa and pulled my legs underneath me, trying to get comfortable. Neither of us mentioned what had happened the night before with him suddenly kissing me and then that crypticness afterwards, but it was still there in the back of my mind. I decided to try and make light conversation, so I added, "I suppose I'll look like I did all of the time soon enough though, right?"

Aro peered up from his writing again and smiled. "Paler, yet less ill."

"What are you writing about this time?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.

"The development that occurred yesterday evening."

I remembered that Demetri and Felix had been out, which is why they missed the movie. They must have come back while it was still dark and informed Aro about whatever it was they were doing. Aro would not tell me last night what they were up to, but I wondered if it had anything to do with the other situation and if it had progressed further still. "If I ask you to tell me, will you?"

"Why is it that you want to know, my dear?" Aro replied with a soft sigh.

I wanted to sigh back, but I refrained from doing so. "Since I'm living here now, don't you think that I should know what's going on if it affects you or anyone else here? I know you have the guard, but I don't like being left in the dark. Besides, it's the closest thing I can get to gossip."

The vampire across from me furrowed his brow as if he were confused, but made no comment on it. "I don't wish for you to worry or concern yourself with meager issues such as these."

"Who says I'll worry or concern myself with them? I have you and Renata to keep me safe, right?"

"You have the entire guard to keep you safe, Lia, including Renata and myself. I will never let anything happen to you," Aro answered looking me straight in the eye. To be honest, it was a little uncomfortable, or a lot, how vehement he was about it. "If you must know, we had witnesses come to share what they had heard and seen in Bulgaria which only confirmed what we originally thought. Though we sent a further warning, it was not received well. I am deciding how I wish to proceed with what we know."

"So Demetri and Felix are going to Bulgaria?"

"Yes, it does appear that I will have no choice but to send them. However, how they meet with the coven there is another story."

"That's what you're trying to decide? What is the coven doing that's needing you to interfere?"

"They are stirring up not so old memories. It has only been a couple of decades since Bulgaria stopped practicing anti-vampire rituals. We would like those rituals to remain a thing of the past. It appears that they have been careless when feeding as of late leaving bodies with identifying marks. Authorities have been writing it off as a cult-based serial killer, but there are certain groups who have been publishing about it being vampires all along."

To be honest, I was slightly curious about this given what people I grew up around thought of vampires. They were myths, supernatural creatures that existed in books like Dracula or movies such as "Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire". Outside of my family, who might actually believe vampires were real, I would have been locked up in some psych ward if I had actually tried to tell people about vampires. I couldn't imagine that people would believe any of it.

"Do you honestly think people will believe it's vampires instead of drugs or a cult?"

"I told you that at one point humans were aware of the existence of vampires," Aro began. "We put an end to that when we destroyed the Romanian coven. Humans spent more time knowing vampires to exist than they have believing the myths we created to keep our existence a secret. There are those who seek out the supernatural, the humans we find often enough to employ as our secretaries for one."

Knowing what that meant, I immediately veered in another direction. Those human secretaries probably didn't last too long. Caterina seemed nice, but the way Aro had spoken about her before, I just knew she wouldn't be joining the Volturi for anything except probably dinner. I nearly shuddered but stopped myself from the action.

"So once Demetri and Felix leave, will you be around more?"

"Unfortunately I stay rather occupied, Lia, as much as I wish I could spend more time with you. Perhaps you could visit more with Alec. He appears quite fond of you already," Aro replied with a gentle, apologetic smile.

"Yeah, Alec's cool, but Jane kind of creeps me out. I imagine they like to be near each other more often than not."

Aro laughed. "They are very close, yes. As far as Jane, you do not need to fear her. She will never use her powers on you. She takes some time to build a relationship with, but I dare say that one day, the two of you may become friends." He paused for a minute before continuing, thinking most likely of what to say. "Perhaps if I can figure out this matter quickly enough that I am also currently needing to decide, I can spare a few moments in the upcoming days to keep you company."

It was not as if this was actually what I wanted if I was really going to try to leave once Demetri and Felix were gone, but after last night, and after what he had said after kissing me, I had to make him think that I was trying to work out the conflict. It was merely very difficult. That was not entirely far from the truth either. I was trying to work it out, just not in the way he wanted me to. I was pressed more on the end of fighting it than giving in to it. Honestly though, I was getting tired of fighting, and for some reason, I had the feeling that Aro knew that as well.

"What is the other thing you are deciding?" I inquired.

"We have been dealing with a rogue vampire in Germany. He is currently in the custody of guard members we have stationed there."

"Okay, what are the options you're weighing?"

"The easiest option would be to simply end his existence…" I cringed as he said this. Even if this was a vampire Aro was referring to, it still sounded wrong. "...or I could have him brought here to Volterra to a holding cell where he would desiccate for his crimes."

"Desiccate? As in drying him up, like denying him blood?"

"Yes. It is a punishment worse than death in many ways, but perhaps, in this case, it is the better way of solving the dilemma."

I felt sick. What sort of punishment was that? I knew vampires weren't human, but even still, that treatment would be considered explicitly inhumane. They would live like that for eternity, all dried up, and I imagined unable to move or do anything. Would their minds deteriorate like a human's would if they went without food or water for days, a sort of delirious state? Was a pure death much better? "That's cruel."

"So is what he did, but you do not need to hear the details of such things. You already stir enough in your sleep." I wondered again, not for the first time, if Aro had been sneaking in and watching me sleep again, even though I had expressly asked him not to. He seemed to understand, and proceeded to say, "I have excellent hearing, Lia. I don't need to watch you to hear you tossing and turning in your sleep."

"Right," I replied.

"In lighter news, we will also have visitors arriving soon from Peru to discuss territorial issues with another smaller coven in their area. Such things are usually dealt with quickly, but they still must be seen and addressed."

I knew Aro was some sort of ruler in this vampire world, but I had no idea how much he really did. A lot of his work almost made him seem like he was some sort of actual king. As small of a population that vampires were, or at least I hoped they were, they certainly maintained many problems amongst them. They had their own set of laws, which I still felt needed some bending, and they had their own sort of police task force which Demetri and Felix were indubitably a part of along with the rest of Volturi guard. Even now, after being kept here for over a month, I was still shocked at these little discoveries and how much Aro really had been hiding from me, purposefully or not.

"That's a lot. You've never told me about all of these things, what you actually do besides murdering humans who know your secret."

Aro frowned, and I quickly apologized, not really meaning a word of it but also not wanting to upset the conversation we did have going. "I did not think you would be much interested, my dear, nor did I want you to think of such things. I imagine I would have told you more once you were changed."

"Well, I definitely don't think murder, even of a vampire, is a good answer, no matter what crimes they've committed against your so called laws. You shouldn't get to play someone's god."

"Lia, we are vampires, and I understand more than perhaps you do at the moment what you mean by that statement. I did not choose to be like this, but I have embraced it. Though it is true that I tend to despise most humans, we still do not take a life lightly. We do so to survive and when necessary to protect our kind from being discovered. There are a few vampires who do not see things our way and allude more directly to these sentiments of yours than we do. In those cases, harsh punishments must be given through death or desiccation. Even humans have their own forms of capital punishment. We are not so different in that matter."

As much as I did not want to agree with him, I really did not have a choice but to do so. Whatever he decided to do to this coven in Bulgaria and this rogue vampire were truly none of my business or of any real interest of mine. I sighed and leaned back against the cushions I was sitting against. I gave Aro no reply, and instead, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine this escape plan in my mind. I needed landmarks.

Opening my eyes, I turned back to look at Aro once more who had stood up to grab a book off of a shelf behind him. "Since you'll be doing that stuff for a while, do you mind if I go to the clock tower to get some fresh air? It's a bit stuffy down here."

"I don't see why not. I will send Renata with you," Aro added, and somehow, when he said her name, I knew that she had appeared, waiting on the other side of the door to his quarters. "Sulpicia has still been asking repeatedly to meet you. Perhaps you would be willing to grace her."

"It still throws me off that you're married yet you say we're 'mates' or whatever."

"As I told you before, my marriage to Sulpicia was one of convenience, nothing more. Neither of us have true love for each other though we do have love for each other as long time companions. Even she has known of your existence since the day we first met."

Nodding, I stood up and made my way to the door. "I'll think about it. Right now I just need some space to breathe."

"Of course," Aro replied calmly, and then I was out the door, Renata sliding soundlessly into the shadows behind me.

A/N: Please be sure to leave a review. Even if it's one word. You all have been awesome!