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For the next six months, we never stayed in one place for more than three days, not wanting anyone's attention to be drawn to Athanasia's rapid ageing, or run into any other vampire who could rat us out.
Her growth appeared to be slowing down gradually (thankfully), but within the space of just half a year, she had grown from a newborn baby into a small child. The one positive was her intelligence. She thankfully had the capacity to understand the basic rules of being a vampire and had very good self control when it came to matters of food.
Though she'd been able to digest human food the few times she'd actually eaten it, her preference was human blood. Every time I tried to get her to eat food from local bazaars or markets, she would grab my hand and look me in the eyes with her hypnotising azure irises, pleading with me to let her hunt with me. She definitely had a gift for persuasion for no matter how much I wanted her to eat the easier obtainable food, she always got her way.
Food preferences aside, Athy seemed to be like any other normal child. Her favourite game was climbing trees; a hobby that I had forgotten how enjoyable could be. Luckily the tundra provided her with endless opportunities to enjoy this passtime.
"Mama, can you turn into a bird so we can race to the top?" she enthused, skipping through the snow, unfazed by its depth.
"Of course, fy mach i (darling)," I smiled, patting her head and regarded the gigantic silver birch that towered over us. "Three...two...one…GO!" I shouted, jumping into the air and shifting. Athy made it to the top first and she waited for me to join her. I perched on her shoulder and playfully pecked her nose. This earnt another fit of giggles. Her laugh echoed throughout the landscape, carried on the wind. It sounded like the perfect marriage of music and the human voice.
Despite the fact that I was her only friend, Athy very easily amused herself. She could find some sort of enjoyment or game in any mundane task, even moving location.
Ever since she had first started speaking, Athy had fun creating a song to remember all of the places we'd lived in. Each time we left another settlement, she'd compose a quirky little verse and perform it for me with a smug grin on her face. Of course it was her favourite lullaby too.
I sung her song back to her in a slower and more melancholy tempo before she went to sleep, followed by the lullabies I remembered from my childhood, as I plaited her long straight silver hair into all sorts of intricate patterns. Sometimes, I sung to her all night and other nights, I just sat and watched her, not wanting to miss a moment with her. I wondered what she dreamt about as it had been so long since I had last done so. Her dainty features would sometimes become screwed up in pain, sending me into a panic, wondering how I could stop her discomfort. But other times, she would smile her toothy grin and mutter unintellible phrases of sleep-talk. I just hoped that she would never have to go to sleep forever.
She did emulate her father too though. Though she'd inherited her theatrical side from me, she definitely had a cruel streak. The one reason she preferred feeding on human blood was the fact she could play with her food. She enjoyed hypnotising the funny humans into doing silly things before she finished them off. However, I didn't deny her the entertainment as I'd already deprived her of the opportunity to make friends. Meat, soup and potaoes were no fun to little Athy.
I wondered why the Volturi hadn't sent anyone after me yet. Aro would not be happy to lose my gift, even if he did still have his prized possessions Jane and Alec. Even more reason to keep on the move. Whilst I could mask my scent well enough if another vampire was near (my powers having returned to me in full after Athy's birth), Athanasia was the one who needed the concealment. If push ever did come to shove, Athy could potentially use her gift to hypnotise a vampire into forgetting about her, but I didn't want it to have to come to that.
Athanasia made me truly appreciate the value of freedom. She knew nothing of the Volturi and their restrictions upon our kind, although she knew the laws well by this point. I was envious of the filter of innocence through which she viewed the world, but feared it would lead her down a path of recklessness at some point.
Although I had enjoyed the time I spent with the Volturi, especially with Caius, I came to see it as another restriction. It was nowhere near as bad as my life during the Roman empire days, but the freedom our little family had here was enough to convince me that the Volturi had been restricting my potential for exploration. Here, we had open steppe and forest for miles, for days. A whole new world of land to explore that was designed especially for vampires. My skin remained its standard milky pallor no matter how much sun shone upon me. Its rays, too weak to truly expose me this far north. Athanasia seemed to have a more human reaction to the sun. It definitely enhanced her charm, but she was not so evidently different.
As Athanasia's outward age became less of a concern, I continued to fear for her safety regardless.
We had been lucky enough to avoid any other vampires as of yet, despite being in such a vampire-friendly environment.
During my 500 years with the Volturi, I had not once heard of such a child. Only the immortal children. That made me concerned that she truly was one of a kind, created by my strange power, the limits of which I still was not certain. If she was completely unique, regardless of her powers of hypnosis, she would surely be of utmost interest to my former coven.
Having realised the freedom that my new life had brought me, and having outgrown the enforced loyalty perpetuated by Charmion, I hoped that my daughter would never have to fall victim to it. However much I wished for her to meet her father, as I wished to return to him myself, for our family to be complete, I knew it would be impossible to do so without incurring the risk of a lifetime of servitude.
Athanasia grew up quickly. However after a decade or so, she became frozen in time like me. I was thankful, though I feared for the fragility of her heartbeat; knowing that it would be possible for another of my kind to mistake her for a human, or for the rhythmic beats to be silenced by some other unforseen force.
We continued to gradually follow the path eastwards, away from Europe and into the unknown. We both wanted to see for how long this beautiful landscape continued, but wished to encounter the cultures here too.
We had learnt so far over two dozen new languages of the steppe nomads and northern peoples. Whilst they were only humans, they lived similar lives to us, always on the move, always moving forwards. The whole community migrated to another, more fertile place whenever their current residence had become resistant to the efforts of agriculture.
Somehow, I felt at home here for now despite the emptiness I felt in my chest.
Hope you enjoyed, I'll be uploading the next chapter on Tuesday.