A/N: A ball is being held, and turns out that the three kings can get jealous after all.
Chapter Text-Caius' POV-
Those bloody Romanians had stolen Ophelia completely! Ever since they arrived, Caius hadn't seen her. He had been in an awful mood because of it, and he knew Aro didn't particularly like it either. Even with her being confused about the whole mating thing, even with her nightmares, she would check in on them occasionally. Caius had been stubborn, refusing to go find her himself, and somewhat realizing she might want to be alone with her friends, but the fact that she didn't come by once, upset him. An entire day had passed, and it was already noon. The ball would be held later tonight, all for her, but she did not seem to care.
"I'll go get her, she still needs to get a dress and everything." Aro speaks when the impatience finally gets the best of him.
"I'll join you." Caius says quickly, eager to get up. Secretly, he was smug Aro had lost his patience sooner, but at the same time he was relieved he had.
"Me too." Marcus says, surprising Aro. If Marcus was getting impatient, things had gotten far. In a second, the three kings are standing in front of Blaise's bedroom door. Aro glances over at his brothers, then knocks on the door.
"Come in!" They hear Vladimir call out softly. A scowls appears on Caius' face at hearing the voice of the Romanian, and Aro opens the door, the three of them entering. Caius freezes up at the sight.
Ophelia's sound asleep. Her head rests in the blonde's lap, one arm wrapped around his waist, as her other hand holds that of the dark haired, who's lying next to her with a hand behind his head. Caius sees red. He should have killed them properly all those centuries ago, those bastards!
"How dare you touch our m-
Caius halts when Ophelia yawns and turns her head to them. She looks so peaceful, so void of nightmares, that he can't say anything. And she's wearing. His. Shirt. Caius can smell it from where he's standing. How did she get that?
The two vampires both look up at him, but Ophelia remains asleep.
"My apologies if we offended you, Caius. She fell asleep as we were talking. We didn't want to wake her up, since we know how bad her insomnia can be." Stefan explains, seeming genuine. Caius nearly feels bad for his actions earlier, but then his protective side takes back over, and he merely huffs.
"Thank you. She could definitely use some sleep." Aro mutters, clearly having to force himself to look away from Ophelia
"Nightmares?" Vladimir asks, a knowing look on both their faces. They were all talking so quietly that no human would be able to hear it, in order to keep her from waking up.
"Every time she falls asleep. She keeps herself awake as long as possible out of fear." Marcus explains, a sad tone in his voice.
"It took her six months to trust us. That half year, she had nightmares every time she slept, so she'd stay up for days. It took us 6 months to discover she didn't have the nightmares if we slept with her. Since then, we spent every night with her for five years. We never expected her to move. It's our fault she still has the nightmares when we're not around. We should've taken her to a doctor or something, someone who could've helped her." Vladimir explains as he glances down at her with a guilty, worried look.
"Do you think she'd be able to sleep if one of us stayed with her?" Aro asks, unable to keep the hope out of his words.
"I think so. You're her mates, after all. I don't know if she'll trust you three enough yet, though. Like I said, it took us some time." It's a little harsh, but it's the truth, and Caius can appreciate that. Very slowly, he was beginning to understand why his mate was so close with them. They were incredibly annoying, but they clearly cared a lot for her, and they made her happy.
"A lot still needs to be done before the ball. We arranged for her to go to the hairdresser's, and Felix will take her shopping for a dress to wear." Aro says after a moment.
"Ah, I suppose that's why you came. I'll wake her up, we can go with her. She's can be self-conscious when it comes to these things, no doubt she'll be nervous as hell." Vladimir agrees.
"Self-conscious, Ophelia? She has nothing to feel self-conscious about." Caius snarls, a look of disbelief in his eyes.
"I couldn't agree with you more." Stefan says with a shrug, Vladimir nodding along with him.
"You know, you guys aren't too bad. I can tell you're all trying to make her happy, even though we used to hate you." Vladimir says after a moment, taking Caius by surprise.
"We try. We still have a long way to go." Marcus says.
"Let's wake her up, shall we?" Stefan suggests.
"If you want, we can go-"
"No, no, there's no need." Stefan waves Aro away with a smile.
"Ophelia?" Vladimir whispers, bending his head down to look at her. Ophelia stirs, a deep breath escaping her lips, but she doesn't wake up.
"Ophelia." Stefan speaks up a little louder, squeezing her hand. The blond gently strokes her hair at that, and inside Caius his jealousy roars back to life. Who the hell did these guys think they were?!
"Hmm?" Ophelia hums tiredly as she opens her eyes.
"Good morning, sunshine." Stefan mutters, a smile on both his and Vladimir's face.
"Stefan?" She asks, eyes opening slowly, momentarily confused.
"Yeah, I'm here. We're both here." Stefan confirms. At that, she seems to remember they were visiting, for she blinks a couple of times, then finally focuses onto Vladimir.
"Good morning, Vladimir." She says sweetly, giving him a tired smile. "Morning, Stefan." After that, she yawns again and stretches before cuddling closer to Vladimir, still holding hands with Stefan.
"Your mates are here as well. They were worried you died, since you've been asleep the entire day." Vladimir says teasingly, a grin on his face. Ophelia's eyes fly open at that, and Caius finds himself momentarily frozen when those big brown eyes meet his.
"Good morning, cara mia." He hears Aro say, and Caius is amused when her cheeks turn red at it. Those other two didn't have that effect on her, at least. Suckers.
"Good morning, Aro, Marcus, Caius." She says softly, then hides her face against Vladimir's leg.
"Aww, don't tell me you're embarrassed because you're sharing your bed with two gorgeous men?" Vladimir teases. Idiot. She giggles at it, and Caius can't help but raise his eyebrow at that.
"Were you worried?" She asks after a moment, as if she's only now realized what Vladimir said earlier. When no one speaks up, she lifts her head, her eyes capturing his until he can't do anything but tell the truth.
"We aren't used to you sleeping so long." He admits, a little embarrassed and annoyed to admit this weakness to her.
"I'm sorry." She mutters, looking down.
"It's fine. We came because you have to get ready for the ball, that's all." Marcus pipes up, deciding to help his brother out a bit. Caius won't admit it, but he's grateful for that. He wasn't always good with words.
"The ball!" She exclaims, her eyes widening. She quickly hops out of bed at that, clearly startled. Now Caius is certain.
"Is that... my shirt?" He asks cautiously. Blaise looks down at the white shirt for a moment, then back up at Caius, her cheeks turning pink once more.
"I-I don't know, Felix said he got it for me..." She manages to bring out.
"It's fine. You look good in it." Caius says, then abruptly leaves the room. He couldn't be around her like that, not when she was wearing his shirt. God, if he didn't pay attention he'd ravish her right in front of his brothers, and he'd only scare her. He was usually pretty composed, but she just did things that messed with his mind.
"Man, he's even more awkward than you are!" Vladimir exclaims, making Stefan laugh. Caius hears it from behind the doors, and scowls at that. Stupid Romanians.
-Ophelia's POV-
"Are you sure I look okay?" I ask hesitantly, nervously looking down at my dress.
"Okay? Ophelia, you look stunning." Felix scoffs, appearing in the bathroom door to lean against the door post. I look up in the mirror, locking eyes with him for a moment.
"Thanks." I mutter, grabbing my brush to comb through my hair one last time. The hair salon in Volterra had been very luxurious, a beautiful woman with long blonde curls having cut and curled my hair, making it the brown bunch of waves it was now. She also made me drink a glass of champagne, to relax. Said my vibe was messing with her creativity. Felix had been amused, until the manicurist forced him to sit down and do his nails, along with Vladimir and Stefan. I had laughed at that for sure.
"Wait, just let me help." Felix speaks up, walking over to me. He grabs a few hair pins and grabs my bare shoulders, spinning me so that I'm facing him. I close my eyes, as I feel him grab a few strands of my hair.
"There you go." He mutters, stepping back. I open my eyes, and turn to look in the mirror, eyes getting wide.
"Whoah. How do you know how to do that?" I ask him, staring at my hair. He'd pinned my hair back, still leaving a few locks loose to frame my face. It seemed simple, but looked beautiful.
"I had three sisters." He mutters, eyes turning dark.
"Aren't they vampires?" I ask him, confused.
"My family was very religious. They would've despised me if I would've told them I was a vampire. When I got turned, I just... disappeared. They always believed I'd been killed." Felix admits, voice turning regretful.
"I'm so sorry, Felix." I mutter, closing the distance between us to pull him into a hug.
"Be careful with your makeup, sweetheart." He mutters, but when I pull back there's a grateful smile on his face.
"Let's get you to a ball, shall we?" He says teasingly, holding up his arm for me. I can't help but chuckle and take it.
"You know, I'm actually quite nervous." I whisper as we leave my room. When I'd been trying on dresses in the store Aro had called beforehand, Felix had told me the ballroom wasn't used often, only for special occasions. He also told me that Caius and Marcus hated it. Aro on the other hand, was like a child in a candy store when he could organise big parties and show off. It sounded just like them.
"I know. Your heartbeat kind of gives you away." Felix mutters, throwing me a sideway smirk.
"You look good in a suit." I say after a while, meeting his red eyes with a smile. For the occasion, he was wearing a dark blue suit, which showed off his broad shoulders quite well.
"Thanks. You look good in that dress." He answers, a smile appearing on his face.
"Aro picked it, I think." I whisper as we pass a couple. They stare at us, making me frown.
It had been kind of obvious how there had been dresses specifically put aside for me, all in my exact size and height. I guess it was sweet of him, and it did help quite a bit, knowing that at least he would like my dress, no matter what. Eventually, Vladimir and Stefan had helped me pick out the dress I was wearing right now. It was a beautiful, burgundy colour and the fabric felt really soft. It was off the shoulders, but still had puffy tiny sleeves hanging a little below my shoulders. From the waist down, the dress flared out until it reached the ground. I figured the Volturi red would please them, and it might make a good impression on all the other people that would be there. When I got back to the castle, a velvet black box waited for me on my bed. It contained a beautiful golden necklace, from which a simple, oval shaped ruby hung, accompanied with a note from my mates, not that I needed that to know it was theirs. The necklace was gorgeous, and the weight of it resting in the small dip where my collarbones met was comforting to say the least.
"It does seem like his taste. It suits you." Felix answers, placing his other hand on top of mine for a second.
"You don't have to be so nervous, Ophelia. You look gorgeous, which is why they're all staring at you. It's a good thing, trust me."
"I just... what if they don't think I'm suitable? I'm just a human after all." I can't prevent the uncertainty from peeking through my voice.
"You're not just a human. In the short amount of time I've known you, you've displayed more strength than most vampires. I admire you for it." Felix protests, surprising me. I stop for a moment, turning to fully look at him.
"You admire me?" I ask, shocked.
"Of course I do. It must've been incredibly difficult to be ripped away from your closest friends and to be shipped off to Italy, only to live in a castle full of vampires. Not to mention that discovering you have mates is incredibly hard for humans, let alone three! There's been a great burden deposited right onto your shoulders, being expected to be Queen and all, yet you carry it with pride and dignity. So yeah, I do admire you, Ophelia." Felix says, grabbing my shoulders with a look in his eyes that says he's being completely honest.
"Thank you, Felix. That means a lot to me." I whisper, rapidly blinking to avoid the unexpected tears that are forming in the corners of my eyes.
"Don't cry, you'll ruin your makeup. But you're welcome. I like you a lot, Ophelia. I couldn't have wished for anyone better to be my Queen."
"It sounds weird to be called 'Queen'. Just Ophelia is fine." I say teasingly, chuckling softly.
"Get used to the name, you'll hear it often tonight. Now let's go throw a party, silly." Felix gently pushes me further, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to drag me along, pulling me close.
Too soon, we reach the ballroom. Felix leads me inside, and we're standing at the top of a huge flight of marble stairs, on a platform there that overlooks the entire room. The ballroom is beyond anything I've ever seen, gold decorating the white walls, a beautiful ceiling painting covering the entirety of the room, marble pillars dividing the room into three parts, the middle part a dancefloor made out of dark marble tiles.
"Whoah." I bring out, causing Felix to chuckle.
"Yeah, it's a bit over the top." He mutters, playfully rolling his eyes at me.
"It's beautiful." I mutter back, giving him a wide eyed look.
"Yeah, that too." He answers, laughing again.
"There's a lot of people here." I take a nervous gulp when I look down and see the room packed. There must be hundreds of people here, if not a thousand. And here I thought the Cullens had gathered a lot of vampires.
"You'll do great." Felix reassures, letting go of my shoulders.
"Shall we, my Queen? Your Kings are waiting." He bows ironically, then offers his arm once more.
"You're the queen here. Drama queen." I mutter, taking his arm nonetheless. He leads us to the first step of the stairs.
"Don't make me fall." I whisper, nerves building up in my stomach.
"I would never." He answers sternly, red eyes meeting mine one last time. Then, I turn to look in front of me, straighten my back, and take a deep breath.
Slowly, we begin descending the stairs, making me only more glad that I've got Felix, my hold on his arm tightening as I'm afraid of falling.
"You won't fall, relax." He mutters, his chuckle ringing in my ears.
"If I do, I'm taking you with me." I mutter back, throwing him a tiny smile. Somehow, Felix always seemed capable of distracting me. When I look around the room, I find everyone staring at me, the room turning quiet, save for whispers that are no doubted discussing me. I get even more nervous, but then my eyes land upon Aro, Marcus and Caius.
They're standing at the bottom of the stairs, and the look in each of their eyes is enough to make my stomach go weak. Marcus gives me an assuring smile, making me smile back at him, the nerves lessening slightly. When my eyes land upon Aro, I know I want nothing more than to make him proud, and the dark look in Caius' eyes makes my heart skip a beat. I keep my eyes trained upon them until I'm standing in front of them, Felix subtly letting go of me and disappearing.
"You look stunning." Caius speaks up first, surprising me by wrapping an arm around my waist possessively as he presses a kiss to my cheek.
"Caius is right. That dress looks even more stunning with you wearing it, cara mia." Aro adds, taking me from his brother by pulling me into his arms. I'm blushing by the time Marcus takes my hands in his, gently steps towards me, then kisses my temple.
"You look very pretty, Ophelia." He whispers, locking eyes with mine.
"Thank you." I say, looking at all three of them, feeling my cheeks burning as I smile at them.
"Perhaps we should introduce you to-"
"Let's get you a drink first, there's no need to rush." Marcus interrupts Aro, leading me away before Aro can protest. The crowd is quick to pretend they're doing anything but staring at me the next second.
"Thank you, Marcus." I whisper gratefully when we near the sleek black bar at the right side of the room that I didn't even see before. I note how our fingers are intertwined, as I stick close to his side.
"You're welcome, I figured you could use a drink first. You must be nervous." He answers, throwing me a sweet smile.
"Very." I admit, as he chuckles softly.
"I never was one for parties like this. Didyme always had to drag me along, saying it wasn't as bad as I said it was. I have no idea how she always did it, smiling the entire night, chatting away with people without any difficulty." Marcus muses, a melancholic smile on his face.
"I-I'm sorry, I forgot..." He adds when he realizes he's talking to me, an apologetic look in his eyes.
"It's fine, Marcus. I enjoy hearing you talk about her. She seems amazing." I interrupt him, looking up into his red eyes with a smile.
"She was." He admits, seeming more at ease now that he knows I don't mind.
"I'm happy you had her. It sounds like she was an amazing person." I add, turning more serious, as I give his hand a squeeze. He gives me a warm smile at that. I was happy to see him smile so much around me.
"Thank you, Ophelia." He whispers.
"Let's get you a drink. What would you like?" He asks, shaking himself out of it before turning around to lead me over to the bar.
"I have no idea. Any suggestions?" I shrug, truly having no clue.
"Hmm, I'll come up with something." He answers, moving to order something. In no time, he's back besides me, handing me a fancy glass with a bubbly pink liquid in it. He's not drinking anything himself, so I carefully take a sip of my drink.
"This is delicious! What is it?" I ask him, nearly moaning in delight.
"I just asked for something sweet." Marcus says, seeming glad that I like it.
"Whoah Princess, someone's looking fine!" Vladimir exclaims, appearing from behind me.
"You're being an idiot." I say, laughing nonetheless.
"I know, thanks. Still, you're looking good." He says, giving me a smile.
"Marcus, do you mind if I steal your Queen for a moment? There's someone here that she hasn't seen in a while." Vlad asks, giving Marcus a surprisingly kind smile. I was relieved to see them getting along a bit.
"No problem at all. Have fun, darling." Marcus says, smiling at me.
"Thanks, Marcus!" I exclaim, turning to look at him over my shoulder one last time as Vladimir's already dragging me away, his arm wrapped around my waist. I quickly finish my drink, Vladimir taking it from me and puts it down on a table.
"Where are you taking me, Vladimir?" I ask him as he leads me through the crowd with ease. I try to ignore all the red eyes that stare at me as we pass them by, and just wish I wouldn't stand out so much.
"An old friend of ours. Don't worry, you'll like it. He's missed you." He mutters, giving me a reassuring smile.
"Who are we talking about..." I trail off when I see Stefan, and more specifically, the person standing next to him.
"Drake!" I exclaim, rushing over to the white haired vampire.
"Ah, principesa! You look drop dead gorgeous, no pun intended of course." He jokes, pulling me into his arms.
"I've missed you!" I whisper excitedly, chuckling when he lifts me up and spins us around.
"It's been far too long, dearest." Drake answers, putting me down gently. When I look up into his red eyes, he's smiling down at me. Drake has short white hair, a strong jawline, and a defined nose. He's also two heads taller than I am, and very lean.
"You're absolutely right, it's so nice to see you again! How are you?" I ask him, grinning back.
"Very well, and you?"
"Adjusting. It's strange, finding out you're bonded to three vampires." I admit, chuckling awkwardly.
"I would've expected you'd be used to all the male attention." Drake says, winking at me. I laugh at it, shaking my head.
"Ophelia, cara mia, I'm sorry to interrupt. Carlisle just called, telling me that the Cullens wouldn't be able to make it after all." Aro speaks up, appearing beside me. I'm a little startled by it, but smile up at him nonetheless.
"Oh, really? Such a shame, but I understand. Tell Carlisle we'll visit them soon instead." I answer without thinking, giving him a smile when he puts a hand on my lower back.
"Great idea. I see you've met the Prince of Romania?" Aro turns his attention to Drake at that, staying very polite, although I can figure he must be wondering how I know him out of all people.
"Aro, how wonderful to see you again. I see you're one of the lucky men who snatched away our precious Ophelia?" Drake answers smoothly, giving him a polite smile. Aro raises an eyebrow at the "our", but remains happy, thankfully.
"I am, in fact. We're very lucky to have finally found her. I didn't know you knew each other, however." My mate says, pulling me a tad closer to him. Was he… jealous?
"Drake and I met in Romania. His Father has always been close with Vladimir and Stefan, and that's how we became friends. He'd sneak me out of all the boring meetings at the castle." I explain, smiling back and forth between the two.
"I used to hate those meetings as much as you do, dearest. Now, however, I find myself leading them." Drake says, shaking his head at the memories.
"Well, 500 years old is about the time to grow up, I would assume." I joke, making him chuckle, flashing his fangs.
"I'll leave you two alone. It sounds like you have a lot of catching up to do." Aro subtly dismisses himself, making me smile gratefully.
"I'll see you later, Aro." I say, giving him a warm smile as he walks away, looking back at me over his shoulder.
"He's jealous, isn't he?" Drake notes when he's far away, making me chuckle.
"Only a little. I think Caius is worse." I admit, making him laugh in return.
"I'm pretty sure you're right. Still, they seem to care a lot about you. I'm happy that they're not as much of their usual selves when they're around you." Drake mutters, eyes sparkling mischievously when they meet mine.
"Me too. From what I've heard from Vladimir and Stefan, they can be dicks sometimes."
"Only a little. Nothing I can't handle after my Father." Drake jokes. Immediately, the air between us turns more serious.
"How are you, Drake? It must be hard for you, ruling Romania without your Father's help." I say, putting a hand on his upper arm in a way to somehow comfort him.
"It isn't always easy, I'll have to admit. He just... it seemed as if he always knew what was the right thing to do, and I'm not as good at that as him, I'm afraid." He confesses, giving me a sad look.
"That's normal, Drake. Your Father ruled for many centuries, he had much more experience with the whole thing than you have. I'm sure you'll do just fine, perhaps even better." I give him a comforting smile.
Life hadn't been easy for Drake. His Father had been known as the great Count Vlad Dracula. He'd ruled the vampire population of Romania for so many centuries no one was really sure how long it had been exactly, being the source of the legends about 'Vlad Dracula'. Bram Stoker even wrote a book about him, although it was full of things that weren't correct.
What many humans didn't know was that one day, Vlad Dracula stumbled upon an injured young man in the fields near his castle. The villagers from the village nearby had picked an innocent orphaned boy, only just having turned 18, and wounded him so they could leave him near the castle, hoping to catch a glimpse of the infamous Vlad Dracula, to find out if their legends about vampires were true. Vlad, not exactly the heartless creature people thought he was, had seen something in the boy. He'd rushed him inside the castle and turned him into a vampire. He'd taken the boy in, adopted him as his own son, and that's how the boy got named Dracula the Second. Afterwards, Dracula travelled to the village. He'd captured every single one of the villagers, and impaled each one on a huge pole, decorating his garden with them. It had earned him his infamous reputation of 'Vlad the Impaler'.
I met Dracula the Second, or Drake as I called him, when Vladimir and Stefan were requested at the castle. He'd been already almost 500 years old, but he'd been full of youth when we met. During a boring meeting, the blonde haired Prince had simply crawled underneath the table and pulled me underneath it with him, showing a loose tile in the floor that led to a secret tunnel. We spent the entire day together and since then, we'd become really close friends.
His Father was pretty conservative, which made sense considering his age. About 50 years before I'd met Drake, his Father had begun pushing him about finding a suitable woman to become his wife. Dracula himself had always lived in solitude, save for his Son, but he would do anything to prevent Drake having to live a similar life. Drake, always having had a young spirit, didn't want to settle down, but most of the time Dracula's will was law. He even suggested I'd marry his Son, shocking me, since I was a human, but apparently, the King had taken a liking to me. I wanted nothing more than to help my friend out, so after a lot of thinking I made a deal with his Drake and his Father. If Drake or I didn't find our mate or someone we wanted to spend forever with, we'd marry when I turned 21. A little after my eighteenth birthday, however, King Dracula was murdered, and the deal got postponed without Drake or I having to discuss it.
During a meeting, one of the vampires simply charged at Drake's Father, effectively killing him by setting him on fire. Apparently, it was the vampire's gift, and none of us had known about it, nor had we known that he had held a grudge against the Dracula family for many centuries, because one of his ancestors had been one of the villagers that had been impaled. Vladimir and Stefan had quickly pulled Drake back, for he'd have jumped straight into the fire if they hadn't. I had been in too much of a shock to do anything, but the vampire had been caught quickly. It had been the darkest day in Drake's life, and I still felt sorry for him.
"Anyways, let us not speak of such sad things. I'm sure my Father would be happy if he saw us together again right now, even if it isn't exactly the way he hoped. I'm truly glad to see you again, Ophelia, and I'll forever be grateful to know you." He says solemnly, a serious look in his otherwise so playful red eyes. It seemed like the death of his father had forced him to grow up, but it suited him in a different way than the youthfulness that belonged to the boy I used to know.
"I'm glad I know you as well, Drake." I say softly, unable to prevent the blush from creeping onto my cheeks. Only now, I notice Vladimir and Stefan had subtly left us alone to catch up.
"I mean it, Ophelia. I hope you never forget how much you mean to me. If you ever need anything, although I doubt that now that you have three Kings to listen to your every command, you know where to find me." Drake says, gently cupping my cheek with his hand. By now, I'm nearly crying, but I manage to hold back my tears.
"You're welcome, Drake. I still feel so sorry for you. You must miss him terribly, he was a great man." I whisper, leaning into his touch. It had been a while since I'd been confronted with this rather traumatic experience from my past, hence the tears and sadness.
"Not a day goes by without me thinking about him." He mutters, and I know he'd cry if it would've been just the two of us, not in a ballroom full of people.
"Anyway, let us not be sad. Tonight is meant to celebrate the fact that you've found true love, as you humans call it!" Drake exclaims, seeming to shake himself awake.
"You're right, though it's all still very strange." I admit, offering a tiny smile.
"You'll get used to it, dearest. It is in our nature." He assures me, grasping my hand and giving it a tiny squeeze. As if on que, a familiar song begins to play.
"Do you hear that?" I ask him, already seeing the mischievous smirk appear on his handsome face.
"I'd recognize that song anywhere. It's our song." He says, making me grin.
"May I have this dance, Milady?" Drake asks, bowing as he looks up at me. I can feel my stomach flip with nerves, but I still nod, taking his hand. Feeling safe around him, I let him drag me through the crowd, towards the dancefloor.
