A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Chapter 27-

Somewhere in the outskirts of Russia-

"Father. Father. I have news."

Little Alessandro ran towards his biological father and sire, a grin on his lips as he announced with great pleasure the news he had.

"Master Aro has invited us to the castle. He is pleased with us, and has promised to bestow us with new wealth. He is expecting our arrival by tomorrow noon."

Little Alessandro was half-expecting his father to jump up and down in glee- who wouldn't appreciate the Masters' kind hand on their back, but the reaction that Elder Alessandro gave wasn't quite that.

"Decline the invitation." He firmly ordered, his bones shaking in anxiety and displeasure. "Make up any story you find believable. I don't care."

"But father…"

"No buts, son. Decline it!"

Little Alessandro was perplexed; his father had never knowingly crossed the masters. In fact, he had even taught his son to believe in them and their decisions. It was a known fact- his father trusted the Masters like one would trust their God. And he would not dare to take an action that had the possibility of disappointing them.

"Why, father?" he dared to ask in a whisper. "Master Aro has always been good to us. He trusts us like one would trust a faithful servant…."

"I…" Elder Alessandro hesitated, turning to look at his son, contemplating how much could be shared with him. "I don't owe you any answers. Now, get back to your work, and be quick in declining the invitation. I would rather not have the Masters' eyes on us."

Little Alessandro nodded his head in acceptance, his face looking downwards as he went about with his father's orders, unable to believe that his father had taken such an unexpected decision. Unknown to him though, his father was rather afraid of the strange voice in his head, repeating the same instruction over and over again.

'Aro cannot be trusted. Keep your distance.'

Back in the castle of the Volturi-

"Master." Chelsea mumbled, a hand rushing through her hair as she offered the bad news, aware that the burden of delivering said news was to fall on her tender shoulders; the chore of bearing the repercussions of said news too being hers to bear. "Elder Alessandro of the Chita Coven has declined our invitation to come for a visit. His son informed that they have prior commitments that cannot be avoided."

"Did you say 'prior commitments that cannot be avoided'?"

Master Aro looked positively enraged, and Chelsea took a step back in fear, briefly nodding her head in confirmation.

"I demanded to speak to Elder Alessandro for an answer…but he wasn't available…"

Chelsea's words trailed off in thin air, her mouth drying, as Aro glared at her, daring her to speak one word ahead, refusing to hear her silent protests out.

This wasn't her fault!

She hadn't done anything!

She was still undoubtedly loyal to the Masters!

"Brother."

Thankfully, Brother Marcus had come to her rescue. Calling him a Master would be an offense, and Mistress Jane wasn't kind enough to forgive, but calling him from his name wasn't something Chelsea preferred to do. She had known and respected him since the past two millennia now.

"We have other allies, too. If the Chita coven doesn't co-operate, let them be."

While Brother Marcus was obviously talking sense- he generally did do that- Master Aro was not seeking sense. He wanted someone to blindly agree with him, stating that his decision to attack the Chita coven was valid, correct and in fact required.

"Chelsea, please contact our other allies. We will deal with the Chita coven on a later date." Brother Marcus had made the decision on the behalf of the other leaders, Mistress Jane especially displeased by this interference, but new enough to her position to not voice out her displeasure.

"Of course, Ma…brother Marcus." Chelsea hesitantly smiled, rushing out of the room as she thanked her lucky stars for being on her side. She knew how volatile and quick to take offense Master Aro was, and the last thing she wanted was to be at the receiving end of his fury.

"Chelsea, there is bad news."

What now?

She turned to look at Felix, the latter frowning as he refused to meet eyes with her. "Semina of the Danish coven has declined our invitation to come for a visit. They have an unpredictable newborn on their hands, apparently."

Chelsea let out a sigh, wincing. "I am not going in there again. I do like my head attached to my shoulders. You spoke to her; you be the one to share the news."

Chelsea's decision was final, and while she did feel a tad-bit bad when Felix arrived back outside with three longs scars on his face, she was silently glad that it wasn't her with the permanent marks.

What she didn't know back then was that each one of them- whoever was unfortunate enough to pass on the news- was to soon receive similar or worse permanent marks on every part of their body, the fact that each of their ally was distancing themselves spreading through the castle like wildfire.

Chelsea couldn't understand what was happening; some of the excuses given were rather lame. But all she knew was that Master Aro was threatened, and that the castle had become a dangerous place to be.

No one knew who would be kicked out of this dangerous game named life next.

All Chelsea hoped was that it wasn't her…