Conference
Aro took his seat at the head of the conference table. "What do you say - will you agree to the treaty I propose?"
He sensed Atia move behind him and he felt comforted to know she was there in a way he hadn't expected to. It felt good to know he had back up, he supposed. When Atia had left, Aro was making his proposal, laying everything out on the table. She was glad to have returned in time to hear the coven leaders replies to his offer.
Hilda spoke up first. "I'm not sure I entirely understand my lord. Your treaty seems to ask little of us."
Aro smiled warmly to the woman. "You understand perfectly well. All I ask is for your loyalty and cooperation."
"And in return we can continue to live in peace." Amun asked, that was most important to him. He wasn't ready to go to war.
"I certainly hope so." Aro agreed, adding for reassurance, "You can be sure of Volturi backing against our common adversaries."
"The Romanians?" Amun asked, he knew they were Aro's biggest adversary, they had been since the Volturi existed.
"The Romanians, for now. There will be others!" Henri sneered from his seat, slouching still from the dungeon bloods effects on a first timer.
"There will be, I agree with you there." Amun said nervously.
"All the more reason for your covens to combine as one force. With the approval of the Volturi." Aro prompted. He could see everyone was genuinely considering his offer which pleased him greatly.
"The Romanians never offered such a thing." Amun said to himself.
"They were otiose kings under whose rule the vampire race languished without any direction." Aro surmised Stefan and Vladimir's 'reign of pointlessness', as he thought it.
"And your rule has been so different?" Henri asked spitefully.
"Harsh," Aro said, "but an understandable appraisal. To begin with the Volturi were concerned with defence and establishing position. We have played a few more years in offense - but it's time to change. The vampire world requires direction, they need to be moulded into a civilized people."
Henri leaned back into his chair. If he relaxed any more he would be asleep in the floor. "And the vampire world is yours to mould, is it?" he slurred. Aro was wondering just what Caius had done to the coven leader - he needed to thank him!
"It is." Aro confirmed.
"By what authority?" Amun spoke up.
"It's got my loyal subjects all over it, that makes it mine." Aro said with a smile.
Amun laughed, "have you tired of being king, now you wish to be an emperor?" Aro could only join in with Amun's laughter in response… he couldn't deny the truth of Amun's summation.
Aro heard Atia hissing lightly behind him, she's right, I need to move this on, he thought, getting himself under control. "I have chosen your covens for my new venture as I believe you to act civilly and that you are in the position to influence those vampires around you; be mentors to the weak and bring them through this vampiric enlightenment."
"An enlightenment?" Hilda asked. She had lived through enough reforms in England to know they rarely came without great cost.
"Yes." Aro replied, smiling broadly. "We will look back on this date as the day we turned our race around and began something great." He had the ear of the room and he chose to exploit it by pushing them a little further. "You know as well as I do that vampires are led by lust and fear and greed. Our alliance could offer our brethren a sound moral structure to guide them through a better life."
Amun and Hilda were nodding along. Kachiri and Liam had yet to speak, but truthfully, Aro didn't expect them to say much at all so he continued. "Its 1668 and we are still barbarians - and how blatant we make it. The human world has progressed - they have law and order, they are connected to one another over vast landscapes. We, however, are languishing behind."
Amun sighed. "I hate to admit it, but you talk sense."
Aro smirked to his old adversary. "High praise indeed, Amun." Aro stood and placed his hands flat on the table. "Look, you are all hungry for power - I am offering you some."
"Nobody seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it, Aro." Amun countered. He knew Aro well enough to know that.
"That is true enough." Aro agreed with apprehension.
"See!" Henri exclaimed. "He offers paper crowns to place on our heads and in return we will be beholden to the Volturi for eternity."
Aro shook his head, we're going around in circles, he thought. "I offer a peace treaty, a chance for you to join our forces and play an important role in maintaining order in our world. You are free to decline. But know this, if you do, this offer will not be extended again. Many wars will come and you need to decide which side of the line you will be standing on when they do."
"With the Volturi, or against it?" Amun asked.
Aro nodded curtly. Now you are getting it! He thought.
Silence fell around the room as the coven leaders considered their options. Surprisingly, it was Liam who broke first. "Will we retain our lands?" he grunted.
"Your hunting grounds are your own. I expect you to continue to protect your own lands and see to any rogue vampire threats yourselves as much are you are able." Aro explained, "you will be expected to exert control over vampires in your lands, and uphold vampire law."
"Your laws?" Henri questioned sarcastically.
"Our laws, Henri. Volturi law is there for the good of all vampires." Aro replied easily. Truthfully, Henri agreed with Volturi law, as did all the other coven leaders… it was the restriction to their coven sizes that bothered them.
"May we extend our covens, for protection from these coming threats and to force the law on others?" Amun asked, he was quite interested in expanding, particularly after talking with Marcus about ways to foster better relationships with his underlings.
Aro agreed. "I would accept no more than 10 members, I would see any more as a direct disregard of the treaty I offer you today."
"10 is very much more than 4."
Aro rolled his eyes. Liam… stating the blooming obvious. Aro nodded slowly, he often struggled conversing with idiots, they took him off guard. "I would ask that you limit the numbers of young vampires to four or five, for the sake of practicalities in commanded them."
"Young? What are you classing as young?" Amun asked. He preferred having young guards, they were easier to scare.
"Under 20 years of age." Aro confirmed, though he wondered why anyone would want more than four or five young vampires around - clearly no one who has experience of them! He quipped to himself.
"You hold members of our covens here, still. Can we take them back?" Amun asked, Aro had expected he would. Henri, too, suddenly sat bolt upright in his seat.
"I envisaged you would ask for your old members. I have spoken with my guard - any who wish to leave are free to do so with whichever coven they wish. This is an amnesty, truly. For all vampires in the castle on this day I offer complete transparency."
"So, I can take Demetri?"
Aro smiled sadly to Amun. "No. You will be able to talk with him at the evening's festivities, but you will not take him." Aro said with finality.
"I will agree to your terms here and now if I can take him back Aro." Amun offered. He wanted the boys gift.
Aro folded his arms and looked down his nose at the Egyptian leader. "I would give up a guard who was willing to leave, but I could never give up my son, Amun."
"Your son?" Amun repeated in shock.
"Yes, my son and a prince of Volterra." Aro said proudly. "Along with Felix, and the twins. They are my children."
Henri looked askance around the room. "They are your children… what the…?" Amun didn't respond out loud though he thought similarly to Henri. So, that's why Demetri stayed when he could have returned… Aro has become his father. It was like an epiphany for the old Egyptian leader.
"That doesn't make any sense." Henri continued in his confusion. "You can't just collect random vampires and call them your children."
"I don't consider them to be random vampires. They have shared my chambers with me and my mate since the first day they arrived in Volterra." Aro fixed Henri in his sights. "And to be clear, I can do anything I want."
"It makes sense to me, I am very happy for you and your mate, my lord." Sasha told the coven king. Aro could feel the warmth coming from the woman and he truly appreciated her support. "Thank you my dear."
"That is why you took Demetri from me, to be your son?" Amun asked.
Aro knew they were way off topic but he had promised to be open about the inner workings of the Volturi. "He was too young, young vampires make me feel very uncomfortable if they are not well cared for."
Amun slammed his hand on the table. "Are you accusing me of abusing the boy?" he asked forcefully. He knew he hadn't treated him as a prince, and certainly not as he would a son, but he had ensured his survival, which to Amun, at least until incredibly recently, was all a coven leader should do.
"Not at all," Aro said calmly, placating the Egyptian leader. "But you hadn't formed a bond with him. Not a strong one at any rate. You valued Demetri's gift rather than Demetri himself." Amun couldn't argue with that, though he bitterly wished he could turn back the clock.
Aro spotted Sasha looking nervously towards him. "You have nothing to fear, my dear, anyone can see how loved your daughters are, and I would never willingly divide a family." As Sasha relaxed, Hilda spoke up. "And Noella?" she asked quietly.
Aro smiled. "As Magnus has already attested, your emotional link with your coven mates is very strong. I trust you intend to take care of Noella?" Hilda nodded. "She is like a daughter to me, my lord."
"Mothers guard their young fiercely in my experience, and their young guard them right back. I believe vampires are well suited to living in families, such set ups will overtake covens as the years go on, I have no doubt." Aro knew Atia heard him, he hoped she knew he meant to include her in that.
Henri wasn't convinced. "How is it natural for a vampire to live in such a way? We mate with one and for life."
Aro shrugged. "Vampires are emotional beings, we have enough love within us to extend to others as well as our mates." Amun's interest was piqued once again. "Are you really saying you love your 'children' like you love your mate?"
Aro shook his head. "No, it's an entirely different attachment. But I would say I love them as much as I love my queen." He smiled to himself. "I dare say she loves them more than she loves me." He added proudly.
"And you are happy to settle for second best?" Henri asked, he just couldn't comprehend such a situation. "I don't see it that way." Aro said simply. "But if that is how you understand it, then yes. Perfectly content with coming second to my children."
Again, silence fell around the room as the coven leaders assimilated Aro's explanation of his lifestyle with all they thought they knew about Volturi life.
"And what is this talk of tributes." Liam asked.
Aro was glad of the man's simple mind, he was the only one bringing conversation back on topic! "The Volturi is a costly enterprise. I will be taking on extra guards, creating more outposts, sending retainers to you all to facilitate correspondence. The addition to our usual running costs must come from somewhere…" Aro explained. "The humans would say, if one drinks from the well, one must replenish the well."
Whilst Amun and Hilda accepted the need to contribute with little fuss, Henri remained in opposition. "You pay your guards?" he asked in disbelief.
"I do, it's a relatively new initiative." Aro admitted.
Henri scoffed. "So we will be funding the Volturi going forward?"
Aro shook his head, "hardly!"
"And how do you expect us to raise these funds?" Henri continued, he had his teeth stuck into this now and he wasn't letting go.
"Your contributions will be a mere splash in the ocean in terms of coven financing, but I feel the gesture is important. Where there is no cost, there tends to be no value. If you pay into the organisation I hope you will be more inclined to feel a duty of care towards it." Aro explained, he thought the concept simple enough and couldn't really understand Henri's resistance. "You can of course raise the capital in any way you wish." He added.
"We do not have money, master." Kachiri said. She understood the concept of money, but it wasn't part of their daily life and her tribe had no access to, or indeed, any use for human coin.
"I understand your situation, my dear. I will come to private arrangements with you all." Aro assured her, he had in mind another kind of payment for the Amazonian tribe. He and Basileus hoped to convince them to scout out the entire lands to the west where Aro refused to send his guards as the werewolves were rife. Kachiri and her two coven members moved freely amongst them and that was the most valuable asset they could offer the vampire king.
"The tributes really should not be of concern - I am a reasonable man, and I am only asking for a gesture of good will." Aro offered before turning to Amun, "so you can keep your precious artefacts, Amun."
"Glad to hear it, my lord." Amun replied, he had no issues meeting a payment schedule, he was almost as rich as Aro… almost.
Something else was playing on Amun's mind. "I notice Tao is absent from this conference. Do you not consider his coven to be significant? He holds the whole of Africa!"
Aro sighed sadly. "Tao Okaro has proven uncivilised - the envoys I sent have not returned, and neither has he arrived."
Amun released a shaky breath. He and Tao were allies, and though he was certainly interested in taking up Aro's offer, he didn't want to break his allegiance to Tao - we are neighbours! He thought, relatively speaking. "So Tao is now an enemy?"
Aro shook his head quickly, "no, not yet."
Henri raised an eyebrow. "You are not taking retribution for your lost guards?" thinking he would never have gotten away with killing Aro's envoys - nor would he have let someone else get away with crossing him in such a way.
"On this occasion, I am not. If the African coven acts against the Volturi again… I think we can agree I have been more than reasonable already and I will expect your support in dispatching Tao and his members."
Amun nodded as Aro spoke, he would certainly agree that Aro was being reasonable and even wondered if the king of vampires had softened with the passing years. "It may be that your envoys were taken out before your offer was made to the African coven, my lord."
"It may be, Amun." Aro agreed, waiting for Amun to make him an offer - he knew one would be coming.
"I could approach Tao and make your offer again, if you would be willing."
Great! Aro thought. I knew you would say that Amun. "I would appreciate that. If you are successful you should both return to Volterra. He may feel more secure in coming here with friends." Aro looked around the gathered coven leaders - they all seemed to perk up at the idea of coming back to Volterra. "That offer is extended to you all, of course. You would be welcome to return and enjoy the delights my coven has to offer."
Hilda and Amun appeared particularly interested. Henri's mind had gone straight to Caius' dungeon blood and yes, he was definitely up for returning to enjoy that little delight. "So long as we take up your offer." Henri assumed.
Aro merely smile, that went without saying. "It can be problematic for vampires to have a social life… I like to think that is something my guards enjoy about Volterra. Perhaps a regular celebration of our joining could be implemented."
"When we could pay our tributes?" Amun asked, he knew Aro well enough, even after all the time that had passed without contact.
"That would be rather civilized." Aro said, smiling to his old adversary.
Aro took one last look around the coven leaders. He was sure that Kachiri, perhaps through fear of bringing the Volturi to her lands if she didn't, would agree to his proposal. Liam, the witless wonder will go with the majority, he reasoned. Hilda doesn't like leaving England and the prospect of fighting foreign wars may be putting her off, but both she and Amun are interested, and they aren't worried about making payments either. Sasha has been quiet, for Sasha, he said to himself. She isn't a fighter, and neither are her daughters - but they have other talents. He thought, hoping to convince them to extend their coven and simply be a large and peaceful presence in their Slavic lands bordering Stefan and Vladimir's territories. Henri, you prick, what will you decide? He wondered.
Biting the bullet, Aro placed a large sheet of parchment into the centre of the table. The terms of the treaty were written out in full in red vampiric ink. "Time is growing short, my friends, do you agree to my terms?"