AN: I do believe we've just tipped over 1 million words! You all deserve a medal for getting this far!
I've had a bit of family drama, I won't bore you with the details, I'll only apologise for disappearing. Sadly, it couldn't be helped as I have been away from home without access to the Internet - which in itself was hell - but I feel wretchedly guilty for the delay, so I'm very sorry.
Right, back to the story, so as a reminder we are now doing Irina's three days. There will be lots of crossing over to Felix and Odi's days, and Irina's days are involving Eleazar's little family more which has been a tricky to write, because we haven't seen much of them yet and I'm working out who they really are. This is going to be another split chapter so just the first day here. But what a day!
Irina The Outcast Part 1
Irina hadn't enjoyed New Year with the coven one little bit. Worse than that, it had drove a wedge between her and her sisters as the traitorous little beings had thrown themselves into the festivities. New Year's Day had been fairly quiet in the west tower, with everyone, including the girls, nursing hangovers. Irina's hangover came with an extra dose of bitterness as she silently fumed. It was only their second New Year in the coven and already Irina could see what was happening to her family - The Volturi, not content with murdering her mother, now wanted to steal her sister's away from her, too. Their first New Year had seen the girls sitting together. Kate and Tanya were a little more involved than Irina was, sure, but they stuck together. Not like this one, Irina had thought. This one I was on one side of the room and they kept you captive on the other. Irina wasn't sure who she was pissed off with - the coven, or her sisters. As it was, on the morning of January 2nd, Carmen took the full force of Irina's ire.
2ND JANUARY
Irina had taken a short walk in the early hours of the morning, stomping her miserable self around the castle and back again whilst she waited for her sisters to wake. She planned to ask what the hell they were playing at, how they could cosy up to their mother's executors, and what their intentions were. If they have already turned their back on Sasha, then they've turned their back on me. I'm only in this Godforsaken place for those brats and they aren't even going to do me the service of sticking with me?! Jokers, the pair of them.
By the time she returned, Kate and Tanya were already awake though still in their nightgowns, both cosying up to Carlisle as he read some classic crap to them.
The young girls smiled to their sister as she came through the door, which she failed to return. Instead, she scoffed. "Have you both forgotten how to read?"
Kate depressed into her seat and was glad to have Carlisle squeeze her a little tighter into his side. Tanya was never as easily affected by Irina as Kate - she answered her sister's spiteful question with a snipped 'no', before nudging Carlisle to continue with the story.
"Why are you getting him to read to you then?" Irina sneered, taking the seat opposite and scowling at them all.
"Sometimes it just nice to listen to a story," Carlisle replied.
Due to Irina's demands regarding her sisters' care, Marcus had only been permitted a short amount of time with the young girls to teach them languages, and he hadn't been able to cover more than the basics. None of them could read well as they simply hadn't required the skill in their former lives to any great degree, and Marcus had suggested the girls be read to as much as possible, whilst they followed the text, to hone their new-found skill. It was proving difficult for Eleazar and Carmen to find the time to devote to the task - not because they weren't prioritising the girls' education, but because Irina objected so strongly to anything different to their old life with Sasha.If we needed to read well my mother would have taught us. Our reading level is exactly where it needs to be. We have other skills.
The other skills Irina talked about weren't the sort any young woman should be boasting about in Eleazar and Carmen's opinion. Nor in Kate and Tanya's come to that! Especially now they knew they could get by in life without offering their services to those men they needed something from. Eleazar had offered them his home, financial support, gifts beyond their imaginations and all for nothing. Tanya had taken to her new life easily, Kate perhaps a little more warily, waiting for the catch, but Irina viewed everything with suspicion and disdain.
You will want something from us, she though every time Eleazar provided them with something. You're just building up the price we are to pay.
Feeling repulsed by the very idea, Irina shook the thoughts from her mind and huffed in Carlisle's direction. "Why are you even here?"
Carlisle broke away from his book sighed. Irina clearly had another fight with the world brewing and he wouldn't be able to continue until she'd got it out of her system.She's such a brat, he thought, wondering if he was as annoying to his father who often called him the same thing.
"To see my brother's lovely family," he said, tight smile on his lips. It wasn't completely sardonic - the younger girls were really growing on him, it was just a shame their older, miserable sister came as part of the package.
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Carlisle." Irina flicked out her hair, catching a blond lock and curling it around her fingers. "You're too nice for it to work."
Her body language hinted at disinterest, but she was privately pleased the Volturi brother was engaging in her spiteful play.
"You say nice like an insult." Kate hooked her arm through Carlisle's, making a show of being on his side. "Whats wrong with being nice?" Stop ruining everything.
Irina looked down her nose at the girl. "It's weak," she stated. As if it needs saying!
Tanya chuckled at how immature she sounded. "Only weak people would think nice is weak."
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," Irina replied, returning Tanya's chuckles with mocking laughter.
"Irina!" Carmen's shrill call broke through the room before the inevitable argument could ensue. "Leave them alone."
The order came like a red rag to a bull! Irina flashed to her feet and out of the main chamber, finding Carmen tidying the girls' bedroom – a never ending job in Carmen's mind.
"Why should I?"
Carmen spun around to the unexpected appearance. She had already learnt that dealing with Irina mostly revolved around diffusing her bad moods - the way to do that was to play it cool, go into 'grey rock' mode, and most definitely not escalate the situation. That said, it had been a weary New Year with the eldest Denali girl and Carmen's patience was as fragile as Irina's bad mood.
"Because I'm telling you to." She continued tying back the curtains around Kate's four poster before moving to Tanya's bed. On passing Irina, the girl caught hold of her arm with a meaningful grip. "Irina…"
"How dare you tell me to do anything?!"
Carmen closed her eyes for a moment knowing she had walked into that one. Feeling Irina's grip tighten uncomfortably, she said, "Take you hand off me, now." It was a clear instruction given without emotion, just as Atia had told her to do in their many talks on living with Irina's attitude problem.
Irina smirked to herself. "Make me."
"There is no need for this attitude, young lady," Carmen huffed, peeling back Irina's fingers one by one. She continued telling Irina to release her, becoming more irritated as the seconds rolled by. No sooner had she removed one finger, Irina would replace it before Carmen could move on to the next.
Eventually, when Irina had bored of playing with the soon irate woman, she released Carmen, pushing her away as she did so. Quite frankly, Carmen didn't deserve such treatment and was done with the girl using her as a metaphorical punching bag when her mood turned sour (or sourer, as she was always sour.)
"You can't replace everyone, Irina, so you should be careful who you else you push away…"
Crack!
Carlisle's head snapped around in the direction of the bedrooms hearing a sharp slap coming from the girls' room. Telling Kate and Tanya to stay put, he flashed in the direction of the noise. When he arrived, Carmen turned her back on him whilst Irina looked to be in a state of shock accompanied by mild amusement.
"What happened?" he asked slowly, looking between the two women for some sort of clue.
"Nothing, Carlisle," Carmen replied, sniffing back the tears. "It was nothing."
Carlisle remembered the very first time he went to Aro's chambers as a newborn when Demetri, upset by something or other, had the nerve to shove Sulpicia. Eleazar had stepped in chastising the boy as Aro was elsewhere, and it seemed to Carlisle that he should do the same in the face of Irina… doing something to Carmen. He wasn't sure what Irina had done, but hearing his sister-in-law's upset tone, he was sure the girl had done something unpleasant.
"What did you do?" he asked, calm but with an attempt at being authoritative.
Carlisle should have chosen an easier subject for his first time stepping up. Irina simply looked down her nose at him, wildly underwhelmed. "She just told you it was nothing," she sneered. "Are you deaf as well as weak?"
Definitely should have chosen an easier subject! Carlisle didn't really know what to do!
"Whats going on in here?"
Oh, thank God, Carlisle said to himself hearing his brother arrive.
"Carlisle's interfering in things beyond his understanding," Irina explained. "Which is most things." With that, the girl shoved past the man in question, seeing Carlisle slam backwards into the dresser.
"Irina!" Eleazar snapped, forcibly removing the girl from the room. Though he did nothing more.
Irina rolled her eyes and went through to the main chamber, soon followed by the rest, with Carmen awkwardly hiding one side of her face.
"I suggest you apologise," she said to the girl.
For what? Irina mused. Slapping you or shoving him? She was quite interested in seeing whether Carmen would tattle on her to Eleazar or not. With Basileus in the room, she decided to keep the emphasis on Carlisle, so she could see what Carmen would to about her actions. Irina smiled sadly to the young Volturi brother. "What can I say? You clearly need more training."
"Training!" Carlisle clapped a hand to his forehead. "What time is it?"
"You have half an hour, brother," Eleazar reassured him. "No rush."
"I'm not sure I want you going, son," Basileus said, taking Carlisle's seat with the girls at either side. "Magnus is still too hungover for training this morning, so it's just Caius."
"He's still hungover?" Carlisle had been feeling the effects of their drunken New Year long into New Year's Day, but he felt bright eyed and bushy tailed by then, and he'd cleared three bottles of whiskey at the party! "I know it was a heavy night on New Year's Eve, but…"
"Dad's hungover, too," Eleazar chipped in with a playful smile. "Dad and Magnus went to Marcus' after the party and were on the opium pipes for a come down."
Carlisle's mouth dropped open. "No way?!"
"Thank you, Eleazar." Basileus offered a lazy swipe in his eldest son's direction, which Eleazar easily evaded. "This is one of those do as I say, not as I do, situations."
The girls attempted to coax some reading out of Basileus, but the poor, old fool still had a slight issue with double vision and couldn't quite make out the words - much to the hilarity of those in the room. Except Irina, of course, though no one expected her to find joy in anything. Carmen, though, who would usually be the first to offer her own taunts in the creator's direction, decided that the beds needed stripping and washing and so excused herself. Kate did ask why she had bothered to make them if they needed stripping, and offered to help, but Carmen insisted it was a job she would do alone, closing the bedchamber door behind her.
"If you're going to training, you need to be careful with Caius," Basileus warned his boy. "Try and keep Odi out of his way, too. Christ knows why Magnus can't see all of this is about to implode!"
"All of what?" Eleazar asked, both he and Carlisle looking confused.
"Huh?" Damn it, Basileus cursed realising he was slipping in exclusive information. "Oh, nothing." He disentangled himself from the young Denalis and said good day to them all. "Check in with me after training," he told his son.
Carlisle headed to the door with Irina suddenly hot on his heels.
"Where are you going?" Eleazar asked. He was trying to keep tabs on the girl's movements around the castle. He wasn't doing a very good job, but he was trying.
"Training," she replied. "I need to find a worthy adversary to take out my frustrations on." She gave Carlisle another shove on her way out the door, exiting ahead of him. Both her sisters saw, and neither appreciated her actions. They were 'appreciating' their sister less and less with each passing day.
…
Carmen didn't often wear makeup. Her entire human life had been lived as a slave and therefore had no access to such things, and vampiric appearance needed little improvement. But seeing the glowing handprint on her left cheek and wondering how she could possibly keep it from her husband for the next few hours before it dissipated, she found herself hunting through the girls' drawers to find that white powder they were so find of. Carmen thought they looked farcical when wearing the lead-based substance, but now it would be her saviour.
She didn't really know what she was doing with it, though. After dousing her face in the stuff, she took a look in the mirror and laughed. It wasn't quite a humorous laugh, more one of sad acceptance of her lot. Atia's the only one who can help me now, she thought, stealing herself to walk through the main chamber.
Eleazar could barely keep the chuckles at bay seeing the state of his mate. "What have you done to your face?!"
"Aren't you charming, my love," Carmen chuckled back, rushing to the door. "I'm off to see your mother."
Atia took one look at her distressed daughter-in-law at her door and directed the woman back out into the star well and up to the roof. They occasionally sat up there together putting the world to rights. Something told Atia it would be a more serious, and personal conversation that morning.
Carmen told her what had happened with Irina, which didn't take long as the altercation was over as quickly as it had started. Atia listened quietly whilst wiping away the white power from Carmen's tear strewn face.
"I know it's my fault," Carmen said.
"And how have you arrived at such a conclusion?"
"You told me to de-escalate," Carmen explained. "I made it worse. I shouldn't have told Irina what to do - it always angers her. I'm just so tired of walking on eggshells in my own home."
Atia shook her head. "No, my dear. I think you have misunderstood me." Taking a seat on the stone roof top, Atia sighed to herself. "Irina's actions, as a young woman, are her own, not yours. Being aware of the best way to motivate, or to handle her are useful tools, but it's not your fault if she crosses the line, my dear."
Carmen exhaled, long and slow. She hadn't realised she was holding that breath until it came out. More tears quickly followed.
"So, I'm not a bad mother, then?" she asked. Before Atia could answer, she continued, "Because I've always had an idea of the type of mother I would be, and it wasn't ever this! I thought I would love them, and they would love me. That I would like them, and they would like me…"
"Carmen, my dear," Atia tried to break in, but the younger woman was on a roll.
"I knew I would be a shouty mother - I'm a shouty woman…"
Having lived in close proximity to Carmen for a good many years, such information wasn't new news to Atia.
"… but it's only shouting. No one talks in my chambers. Or rather, no one listens until a request has been shouted out. I love Kate and Tanya, I like Kate and Tanya, but Irina…"
Carmen didn't want to say it out loud. She didn't want to say that she didn't feel love for the girl, and that she didn't like her very much, either. What kind of mother doesn't love her own daughter?
Atia placed her hand to Camren's lips before she could go on. "My dear one," she said gently. "You are expecting far too much of yourself. You haven't had those girls very long at all and they came to you under very trying circumstances. Love takes time, like takes time - you simply need more time, that's all." With the likes of Irina, you will need much more time!
Carmen sniffed back the tears and bobbed her head. "Will you talk to her?" she asked. "After training, perhaps?"
Atia told her she would be happy to, and she meant it. Since she had arrived in Volterra she had been trying to find her feet with Aro and Sulpicia and their children, and though they had all made great progress, Atia still felt as though she was kept at arm's length with her grandchildren. She was only too happy for Carmen to call on her for help with the Denali girls.
They talked a while longer until they saw the hoard of guards entering the castle below signalling that training had finished. On descending the stairs, they bumped into Irina dragging Carlisle up to his father's chambers. For a moment the two women thought Irina had been the one to batter the man until she started explaining how disastrous training had been, with Caius using first Odi and then Carlisle as his demonstration dummies.
Basileus must have heard the girl's explanation from inside his chambers, because he came bolting out of the door, raging over Caius' actions. Pounding on Eleazar's door, Basileus ordered his eldest to take his youngest back to the training fields, and to collect Aro on the way.
Perfect, Atia thought, waiting from the men to leave.
"Irina, my dear," she sang out. "Could you accompany me on the roof?"
Carmen gave them both a smile and left Atia to work some magic on the girl. Atia was doomed to fail with the ridiculous hopes Carmen clung to - how could she possibly turn over Irina's entire outlook on life in Volterra with one conversation? Even Atia's 'witchy shit', as Felix put it, wasn't capable of that!
"So?" Irina asked, standing before Atia with her arms folded tightly against her chest. "Why are we up here?"
"Carmen and I find it a good place to talk." Atia sat down and requested Irina do the same. "It's very private up here, peaceful."
Irina wasn't impressed. "It's cold," she sneered, but she sat. Irina had long since worked out that Atia wouldn't put up with her crap. She wasn't as easily manipulated at Carmen, so the girl always kept her guard up around the vampiric witch.
"What is it you actually want, my dear?"
The question threw Irina for a moment. Oh, we're having one of those conversations, are we? "To escape this god forsaken shit hole."
Everything Irina said came with a patronising smirk, or a toss of her hair, or worse, that pithy, squealy, fake laugh - all of which annoyed Atia intensely. Still, she quashed her feelings and desire to rebuke the girl for the moment.
"You are already free to leave, if you so wish," she pointed out. "But your sisters don't want to leave, they are happy here."
"Only because you've bought them."
And another hair flick, Atia thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes in return. "They haven't been bought, they have been treated well, certainly, but so have you. What can you offer your sisters if they leave with you?"
"We'd be poor, but we'd be happy."
"They've tried poor but happy, it wasn't so happy."
Irina tried to formulate a response, but it didn't come quick enough.
"Whether you like it or not," Atia continued. "The Volturi feels a responsibility towards all vampiric kind. That's our primary role. You are three young girls without another adult to guide you in this world and we won't willingly release you into the great unknown unless we believe you are capable of fending for yourselves."
Irina was back on her feet. "We are more than fucking capable!"
"We also need to believe you want to," Atia continued, unperturbed. "All three of you. If you truly hope to take them someday, then you need to prove yourself capable and you need to show it would be in their best interest, too."
Irina watched the vampiric witch for a moment. Are you serious? she wondered. No one else had talked about her leaving the coven as a possibility. At least not with her sisters in tow. Are you giving me tips?
"Show who?" she asked, retaking her seat. "Kate and Tanya?"
Atia smiled. "Yes, but everyone else, also."
"And how do I do that?"
"That's for you to work out, my dear," Atia chuckled. I don't want you to leave, neither does anyone else, so we aren't going to help you with this." Just before Irina could start huffing, Atia added. "But if you truly see your future outside of the Volturi then you need to demonstrate you are capable of running your own coven. Part of that is having the ingenuity to prove yourself to everyone here and convince your sisters that they would be better off with you out there than in here with us. Preferably still with you."
Irina sat quietly nodding along, with a small smile growing on her face. Atia realised it was the first time she had seen the girl smile genuinely, rather than spitefully, sarcastically, evilly, even. She didn't want Irina to leave the coven, believing whole heartedly that the best place for the Denali girls was with the Volturi, but Irina needed to lower her guard and let people know the real her if she were to stand a chance of living in Volterra happily. Giving her something to concentrate on, like proving herself a capable coven leader, would give them all a break from the girl's stormy moods and in that time, they could convince the girls to stay. It was a sound plan and better than anyone else had come up with which seemed to be ignoring Irina and hoping she suddenly had a personality transplant.
"Being a successful coven leader isn't about pleasing yourself, it's about pleasing your coven members," Atia ended, hoping it would spur Irina into treating her sisters a little better, too.
Sadly, when Atia relayed her conversation with Irina back to Carmen, she didn't get the chance to explain her motivations, or her long-term plan… Carmen lost her mind before Atia had chance!
"You've told her what?!" she raged, eyes blackening in an instant. "She's not leaving here, they'd be dead within the week!"
"I don't want them to leave, either, but I do want them to be happy," Atia replied calmly, suddenly glad they had gone to the roof for the scant privacy it offered. "They deserve to be happy. All three of them."
"They can be happy here!"
"My hope, my dear, is that Irina will properly assess her options and realise this is the best place for all three of them and…"
"And if she doesn't?" Carmen cut in.
"Well," Atia shrugged slightly as that had always been a concern and she believed it always would be whilst Irina reigned free. "We need to make her want to be here. We don't keep prisoners here, do we?"
Perfectly rational in both thought and delivery, as was Atia's way, but all Carmen heard was that her girls would be flying the coop before she had chance to convince them to stay and it was all that witch's fault!
"I asked you for help and this is what I get?!" Her voice started shrilly enough, but soon raised in octaves. If it weren't for Atia's vampiric hearing she might not have caught the remainder of Carmen's tirade. "Are you fucking kidding me?! No wonder Sully holds you back from her children!"
Atia reached out to the young woman who shook on the spot with her overwrought emotions. "Carmen…"
"Fuck you!" Carmen threw back, pulling her arm free and then… Crack!
Atia recoiled, her hand finding the blaze in her cheek. Shock, utter shock! In all her days on earth no one had ever dared to raise a hand to her. To take such a vicious slap from her own daughter-in-law had been unprecedented, and Atia wasn't sure how to proceed.
"Atia," Carmen eventually squeaked out. Her earlier anger completely forgotten as she saw the purple hand print blooming on her mother-in-law's face. "Atia, please, I'm so sorry…"
Without a response, Atia drifted passed Carmen and descended the stairs, heading straight to her own quarters to think things over. Atia wasn't a pushover, and she wasn't, as a rule, backwards in coming forwards, either. But Carmen's actions had truly taken her off guard and she wanted time to gather her thoughts before reacting to save the situation worsening.
Unfortunately, Basileus had long since returned from kicking Caius around the training grounds and saw the shock on his mate's face as she came through the door - though not the 'war wound'. Thankfully, though Atia almost sleep-walked into her chambers with her thoughts so preoccupied, she still had just enough awareness to turn away from Basileus to save Carmen's skin.
"What's wrong?" Basileus asked, voice full of concern. "Don't say nothing, or I'll look for myself."
"Camren and I have had words, my dear." Atia waved away his concern. "Nothing more."
"Nothing more?" Basileus tried to approach but Atia's out stretched arm held him back. "You look like you've seen a ghost. It's clearly more than nothing."
Atia cursed his very presence. Knowing he would look inside her mind and see much worse than words, Atia thought it best to omit a few details, but tell him the truth.
…
Basileus stormed into the middle floor suite, slammed the door behind him, and pointed out the Denali girls with the well-worn razor strap he held in his hand. "Go to your room and close the door."
Irina felt her stomach do a double flip. Carmen's ratted me out?! Fuck! She tried to formulate some sort of defence, but only a jumble of words left her mouth.
Basileus didn't take the time to try and make any sense of her rebuttal. "Now!" he boomed, glaring at the girl. The other two had gone at his first insistence, Irina soon joined them.
Eleazar had been with his father for centuries, and his outbursts barely registered with the complacent prince. Remaining in his chair, he rested his book on his chest and glanced towards his father. "What have they done this time?"
Basileus completely ignored him, instead, he searched out Carmen with his gift. "You had better get out here and face me."
Okay, Eleazar drawled in thought. That's a little confusing. Why send them to their room if you want to deal with them in here? His confusion only grew when Carmen appeared and presented herself to the creator. He remained seated, but he was suddenly much more interested in his father's disposition - the man vibrated on the spot, his face twisted into a snarl.
Basileus held up his strap, poised, ready. "Do you need me to use this?"
"Dad…"
"I'm not speaking to you," Basileus snapped at his boy. "Carmen!" The woman flinched hearing her name. "Do you need me to use this?"
Voice barely above a whisper, she replied, "No, my lord."
What the fuck?! Eleazar took to his feet, pushing Carmen behind him and taking her place before his father. "What is going on?!" He wanted to ask how his father dared threaten his wife in her own home, and perhaps say a bunch of other things that would see him landed with the strap across his face, but he held his resolve for the moment. If you go near her I will…
"I may have slapped your mother," Camren meekly explained.
"What?!" Eleazar dragged a hand through his hair. Suddenly his father's rage seemed a little more justified. I have no hope of getting you out of this, he thought to his dear mate. If anyone dared to do that to you I would have their throat.
Basileus though… his demeanour changed instantly. His strap hand dropped to his side, mouth hung open for the moment whilst he gathered his thoughts. "You did what?" he eventually asked, seeming confused.
Camren backed up. "Is… is… isn't that why y… you're here?"
"Atia only told me how you spoke to her…" Shaking his head, Basileus felt his fist grip around the leather in his hand.
He'd had no intention of using the implement when he'd stormed out of his own quarters. He'd simply taken the strap as something to use to scare the woman a little. Brandish it about a bit to focus the mind, he had thought. But now… He'd never struck a woman before, except in self-defence. Even when Atia had pushed him into taking a stand against Sulpicia, he had failed at the first hurdle. But hearing Carmen had taken it upon herself to slap his wife… something inside him snapped.
"Here," he growled, pointing out the spot in front of him. "Now."
Eleazar stood dumbstruck as Camren obeyed the man. This can't happen! I can't let this happen! "Dad, wait a minute…"
Basileus easily pushed Eleazar aside, dismissing him completely and Eleazar knew he had no way of stopping them man. Taking hold of Carmen by her upper arm, Basileus pulled her in close. "If you're going to be man enough to lay your hands on my wife, I'll treat you like one of the men."
With that said, he aimed his strap at Carmen's backside with as much force as he dared, taking them both by surprise - Carmen because it hurt so much, much more than she had expected, Basileus for the fact that he'd done it at all! And he did it again! Five in total which is much less than any of the 'men' would have received, but it got his message across well enough if Carmen's final, muffled shriek was anything to go by.
"Don't let it happen again," he said, releasing his daughter-in-law.
Carmen found herself immediately enveloped in Eleazar's arms, who felt a wretched, sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach for allowing such a thing to happen to his wife. Allow? Who am I kidding?! Like I could have stopped him anyway, he thought, looking to his father.
"Get those sly eyes off me, boy," Basileus warned. "Save your ire for those who deserve it. You may be happy to turn a blind eye to someone hitting your wife, but I will not."
"The only one who has hit my wife is you," Eleazar reminded the man, as he didn't know about Irina and Carmen's altercation that morning.
"This was punishment," Basileus replied, brandishing his strap in the air. "As you well know. I'm not talking about me."
"Who, then?" pulling back from Camren a little so he could see her face, Eleazar still came up short when she simply turned away from his questioning gaze. "Will someone tell me what the hell happened today?!"
Irina had watched the show from the hall, staying just out of view, but it seemed to her that it was time to enter the room. She sauntered in, outwardly without a care in the world. All pretence, of course, as most things were with Irina. Her insides tied in knots over what she had done to Camren, and had done all day, but no one would ever know that to look at her - her game face could rival Aro's best efforts!
Truth was, she knew Carmen wouldn't lie for her. Well, lie by omission, sure, but she wouldn't actively lie for her. That meant Irina's actions would be uncovered at any moment and if that was going to happen… Sasha's words floated into the girl's mind. 'You pull your shoulders back, you hold your head high, and you own it'. And that's exactly what she did.
"How am I supposed to know it's wrong to slap someone when you all do it to each other as a matter of course?"
Eleazar glowered at the girl. "It was you?!"
Camren had to hold her mate back. "I'll explain later, my love. Just leave it for now, please."
Eleazar may have been easily subdued by his mate, but Basileus was mate-free for the moment and he was only too pleased to offer Irina both barrels!
"The people in this coven do not hit each other as a matter of course," he explained. "Such attacks are punished - that's the only physical acts that are sanctioned around here. Which you already know."
Irina wanted to play it safe, nod along and agree. Maybe even show some contrition towards Camren - she certainly felt a little guilty. But she just couldn't do it. Centuries of training under Sasha's direction wouldn't fall away just because she needed it to. No. Instead, she twirled a lock of hair around a finger and checked her nails, glanced around the room and gave a one-shouldered shrug to Basileus' words.
Basileus was outraged! He growled so loud the windows shook! In an instant he was as the girl's side, snatching her from the spot and shaking her roughly. Her apathy riled him, her arrogance irritated him, her condescension infuriated him. If he had bothered to check inside her mind, he would have found a very different girl, but he didn't think to. He didn't care about her enough to do that.
"The problem isn't that you can't distinguish the right choice, is it? It's that you recognise the right path and deliberately choose the opposite. Do you see these puerile games you play as a way to get one over on us all? Get one over on the Volturi? That's it with you, isn't it?!" Irina tried to respond, but he didn't give her chance. "Well listen up, sweetheart, your sisters are Volturi, they are settled here, they are happy here, you are fighting against your own."
My sisters will never be Volturi. Trust that to be the only thought in Irina's head that Basileus heard.
"Oh really?" he drawled, suddenly finding Irina quite funny and chuckling to himself. "Whilst you've been playing at pissing everyone off, Kate and Tanya have been enjoying Volturi life. They wear our crest, they drink in our hall, they take from our table. They have become Volturi."
Feeling close to tears, Irina tried to pull away. Crying in front of the creator is not an option, she told herself. He wasn't listening to her anymore, choosing to continue his rant as he held her in place.
"I knew your mother long before you were even born, I knew her well, and I know she would be ashamed of the woman you have turned into. You do a disservice to her memory."
Irina fell back a step when the creator finally released her, but she soon steadied herself. Self-important cretin, she thought. "Just because you fucked occasional, don't think that means you knew her. You know nothing."
With that comment, Irina steeled herself for the full force of the creator. She didn't take her eyes off him for a single moment, not even to blink. So it shocked her to be grabbed from the side when Basileus hadn't moved, and soon manhandled into the master bedroom.
Hearing the door slam broke Irina's trance-like state.
Eleazar.
She watched him pacing back and forth - as he worked out what he was going to do, Irina did the same. And bless Eleazar, he didn't stand a chance against Irina, as she saw it. She had been managing volatile men for centuries. Sasha had made sure her daughters knew how to employ their womanly wiles to keep themselves from harm. Irina was particularly good at it. She often mocked her sisters for being too cautious, too shy, too wary, or whatever. Irina knew what to do.
She took a seat on the grand bed, hooking one leg around the post and leaning back onto her elbows, pushing out her chest. At first, Eleazar didn't notice being so consumed with his own thoughts. He couldn't let the girl get away with slapping his wife. He couldn't. But, truthfully, he didn't know what to do with her, either.
I have a razor strap, he mused, thinking of his father actions only minutes before. I could do that? Copy him? Copy him… that was the problem for Eleazar - he didn't want to copy him! Basileus had always been far more volatile than Eleazar would wish to be with his own children. And if the girls were staying - because no one else wants them! - then they would be his children, so he didn't want to be as reactionary as Basileus was known for being.
It wasn't just because the Denali girls were girls. There was much more to it than that. Eleazar couldn't remember his own parents well - not that I want to copy them, either, he thought. They had sold him to the highest bidder when he was a teen, so hardly winning prizes in the parenting stakes! So, what the hell do I… what the hell is she doing?!
"Why are you sitting like that?" he asked, most perplexed.
Irina offered him a shy giggle and pulled the skirt of her dress a little higher, exposing more of her long, svelte legs. "Why don't you sit with me?" she asked. "We can talk about what happened, or other things."
She saw Eleazar relax his stance and a crooked smile grow on his face. So easy, she thought, smiling back. Most men she'd met would forget their troubles with her if something sweeter was on offer. She hadn't tried it with Eleazar yet, saving her offer for when she might really need it. She had lived with the man for two years nearly and she hadn't seen him being unfaithful to Carmen in that time, but Irina still believed he would have been. He's just good at keeping it quiet, she had assumed. Irina had every confidence in being able to turn Eleazar to her whims.
Still, it worried her a little that he didn't join her on the bed. Simple fool. He needs more encouragement. She sat forward, throwing her long blonde hair back. Then, to Eleazar's eyes, she placed her hands on her hips. Next think he knew, she'd pulled sharply on the base of her corset, ripping it down so her breasts sprung above!
"Irina!" he called out in shock, grabbing one of his shirts from the chair and rushing to cover her up. "What the hell are you playing at?!"
Even his horrified response didn't deter Irina. Now he was close enough to cover her bare chest, she left him to hold the shirt to her body and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, pulling him in close. "My mother taught me long ago to ignore what men say and watch what they do, instead. You watch me often, I see you."
Eleazar had been stuck in nervous new dad territory for a while, full of worries for present and future, but this was unprecedented! He struggled to break Irina's hold whilst still keeping her covered from view. "Yes, I watch you - you are often making a spectacle of yourself." Like right now!
Irina let out a tinkling laugh and drew her dress clear of her legs with her free hand - Eleazar panicked!
"Can someone get in here?!" he called out, begging for assistance. "Like, NOW?!"
Hearing his panicked plea, Camren and Basileus rushed into the room leaving the door open for Kate and Tanya to see everything from behind them.
"What are you doing?!" Irina hissed, as though Eleazar was the one at fault. But at least she released him.
"Erm…" Basileus faltered, slowly stepping back.
Carmen didn't fare much better. She managed to mumble a 'what' and a 'why', and then finally seeing the stressed state of her mate, a laugh.
Kate and Tanya knew what was going on, of course, and they both shook their heads at their sister for trying something so blatantly doomed to fail with a guy like Eleazar. But then they had got to know the man, they knew he couldn't be turned as easily as the humans they used to deal with, not even as easily as the lone vampires they had come across in their former life. They, too, laughed, joining Carmen at her side.
"Twat!" Tanya told her sister, mid chuckle.
Carmen had never been so glad to have cause to speak with Tanya about her uncontrolled mouth and took the chance to escape leaving Eleazar and Basileus to sort the scene with Irina.
Shit, shit, shit! Embarrassed, Irina struggled to tug her corset back into position and disentangle her spread legs from the bed post. She soon had her skirt back in place and desperately tried to hold it together, but both men saw the stray tear roll down her cheek.
"I don't see the problem," she said, voice a quiver. "If you don't want to buy, I don't have anything else to offer you."
"Buy?" Eleazar asked, turning to his father and hoping for some sense.
"You don't have to sell yourself here, Irina," Basileus replied. "In fact, you don't have to sell yourself anywhere."
"I slapped Carmen," Irina threw out, still unable to make eye contact with anyone. "Payment is due. Society has conditioned me to see female sexuality as currency."
Eleazar checked himself over in the mirror and straightened his hair. "Society, or your mother?" he muttered, yet again cursing the seemingly affable Sasha for the seriously fucked up life she had been living with three young, impressionable girls in her charge.
Irina heard him. An uncomfortable mix of emotion built inside her and she turned it all into anger. Springing from the bed, she pushed past both Eleazar and Basileus to find her freedom, fleeing the chambers altogether.
"You can't blame Sasha for the way that girl is," Basileus told his son, still blinkered by his old feelings for the dead coven leader. "The other two are alright, it's just Irina. You need to get…"
"That girl under control?" Eleazar finished for him. "Yeah, Dad, I know."
Basileus shook his head and decided to seek out Carmen instead - he wanted to make sure they would go forward without any animosity and it was an easier conversation to have than yet another about sodding Irina.
Only Kate remained. She slipped into the bed chamber and closed the door. For a brief moment, Eleazar felt the panic rise again. He couldn't cope with Irina propositioning him - if that's what she really had been doing - let alone Kate!
"It's how we survived."
Eleazar looked at the girl with a furrowed brow. Kate knew she'd have to say more.
"We lived in unclaimed territory," she explained. "Sasha didn't want to claim the lands as her own because she knew it would cause more trouble. The Romanians lived close to us and they tried recruiting us, occasionally, but we always managed to convince them to leave us be… by doing…" Kate gestured to the bed. "Whoever Vladimir or Stephan sent would want one of us. Or a couple of us." Kate looked to the floor to hide her face. "They came themselves sometimes. Vlad quite liked Tanya, Stephan liked me."
Eleazar took the girl in his arms and rested his head on hers. "Fucking hell." He couldn't think of anything else to say in response, but it didn't matter to Kate. She agreed. And it helped to hear him say it. Like she wasn't being pathetic for how scared she had felt, then and since, or how horrible the whole situation had been. It helped.
Eleazar, though, believed his response to be wildly lacking in usefulness. Gripping the girl to his chest, he came to the horrifying realisation that he wasn't adult enough. It's a peculiar feeling and Eleazar did what many others before had done and started searching his mind for a more adultier adult, an older adult more accomplished at adulting. Next time, he thought, I'll send her to speak to someone else about important things. Atia, or Freyr, or even Carmen if she can handle it? Anyone who could offer more than an expletive in response would be better than me.
Even as the thoughts formed in his head, Eleazar realised he didn't want the girl to go to anyone else. He wanted to be the one Kate turned to. Tanya, too. Even Irina! He wanted to be there for them, support them, help them. He just didn't know how. Who's better at adulting than me?
Usually in serious matters, Eleazar would seek Marcus' counsel, but this was a delicate issue. Marcus had been a father in his human life - he was turned in his forties after all and Eleazar knew he'd had a family before that - but his human life was strictly off limits. El needed a man-to-man with a fellow father, or warden, or whatever the hell he was to the Denali girls, and Marcus wouldn't wish to engage in such topics. Surprisingly, for a large coven of varied aged vampires, very few had the relevant experience to offer Eleazar useful advice. Aro's had kids for centuries… no chance. He paused long enough in his wonderings to chuckle at himself for the very thought of going to Aro for advice. Aro's style was very much like their father's and Eleazar wanted a softer approach to emulate…
…
Perched on his stool at the bar, Magnus was hard at work coaxing information out of Turk. He wasn't after anything too straining, only the amount he owed for his son's drinks.
"I'm not having you spending your earnings on my son's feeds," Magnus said, sounding more abrupt than he'd intended.
"Honestly, Master," Turk said for the fourth time. "I haven't subbed Odi a drink in months."
"Honestly, huh?" Magnus replied, head cocked to one side telling Turk he knew he was lying. "Do you fancy talking to my belt instead of me, boy?"
Turk was saved by a fraught Eleazar arriving in the guard hall.
"Afternoon, El. Are you…" Magnus stalled feeling the emotional turmoil the man was in.
Without word, Turk placed a bottle of whiskey on the bar and two glasses. Magnus gave the trusty barkeep a nod for his foresight – telling him, "Don't think we're finished, boy," – and directed Eleazar out of the guard hall to the middling privacy of the masters' office. Middling because the office opened on two sides - one to the guard hall, one to the castle hallways. But Magnus' desk, tucked in the very back of the office did indeed offer privacy - something a few guards were particularly grateful for when they were receiving a round of fucks from the coven master!
"So," Magnus began, pouring out the drinks. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Eleazar knocked his whiskey back in one. Dutch courage, he told himself. And then he let it all out, telling Magnus everything from Irina slapping Carmen, Carmen slapping Atia, Basileus strapping Carmen, Irina propositioning him, Kate's explanation - the lot.
Magnus needed a couple more whiskeys after that.
On the one hand, he felt a spike of pride in Eleazar seeking him out for such important and personal things. I must be doing something right, he thought. On the other hand, he wondered if he could be much use to the prince whilst so consumed with his own family troubles.
"I can't ask my Dad for help with this because he thinks the sun shone out of Sasha's backside," Eleazar explained, taking over pouring out the whiskeys. "That women screwed those girls up and I need to undo it all and I don't know how."
Magnus agreed with El on that score. Basileus certainly had a blind spot where Sasha was concerned. Even with the evidence staring him in the face.
"Forget about Sasha for the moment," Magnus suggested. "The girls. Concentrate on the girls here and now."
"That's even worse!" Eleazar undid his collar to get some air to his neck. Irina had seriously unnerved him. "I don't even know where Irina is."
Magnus smiled sadly. "She probably feels very silly for trying it on with you and will be licking her wounds somewhere alone. She'll come back." Which is exactly what Odi will be doing, he thought, thinking back to his last moments with his similar aged son who had thrown a fist in his face before fleeing out an open window! "I can keep an eye on the girls in the guard hall, but you really need some help at home."
"My Dad's useless," Eleazar huffed. "He thinks everything can be solved by beating people into submission."
Aye, I know he does. Magnus had left Caius still suffering from the beat down the creator had offered. "How about your mother? Atia is a level headed, steadfast woman. She's astute and she doesn't take any shit."
"She's been pretty absent, too," Eleazar replied, with another huff. He felt a little guilty about that as his mother had tried to help by talking to Irina. And she didn't tell my Dad about Carmen, either. Not really. She certainly played it down, bless her. El suddenly realised he should have perhaps checked on his mother before he went to the guard hall.
"That may be because of the reception Aro and Sulpicia gave her when she tried to help them," Magnus said. "She won't want to go against your father, either, but she will if you ask her to."
"Do you really think so?"
"I know so." Atia was the only thing holding Basileus back from being more involved in Magnus' current conflicts, and he was grateful for her intervention. "You do need to get a hold of those girls though, El. They cause merry hell around here."
Eleazar didn't believe that. Irina, sure, but not the little two. As if he could read his mind, Magnus set him straight.
"The little one, Tanya," he said. "She has a good heart, but damn! That mouth!"
Eleazar flinched in his seat. Yeah, she does have a mouth on her.
"And Kate!" Magnus continued. "Nice and quiet, forget shes there sometimes, until she's in an argument with someone - usually Tanya - and then good god the shrieking?! Where does it come from?! I can't even work out what shes saying when she starts!"
Yep, El thought. That's Kate! "But you call the shots in the guard hall. Just sort them out."
Magnus threw the prince a withering look. "I do, thanks," he said, obviously unhappy. "Those girls think I'm some sort of ogre out to ruin their fun because I'm the only one around here who tells them straight. Marcus is having the same issues with them, you know? You need to get them complying inside your home if any of us are to stand a chance getting them to comply out of it."
"How?" Eleazar asked.
"Give them a reason to follow your word," Magnus explained, quite simply.
El knew what that meant, and he didn't like it. "I don't believe in long drawn out punishments."
"You don't believe in any punishments, El!"
That's unfair. "I'd been fully intent on thrashing Irina for slapping Carmen," Eleazar said in defence. "But then she came on to me and… I don't know."
I'm going to have to ask, Magnus thought. "You didn't consider her offer, did you?"
"Hell, no!" Eleazar took a swig of his whiskey at the very thought. Not only was it unconscionable to him to betray Carmen in such a way, but he most definitely saw Irina as a child, his own child in a way, and her proposition freaked him out. "She… unnerved me, I guess."
"Aye, I've had some experience in that department." Magnus waved away his words without explaining the most awkward experience of his life - his attempt at punishing Renata for taking unsanctioned dungeon blood. "Why not remove some luxuries and let her feel it?"
"Like what?"
"That would depend on what non-vital things Irina cherishes." One look at Eleazar and Magnus realised he was on to a loser. "You don't have a clue what that would be, do you?"
Magnus shook his head, not at Eleazar, but Basileus. You landed him with those girls without doing any of the ground work, and you aren't helping him much now, either. Pushing those thoughts down deep so his buddy 'the meddling creator' wouldn't hear them any time soon, Magnus got back on track.
"You need to start learning about kids, El. Despite what your father believes, they aren't just short adults."
Eleazar had to chuckle at that one. It's certainly how his father saw children - short, disobedient adults, in fact. Aro had long lamented that as their father had never been human, he could never understand that children and adults needed different handling.
"Kids have their own way of seeing the world; their own objectives and their own motivations. They can be fucking baffling for those of us past such thoughts and feelings." Magnus sighed. How true, he thought, thinking of Odi throwing himself out of a window rather than stand and face him. Baffling! What on earth did he think I would to do to him?
"I've been here for three hundred years, Magnus," Eleazar reminded him. "I've known my nephews and niece…"
"You know them as their uncle, El," Magnus cut in. "And you've been keen on being a 'cool' uncle, mostly - sticking up for them against your brother, slipping them drinks here and there?"
"I guess."
"That's not the same as parenting them, is it? More like the opposite, I'd say." Magnus suddenly had a brain wave to help the anxious prince. "Why don't you try stepping up with your Jane and the boys first?"
"That doesn't seem so fair, Magnus."
"It's not really," Magnus agreed. "But I'm not suggesting you take them out to the fields to tar and feather them. Just stop being their cool uncle Eleazar and hold them to account with the rules and expectations you know their parents already have in place for them - and then deal with whoever breaks those rules immediately."
"Like what, though?"
You don't want to do any thinking today, do you?! Magnus sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair as he thought. "Stick to the basics," he suggested. "Showing good manners, being courteous, addressing their elders respectfully, watching their inappropriate language, no fighting or spiteful play." Eleazar nodded along, soaking up the direction he desperately needed. "I don't think Aro doesn't often turn a blind eye to his kids being monsters in front of him…"
Eleazar tutted at that one. "Except Jane."
"He does have a blind spot there, I agree," Magnus chuckled back. "But he still has limits with the girl, they are just different to the limits he has with the boys."
He thought of something then that he wanted to tell Eleazar, but for the moment he held back. Basileus' meddling in other lives really pissed Magnus off. Always sticking his oar in thinking hes right. That was another thing - the creator's ego was truly that of a Demi God; he was always right, therefore going against him left you on dicey ground. Ah, sod it! Unsure whether it was an act of bravery or defiance for the creator meddling in his own affairs, Magnus laid it down straight for Eleazar.
"El, you can set your limits. You do know that, yes? It's up to you, not your father."
"It's up to me?" Eleazar replied in an uncharacteristically sarcastic tone. "Really?" he tutted, taking another swig of whiskey.
"They are your kids so it's up to you what you find acceptable." Magnus took the whiskey glass from Eleazar's hand and set it on the table, calling for the prince's full attention. "It doesn't have to be the same as your brother, or your father, or what's expected in the rest of the coven. Honestly, El, I think your father would respect you more for taking a stand with some clear objectives than he would if you rolled over and did as he said anyway."
They sat quietly for a while as Elazar mulled over what Magnus had said. They are my kids, he told himself, finally submitting to his fate. They are mine and I decide how this works. "My rules for my kids?"
"Your rules for your kids." Magnus nodded. "Exactly that."
Eleazar collected his glass and knocked back the dregs of his drink. "Thank you, Magnus," he said, genuinely grateful.
"Any time," the juggernaut replied with a smile. It dropped from his face once he was alone again and his thoughts turned back to his own boys. If only I could be as good a father as I advise others to be.
Outside, practically freezing, Irina shuddered as images flashed through her mind. Eleazar's rejection had been completely unexcepted and she didn't know how to move forward. What am I supposed to do now?! Do I go home? Why am I even calling his chambers home? Fuming with her lot in life, Irina looked to the grand castle gates. She wanted to run through them and never look back. No one would miss me anyway, she thought.
Basileus' words floated through her mind – 'your sisters are Volturi'. They really are, Irina realised. I've lost them. Irina may not have shown it often - at all - but she loved her sisters and those two girls were all she had in the world. They were the only beings who would ever come close to loving her and she'd pushed them away, pushed them into the arms of their mother's executors.
Part of her, a very small part, wondered if she could just let Eleazar and Carmen in, if she could let them be her… parents… she could have a happy life in Volterra… A chortle escaped her lips as she shook her head. They could never love me anyway. Not like they love my sisters. Again, she thought of the humiliation of Eleazar rejecting her advances. The only use I had is no use in this damn place.
"What are you doing out here?"
Irina looked up from the floor hearing Alexander's voice before looking quickly away. It wasn't quick enough, and he saw her red rimmed eyes. Checking around for any of the higher ups who might have something to say about him sitting with the girl, and thankfully seeing no one about, Alex took a seat on the cold earth.
"Well?" he prompted.
Irina huffed, annoyed that she would have to come up with something to say. I could just tell him to fuck off, she mused. But she didn't. Truth was, she wanted company so desperately and there were very few in the coven who would offer it to her. Feeling a nudge from her side, she pushed down her ire and slipped her game face back on.
"I wanted some fresh air," she said.
"Bollocks." Alex shook his head. "It's freezing out here - no one would be out here by choice."
"Why are you out here then?" Irina shot back.
Alex rubbed at the back of his neck, stressed. "I'm avoiding Magnus. He's going to kick my arse when he finds me so I'm putting it off."
That made no sense to Irina - the guards all had perfectly lovely dorm rooms they could retire to and from what she had seen of Magnus in action, he rarely went to the dorm rooms. No, you're a cruel fucker who like to make a show of people, she remembered. Which was quite unfair as Magnus went to great pains to do no such thing, but from Irina's point of view - he failed.
"So why don't you stay in your dorm?"
"I have been," Alex replied. He looked down at the Denali girls and ran his tongue over his bottom lip. "It gets lonely, you know?" he said with a shrug. "Are you an adult?"
"Kind of," Irina replied, sensing what Alex wanted. Sensing? it was written all over his face! Irina smiled. She needed an ego boost and Alex wanting her, if only for her body, would be enough to sate her current needs.
"My dorm's warm," Alex hinted.
"It will take more than a warm dorm to win me over," Irina said. She wanted the power to be on her side, not his. "What else can you offer?"
Alex laughed. "I'm not playing games with you, girl. I'm not short of fucks around here." He pointed out the grand gates before them and then pulled his Volturi insignia from the chain around his neck. "I'm not short of fucks out there, either. You can come to my dorm with me, if you want. Or you can stay out here on your own."
Any other day she might have told him where to go, that she had too much self-respect for such an offer. She wanted to go home, she wanted to say sorry. She quite wanted what her sisters seemed to have. All that cuddling up with Carmen and Eleazar and the rest of the family who had accepted them without too much fuss. She wanted that. But in Irina's mind, none of that was on offer to her. Alex wasn't much of an offer, but it felt like the only one she had.
Alex flashed to his feet. He didn't even extend a hand to help Irina up. "It's too cold for me out here. Are you coming or not?"
She went with him.