"Hugo," I said, after the two of us had spent most of the night in relative silence. I had been reading his comic books at a human pace, enjoying the only form of entertainment the castle seemed to hold.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking up from the Iron Man comic he was reading.

"How often do we get to feed around here?" I asked. A portion of my brain was always acutely aware of the thirst burning in my throat. It had only gotten worse as the night progressed.

Hugo tapped his chin. "Depends. Brand new vampires like you they feed about once every two weeks. They say it allows you to learn better control. If you can control yourself when your eyes are black then you can control yourself any time. It's awful, though. I'm nearly out of the newborn phase, though, so they let me feed about once a week. Still only one human, though. Never more. Not enough to make the thirst go away."

"Two weeks," I muttered. The human Caesar had tossed me when I finished the change was the only blood I would get for two weeks. No wonder those in my control training had been willing to fight tooth and nail for even a drop of blood from the two humans used there.

"You'll get through it," he said confidently. "The first two weeks are the worst. After that it gets better."

"Because you don't need to feed as much, or because you get used to it?" I asked.

Hugo frowned. "I guess because you get used to it."

"Great," I said, staring blankly at the Batman comic in my hands. So not only would I have to deal with the painful effects of the mate bond, but constant thirst as well.

Super.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," Hugo said, laying flat on the floor with his legs on his couch. "My control training is at five, so you'll have a bit of free time until seven. Yours isn't until nine, right?"

"I think so," I said, slightly uncertain.

"It's at nine," Hugo said confidently. "The beginner's control training is always at nine."

I recalled my first session of control training with a grimace. "They call that beginner's?"

"Si, there's usually no blood in the open air. But sometimes someone will slip," Hugo said. "Is that what happened your first session?"

"Yes. One of the others started drinking while they were, erm, restraining me. He lost his head for it," I said.

Hugo grinned. "You lost some limbs then, si? Don't worry, it happens to all of us. It's no fun, though."

"So I've learned," I deadpanned. Hugo giggled, and I smiled at him. "What is your control training like?"

"I'm in the advanced group, since I've been a vampire for longer now. Eight months, I think? Maybe a little longer," Hugo said thoughtfully, furrowing his brow in thought.

"But the advanced training?" I prompted.

"Ah, right. It's gruesome. They want blood in open air, lots, but need the humans alive. Stale blood isn't as appealing. So Doyle's figured out how to gut them in just the right way so they stay living a while. It's lucky they're unconscious for it," Hugo said, wincing. Disgust churned in my stomach.

"How do they keep them unconscious? Do they drug them?" I asked. I wasn't yet familiar enough with the scent of blood to detect anything unnatural that may be within it.

Hugo shrugged. "No lo sé. Caesar said that I could smell it in their blood if I tried, so I guess so. But I've never been able to. Maybe it's because I've never smelled any other blood than what they bring us."

"Probably," I agreed.

I had assumed at first that my time spent between training would be tedious and long, but Hugo proved to be rather good company and a good source of information for someone who rarely left his room.

"Have you met Ana yet?" Hugo asked me after he had flicked through all of the limited channels on his television.

"Ana?"

"Her full name is Anastasia, I think. I've heard the masters call her that before. But I think everyone else calls her Ana."

"What about her?" I asked.

"She's one of the gifted ones Hiram brought. The masters were going to kill her - they want guys, but I bet you know that - but she turned out useful."

"Useful how?" I asked.

He plopped down beside me, leaning against my arm. "She's got this thing everyone calls, what is it in English- pensamiento, uh…"

"Thought," I said.

"Ah, si, that's it! Thought. She can broadcast her thoughts. She demonstrated to a group of us once. It was like… hearing someone else's voice in your head. It was weird."

"Do you know how it works?"

He shrugged. "Not really. I think she has to have met the people she sends her thoughts to. The masters treat her pretty well, even if her gift isn't as neat as mine. Apparently she even goes to the strategizing meetings that Caesar attends, so I guess she's important."

"She's a means to communicate wordlessly," I realized. "She can call attacks and unified movements without the Volturi overhearing."

Or so they think. They don't know we have Edward.

"That makes sense. They're being smart about it." Hugo's brow puckered. "Though I don't completely understand why we need to fight." His eyes widened. "You can't tell anyone I said that!"

"I won't," I promised him. "I'll tell you what I learned from the Cullens about the reason why. So a couple thousand years ago, the Romanians - that is, Vladimir, Stefan, and their coven at the time - ruled over Romania and was beginning to stretch their rule over more of Europe. They didn't hide the fact that they were vampires and treated humans like vermin. As they were growing in strength, so was the Volturi, lead by three kings and three queens."

"Two of the former queens are here, right? Sulpicia and Athenodora?"

"That's right. When the three kings found their true mate, the kings sent them away. So the queens want revenge," I said.

Hugo frowned. "Why? Are the jealous?"

"I don't think so." I lowered my voice, even though we both had already been speaking rather quietly. "I don't think it's loss of love that fuels them. It's loss of power."

"The three kings, what are their names again?"

"Aro, Caius, and Marcus," I murmured, my lips curling upwards in spite of myself.

"Ah, si, I remember. Caesar told me a little of this. But keep going, he didn't give so much detail," Hugo said.

"Well, the Volturi disagreed with the Romanian's way of ruling, and the two covens were locked in a war that lasted around a century. In the end, the Volturi won and began ruling over vampire kind, enacting our laws. Do you remember what they are?"

"No telling humans about us and no immortal children," Hugo listed.

"Right," I said. "After the defeat of their coven, Vladimir and Stefan laid low until sometime in the 1300s, when they chose to create a newborn army to fight the Volturi. They wanted their thrones back and they wanted revenge."

"Revenge?"

"During the first battle, the Volturi killed their mates." Hugo's mouth formed a small 'o', and I continued. "Vladimir and Stefan created a force of around a hundred newborns and released them against the Volturi but were once again defeated."

"How?" Hugo asked. "Newborns are really strong and fast, not like someone who has been a vampire for a while. Caesar told me."

"True. But newborns are also crazed with bloodlust and blinded by their instincts. That, in part, helped the Volturi win the battle. But the bigger reason were two key additions to their coven: Jane and Alec," I said.

His brow furrowed. "Who?"

"Jane and Alec are twins, only a couple of years older than you. Jane can inflict pain without touching you; apparently it's absolutely debilitating. Alec is her opposite: he can steal your senses."

"All of them?" Hugo asked. "Xander can take sight."

"Yes, all of them. Xander's gift is a limited version of Alec's. Regardless, the twins played a crucial part in defeating the newborn army that Vladimir and Stefan created. They haven't tried to overthrow the Volturi again until now," I said.

"So the masters want to defeat the Volturi because the Volturi killed their mates?" Hugo asked.

"Partly. Like the former queens of the Volturi, I believe the masters want their power restored. They want to rule again, like they did before. They're tired of lurking in the shadows, forced to remain hidden from humans. They believe vampires to be the superior species and men the superior sex. They want to return things to the former order of things."

"It almost sounds like-" Hugo hesitated.

"Sounds like what?" I asked.

He shook his head hastily. "Nevermind. Let's go back to comics."

I obliged and we lapsed back into silence. I wondered what Hugo was about to say. I could only hope that seeds of doubt about the Romanians had been sown in his head. Unless he defected, no matter how fond of him I had grown, my coven would have no choice but to kill him.

My unbeating heart ached at the thought.

"Time for control training," Hugo said at 4:55, rolling off the couch and placing his open comic face-down on the small dresser. "It ends at seven, so you can come get me then. You're supposed to meet Caesar, si?"

"Yes," I said. "But I'll see you to training first."

Hugo grinned at me as we left his room. "Gracias."

We arrived outside the training room and I held my breath as the potent scent of blood hit my nose. Hugo pushed me slightly backwards. "You should go."

I nodded, not wanting to risk squeaking out as much as a goodbye before I turned and ran in the opposite direction, breathing in the castle's damp air to rid my lungs of the scent of blood. I was a little late arriving to Caesar's quarters, trying to get a grip on the haze of bloodlust that clouded my senses.

"You're late," Caesar said, stepping aside to let me in. He closed the door and locked it behind me.

"Sorry. I had to take Hugo to control training and I smelled the blood," I apologized.

"In that case, you're excused. Even I remember how difficult the newborn stage was, though it was so long ago," Caesar said.

"It sucks," I said. "Anyway. What's the plan?"

"Due to my standing with Vladimir and Stefan, I have a few extra privileges, with two free hours being one of them. I have one now and the other at 2300 hours. Seeing as Hugo has control training during this time, it is best that our training occur now."

"But not at eleven- sorry, 2300 hours?" I asked.

"Visit too often and questions will be raised. Once a day is sufficient, and this is the most logical time to do it."

"What will we be doing, exactly? Will you help me learn how to use my gift?" I asked.

"Some. But not yet. First, you must know how to defend yourself without the use of a gift. At all. Relying too much on a gift is how a vampire gets killed. So first I'll teach you how to fight properly, not the purely offensive bullshit I teach in the ring. Then, time permitting, I will work with you on your gift and how you can utilize it in combat situations. However, I would encourage you to be practicing with it on your own, as I cannot teach you how to wield it, but simply how to best use it in battle."

"That makes sense," I said. I saw his point, but I was still disappointed. I was scared of practicing my gift alone. I wasn't sure what I would do - what the shadows would convince me to do.

"You will master your gift," Caesar assured me, seeming to read my disappointment. "It will take time and dedication. And I can see that you fear it, even if you will not say so aloud. To truly master it, you must let go of your fear. Your gift is a part of you. To fear your gift is to fear yourself."

"I don't fear my gift," I said, but my words lacked the conviction that I expected them to hold.

Caesar quirked an eyebrow but didn't argue against me. "A gift is a personal thing, and it's not my place to refute you. So, in the interest of time, I suggest we set aside the discussion of gifts for now and instead focus on your fighting techniques, which I must admit are quite promising. You seem to have an aptitude for it, which makes my task much easier."

"Task?"

"Keeping you alive," he said. "You're the key to winning this war. So let's get started."

Any confidence I had in my fighting abilities after the ring had vanished after the first spar between Caesar and I. He had stated it was to test my skills for himself, but I was fairly certain it was just to give him an excuse to put me on my ass in about half a minute.

"You'll need to do better than that if you have any wish to defeat Vladimir and Stefan," Caesar said, circling me as I rose lithely to my feet. "As you stand now, you're an easy target to any vampire with training received outside these walls."

"That's why you're teaching me," I retorted, not particularly appreciating the continued blows to my ego.

He smirked and stopped in his predatory movements. "Quite right. We'll start with how to get out of a headlock."

"I know how to do that already," I said, recalling how Demetri and Afton had taught me that very move during our single eventful training session.

"Really? Well, I'll be the judge of that." He had me pinned in a headlock in a blink, having taken me by surprise. "Go ahead."

My human memories were slightly foggy, but I remembered enough to escape from Caesar's hold. "Told you," I said smugly.

"Yes, you did. But you need to be quicker. I'm going to reteach you the move to refresh your memory, as I doubt your human memories of it do it true justice. Then you'll try again," he said.

And so my training session with Caesar went. He was harsh, but never removed any of my limbs, and seemed relatively satisfied by my progress when we reached the end of the hour.

"Same time tomorrow?" I asked, straightening my clothes and fixing my hair.

"Yes. There may be hope for you yet, I think. A word of caution: the time will come quite soon when the training I give means you outstrip most everyone in the ring. Even if that is the case, you must lose, and must only use the techniques you've been taught during your time in combat training."

"So we don't raise suspicion," I surmised.

Caesar nodded. "Yes. Currently, Doyle and about a dozen others could still beat you in combat. But their training is rather limited and it won't be long until your skills surpass theirs. Don't think I haven't noticed your hatred of Doyle. But when the time comes and you are pitted against him, I would advice you to lose the fight. Your revenge can be taken some other day. For now, it's best that you're underestimated."

"The kings said the same," I said.

"Yes, and as much disdain as I possess for those that hold power, they are formidable both in skill and experience. There is a reason they have ruled this long. Whatever they advise you to do, I suggest you follow. You are still very young by vampire standards. It does well sometimes to heed the wisdom of others," Caesar said.

"Noted. Though I don't think any of them have been in a situation quite like this before," I said.

He smirked. "There, you have a point. I have duties to tend to now that my free hour is over, but you are free to stay here until Hugo's control training has finished."

"Thanks. I'll see you later," I said. Caesar nodded and left without another word. I mulled over our conversation from earlier.

"I'm not afraid of my gift," I said aloud. But the words didn't dispel my trepidation of using my powers and losing control. Still, Caesar had advised that I practice, and I needed to be able to control my gift if it was to be any use during the coming battle, which was feeling closer and realer by the day.

I shut my eyes and released a slow breath. I could do this. I could do this.

Shadows furled around my fingers and up my arms, embracing me in darkness. They whispered around me like a living force. I remembered what I had done earlier, how the shadows had taken physical shape.

I held up a hand, the shadows moving with me, and I needed to barely give direction for them to respond, forming into shards that flew forward when I dropped my hand, embedding in the stone wall.

"Holy shit," I whispered, pulling one out of the wall. There was a deep, jagged hole in the stone. The solid shadows I had summoned melted away as I poked at the now-damaged stone. "Holy shit," I repeated.

I looked to where the rest of the shards had lodged themselves into the wall, but they had disappeared, leaving no trace behind. I furrowed my brow, summoning another shard and driving it into the stone. When I yanked it out, it left behind the same hole in the stone that the first shard had. I plunged it into the stone again, waving it away instead of pulling it out like before. The stone was undamaged, as if nothing had pierced it.

"Interesting," I murmured. "So what happens if…"

I formed a third shard, controlling it by force of my own will, driving it into the stone and removing it with my mind rather than my hands. It left a hole behind. It seemed, then, that unless the solid shadows I summoned were removed forcibly, they would leave no trace of damage behind.

And if the shadows could do that to stone… what would it do to a vampire's skin?

Something shifted within me at the thought. The shadows whispered atrocities in my ears. I could find Vladimir and Stefan, end them now with this newfound power-

"To attack the castle would be folly," Caesar said, his voice as clear as if he was beside me.

I jerked away, swinging around. There was no one else in the room.

"But it would make a statement, would it not? To them, to the rest of the vampire world, even to the human vermin. The Volturi scum would not expect us to attack their stronghold. Even they wouldn't believe us foolish enough to attempt such a thing," Stefan said.

What the hell was going on?

The shadows wreathed around me. Was it the shadows that were allowing me to hear this conversation as if it was taking place in this very room? It had to be; there was no other explanation.

"Yes, but dear Caesar has a point, my love," Sulpicia crooned. My lip curled. "We attack the castle and we have the shock value, of course, but in the end it would be the wretched kings with the upper hand. It is their castle, and we would be fighting on their turf. We would fare far better in a battle held in the open, on even ground."

Stefan sounded as if he was contemplating this. "Yes, I suppose you make a sound argument. Say we settle on some other battlefield, then. Where should our stand take place?"

"May I suggest-" Whatever Caesar's suggestion may have been, it was lost to me by a knock on the door. The shadows around me dispersed in a second.

"Rowan, it's me! You weren't in my room when I left control training so I wanted to check if you were here," Hugo said, his voice muffled by the door.

I opened the door. "Sorry, Hugo. I lost track of time."

"It's okay!" He chirped, seeming to be in good humor. "What were you doing, anyway? Is Caesar there?"

"No, he left a while ago. I was just thinking," I lied. However much I liked Hugo, I couldn't tell him of my gift. Not until his allegiance was with me and not the Romanians.

"I see! Caesar does the same thing. You have control training at nine, si? We can watch TV until then!" Hugo said as we arrived back at his room.

"Sounds good," I agreed, sitting down beside him on his couch. He turned on the television, the characters speaking a language I couldn't hope to understand, and I was left to bitterly wish I had been able to hear the rest of the Romanians' strategy meeting.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ V ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Yay, chapter 12! School had me slammed for a while, and between that and the slight block I hit on this chapter there was a bit of a delay in me getting this out to you - but here we are! What do you think about the development of Rowan's ability? What do you think it means? Drop me a comment to let me know what you think and what you theorize is coming!

Big thanks to all of those who commented on the last chapter, you all are awesome and I appreciate it more than you know! Here are some of my responses to your thoughts as to what's been happening in Penance.

Dia Pristou: You are too sweet! I'm so glad you're loving Penance! Considering Rowan is in the proverbial lions' den, you should definitely be worried, and I don't blame you. Thank you for reviewing!

Ambres: Aw, thank you so much! I'm so glad that you've enjoyed Rowan's journey through Tenebrous and Penance, and I hope you stick around to see how everything ends up playing out. Thank you for your kind review!

seventhhaven: Haha, you crack me up! I loved the scene where Caesar gave her permission to step in, it came a little earlier than I initially planned but I'm happy with it. Everyone is celebrating now that Marcus is back and he and Aro seem to have come to an understanding, however uneasy it may be. I feel super sorry for Rowan and all she's forced to deal with, but it's really showing what she's made of as a character and I'm proud of her. Thank you for your faithful reviews, I appreciate your support so much!

Lastly, shout out to both windmila and Reveri for their support of Penance, they've been great at keeping me motivated. Both have their own stories (Garrett/OC and Kings/OC, respectively) so I would highly recommend you check out their works as well and give them a bit of love! Thank you all for reading, I hope you are staying healthy and not going TOO stir crazy with the social isolation measures that are in place. Until the next update, friends!

Translations:
No lo sé - I don't know
Pensamiento - thought