The day improved marginally when I, for the first time, managed to defeat Caesar during our one-on-one sessions.
"Very good," he praised. "You may have a chance yet. But don't let it go to your head, you still have much to learn."
He demonstrated this by beating me soundly in our next sparring match.
"I didn't know that move," I complained as he pulled me to my feet.
"You're not going to know every move the enemy throws at you or how to defend it. You have to think on your feet and be able to improvise," Caesar told me. "I can teach you stances and forms all day, but it's all useless if you can't adapt to your enemy's fighting style, no matter how foreign it is from your own. And that's not something you teach; you either can do it, or you cannot. It does, however, in part come with experience."
"Then give me experience. Fight using styles I don't know, because there's no way you've taught me everything there is to know."
"Far from it," Caesar said, a glint of approval in his eyes. "As with all my teaching methods, the best way for you to learn is for me to throw you in to the proverbial deep end."
"Sink or swim. Great," I quipped, though this was nothing less than what I expected. "Bring it on."
After spending the rest of the hour having my ass handed to me by Caesar (though he assured me that I had improved by the end), I made my way to Hugo's training room for my first session with Maxim, who was already waiting for me by the time I arrived.
"How's border patrol?" I asked once I had shut the door.
"Uneventful, but informative. Most times they have nothing better to do than gossip about what goes on within the walls of the castle," Maxim said.
"You find out anything of use?"
"Nothing yet, but I have no doubt they'll talk more freely once I've earned their trust. I have high hopes about this yet," he said.
"Do Vladimir and Stefan know about your gift?" I asked, my voice stumbling slightly when I spoke Stefan's name.
"I told them what I needed to persuade them I was useful and worth keeping. They believe my ability to create an aura of fear around me to be the full extent of my abilities."
"What is the full extent of your abilities?" I asked.
Maxim offered me a wry smile. "Let us just hope that you never have to find out, hmm? Besides, my gift is not the reason we are here. It's yours that I am far more interested in. Tell me how it's developed."
I explained my shadows, how they had evolved into something more powerful now that I was a vampire, from becoming solid to even listening in on distant conversations.
"You speak proudly of your gift, yet still you fear it," Maxim said thoughtfully. "You first feared that it would fail you, and you still do, but now you fear yourself also. It's rare that I encounter someone whose gift they cannot control due to their own fear of it, but it does happen. It's more common with darker gifts like ours. It's perfectly natural to fear succumbing to that darkness; the problem arises when we allow that fear to control us, and thus control our gift and how we wield it."
"So you've encounter this before?" I asked.
"Once, about two-hundred odd years ago. He was something of a protégé of mine. His gift, like yours, meshed well with mine. We were technically considered a coven, I suppose, and I joined the Volturi after we parted ways about a decade ago, cordially of course. He still owes me a favor." Maxim added the last sentence as an afterthought.
"What did you do? To help him get over his fear of, well, himself?"
"It involved using my gift against him in a way that I am not fond of with those I like," he said. "Hopefully it will not come to that, so we'll consider that unsavory method a last resort. We've wasted enough time talking. I have a lot to teach you and less than a month to do it."
Maxim refused to actually use his gift in tandem with mine during our practice session. In fact, neither of us ended up using our abilities at all. Instead, he taught me to meditate, stating that mastery of self would lead to mastery of my gift.
With how much was going on in my head, especially now that I was a vampire, meditation was basically impossible, and we were both frustrated by the end.
"Meditate whenever you can," Maxim ordered me before we left the room. "We're going to start working with your gift tomorrow. If this was a different situation, we wouldn't move on until you had mastered meditation, but we just don't have the time. So some improvising on my side is necessary. I believe we share the latest combat training session, so I will see you then."
"Thank you for doing this, Maxim," I said.
"It's my duty," he said, "and I can't say I don't find your determination admirable. So I will help you in whatever way I can."
"Still, I appreciate it. Be careful out there, I'll see you this evening," I said. We parted ways, Maxim to the border and me back to Hugo's room. Hugo arrived shortly after I did, positively vibrating with excitement.
"Guess what, guess what!"
I grinned at him. "What?"
"Doyle graduated me from advanced control training! I'm done!"
"No way! Congratulations, I'm so proud of you," I said, wrapping him in a hug and ruffling his unruly curls. "Does that mean you're done with control training forever?"
"Yes, completely done! And since I am, I'll get to feed off two humans instead of one," he said, elated at the prospect of his thirst finally being properly sated.
"You lucky duck," I said. I was truly happy for him, but I wished more than anything that I would be able to feed more - and more often - as well.
"You should move up to intermediate training soon. Once you hit advanced, they let you feed once a week, so if you work extra hard maybe you'll be able to move up quick," Hugo said. "I would split my share with you if I could."
"I would never take it. You've earned it," I said. "I'm really proud of you."
"Gracias," he said, glowing at my praise.
"What should we do to celebrate?" I asked him.
He seemed almost baffled by the concept. "Celebrate?"
"Yeah. You achieved something great. I'd say that's as much a cause for celebration as any," I said.
"No one's ever wanted to celebrate something I did before," he said.
It was unsettling sometimes, to see how similar Hugo was to my younger self. "And that changes now. What do you want to do?"
"Could I-" he hesitated, voice fading to a whisper as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, "Could I maybe get to talk to your mates?"
"Of course, if that's what you want," I said. I was startled by his request, but pleased. I was glad he wanted to know the kings.
"Can we go now?" he asked hopefully.
I checked my watch. "Let's wait until after my control training, that way we'll have plenty of time. I don't want to risk being late."
"Okay," he agreed, plucking one of his comics off his small shelf and burying his nose in it.
I merely smiled and settled back beside him on the couch, doing my best to meditate as Maxim instructed.
Control training passed in its normal fashion; my focused, heated anger towards Doyle and Sam for their murder of Felix was enough to distract me from my bloodlust.
"Stay back, Cullen," Doyle called after the feeding frenzy at the end of the session had taken place. I had only gotten a few mouthfuls of blood, which wasn't nearly enough to change my eyes from black to red.
I surveyed Doyle and Sam warily as the rest of the newborns trickled out of the room. Doyle gave me a toothy grin. "Don't look so worried there, Cullen. You're not in trouble. Unless you want to be."
I snapped my teeth at him. "You don't want to go there, Doyle."
"Probably not," he said, barking out a laugh. "You're a bit too fiery for my tastes, anyway. I prefer my women submissive, and that you are not."
"Why am I here?" I asked impatiently, tired of Doyle's games.
"Tomorrow you're to report to intermediate control training, it takes place from thirteen- to fifteen-hundred hours. Congratulations," he added as an afterthought, the word clearly insincere.
"You'll be switching combat training times as you'll no longer be able to make the one at fourteen-hundred," Sam said. "Your new time is at ten, and you'll continue to attend the other session that takes place at eighteen-hundred hours. As your assignment includes watching over Hugo, his combat training schedule has been updated to match yours."
"Got it. Anything else?" I asked.
"No. You can go," Sam said.
I turned on my heel and left, dreading the control training that was to come. I simply hoped that my hatred of Doyle and Sam would be enough to curb my bloodlust; if it wasn't, I knew Doyle wouldn't hesitate to rip off my arms if I stepped even a toe out of line.
"Can we go?" was the first thing Hugo said to me when I stepped foot in his room.
"We can try. It's cloudy out, which helps, but I don't know if that will be enough shadow to hide us both in. If it's too little, we'll have to go tonight," I said, keeping my voice quiet to prevent us from being overheard.
Hugo nodded. I poked my head outside the room, making sure it was empty, before motioning Hugo out and cloaking us both within shadows. "Stay close to me, and don't touch anything," I ordered lowly, despite the shadows preventing us from being overheard.
"Sí señora," Hugo said obediently, reaching out to take my hand. We made our way out of the castle, and I paused just before the exit, evaluating the light level. There was a guard posted to our right, who would see us immediately if I couldn't maintain the shadows needed to keep us hidden. I called more shadows to bunch around us, relying on the extra padding to prevent us from being seen in the time it would take to reach the shade of the trees.
"Now," I told Hugo, and we sprinted towards the trees. The shadows around us held steady, but I wasn't willing to risk finding out how long we could stay out in the open before being seen.
"We made it," Hugo said, relieved, once we reached the trees. We were still safely within the shadows, but the volume of his voice made me tense anyway, glancing back towards the posted guard.
"Yes. We still have a ways to go, however, and we'll be within the shadows until we return to your room. So stick close," I told him, unneeded as he was still clinging to my hand.
We made it to where I hid my items without incident, and Hugo took several awed moments to examine my crest. "What do the gems mean?"
"Three of the gems match what are in the crests of my mates. Onyx for Aro, ruby for Caius, and emerald for Marcus," I explained. "The fourth, opal, represents me."
"Why opal?" Hugo questioned.
"It's not symbolic of anything, if that's what you mean," I said. "It's my favorite, and that was taken into account on the creation of my crest."
"If I join the Volturi, will I get a crest?"
"Of course. Everyone who joins the Volturi gets a crest," I said, ruffling his hair.
"They don't- they don't brand us, do they? Like the masters here do?" Hugo asked anxiously.
I growled, pulling him closer to me. "No, never. Vladimir and Stefan are barbaric, Hugo. To join or leave the Volturi is a choice you can freely make, like Carlisle or my Uncle Eleazar did. They do not brand us, we are not cattle nor are we blindly loyal. The crest signifies your choice, Hugo, just as much as your loyalty."
He let out a sigh of relief. "Good."
I stowed my crest carefully back in the bag, pulling out the burner phone instead. "Are you ready?"
"Si," he said, nervous. "Do you think they'll like me?"
"They'll love you, Hugo, just like I do. Promise."
He looked up at me with round eyes. "You love me?"
"Yes. And I'll take care of you as well as I can," I said.
He hugged me tightly. "I love you, too."
"Let's call my mates, hmm?" I said, dialing Caius' number. It was an odd time of day, unlike when I normally called, and I knew he'd be worried upon answering.
Caius picked up on the second ring. "Amore, are you well?"
"Nothing's wrong, I'm perfectly fine," I assured him. "I know it's an odd time to call."
"Have you learned something, perhaps their planned date of attack?"
"No, but Caesar did say that they've narrowed it down to sometime in early June, which gives us less than a month," I said.
"Early June is just over two weeks away," Caius said. "I'd hardly call that a month. We'll be ready then, I hope."
"I didn't call because of that, though," I said. "Hugo graduated from control training today, so I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate."
"I see," Caius said slowly, his tone implying the exact opposite.
"He wanted to talk to you three," I told him.
"In that case, let me send for my brothers. Alec, Demetri-"
"Demetri's there?" I asked, ignoring Hugo's questioning look. Demetri had managed to evade Santiago and Alicia, the lesser tracker, for several days, proving he was just as skilled at evasion as he was tracking.
"Yes, he just arrived back early this morning. Santiago and the other tracker finally caught up to him late last night, after our usual check-in," Caius informed me.
"That's a relief," I said. "How is he doing?"
"About as we expected. He's grieving, reckless. There's no way we can send him out on any further missions with him acting as he is, but I know he won't be kept from the battle," Caius said.
"Who's Demetri?" Hugo whispered to me, wiggling with impatience.
"Demetri is our tracker, one of the elite guard," Caius answered for me, hearing Hugo's question. "He was there when Felix was taken. They were soul brothers, and their bond was quite strong; Felix's death was a devastating loss for him."
"Oh," Hugo said, and I knew he would be blushing if he was still human; he hadn't meant to be heard by anyone besides me.
"It's alright," I assured him. "Hugo, you're talking with Caius, one of my mates. Caius, this is Hugo."
"Hello, Hugo. It's nice to finally talk with you. Rowan speaks very highly of you." I couldn't quite place the tone of Caius' voice; it was much less sharp than I was accustomed to, but a different kind of gentleness compared to the tone he used with me.
"Hola," Hugo said, glancing up at me uncertainly. I gave him an encouraging smile. "Are you really going to beat Vladimir and Stefan's army?"
"We will try our best," Caius said. "I'm sure you're old enough to understand that victory is never promised."
"I know," Hugo said.
I heard the sound of the throne room's door opening, Aro's voice possessing an echoing quality in the large room. "Brother, Alec tells us Rowan is on the phone. Is she well?"
"She is fine," Caius said. "And she has a companion with her today."
"A companion? Not Maxim, surely?" Marcus asked.
"No. It's the boy, Hugo. He wanted to speak with us," Caius explained.
"Aro, Marcus, meet Hugo," I said.
"Greetings, young one. I'm so pleased to finally get to speak with you, Rowan praises you so highly," Aro said, and Hugo glowed. "I trust you are taking care of each other?"
"Si- yes sir, I mean," Hugo stammered, looking up at me in silent question. Aro, I mouthed, and he nodded.
"Now, none of those formalities. You may call us by our names, if you wish," Aro said cheerfully.
"A child of Rowan's is a child of ours," Marcus said, agreeing. I did not have to wonder what Marcus saw in my bond with Hugo. I loved him with love a love entirely different from how I loved the kings, but just as fierce. I imagined it to be how a mother loved her child.
"Marcus can see the emotional ties between people," I explained to Hugo, glimpsing his confused expression.
"Your bond with Rowan is quite special," Marcus said, and did not elaborate further.
"You'll protect her, won't you?" Hugo asked, startling me. His young voice was suddenly fierce. "Once we've left this place, when it's time to fight, you'll protect her." It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement, almost an order.
"Of course," Aro said, sounding quite surprised himself. "To the best of our ability, and with our lives if necessary."
There seemed to be a smile in Marcus' voice. "That is the nature of the bond."
"Good," Hugo said, sounding satisfied. He looked up at me. "I approve."
My jaw dropped, and I was caught between shock and amusement. "Hugo-"
"It's perfectly alright," Marcus said over Caius' laughter. "I understand your protectiveness completely, Hugo, and your care for Rowan is admirable. It is always wise to speak to someone yourself before giving them trust, rather than relying on the accounts of others."
"Clever boy," Caius inputted, his voice wavering like he was still fighting back chuckles.
"It seems our Rowan is in good hands," Aro said.
Hugo's chest puffed out at their praise. "Gracias."
I checked my watch, reluctant to end the call as the four seemed to be getting along so well, but concerned that we may be missed if we remained much longer. "Perhaps we should be getting back to your room, Hugo."
"You're right," he agreed, understanding just as I did what may happen if our absence was noticed.
"Be careful," Aro said. "Will you still be calling tonight, mia cara?"
"Yes," I said. "I probably won't have anything new to tell you by then, however."
"That's alright. You've given us plenty of information as it is," Marcus said. "We will talk to you soon."
"Love you guys. Talk to you soon," I said.
Once everything was stowed away and hidden back in its rightful spot, Hugo and I made the risky journey back to his room, which occurred without incident. Still, utilizing the shadows during the daylight made me uneasy.
"We're not doing this again during the day," I told him, once we were safely back in his room. "It's too dangerous."
Hugo made no protest, and we spent the rest of the day in its normal fashion. It was the following morning when things began to change.
"I have news," Caesar said when I stepped into his quarters. "They've set a date."
A thrill of something like fear shot through me. "When?"
"June fifth. Two weeks."
"Two weeks," I repeated, and three things hit me in quick succession.
One: I had just two weeks to master my gift, which did not feel like nearly enough.
Two: In two weeks, I would find out if all I had sacrificed here was worth it, or if it was all in vain.
Three: During the battle, the Volturi would have no way to identify Caesar or Hugo as allies. They would be nothing but another face in the army, another enemy to defeat, unless-
My eyes snapped to his face. "We need to get to Volterra."
⊱ ────── {.⋅ V ⋅.} ────── ⊰
What is up my dudes? I hope you all are doing well and keeping yourselves safe and healthy. It hasn't been a horribly long time since I last updated, but it feels like it has. If it makes you feel any better, it's primarily because I've been working on-and-off on a Twilight short(ish) story that you all will hopefully get to see soon. It's unrelated to Penance, but I've enjoyed writing it so far and I think you all will like it too.
So Rowan realizes she needs to get Caesar and Hugo to Volterra. How do you think she'll manage that? Do you think she'll even be able to persuade Caesar to agree? What will Maxim think of the whole plan? Let me know what you think in the comments! Speaking of, huge thanks to all of you who take the time to comment and let me know what you think! I truly appreciate it, you guys are awesome! Here's some responses to your reviews from last chapter:
HannahStewart-chan: Thank you so much! That really means a lot to me 3 Maxim is definitely a character I enjoy writing a lot, especially their growing trust in each other. At some point soon you'll hopefully be able to see their gifts working together and see more of Maxim's gift. You'll find out about what Caesar said to Stefan in a bonus chapter, so you won't have to wonder forever! As for your question about sibling bonds: they're a bit different from mate bonds, in that with mate bonds one would definitely feel/sense if the other has died, while sibling bonds do not work in that way. However, Demetri knew exactly when Felix died because Felix would no longer be track-able by Demetri's gift, if that makes sense, and since Demetri was actively tracking him at the time, well... So in that same way, Edward cannot feel Rowan's pain or anything like that, but he's way more protective and close to her than a normal vampire, such as Renata, would be because of their bond. Thank you for your review, please stay safe and healthy as well! :)
hauntedpumpkin56: Thank you! I appreciate your kind words! :)
surgeonlaw: None of them are really catching much of a break, are they? I really do feel bad for torturing them, but the story must go on! And we all want Stefan and Doyle to die. Especially me. :P
Alright guys, that's really all I've got for you this time around! Don't forget to drop a comment letting me know your thoughts on this chapter, as I read and appreciate them all! I love you all and I will chat with you soon!