"And you're dead."
I was in the training room with Santiago, Afton, Renata, Chelsea, and the twins. Never did I regret Santiago training me quite as much as I did in that moment. As usual, I was using Afton to practise on as, embarrassingly for him, he was only ever so slightly taller than me so we were pretty evenly matched.
"Again, but this time you need to stay on guard and concentrate solely on defending yourself. Never, I repeat never, turn your back on your enemy or lose your focus. Is that understood?" Santiago instructed sternly.
I nodded and instantly needed to duck as Afton attempted to deal a blow to my jaw. His left fist swung over my head before his right fist came for my face. Narrowly missing getting hit, I arched my back to dodge his punch and jumped a few inches off the ground to miss the kick he aimed at my hip. Before he had the chance to come at me again, the timer on the side beeped, indicating that the few seconds were up.
Irritated at how easily I managed to outfight him, he turned around and paced away while taking deep breaths.
"Don't be a sore loser," I giggled at him.
"You see, dude? It's not that hard if you keep your head in the game. Now, Afton will come back and you'll reverse roles," Santiago gestured Afton back with an eyebrow raised and he reluctantly stomped over, "so you, Eli, will attack while Afton will attempt to defend himself."
As soon as I heard the single beep from the timer, I didn't hesitate to aim a round kick to Afton's head. He managed to dodge it easily and laughed tauntingly at me. With a light growl, I aimed a punch for his face which I missed, but still managed to grab his neck with my right hand, jumping up and slamming him into the floor. I was about to punch him in the face just once but my fist paused halfway to his face as the timer interrupted my efforts.
Afton laughed at me and pushed me off him so that I landed perfectly on my feet beside him. I considered helping him up but decided against it.
A slow clap suddenly caught my attention from the entrance to the room. "Excellent work, cara mia."
Aro strolled into the room followed by Caius and Marcus, and my jaw dropped in shock. Not shock at their presence, no; in shock at their outfits.
All three of them were dressed more casually than I could ever imagine, in sweatpants, t-shirts, and trainers with their hair tied up out of their face. Even the guard seemed a little surprised at their change of attire, but not nearly as surprised as me.
"Your technique needs improvement though," Caius pointed out, "For instance, you definitely would not have missed your kick if you simply rotated your body inwards slightly, like so."
Without warning anyone, he demonstrated on Aro and his foot made impact with his face, causing him to fall to the ground. Aro said nothing but simply growled at Caius before pushing off the padded floor and back to his feet.
I placed my hands on my hips and approached Caius with my lips pursed. "If you're so much better than me, fight me. I dare you."
Marcus seemed wary. "Maybe that is not such a wise idea, tesoro-"
"What, because I'm a female? Wow," I laughed with joking disbelief, "it's the 21st century and we're still dealing with these kinds of deeply ingrained misogynistic attitudes."
"That's a lot of big words," Afton said.
"Thanks," I shot him a smile a turned back to my mates with a taunting scowl.
Marcus shook his head lightly. "It is not because you are a female, bellissima."
"Why then? You think you can't beat me?"
Caius scoffed. "With ease."
I stepped closer to him so we were only millimetres apart. "Prove it," I whispered.
"Challenge accepted," he sneered.
Once we were ready to begin, the guard were stood around the perimeter beside Aro and Marcus, who were both watching with both excitement and concern for my wellbeing. Santiago stood between us and explained the rules of sparring matches.
"Here are the rules, be sure to familiarise yourselves with them Master and Mistress. These sparring matches will proceed for an undetermined length of time but either party may surrender at any time. No abilities are to be used, as we must always be braced for the possibility of a shield in battle. When the word 'halt' is called, both parties are to immediately cease fighting and stand still. In order to win, the opponent must be held down to the floor for 10 seconds. Any questions?"
In response, I shook my head at him while Caius gave one of his usual terrifying scowls at Santiago.
"Good, then let us commence in 3…"
"You've got this, il mio amore!" Aro called over.
I glanced over to the side and noticed Aro was smiling at me encouragingly while Marcus held a hesitant thumbs-up. I winked at them and turned my attention back to Caius who was stood just a few feet away from me.
"..2…1…begin!"
Caius immediately leapt at me so that I fell backwards with his weight on top of me. Not willing to give in that easily, I pushed at his shoulders as hard as I could which sent him crashing into the stone wall behind him. Several "ooh" sounds came from the direction of the guard which only motivated me further.
Barely giving me any time to react, Caius was stood behind me, holding my right arm behind my back while his left hand grasped my chin tightly. Unsure of what to do, I threw my head backwards which caused me to head butt his chin forcefully. He groaned in pain and his grip loosened, opening up my window of opportunity.
I spun around him quickly so I was standing behind him and shoved him down to the ground face down so that I was sat on top of him.
Santiago's voice rang through the room. "1…2…3…4…no, he's getting up!"
Caius managed to stand back up to his feet, pushing me onto the ground in the process. He spun on his heel to face me and aimed a punch for my jaw which I narrowly missed. With a growl, he attempted to whack me to the ground with the other arm, but I somehow managed to jump up and perform a back aerial over his arm, sticking my landing perfectly.
As I was so shocked at my sudden perfect balance and coordination, I didn't manage to dodge a perfectly aimed punch to my jaw. I gasped out in pain and felt the cracks on my face with my hand, but before I could fight back, he had pinned me to the ground with his hands on my shoulders and his foot on my chest.
"1…2…3…4…5…"
I struggled out of his grasp but somehow he didn't so much as budge in the slightest. Even the yells of the guard and my mates beside me didn't seem to make a difference.
"…9…10. Caius wins this round!" Santiago announced.
Caius glanced over at Santiago before looking back at me with a smirk and helping me to my feet. I dusted myself off a little as he lightly kissed my forehead.
"What did I tell you?" he raised an eyebrow.
"No, you said you could beat me 'with ease'," I drew quote marks in the air for effect.
"Precisely. You are not bad at all for a newborn, carissima, but could still do with some further training," he shrugged and sat on the bench beside Aro.
"Who's next?" I clapped my hands together enthusiastically and stepped towards them.
"Is that maybe not enough sparring for today?" Marcus asked, gently running his finger across the faint crack across my jaw which was already almost fully healed.
"Oh no, I'm ready to go again. So, who's ready to have their ass kicked? - sorry, I meant butt."
Aro eagerly stood to his feet and lightly kissed my cheek, leading me back to the floor by my hand. "I would love to see you try."
Santiago began his usual countdown. "3…2…"
"Use his shorter height to your advantage, tesoro!" Marcus called.
"I am not short in any way, nor am I fond of that implication, brother," Aro snarled and averted his gaze back to me with a psychotic grin. Oh shit.
"…1…begin!"
I didn't hesitate to throw a punch aimed at Aro's face but he managed to duck out of the way with perfect timing. We continued to narrowly dodge each other's blows for a minute or so and I could feel the tension in the air as neither of us seemed to be making any progress.
Somehow, he managed to grab my shoulders and twist me around so that I was facing the other direction on my knees. He cupped my chin with his hand and tilted my face upwards to meet his, where he laughed mockingly at me below him.
With a low growl, I pushed myself up to the balls of my feet and placed my hands backwards on his shoulders, managing to back handspring over him in one swift movement. I landed on my feet behind him which allowed me to push his weight to the ground so that he was lying face down with me on top of him. I held both of his hands behind his back and sat on him so that my legs were either side of him, and now it was my turn to laugh mockingly at him.
"1…2…3…4…5…"
Then he did something no one saw coming. Since his hands were being held down underneath my weight, he took the opportunity to press the area between my thighs with two of his fingers. I let out a mortified gasp as he flung me off of him and I instantly turned around to Santiago.
"How the hell is that fair?!" I yelled.
"Sorry Mistress, there are no rules against intimate touches!" he shrugged.
While I was distracted, Aro grabbed my right arm and held it behind my back with his left. My rage getting the better of me, I viciously yanked myself away from him with a growl, but the sound of my growl was drowned out by his cry of agony.
I looked down at what was held in my right hand: Aro's forearm.
Aro was sat on the floor grimacing and groaning at the pain of the stump where his arm was. My eyes widened in horror as I quickly knelt down beside him and returned his arm to him.
"Oh my gosh, oh Aro baby, I'm so sorry-"
"It was an accident, cara mia," he managed to bite out.
"El, hate to break it to you but removing limbs is not quite the idea of sparring," Afton snarked from the corner, only to be whacked around the head by Chelsea.
I decided to ignore his comment for obvious reasons. "Someone call in Theodore!" I yelled to no one in particular as I apologetically ran my hand through Aro's hair and cupped his cheek.
Theodore appeared only a few seconds later carrying a small white case. Caius pulled me back so that he had space to work with while I nervously held his hand.
Examining Aro's arm quickly, Theo pulled a plastic brace out of the case which he used to strap Aro's arm back into position before placing a sling around his arm and shoulder.
"Not to worry, it is only a simple detachment. The limb should be fully reattached in approximately 20 minutes, but the sling is to ensure the severed arm heals correctly," Theo explained, "I will have some blood to assist the healing process sent up shortly."
"Thank you, Doctor," Marcus nodded his head in appreciation, to which Theo bowed and left as quickly as he entered.
It was only then that I truly realised just how painful it is to watch your mate in pain. The moment Theo left the room, I was back by Aro's side with my arms tightly wrapped around his shoulders. He pulled me onto his lap on the floor by my waist with his free arm and I nuzzled into the side of his neck.
"I'm so sorry baby, I should've been more careful, I-"
"There is no need to apologise, il mio amore," he assured, pressing a kiss to my shoulder.
Marcus stood above us with his arms crossed over his chest and a smile on his face. "When is it my turn then?"
"A-are you sure?" I asked, glancing pointedly at the already injured Aro. I really don't think I could deal with two injured mates.
"Of course, I promise to be careful," he reassured me and helped me back up to stand on my feet.
Caius helped Aro walk back over to the bench where they both sat down ready to watch the 6'3" hulk of man take on the 5'5" noticeably smaller and weaker girl. Marcus had never really struck me as a fighting kind of guy since he was just such a gentle and kind soul. But regardless, I prepared myself to have my ass kicked by him as I knew I stood little chance in anyway.
Santiago counted down as before. "3…2…1…begin!"
As soon as Santiago had spoken that final word, Marcus pinned me up against the wall by my neck startlingly easily. To get myself out of that situation, I decided to use the tactic Santiago had taught me and shove his arm away before grabbing his own neck and pushing off the wall with my feet so that he slammed backwards into the floor with an echoing bang.
Santiago's applause filled the room and even Marcus underneath me looked a little shocked at that move.
Not wasting any more time, Marcus instantly stood up with me and aimed a kick to my torso which I managed to avoid. This same pattern of dodging each other's hits continued until I manoeuvred myself so that I was stood behind him with his hands held behind his back.
Before I had the chance to lift my leg up and kick him to the ground, he hurled me over his shoulder and forcefully slammed me into the floor. Of course I didn't see, but everyone else in the room visibly cringed at the sound my weight made when it made impact with the floor.
With a knee on my chest to pin me firmly to the ground, Santiago began his countdown.
"1…2…3…4…"
"You are joking," I hissed as I writhed underneath the force of Marcus' knee which only made him laugh.
"…9…10! Marcus wins the round!"
With a chuckle, he lifted me back up off the ground and set me down on my feet. "You put up a good fight, il mio amore," he softly kissed my nose.
It was a few minutes after the training room had been dismissed after my sparring match with Marcus, and I was on my way back from the medical wing with a bag of blood. It took a lot to resist finishing it off myself, but the fact that it was for my mate put my instincts to feed below my instincts to protect.
Once I made it back to Aro's quarters, the door was wide open which was quite unlike him as he always enjoyed security and, well, solitude. Inside, he was sulking on his sofa with his posture slumped into the cushions and his injured arm propped up on a pillow. For some reason, he had World War Z playing on his TV but dubbed into Korean, not that he seemed to be paying much attention to what he was watching. His mind wandered, a lot.
"Hey, Aro? I have your blood bag," I held up the plastic bag, sitting down just beside him and kicking off my boots.
"Thank you, cara mia," he smiled half-heartedly and took the bag from me.
After ripping the bag open with his teeth, he sniffed the aroma of the blood inside and turned his nose up at it like a stubborn toddler. Instead of drinking it, he simply held it in his hand and studied the bag.
"Babe, it's good for you, come on, just drink it," I urged.
He sideways glanced at me and then back at the full bag of blood before quickly downing a gulp of the crimson liquid. Once he'd swallowed the mouthful, the corners of his mouth turned into a frown and I couldn't help but giggle at his childishness.
"What's wrong?" I laughed.
He held the bag out to me. "Try a sip."
Giving him a confused look, I hesitantly took the bag from him and swallowed a small sip of the blood, and suddenly I fully understood his issue with it. The blood tasted awful. The best way to compare it to human food would be to a sour lemon, only with a slightly rotting taste to it. I grimaced at it, and now it was his turn to laugh at me.
I handed it back to him. "What the hell is that stuff?"
He somehow managed to swallow another gulp. "To assist the healing process in immortals, the blood is laced with donated venom. It's absolutely vile, which is why I was so reluctant to drink it in the first place."
As quickly as possible, he downed the remaining blood but instantly pulled a face which looked like he regretted every decision he'd ever made in his life. I curled into his side with my head resting on his shoulder.
"Again, I'm sorry about your arm. I should've been more careful with you, this whole thing was a dumb idea-"
"There is no need to apologise, piccola," he sighed, wrapping his uninjured arm around my waist, "Admittedly, I played dirty and paid the price. Besides, you are only a newborn, so an accident like this was inevitable. I have suffered far worse injuries than this, I can assure you. For instance, I do believe I have been decapitated on three separate occasions."
"I wish I was there to kick the ass of anyone who even tried to hurt you," I muttered, nuzzling into his neck.
He wrapped his arm tighter around me while lightly purring. I found myself purring back as I hugged him as tightly as possible. After a minute or so, he flinched a little and I sat back up, concerned that I had hurt him.
He reached for his sling and the plastic brace, removing both of them in one swift move. To my surprise, his arm was now fully reattached without a scar in sight. He flexed his fingers a few times before turning to me with a grin.
"See? There is nothing to worry about."
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: I'm back with another update hehe.
This chapter's kinda a chaotic mess but I love it in anyway aha. I wasn't really sure theoretically how long a limb should take to fully reattach to a vampire but I just guessed roughly 20 minutes sounds about right.
Also, I know in a lot of these kinds of stories, the kings are always the ones to protect and care for their queen but I felt that a subtle gender reversal made sense. There is no room for sexism here haha, it's 2020.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because I love to hear your thoughts, stay safe, and ily lots!