"Buongiorno, il mio amore."
I groaned, pressing myself into Marcus' side with a yawn. "When did I fall asleep?"
"Approximately two minutes after you claimed you were 'thriving'," he teased, attempting to get up from the bed while I refused to move off of him, "tesoro, the day has already started. I have paperwork to do."
"I don't care, you're too comfortable," I murmured with my face flat against his torso.
He checked his wristwatch. "Alright, I may be able to spare ten minutes, but then I do need to start working," he chuckled.
"You're the best," I mumbled.
"I will ensure Aro and Caius are made aware of that."
I slapped him lightly across the chest. "No you won't, don't make me have to deal with your immaturity again. I mean, what the hell were you thinking?" I laughed.
"What were we thinking? That Caius got the privilege of seeing you in bed first, and we both desired the same," he answered honestly.
I paused for a second. "It's crazy how fast I've fallen for you. I mean, when you actually think about it, how much time have I really spent with you, considering I've already slept with Caius? It's a little…almost disturbing how quickly this whole relationship is moving."
"Bellissima, if you feel uncomfortable with anything-"
"No, no, not at all. I was just never really 'lucky in love' or whatever. Noah, as you've already met and executed, was my first boyfriend, and even then we were together for a year and I felt too uncomfortable to ever kiss him," I explained.
"You had never kissed anyone before?" Marcus asked in surprise.
"No, not until I came here," I shrugged.
He pressed his lips to the top of my head. "I honestly never would have guessed, you are a natural."
"I'll put it on my CV. I'm thinking 'Eliana Arrowood. Queen of vampires. Natural kisser according to Marcus, King of vampires.'"
He laughed softly, wrapping his arm around me tighter. "The reason for the speed of your relationship with us is the bond. I do not mean to sound…I believe people nowadays say 'cheesy', but you were made for us, you are our other half. True mates are fate's way of connecting two beings that are perfect for each other, and somehow you are perfect for all three of us."
"So, has three mates ever happened before?" I asked.
"I have been researching this recently. In fact, no, the most mates any one being has been reported to have is two, and that was over two thousand years ago. You, tesoro, are an exception. There being three of us is the sole reason you feel mating pulls as a human, due to the fact that there are three gold bonds connected to your heart at once."
"Gold?"
"The colour of a true mate tie is gold, mate is silver, friendship is yellow, family is emerald, love is red, and hatred is blue. Bonds are often mixtures of different ties woven together. For example, your bond with Isabella Swan is quite interesting. It contains yellow, red, one very thin blue strand, and oddly enough, one even thinner silver strand."
"But silver is…" I looked at him weirdly. Me and Bella weren't mated, that was messed up, what the hell?
"If you two had ever decided to form a relationship of that nature, your bond would allow it-"
"Let me stop you right there. I am not, I repeat, am NOT forming a romantic relationship with my best friend," I drew my eyebrows together in disgust.
"That is not at all what I was suggesting. Merely, if you had feelings for each other before meeting us, a mating bond could have develop between you-"
"Please stop," I cringed.
"Okay, I will," he chuckled, "but it is true."
"I don't care. I can't believe I'm even needing to say this...there is absolutely no way I am ever falling in love with Bella."
"I did not think so, Aro informed me that you are heterosexual. But, if you had-"
"But I didn't, and I never will," I couldn't get that image out of my head, "can we please stop talking about this?" I whined.
"Good idea. If Caius was to see or hear of that bond, he would have an utter meltdown," he mused.
"I can imagine," I giggled, stretching and rolling off of him, "I'd best get ready for the day."
"That is the spirit," he encouraged half-heartedly.
Lazily, I stood up from his bed, wandering back out of his quarters. "Enjoy your paperwork, Marcus!"
I was lying down on my stomach on my larger than king-sized bed, messaging Bella. I hadn't really been in contact with her much since I left, so it felt right that I reached out now. All I needed to do was to think of a way to start a conversation without seeming desperate but also making it seem like I wanted to talk to her. After hesitating for a while, I sent the message.
Hey Bells! How is youuu?
Corin suddenly burst in, closely followed by Chelsea and Renata. She was dressed in a dusty pink colour cropped halter neck top and black shorts, while Chelsea wore a pair of burgundy leggings and a black sports bra. Renata however literally looked like she'd just stepped off the runway in a pair of black vinyl leggings which hugged her hourglass figure, black heeled ankle boots, and a crimson blouse which was tied up in the middle, exposing her pale skin.
"Can I help you?" I raised an eyebrow.
Corin jumped up and down on the spot excitedly. "Afton told us you dance, so we're taking you down to the dance studio!" she squealed.
My phone buzzed and I picked it up from my throw blanket to see the message.
All things considered, ok I guess, what about youuu?
I'm great, just checking because of, you know, the newborns and all that
"…Eli!"
"Sorry, just messaging Bella," I laughed awkwardly.
"So, are you going to dance in that," Chelsea glanced pointedly at my jeans and tank top from the day before, "or what?"
"Oh yeah, give me a sec."
I hopped up from my bed and bustled over to my wardrobe. Fortunately, I guess Aro had seen that I danced already as my wardrobe was pretty well stocked with exercise outfits. I pulled out my red dance team hoodie from my suitcase, which I'd forced my mother to pay extra for so that "Eli" would be printed on the back, a pair of black leggings, and a grey cropped t-shirt.
After quickly changing in the bathroom, I was met with an excited squeal from Chelsea. "No. Way."
I looked around before fixing my gaze back on her ruby red eyes. "What?"
"You were on a dance team?"
"Um…yeah? I wasn't that good, and I was only ever given one solo. Why is that so exciting?" I giggled.
"Because I've always dreamed of being on a dance team. You see, when you're a vampire who works for the Volturi, it's a miracle to actually be allowed to dance, forget about be on a team."
"That's…actually really sad, I'm sorry," I laughed before turning around to Renata, "I love your outfit by the way, but how exactly are you planning on dancing in that?"
"Those two," she gestured to the immature duo of Chelsea and Corin, "are the ones who dance. I usually just watch or coach from a distance, pointing out flaws in technique."
Without any warning, Corin lifted me up horizontally. "This saves time, I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," I groaned with my arms crossed.
I felt wind rushing around my head while I squeezed my eyes closed. I'd made the mistake of keeping my eyes open one time when Alice had decided to demonstrate how fast she could run, and Carlisle had to give me eye drops which I had to reapply every two hours because my eyeballs had become so sore and inflamed. Not exactly my best moment.
After a few seconds of running, I was placed down in what I remembered to be the dance studio. All of the walls were painted white except one wall at the front which acted as a mirror. Considering how dark and depressing most of the castle was, this room was one of not many rooms which were open-plan. Felix, Santiago, and Alec were already settled down in the corner of the room for whatever reason.
"What are you doing?" I asked them. Did they dance? I would pay good money to watch Santiago doing ballet.
"Playing go fish, want to join?" Santiago offered.
"Nah, I'm off to dance. Continue playing your nerdy little game," I joked, sticking my tongue out at them before going to rejoin the others.
"Can you do a leg hold?" Chelsea asked just as both her and Corin did so simultaneously.
"Um, I haven't, you know, stretched in a few weeks, but…" By some miracle, I managed to hold my right leg up above my head.
This pattern of randomly stretching went on for a while, to the point where Renata was pushing on the small of my back while I tried to do the middle splits. It turned out that vampires are also scarily-flexible, Alec demonstrating by proving to Chelsea that he could still do an over split, which disturbingly enough he could.
I spent the next hour tumbling, as my coach was always making fun of me for my terrible form. Again, apparently vampires can tumble crazily-fast as well, to the point where my round-off back handsprings looked like they were in slow-motion compared to theirs.
"Oh my word, we should do a handstand competition," Chelsea suggested.
"Yes, I love that idea!" Corin squealed excitedly.
"This can't end well," Renata muttered under her breath.
Felix went over to the far corner of the room and plugged in his iPod. "Here's the deal. I will act as the judge in this, so if you're form is terrible," he aimed that at me, "or if you mess up, you're out."
"Who put you in charge?" I snarked jokingly.
He ignored my comment, instead blaring 'We Found Love' by Rihanna out of the massive speaker. I'd been forced to join them in their little competition, which I knew wasn't going to end well, but I reluctantly agreed nonetheless. The first minute or so wasn't too bad, minus the constant wobbling, but after that, I begun to get head-rush and my head was throbbing uncomfortably. What didn't help was Felix's running commentary, which included "Eli's face is going red, is it because she's angry, embarrassed, or upside down?". I responded to him with "shut your pie hole, Felix" and I rolled out and onto my back on the floor, completely out of breath.
Before I'd even realised it, a pair of arms scooped me up off the floor, and yelped in fright before I looked up so that my gaze met Aro's.
"That was impressive, for a human that is," he mused.
"How long can vampires hold a handstand for then?" I asked him while he sat me down on the floor against the wall on his lap, Caius on my left and Marcus on my right. How long had they been sitting there for?
"Hours if necessary," Caius informed me.
I looked down at my chest to be met with a girl's worst nightmare; boob sweat. All I needed was a shower, and the fact that I was surrounded by my super-hot mates while looking an absolute sweaty mess wasn't preferable.
Aro chuckled lightly. "Do not worry about your appearance, cara mia. We actually came here to discuss a private matter with you. Shall we take this to my office?"
Shit, what did I do?
"You have done nothing wrong," he answered my unasked question, "this is simply an issue that would come up regardless, sooner or later."
Aro stood up and helped me to my feet in the process, followed by Caius and Marcus. I stumbled out with them, now absolutely dog-tired after that workout I'd been put through. It got to the point where I only made it a few metres before halting in my tracks, my shoulders slumped over.
"Tired?" Marcus turned around and chuckled.
"It's not funny, can you carry me please?" I whined like a stubborn child.
"Can you not walk yourself?"
"No it's too far, it's all the way down the stairs and along the corridor and then along that other corridor," I groaned, gesturing wildly.
Rolling his eyes, he instantly swept me off my feet and had me held on his side above his hip as if I was a small child, which was only possible due to our startling height difference. Caius seemed far from amused as he walked just behind us down the spiralled staircase
"It really is not that far, Eliana," he sighed.
"Yes it is, look I'm tired okay?" I whined again.
"I heard the first time."
"You see?" Aro began as we got to his office and he opened the door, "not far at all."
Once we got in, Marcus placed me down on Caius' lap while he took up the seat on the opposite side of the sofa, Aro sat comfortably in the middle as he mindlessly twisted a strand of my hair around his finger.
"So, you may be wondering…"
I couldn't pay attention to the rest of his sentence at all, due to the fact that Caius had placed his hand on the inside of my thigh and was gently massaging between my legs. His other hand was wrapped around my waist tightly so I couldn't move my hips at all, and I had to bite down on my lip hard to suppress a moan.
"Not now, brother, there is a time and a place for pleasuring Eliana," Aro spoke coldly, a slight pang of jealousy in his tone.
Did he really just say 'pleasuring'? That's laughable honestly. But how did he- oh, my thoughts. So he's listening to this entire conversation I'm having with myself? Oh. Hey Aro, stop being nosy and let go of my ankle, your constant use of your ability is just a little off-putting, no offence, love you.
He instantly removed his cold hand from the exposed skin of my ankle with a smirk on his face. "Your inner thoughts are quite hilarious, I have never seen anything like it," he laughed, "As I was saying, we are here to discuss your transformation."
My heart rate instantly sped up. "Oh," was all I got out.
"Do not fret, tesoro. We do not want to put any pressure on you, this is simply a topic we should get out of the way earlier," Marcus reassured me.
"Quite right," Aro continued, "we thought it a good idea to wait until you are twenty one years old to change you. That way, you will have reached full maturity, and you will still have just over three years of humanity left to live. During that time, you will be kept on extra supervision due to your…fragility. Is that okay with you?"
"Um…yeah, that works, it's just a lot to take in at once," I stumbled on my words nervously.
"Of course, I would imagine so," Aro sympathised, "I was in a very different scenario when my own transformation occurred."
"What was your transformation like, then?" I asked curiously.
He sighed. "It is a long story, cara mia."
"I literally have all day, unless you have somewhere to be," I shrugged.
"Okay, I will tell you from the very beginning, and I will try to make this as simple as possible. When I was a young human, I was born in ancient Greece in the 1300s B.C. The reason there is no set date is simply due to the ever-changing calendar systems. I was raised in a very wealthy family of high status, along with my younger sister, Didyme," At this, Marcus' face seemed to turn solemn suddenly, "My family were closely connected to the royalty in Athens at the time, which was the reason for our excessive wealth.
"When I became the age I have been frozen in eternally," he gestured to himself, the physical age of what I assumed to maybe be his mid-thirties, "there came a man who claimed he had the elixir of immortality. I, the naïve, wealthy, greedy man I was, decided to purchase this elixir, but I was told that the man had to administer this himself. He refused to show his face or reveal his identity, and to this day I have no idea who this mystery vampire was. I was transformed by him, and when I woke up three days later, I unfortunately went on a rampage through the village nearby, slaughtering most of the population. After that, I became a nomad for many years before encountering Marcus," he gestured to the now worryingly depressed-looking Marcus, "and that was the beginning of the Volturi coven."
Slightly concerned about Marcus at this point, I moved over from Caius' lap onto his, hugging him as tightly as I was able to. He slipped out of his dazed state and made brief eye contact with me before wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me as close to him as he could without hurting me, as if to stop me from leaving his side.
"Are you okay?" I asked him sympathetically.
"I am fine, tesoro," he spoke deeply, much less spritely than he usually was.
I could tell something was up, but I didn't want to pry. Clearly there was something in Aro's back story that hurt Marcus so I made a mental note to not bring the subject up again. I held Marcus' head to my shoulder as he began to purr out of contentment. For some reason, seeing him upset hurt me so much, tugging painfully at my heart.
Author's note: I don't really plan on having the whole 'Aro killed Didyme' thing in this fanfic as that would hurt Marcus so much and writing about him being sad makes me sad ahhh. I just thought it would be extra reason for Marcus to be protective over Eli.
Anyways, another update-a-day yay, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback, stay safe, and ily lots!