Once the door was closed behind me, I slid down onto the floor and pulled my knees up to my chest, hot tears slowly dropping onto the light fabric of my skirt one by one. It didn't take long for the faint drops to grow to floods streaming down my face and smudging my mascara across my cheeks.
They didn't even give me a chance to explain, to apologise for worrying them. Why were they being like this? Why was I being locked away in my own home? At that point, I wanted nothing more than to be back at my actual home, regretting the decision I'd made to come here. What was I thinking? I didn't really belong in Italy, I was a pathetic weak human, no wonder they wanted to lock me up.
Stumbling to my feet, I decided to open my door in the faint hope that I would be able to at least leave my room, but alas both Santiago and Afton were stood directly in front of the door. Santiago turned around to me and cocked his head to the side confusedly.
"Um, can I leave?" I asked. Stupid question really, I knew the answer at this point.
"I'm afraid not, dude," Santiago gave me an apologetic look.
"Can I bribe you? I'll give you my credit card," I pleaded.
He sighed. "We've been put under strict orders to ensure you are kept inside this room for the next 72 hours."
My eyes widened in shock and I mumbled something completely incomprehensible.
"W-w-w-can you come in?"
A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Master Aro didn't explicitly order us not to."
I stepped to the side and pulled the door further open to allow Santiago and Afton in. Afton seemed much quieter and less bubbly than usual which put even more of a dampener on my mood.
Santiago studied my face quickly. "You have black marks on your face."
"I know," my voice was still slightly quivered.
"Just saying," he shrugged, sitting himself down on a beanbag beside Afton.
"How can you be so calm about this?"
"Hm?" Of course he wasn't listening.
"I've just been locked away in my room for the next three days like some kind of fucking zoo animal, and you're so calm about it like everything's handy-dandy!" I snapped, instantly regretting yelling at the only company I had for the next 72 hours, "Why am I here?"
"Well, the Masters thought you tried to run away. Of course, none of the guard believed it, but Rafael the shit-stirrer managed to convince them of it," Santiago explained.
"But why didn't Aro just touch my hand? Why were they acting so irrational?"
"Why Aro didn't touch your hand and use his ability, I don't know. Eli, you should've seen just how stressed they were when they didn't find you in here this morning. They weren't thinking straight at all, I'd never seen them like that. The guard were so worried about them, but also about what they'd do to you once you came back. But there's a reason they were acting so irrational."
There was an unnecessary pause. "You gonna tell me the reason or are we going to sit here and stare at each other?"
"Staring works," he tried to joke, but I wasn't in the mood for games which was made clear through my Caius-style scowl, "it's a long story, dude."
I wiped my nose with a tissue and raised an eyebrow at him. "Can you tell it in three days? If so, I'm all ears."
"I assume you've heard of the kings ex wives, Sulpicia and Athenodora?" he clarified.
"Yeah, the ones that moved to Thailand."
"Them," he nodded, "yes, many years ago, after Didyme's death, the queens decided to leave Volterra. They didn't feel there was anything left for them here. At the time, the Masters were still wildly in love with them and cared about them a lot, but they didn't care. They were sick of being with the kings, believing they could do better than them," that sentence on its own made me growl angrily, "so they left."
"What do you mean 'left'? They left? How?"
"One of the previous guards helped them escape. They were on the run for a few days, making it all the way to Cyprus before they were tracked by Demetri."
"Speaking of, where is Demetri? I thought he was the tracker around here yet Rafael came and sniffed us out?" I questioned.
"He's currently dealing with a rogue newborn in Sweden. Now, are you going to listen to the story or what?"
"I'm listening, geez," I groaned.
"Continuing, when the Masters found out they left, they were absolutely heartbroken that their loves had left them in the hopes for someone better. Once they were found, they were brought back to the castle and placed under high security to stop them from ever setting foot outside of these stone walls. That was one of the reasons they were locked in the tower with Corin. When the mate bond between them and the Masters did eventually break, they were let go, which was shortly before you came along actually."
"But true mate bonds are invincible…" I began.
"…yes, yes they are."
"…so will I be kept in the tower? For an eternity?" I instantly started to panic, my heart beating out of my chest.
"Eli, calm down, breathe properly," Santiago reassured. I hadn't even realised I wasn't breathing properly.
"How can you expect me to calm down," I inhaled sharply, "when I'm going to spend the rest of my existence rotting away in some kind of tower?!"
"Eli…"
"I'll never see the light of day again, oh my fucking god I've just kissed every ounce of freedom I had goodbye-"
"ELI!"
I jumped and turned to face him. He seemed absolutely exasperated with me at this point, and I didn't blame him. What the hell was happening to me? I just wanted this all to be over.
"I'm sorry for yelling, dude, but you're acting worse than the Masters. Try to stay sane," he half-heartedly laughed, "they won't lock you away or anything."
I sniffled. "And how would you know that, wise guy?"
"Because, not to sound cheesy, but they love you, and not like how they did their wives. They genuinely adore you, and they have that bond connecting you together. I bet even right now, they're having a complete emotional meltdown because of the stress you're putting yourself through."
"They deserve it for keeping me here like some kind of pet," I hissed.
"No comment," he sighed, "in their defence, they're only doing this because they were worried sick about you."
"And why? I was shopping with Chelsea and Corin, and my shopping bags are just over there," I pointed to the far corner near my laundry basket, "I would never want to run away from them, I can barely stand being away from them for a day, I-I…" I wanted to say I love them, but it didn't feel right in that moment.
"It was a misunderstanding. The other two thought you told someone about your girls trip and vice versa, leaving it to seem like they assisted you in escaping the castle."
"A-are they going to be punished?" I asked worriedly.
Afton sighed heavily but didn't say a word. Of course, it was his mate that was currently being partially blamed for this. Wow, I actually felt awful for him.
"They are currently in the dungeons with Jane. Their punishment is 1 hour of Jane's torture followed by 1 month of only being provided with bottled animal blood," he visibly cringed at the thought.
"That's awful," I stood up and headed for the door, "I've got to talk to the kings-"
Santiago grabbed my arm, not painfully but forcibly, pulling me back over to the edge of my bed. "No you don't, that's a really dumb idea, dude. They're having a crisis as it is, putting you there will only make it worse."
"What do I do? How do I fix this? God, this is all my fault-"
"For one, blaming yourself isn't going to help. We've been over this, it was all a misunderstanding. I'm sure the Masters will come around soon and instantly be at your knees begging for forgiveness."
I scoffed. "Yeah, and how long is that going to take?"
"After the 72 hours is over, just talk to them. Go up to them, say how sorry you are, how this was all a misunderstanding, just say what you told me," he instructed.
"And if that doesn't work?"
"Then you weren't seductive enough when you said it," he chuckled lightly.
"So what you're telling me to do is to seduce them, apologise, and hope everything turns out okay?"
He paused for a second. "Yes. Yes I am."
I flopped backwards onto my bed. "To think that, if I'd just forced Aro to touch my hand, we wouldn't be here right now."
"True, but they'd still be pretty angry nonetheless," Santiago fell back beside me.
"I've never seen Aro that angry before, it was terrifying. It felt like my heart actually stopped beating for a second, and suddenly I was unable to actually talk properly."
"He was angry because he thought you left him. That's why he didn't want to listen to your reasoning, because he didn't want to hear any excuses. They were all upset, and all because Rafael felt the need to stir shit as per usual."
"That man just can't help it," I tried to giggle but it came out pretty pathetic.
Afton suddenly stood to his feet and dashed out of the room, appearing back inside again after a few seconds. "I just checked and your mates are upset, really upset. More so with themselves than with you from the looks of things. Aro almost shattered his grand piano while trying to play a sad piece and he kept whispering the word 'idiot' and cursing himself, Marcus is sitting on his couch emotionlessly staring into the distance like a zombie, and Caius sliced a table in half with his fist before hurling the remnants across his quarters at a painting."
This was my fault, this was all my fault. Now that Afton had mentioned it, I could feel a sad tugging at my heart in three directions, subtly bringing me to tears. The bond was urging me to go to them and to be with them, to support them, but I knew that wasn't an option. What had I done to them? All because I wanted to go on a goddamn shopping trip, I'd broken the people who were the most important to me.
"I want to go to them," I whispered solemnly, "I want to be with them."
"You can't, I'm sorry dude. Only three more days, and we'll be here with you though the whole thing," Santiago reassured me.
"Ugh, you're the best older brothers I never signed up for that I could ever ask for," I hugged him briefly which he clearly hated, "I'm sorry that Chelsea got roped into this, Afton."
"It's not your fault. I feel worse for you, having to listen to your true mates be put through this," he shot an apologetic look.
I sighed a trembled breath. "I just want things back to how they were. I want them back."
Author's note: I know I'm currently everyone's least favourite person in the world for the last chapter I posted, I'm sorryyyyy. Anyway, there was a reason for the kings to be acting so strangely to this whole thing, and I hope this chapter answered a lot of the questions you had about their reactions. I'm quite enjoying writing in this sibling-style relationship with Santiago and Afton though.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because I love reading your opinions, stay safe, and ily lots!