Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for a reason.
Chpt 29 Some Explaining to Do
BPOV
Oh shit, oh shit. What does this mean? It can't be true. How?
Even though Gus is smiling at me, relaxed an' happy, I slam my shield up around him.
"JASPER!" I scream in panic.
Within moments The Major thunders into the clearing with murder in his black eyes.
"What's happenin'?" He demands as the others charge into view.
Before I can answer Matthew flings himself at me. "Release my father!" He screams.
The Major reaches out catching him around the throat an' slamming him effortlessly into the dirt. "Now, now, son. If Bella is usin' her shield I'm sure she has a good reason."
"Matthew, please." Gus interjects. "I am perfectly safe, Bella will not harm me."
I growl, he seems awfully sure for a lying, cheating, son of a bitch who wants to kill us.
"Bella." He continues quietly. "I am most impressed at your deductive reasoning and I perfectly understand why you are angry but I promise you, I mean you and your family no harm at all. My motivations are largely as already stated."
I snort an' Gus sighs heavily.
"Can somebody please tell me what the fuck is goin' on?" Pete demands roughly.
"Ask Caius Ofonius Tigellinus, Princeps Volturi." I snarl.
"What?" Pete gasps.
"Caius an' Gaius are the same name in Latin." The Major responds quietly. "Always pronounced with a C in the old language, it's quite common now to pronounce the G. Caius Ofonius Tigellinus, Prince of Volturi. Caius Volturi."
"What?" Pete gasps again.
Gus rolls his eyes an' despite the tension I almost titter, he hates things having to be repeated.
"Bella is implyin' that Gus is Caius Volturi." The Major explains patiently. "But darlin' you've got it wrong, I've seen him. Carlisle's seen him."
"Jonathan." I growl. "He says he can't very often alter people's perceptions of him because it's hard. But it's only hard because he expends most of his energy changin' people's perceptions of Gus."
Jonathan smiles an' nods.
"But he can't alter mine." I explain, turning to The Major. "And I finally remembered the painting in Carlisle's office."
"An' you're not forty years old." I spin back to face Jonathan accusingly.
"Nope." He shakes his head enthusiastically, his grin stretched impossibly wider. "More like seven hundred an' forty."
"And you?" I turn my attention to Carla.
She giggles. "Dumb waitress, just as advertised."
"But you knew." I accuse.
"Only when we were leaving to come to New York, they told me everything."
"And you?" I ask Matthew. "Don't tell me you're a member of the guard as well?"
"No." He growls, still angry with me for restraining Gus an' clamped to the ground by The Major's big hand. "I'm just some poor fucked up asshole Gus tries to help. I didn't know anything about it until we left for New York either."
Finally I turn to Harry, a third strike in the mother figure department an' I realise suddenly my track record in that area is why I've deliberately spent so little time with her.
"I'm sorry Bella, Whitlocks, I've always known. Gus has never been anything but completely honest with me." She says sadly.
With a sigh I turn my attention back to Gus. I'm pretty sure I can hold my simple shield an' any others I might need to throw up but I still feel like I'm holding a tiger by the tail. Caius Volturi? I don't understand but clearly I am right, no one has denied it.
"I suppose it's too much to ask that you tell the truth now?" I ask, hating that my voice sounds small an' scared.
"No." Gus answers with a reassuring smile. "I always knew you would either work it out or need to be told eventually. Now is as good a time as any."
I glance at The Major who releases Matthew an' sinks down to sit cross legged on the grass. "Since you have the situation under control Bella I think we should hear him out."
He pushes calm across the gathering an' everybody except me visibly relaxes but I sit down beside him anyway at a loss for what else to do. Immediately everyone does the same, just like our first meeting. Matthew is the last to sit, still giving me the stink eye.
"This should be good." I mutter sourly.
"I was Sicilian by birth." Gus begins ignoring my surly attitude. "I worked my way up the Roman military hierarchy in the usual way, heroic deeds, strategic wins, treachery and murder. I was also a bit of a ladies man, Caligula's sisters were rather lovely and well worth being banished for I should say in honour of their memory."
His eyes twinkle and Harry giggles quietly.
"Of course I didn't change myself, I had known Aro for quite a while without suspecting what he was. We did know about vampires in those days by the way. He faked my suicide and spirited me away to be changed just before the new emperor, Otho, was going to execute me.
They were very idealistic in those early days, my brothers, Aro in particular had a keen insight into human affairs and a particular dislike of the Romanian's casually savage approach to the ruling of vampires. He foresaw that a more roman, civilised style of rule would be required to protect our kind. And he was right."
He chuckles.
"I was more of the family attack dog, which is of course why he wanted me, a brother at arms to supply the military might he would require to execute his plans. For many centuries I happily continued to be the venal and cruel man I had always been, hence my somewhat unsavoury reputation which I have never tried to correct. Being an asshole, as you would call it does have some benefits, people generally think very carefully before they cross me, which makes for an easier life.
I am not sure when I started to change. For all my faults I am a very observant man and a keen student of human/vampire nature. Over the years it dawned on me that power was making my brothers more like me and this vexed me for some reason. It was okay for me to be a monster but not for them, I realised I wanted, expected, more from them. It had been their idea to overthrow the world order and create a better one and yet over time their behaviour was becoming more and more like the Romanians.
I may have cheated and murdered my way into the position of Praefectus but I also got their by being an exceptional military leader and to be that your men have to want to fight for you. Aro's usual methods of getting vampires to join the ranks of The Volturi were anathema to me. And while I had always enjoyed vigorously punishing wrongdoers I began to question fabricating their wrong doing in advance.
Aro's gifted vampires also offended me, as a military man I believe that battles should be fought by men who believe in the cause they fight for, not by gifts that incapacitate, or inflict pain en masse. They are impressive and useful to be sure, but frankly I think it's cheating, like nuclear weapons and smart bombs, there would be far fewer wars if the people who start them had to take up a sword in order to do so.
Over time I became more and more disillusioned. Or as Harry puts it, I grew up and developed a conscience. When Aro killed Marcus's wife in order to keep him with us it became clear that if I wanted to use the boon of eternity to be a better man I would have to do it elsewhere.
And so I left. Not completely at first. I had always spent a great deal of time travelling the world on campaigns and reconnaissance so for many, many years I continued to do so taking only trusted members of the guard with me and returning only when Aro had a particular need for me, sometimes as Gaius, Head of the Guard and sometimes as Caius, Prince of Volturi. I was away so often no one really noticed the difference. Over time the members of the guard gradually changed and there were fewer and fewer who knew who I really was. Aro wanted to keep me but as I had no mate and my own loyal supporters he was powerless to act. Then.
After several centuries we finally sat down and negotiated a 'divorce' settlement of sorts. Aro could not afford for others to know that he was without his military brother and I still held enough regard for him not to leave him in that vulnerable position."
He pauses, looking around at all of us.
"My divorce from The Volturi was my final act of butchery and betrayal. All members of the existing guard who knew me were murdered save for two, Jonathan and Demetri. Demetri, as my most able lieutenant remand behind to command the guard and Jonathan, as you know, came with me to the new world. To everyone else left in Volterra and to new comers I am simply Gaius, former head of the guard.
Five times in each century Aro may call on me to attend to business and when he does I go, or else Demetri's life will be forfeit.
And Jasper, you have seen me, during The Southern Wars, but now you are seeing me as Jonathan wishes. At that time we could not manipulate my appearance as there were several vampires involved who knew me as Caius and would have suspected an imposter, it would have been too complex. Jonathan's skill has grown since then and he is able to be more selective in its application. It is a nuisance when I am forced to reveal myself."
"Sorr-ee." I mutter petulantly.
"I meant when I am on official business Bella." Gus says calmly. "The rest is as I described. I met my mate and started a family. I am Gus Jones, Caius Volturi is dead. Jonathan, if you please?"
The Major, Pete an' Char gasp but of course he doesn't look any different to me.
"So that's why Carlisle didn't recognise you." Pete whistles.
"No." Gus chuckles. "I was away on business while Carlisle was in Volterra, he has never met me. Only Gaius."
"The trick." Jonathan says smugly. "Is to change as little as possible."
There is a very long silence.
"I don't understand." The Major says eventually. "How is it that no one realises you are gone?"
"Aro changed an actor who resembles me in appearance. Demetri runs things and Caius swans about being vile to everyone. Hence the recent changes to my reputation which paint me as a vicious wastrel living on his past glories. It is that Caius who became interested in the fights but it was only I who ever attended them."
"About that." I interject, I have to know. "Did you really want to fight Jasper?"
"No." He gazes deep into my eyes, he looks sincere. "I am not a stupid man. When Hargreaves informed me about the fights he sent along Aro's request to investigate if they could be in any way beneficial to The Volturi. I went, disguised, as one of my official duties under the agreement. I feigned interest in fighting for the sake of my reputation and eventually Rutilio revealed that The Major was still alive."
"You said Rutilio introduced you to Jenks." I accuse him hotly.
"He had already introduced Gus Jones to Jenks, remember Jonathan can change my appearance."
"But not your scent." I press.
"Oops." Jonathan giggles like a girl.
"You can change his scent as well?" Pete asks.
"Yes." Jonathan nods. "It's another sense, like sight."
Immediately Pete retches an' clamps his hands over this nose.
"What the fuck was that?" He gasps.
"Strong cheese, I think." Jonathan replies smugly.
"Fuckin' hell." Pete chuckles. "That's a weapon all on its own!"
"I can only do that on one nose at a time for the moment." Jonathan laughs. "But I'm working on it."
"Can you make people hear things too?" Char asks.
"No. But I keep trying, I might be able to do it one day."
"I'm surprised Aro let you take Jonathan." The Major observes dryly.
Gus shrugs. "How much would you really want to keep him if you distrusted his loyalty, knowing he can make himself invisible and alter his own and other people's appearance?"
"More than I'd want him to leave with someone who doesn't like me." The Major mutters darkly.
"To get back to your question Bella, Rutillio told me that The Major was part of a plot by Stefan to attack The Volturi. Naturally I agreed to his suggestion that luring The Major into a fight was the best way to gain access to that plot and I played the part of eagerly anticipating the match. I wanted to interrogate The Major before revealing anything to Hargreaves or Aro but of course that never happened and so they were never informed about it. When Rutilio reluctantly and somewhat nervously informed me that he was dead I decided to let the matter drop. None of my business as you would say."
That explains why The Volturi haven't already hunted down and destroyed The Whitlocks.
"So, if you had told Aro that Stefan was plotting against him at the time what would he have done?" I ask.
"Commanded Demetri or I to lead an all-out offensive against Stefan and Vladimir."
"Do Hargreaves or Aro know your identity as Gus Jones?"
"Yes, but Hargreaves knows me only as Gaius, he has no idea who I really am."
"But Aro does?"
"Yes." Gus raises his eyebrow at me. "Bella where are you going with this?"
"Well we haven't talked about what we're goin' to do next but we're all making certain assumptions, time to prepare, small force of Volturi sent to capture us, evidence of our innocence an' Rutilio's guilt ready to go. Right?"
"Yes." And a chorus of nods.
"So when Rutilio tells Hargreaves that Gus Jones and his extended coven have been plotting with Stefan what will happen?"
"He will act quickly and decisively with everything that he has." Gus says quietly. "He dare not risk me being prepared to go against him."
"Exactly."
See, I don't need Jonathan's gift to get a shocked gasp out of my audience.