Chapter 4

"Caius's wife was murdered, Caius was furious and avenged her with his own hands but as all the kings do if their wife is killed, he has moved on." Felix said. "Marcus was very amused when he decided you would have rubies, it seems either Caius thinks you have great abilities or he wishes to make you his wife."

"Maybe he made a mistake." I said, there was no way Caius would want me as his wife and I didn't have any special power.

"Caius doesn't make many mistakes." Felix replied.

"Well, he's just made one, I don't have any special powers and if he did want me like that he's an idiot." I growled, annoyed. He laughed at me. "What's so funny?" I demanded.

"It's got something to do with the fact that he's behind us." I froze, he was lying, he had to be lying. I spun around to face Caius slowly, this could not end well. I stood silently, unsure of what to say.

"So you think I'm an idiot Isabella?" Caius said, with an amused look on his face.

"No! No, I - um... Well, we were talking and I was speaking hypothetically! I didn't mean to say you were an idiot!" I rambled as Felix stood next to me trying his best not to laugh. Caius nodded.

"Meet me in my room." Caius said, before disappearing, as soon as he was gone Felix fell to the floor laughing.

"Your face!" He gasped, I kicked him.

"Get up." I grumbled, if I had been human I would have been bright red by now. Felix stood up and continued to laugh at me. "Oh, shut up." I groaned.

"Awhh, is little Isabella all embarrassed?" He teased, I rolled my eyes.

"What are you five?" I demanded, he laughed again.

"Do I look five?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You're annoying." I replied, shaking my head. "Now which way is his room?" I questioned.

"Go back to your room, then follow the hall and go upstairs. His room is up there." Felix smiled. "I told you he liked you." He commented.

"You sound like such a girl! And he doesn't like me!" I grumbled.

"Sure, he doesn't, you have fun in his room." Felix smirked. "I hear his bed is meant to be quite comfy." He laughed.

"I swear you're gay." I muttered. "I bet you know how comfy it is!" Felix laughed.

"Just go find out." He replied, pushing me along, I turned around smacking him round the back of the head. I started walking toward Caius's room, shaking my head.

"I swear, I'll get you later, Felix!" I yelled back to him. I smiled to myself; I think I could safely say that Felix was my friend, even if he could be damned annoying.

Eventually, I reached the bottom of the stairs that led to Caius's room, I took a deep breath and headed up them, I moved at a human pace. I was nervous, not because of anything that Felix had said, it was because I'd called him an idiot and I knew the volturi punished their guard if they did not conform to the rules. I was pretty sure insulting one of the kings was not in the rules. I stopped at the door and knocked lightly, maybe he wasn't there and I wouldn't have to talk to him.

"Come in." Caius called. I opened the door and stepped inside closing the door behind me.

Caius was sitting at a large desk that was placed to my left, the desk was a pale color close to the color of the cream walls, I glanced around. There was a bed in the far corner, the covers were creased as if someone had actually slept in it recently, the right side of the room was lined with shelves. The shelves were filled and overflowing with books, journals and what looked like old video tapes. A small crossed my face as I imagined Caius sitting watching TV or doing something modern, he just seemed so old fashioned to me.

I knew he was watching me as I looked around his room, rooted to my spot by the door; I wanted to be able to make a swift exit as quickly as possible. Caius gestured to the chair next to his desk.

"Come, Sit down, Isabella." He said, smiling at me. I resisted the urge to shiver, there was something about Caius that worried me, I didn't know what it was. I walked over to Caius and sat down, silently.

"Why did you want to become one of us?" Caius asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, did he mean part of the volturi or a vampire?

"Why did you want to join the volturi?" He said, I sighed.

"I needed somewhere to go." I replied, it was true I suppose. I couldn't have stayed in forks.

"You could have gone to live with your mother." He pointed out, I shook my head.

"She travels a lot." I stated hoping this would be a good enough excuse.

"So you didn't join us because Edward left you?" Caius inquired, the mention of his name caused a stirring of emotion inside me and within seconds the pain from earlier re-appeared, I clutched my chest and groaned in pain. Caius watched me for a moment before realizing that the pain wasn't going to stop, he held a look of confusion on his face. I hissed in agony as I felt the pain inside my chest amplify. Caius placed a hand on my arm.

"Calm down." He said, gently. I shook my head violently, mentally begging for the pain to stop. I couldn't take it. "Isabella. Concentrate on something else." He ordered, I tried to stop thinking about the pain, about him but I couldn't do it. I was in so much pain.

"I-I can't!" I gasped, having fallen off my chair now, I writhed in agony on the floor, clutching at my chest, I started to claw at my own skin. Caius pulled me up restraining me, I attempted to get him off in a blind rage caused by the pain but he was too strong.

Finally, my breathing slowed, the pain subsided and I calmed down. Caius let me go and I fell back into the chair, I looked up at Caius watching me with an unreadable expression across his face. He was probably having second thoughts about having me turned, about having me in the guard.

"I'm sorry." I said, breaking the silence that hovered between us as he looked into my eyes.

"We will need to find a way of turning that pain into anger, in a fight people will find out about your weaknesses. If we can turn your weakness into an advantage, you could be an amazing fighter. You are extremely strong, dear." Caius said, still not breaking eye contact.

"I'm a newborn; newborns are meant to be stronger than older vampires, aren't they?" I asked, He nodded.

"You are not a normal newborn. Most newborns wouldn't have been that strong and usually newborns would have fed by now. Mostly they would have barely any memory of their human life, were as you seem to remember yours perfectly." Caius commented. I shrugged, if it was up to me I wouldn't remember my human life at all. "I'm not saying this is a bad thing Isabella." Caius said, placing a hand on my arm again.

"I know." I said quietly, attempting to shrug off his hand.

"Jane should be back soon with your crest." Caius smiled. "It will look wonderful on you, Isabella." I looked down, avoiding his glaze; he wouldn't look away from me. His hand was suddenly under my chin, lifting my head to face him. "What are you hiding for?" he asked.

"I'm not..." I answered nervous. I moved around in my seat, uncomfortable, he hadn't moved his hand. He pulled me to him quickly, making us both stand up, I started to panic and pulled away but he didn't let go and pulled me close to him again. What could I do? "Let go." I whispered a hint of fear in my voice.

Caius shook his head. "I know you want this," He smiled, holding me close to him with one hand while brushing a stray strand of hair off my face with the other. "You could be my queen." I shook my head, violently.

"No, No." I repeated. "I don't want this."

"I want to give you a new life; no one would ever hurt you again." Caius said.

"No." I said confidently, pushing him away. I caught a glimpse of the anger in his eyes then and realized what a big mistake I was making. I could have said I would think about this, that I needed time but no, I had to go and make him angry.

"Isabella, remember who you are speaking to." He nearly growled, I felt the anger building up inside me. He had no right to talk to me like that, I didn't want him. I don't care who he is. The rational part of me kicked in then, I needed to get out of this situation and I needed to calm down Caius.

"I'm sorry," I forced myself to say. "I just need some time to think about this." I said, looking down. Caius let go of me finally and I took a step back toward the door, I needed to get out of here.

"I hope you know that I can make things bad for you here as well as good." Caius stated. "I know of the bond between you and Alec." I looked up at him confused; I had a bond with Alec? I'd only met him once.

"I don't know what you mean..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"You will soon." Caius hissed. "Now leave and do not speak of this to anyone." I nodded, I didn't need telling twice and I rushed out the door, quickly closing it behind me and rushing to my room.

I slammed the door behind me as I entered and fell back onto my bed. Why, oh why, did he have to be interested in me? He could have anyone else, just not me. I couldn't love again and even if I did, it would not be him. Another question that ran through my mind was, what had he meant when he said I had a bond with Alec? He said I'd find out soon but I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Authors Note: Hey, I'd love to know what you think! :)

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.

William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)