5. REVOLUTION
When Eleazar and Santiago returned to the turret, Aro was anxious to learn what this new vampire could add to his mission. Santiago looked like Eleazar in that they shared the same olive skin tone and they both had black hair, but Santiago was much larger in stature. He was thick all the way around and looked quite intimidating, even to other vampires. He wore all black and his dark cloak brushed against the floor. He carried two scrolls under his arm. His facial expression never strayed away from serious.
"This is Santiago," Eleazar introduced.
Aro gave him a friendly smile and waved them over closer. "Come friend; share with us your thoughts."
Santiago's large figure knelt in front of Aro and he pulled the scrolls out from under his arm and unraveled them.
"What have we here?" Aro queried.
"These are lists of the Romanian coven leaders and some of their guard, including their known talents. If we study this, we can find their weaknesses and decide how to attack," Santiago answered in a gruff voice.
Aro's eyes widened in disbelief. "I did not know such documents existed!" He reached his hand forward and Santiago handed him the scrolls. "This is wonderful!" he gasped as he studied the newfound information. The first scroll had a list of the Romanian Leaders and their talents, and their wives. The second had a partial list of their body guards with their known talents. The leader's talents were already well known as they had been around for centuries and the use of their special abilities had been seen. However, their body guards changed quite often so to get a current list was very useful.
The Romanian Coven
Lucian- Has the ability to control the will of another being, but only one person at a time.
Eveline- Lucian's Wife. She has no known abilities.
Octavian- Can control animals around him and force them to serve as their protectors.
Claudia- Octavian's Wife. She can suppress the powers of those around her.
Stefan- He has no known abilities and no mate.
Vladimir- He has no known abilities.
Helena- Vladimir's wife. She has no known abilities.
The Romanian Body Guards
Anton- Maintains the strength of a newborn.
Beryx- Can handle and manipulate electricity.
Dominique- No known abilities.
Demetri- No known abilities.
Marius- No known abilities.
Amelia- Marius' mate. Can make any male desire her.
Nadia- No known abilities.
Aro's one true advantage that he had on the Romanian coven was that he was relatively unknown in the vampire society and they did not know of his power or that of his new friends. Now that he had the upper hand he was ecstatic. For the first time, Aro pulled his eyes away from to documents to look down at Santiago. He placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Friends," he said speaking to the whole room although his eyes remained locked on Santiago's. "You have all shared with me your gifts. Now I must share mine with you. I have the ability to read the thoughts that anyone has ever had in their entire lives just by touching their palm." The room stirred ever so slightly. "Santiago, will you allow me?"
Santiago held up his palm to his future leader unhesitatingly. Aro rested his palm against Santiago's and let the information spill into him. Aro saw his entire life, including his clouded human one. When it was finished and Aro knew beyond any doubt that Santiago was a true believer in the revolution and was trustworthy, he spoke.
"Santiago, I would like to make you my General in this war."
Caius stood up out of his throne and had a look of outrage and disgust on his face. "Aro, should we not discuss this in private first?"
Aro smiled and laughed. "Don't you trust me, brother?" Caius did not answer but looked even more contempt. "Santiago has proven himself to be quite useful. He will serve us well and we will honor his service by promoting him to General. It is decided."
"Thank you, my lord," said Santiago. "I will not fail you."
Aro smiled. "I know."
What happened next was unexpected by Aro and his two partners. Eleazar stood up and walked to Aro. He placed his hand out in front of him, palm side up. When Aro realized he was offering it so that Aro could read his thoughts too, he was thrilled. Aro read his thoughts and saw that Eleazar was also a trustworthy servant to the cause.
The rest of the talented vampires rose and followed the example of the two Spaniards. Never had Aro seen such loyalty. When he read the thoughts of Chelsea, he saw that she had a small part in this. She believed in the cause, and therefore placed out subtle influences to make the others feel some sort of loyalty to Aro and his partners. This pleased him all the more and gave Chelsea a special place in his unbeating heart.
When it was finished Aro spoke, "Now let us go to our comrades below and share with them the wonderful news that the revolution is strong and will go forward."
The party moved from the turret to the lower level. Aro walked past the crowd outside and everyone followed after him. They gathered to the same clearing where Aro had tested Didyme's power. A large boulder rested on the outer circle of the clearing. He stood upon it alone to address the multitude.
"My dear brothers and sisters, you have all shown great courage to come here and meet with us. It is no secret that the Romanian Coven has ruled in unrighteousness. They suppress their own kind and glut themselves on our labor. We starve while they feast like kings! They expect us to act as humans, weak sheep, and pay tribute to them. Tribute for what? What do they do to serve us? I answer you, nothing. They do nothing for our kind but only wish to profit themselves. No more, brothers and sisters. We will not live like slaves any longer!
"If you support my brothers and I in our revolution and we were to take their place of leadership I promise you, there would only be one rule to live by. The rule would offer us no personal gain but would only work to serve vampires as a whole. The only law that we will enforce is that no vampire expose us to the humans. We must live in secret to protect our way of life. Does this not seem fair?" Aro asked. The crowd cheered in agreement that this was a very fair trade.
"Imagine it, comrades," Aro continued "a life where you can feed as often as you like. To be able to go out in the day if the skies are overcast instead of hiding in attics and cellars. To no longer pay tribute to a corrupted empire! We've seen the brittle, papery skin on the faces of the Romanian leaders and their milky eyes. Let that serve as a testament to their gluttony! Should they not work like to rest of us to survive? Indeed they should. The time has come for their rule to end. The time has come for the end of tyranny! The time has come for the beginning of freedom!"
A roaring cheer broke away from the crowd. There had never been more patriotism or loyalty to a cause in the history of vampires. It did not hurt that Chelsea was helping by causing each member of the crowd to feel a strong allegiance towards Aro, Caius, and Marcus.
