Chapter 130

Darius

Well, the best I could say for the situation was that no one was complaining openly about my election and I wasn't going to explain any further why I'd accepted it. This new council was all very good but it hadn't been elected by our kind, just by the Volturi themselves and those who had been responsible for the destruction of the old order, in short it had been a palace coup and they rarely ended well in my long experience. True Carlisle, Eleazar, and their friends really thought they were doing what was best for our kind but that didn't make it any more acceptable to those who thought they could do a far better job given the opportunity.

The guard, however, were on my side, they were uneasy that the council hadn't thought it necessary to keep a watchful eye on the most dangerous of the possible rebels. Aro had kept them in check with the threat of The Major and swift and terrible retribution for any attempts at fermenting revolt. This council really thought those like the Romanians, the Russian Братство крови Brotherhood of Blood, and the Αδελφές του θανάτου, Sisters of Death based in Thessaloniki, Greece were just going to sit back nod in agreement and stay in the shadows? Not in my experience no, one or more would turn up eventually with an army to storm Volterra and demand their seat on the new government and I was here to stop that happening. Given time, this new council would find its feet, realize it was also responsible for policing the other covens and stamp their authority but now was the danger period.

Felix and a couple of the other more computer literate of the guard kept a constant watch on certain people and places I thought might give us an early warning of coming danger. Until that time came, however, I tried to get some new laws passed that would help our kind to keep out of the sight of the humans. The law regarding Immortal children was tightened up, originally the age had been fourteen but this was now raised to twenty-one. Teenagers were just too unpredictable to be safe as vampires, something we all knew from bitter experience.

There were some like Carlisle who were mature beyond their years and those like Eleazar not changed until their mid twenties but a lot of teenage newborns were either killed by their sires to stop the Volturi stepping in and endangering their own lives or were killed by other nomads. In future, any human changed under the age of 21 was to be brought straight to Volterra and their sire better have a good reason for having changed them in the first place.

It took longer than I thought for danger to rear its ugly head but when Felix came to me with his observations I was sure he was right. The Fraternidad were keeping a low profile, but I hadn't really expected them to start anything, they knew me and with that knowledge came trust. With me in control of the ruling council they knew there would be no pre-emptive strikes against dissidents and with Aro and Caius both out of the way they had no real grievances.

The Romanians on the other had must have been livid when they heard that the Volturi had a change of leadership in which they had no say. Vladimir and Stefan still saw themselves as the true leaders of our world and the slightest opportunity they would be looking to snatch it back.

"I thought you should know that the Sisters have disappeared. Now they could just be on vacation but a little voice in my head tells me they are more likely on their way to meet up with the Romanians. There has been some back and forth communication and together they could be a viable fighting force. I told Aro a few years ago that Stefan was traveling, looking for gifts to add to their arsenal, but he was confident we had the best already."

I looked at the detailed report he had written including all the destinations Stefan had traveled to and the times he suspected Stefan had met with the sisters. His conclusion was the same I would have come to, we could be in danger of attack from not just one but two powerful enemies who were working in concert.

"Right, let's get satellite surveillance of the Romanians headquarters and see if we can trace Alexa and her friends. I'll call a meeting and see if we can prove to the others that we have to start getting our defenses working better than they are. I'm sick of hearing how we should be spending more on educating our kind into a more peaceful way of life, we're vampires for God's sake."

"Amen to that but you're going to have a fight on your hands. Filling the council with pacifists may have seemed a good idea at the time but it might come back to bite us on the ass one day soon."

Felix was closer to the truth than he knew because all the rest, with the exception of Athenadora, thought we were overreacting, scaremongering I think Eleazar called it!

"Do you really think no one would try to wrest power from you just because they know you wouldn't fight? How fucking naive can you be Eleazar?"

"Darius please there's no need for profanity. Eleazar was merely pointing out that the fact she and Stefan may have met does not necessarily mean they are plotting world domination."

I shook my head in despair at Carlisle's words then slapped my forehead,

"Of course not, how stupid of me. He's probably just taking her on a sightseeing tour of Castle Dracula! Just what is so difficult to grasp? Stefan and Vladimir swore to take back control of our world one day and now Aro and Caius are gone that's just what they are planning. While you sit on your fat asses discussing the color for the new fucking reception area they are tooling up for war."

"Darius we sent word to all the large covens inviting them to visit and air their grievances and those who wished to participate contacted us and we were able to ally their irrational fears. Charlie spoke to Vladimir in person explaining our ethos and invited him to visit and see how the new Volturi run things. An offer he declined, hardly something he would do if he were worried about our vision for the future."

"Carlisle, he doesn't give a fucking flying rats ass about your vision, don't you get it? They want your seats and one way or another they intend getting them. Now anyone who wants to bury their head in the sand feel free to do so. The rest of you work with me to stop this before it begins or you'll be answering to the Romanians in a short while."

The council was divided by my words, Carlisle, Eleazar, Carmen, and Esme standing together while Felix, Athenadora, and rather surprisingly Emmett, stood with me.

"Well, as I have the deciding vote if it comes to a draw I guess you all know what happens next. We beef up our security into the citadel. Post sentries at every exit and I mean everyone and check all visitors thoroughly before allowing then in. We also need to install camera's at the town gates, spin the humans a yarn about it being for their added protection. That way we will get prior warning of an attack."

Carlisle frowned,

"You make it sound like we are going to be overrun by hostile forces at any moment Darius, think about it, you are overreacting."

"Really? Well, I lived through a few sieges Carlisle and I'm telling you if we don't prepare it's going to be a walkover. Do you really want to be ruled by the Romanians again? No way you weren't around then, well take it from someone who has, you won't like it."