Woman of the Hour // volturi kings

35. anticipation

As much as the kings tried to hide it from her, she knew she wasn't their first partner. The bookcase in Aro's room was littered with dusty romance novels that he would never read in a million lifetimes. Marcus kept an ornate jewelry box beside his own, with the initials D.V engraved in the silver lid.

Caius had a large art study, hidden behind a panel in a disused hallway. Claire had only been inside once, when he insisted she sat half naked and draped in white, sheer sheets while he painted her portrait. While he worked away, she took stock of the room. There were countless canvases, both painted and bare, leaning against the walls, some covered and some not. Hidden in a far corner was a collection of paintings, the neatest collection in the room. They were draped in the only clean cloth, protecting them from the inevitable dust of the castle.

But the sheet was just too small, and Claire caught a peak at a portrait of a beautiful woman, dressed in jewels and a fine, rich dress. Her face was pallid and stern, but she was still undeniably angelic.

It wasn't until Claire saw the dogeared page of a classic art book that it finally clicked into place. Her kings had once had wives, they had each once loved someone else. They had Queens, ruling by their sides.

Claire had to work overtime to keep Aro from catching any thought about them, about her sudden insecurities and fear of inadequacy.

But Claire wasn't stupid, or as naive as they seemed to think she was. Months and months of their involvement, and none of the brothers had the nerve to mention their past with her. She lived with them for crying out loud, how long did they think their little secret was going to stay hidden?

It had taken her weeks to come to terms with it, hours of sitting alone on her room under the guise of sorting through the castle's paperwork in peace. She had gathered all the information she could on her own. She sorted through mountains of old and tattered parchments and dusty old books.

She finally found their names, Athenodora, Sulpicia, and Didyme. Not only was Didyme, Marcus' wife, she was also Aro's sister. He had a sibling that he had never mentioned to her. How well did she really know them?

But she knew her kings. They loved her. They had never said it to her, but she could feel it. She could feel it was every gentle touch and whispered compliment. In the way Aro would read her to sleep when she couldn't sleep because her parent's gruesome faces haunted her dreams. In the way Caius would mindlessly caress her thigh and knee when she sat beside him, like he was reminding himself she was real. And in the way Marcus always made sure her room was overflowing with the same flowers that Layla had planted in her mother's garden. He always made sure she had a little bit of home with her.

They loved her, truly. She shouldn't have doubted them. So she picked herself back up, shed any sense of doubt of her place in her kings' hearts, and began planning the best way to force the conversation about their wives.

---

With the aide of Felix, Claire managed to get the painting in place on Christmas Eve. It was kept covered by a white sheet, with a note pinned to it that read:

"For Marcus, Aro and Caius,

Do not open without Claire."

Now all she had to do was wait, they'd be joined her in their study soon for their nightly routine. The fireplace was crackling and warming the cold room, and Claire was tucked up in the corner of the lounge with a novel. One of their bubbly human receptionists had made a small batch of Christmas cookies for her, so Claire was happily nibbling away between pages.

The quiet creaking of the old wooden door stole her attention as her three kings strutted into the room. Aro was last, and to her surprise, was balancing a tray of what looked to be hot drinks.

"We bring festive beverages!" Caius proclaimed proudly. Claire chuckled at him and set her book to the side.

"We have hot chocolate, something with eggs in it and your favorite, I think. Your normal coffee, just stirred with a candy cane. You absolute weirdo." Caius grinned and plonked on the lounge next to her, swinging an arm over her shoulders and pulling her closer to her side.

"It's not that weird," she argued, tucking herself in closer to him. "You drink blood, you don't get to judge my tastes."

"Hm that is fair," Marcus agreed, walking over and pressing a kiss to her forehead before taking a seat in a separate chair.

Aro placed the silver tray on the coffee table in front of the lounge, before gliding to Claire and placing a kiss on the top of her head. "We missed you today, dear."

"I'm sorry, Aro," she murmured. She did feel a bit bad, but she was so excited for their gift that she didn't want them catching wind of what she had put together. She had sworn her accomplices into secrecy, and they had been doing their best to keep busy and out of the way of Aro, so he didn't get a read on their thoughts. "I missed you too."

"It's alright, sweetheart." Aro took a seat in the only chair by Marcus. "We get to spend all of tomorrow together, that's more than enough."

Claire smiled softly at that. They were so good to her.

"Here, amore," Caius gently shifted her off his side and reached across to the tray, picking out the hot chocolate for her to start with. "It has those little marshmallows that you like."

She took the mug from him eagerly, wrapping both her hands securely around the warm drink.

"Thank you." She said before taking a small sip of the rich drink. When she hummed in appreciation, they all relaxed into their seats. Under the guidance of Jane, they had managed to make her drinks themselves, and they were quite proud of the result.

"So, my love, we were talking," Marcus started, shifting in his chair so he could look directly at her. "And we think that we would like to give you your gift tonight."

Claire took another sip, biding her time. Caius shifted nervously beside her and Aro just stared intently at her, his eyes piercing through her soul.

"That's good, because I'd like to give you your gifts tonight, too."

a/n: filler, but next chapter is... drama? maybe. maybe not.