the trickster // caius volturi

TWENTY-SIX

Caius had hoped that he would have more time before he would have to explain about Athenodora and their previous...relationship.

But, his mate was smart. He had just hoped that he had a few more days before this day came. Preferably months, even.

"No. Athenodora was like Sulpicia; she stayed in the tower," he said, answering the question, but after seeing her face, he decided to add more.

"Not that I would've wanted to go to a ball with her. She was all over other males, would make a fool of herself in every social situation, and would try to make me angry the whole night. She was a true nightmare."

"But you married her. Why?" Loki asked, slowing as she walked. She didn't want to be this close to him while they spoke of something serious because her senses went haywire upon touching.

"For an alliance. Aro had met Sulpicia, and Marcus had Didyme. But for me, we needed an alliance. After so long of not finding my mate and my brothers living happily with theirs, we decided to make a pact with a coven, and I married Athenodora." The explanation seemed sound, but the goddess still felt...insecure, almost.

Everyone was, deep down. If they didn't think so, then they were even more so.

"Did you ever love her?" Caius stopped walking, and Loki assumed that she was supposed to let go of him. But when she tried, he simply put his other hand on her arm, keeping it in place.

"Yes. I wasn't in love with her, but I was younger. Not like I am now. She was in love with me, she always was. I was in love with the idea of being loved. After so long of being lonely, I craved attention, and she gave me that. But it was always one-sided. Especially—" He cut himself off and sighed.

"Especially when she abandoned her soulmate for me, and when she told me, she expected me to do the same. I was furious. When we married, we said that we would split amicably if either of us found our soulmate. But she broke that agreement. She was a bitter and greedy woman, and in the end, I hated her more than life itself."

He said it with such a deep and strong finality because he wanted her to know that she was the only one he had ever loved, and she would always be that.

"Okay," she said, and they continued walking. While they did, Loki noticed how the hallways were clear. It was another random intrusive thought. But since there were ball preparations, there had been much commotion in the hall before they went to the tailor.

Far from them in the Guard's Common Room, Felix, Demitri, Jane, Alec, and Imani felt proud of themselves. They had made sure that the hallways would be barren so that the soulmates could spend time together.

Let's be honest. The King was a...role model to them, and in a strange way, a father figure. And Loki...well they cared about her. To Imani, she was a mother, and seeing as Alec owed himself to the goddess and was Imani's mate, he almost thought of her as a mother as well.

Now, back to the lovebirds. They had made their way to a lounge area with a long couch and a pool table. Almost a relaxation area for when you grow mentally exhausted from this afterlife.

Caius sat in the corner of the couch and Loki sat between his legs with her head laying on his chest. Their roles reversed from days before, he took strands of her hair and played with them, twisting them together.

"What about you?" Loki frowned, startled and confused by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Did you ever have a lover?" She shook her head.

"I'm no innocent, Caius, but you aren't either. I've had...encounters with men, but nothing meaningful. Does that reassure you?"

He chuckled, and the deep noise reverberated in her ears, making her shiver slightly.

"Amore mio, I have two things to say to that. Firstly, I don't need assurance, because I'm your mate, and I know that I never have to be insecure about whether or not you love me, only if you like me at times." She smirked at that.

"Secondly, yes, yes it does." She giggled lightly, and he sighed.

"Do you remember your first time?" She immediately shook her head. "Absolutely not. Do you?"

"No, I must have been human. Or it was a very unmemorable experience." She snickered and let out a breath of contentment, which made the king happy.

He wanted her to be content, and he wanted her to be happier than happy.

One, he knew he could accomplish. The other...well, he didn't think anyone but the goddess could make herself truly happy. But he could do everything to make sure that she was comfortable.

"Well, that reassures me, thank you," she murmured.

She knew it didn't matter, but she wanted to know. Plan and simple. And now she does, and all is well.

"Caius, do you love me?" He looked down at her, and chuckled, which made her slightly upset.

Imani had shared that mates had to get to know each other, and it made the goddess realize that she didn't know too much about Caius, especially things that Imani deemed important topics of conversation.

"Caius, this is serious. If you can't answer the question then I don't—" He sighed and shushed her. She looked offended.

"Oh, Amore mio, what, you didn't think I loved you?" He hummed and she got off of his chest. She sat back on her knees in front of him on the bed.

He took her hands and smiled, kissing her fingertips.

"Do you remember the field that day? I've never loved snow more. You looked so perfect." She remembered the moment perfectly. Just looking at him had planted a garden in her heart that only flourished when he was with her.

"But, yes, I love you. I love you very much." When he had finished pattering kisses over her fingers, he held their palms together and raised their arms. He watched, mesmerized, as they moved as one.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, do you understand it now, or shall—" She stopped his needless talking by kissing him and leaning over, then pulled back.

"You're a tease, my love. You do know what amore mio means, yes?" She rolled her eyes and laid against his chest once more.

"If you are going to play with my hair, you will do it right." And so, for the next half an hour, a goddess taught a vampire king how to braid hair.

Far from them with far more apprehension for the goddess, Sulpicia was concocting her plan.

She would kill the newborn, and in turn, she would kill the goddess.

And Aro will always be safe.