Bite Me | Volturi Kings

Chapter 14

»»————-　𝟚𝟘𝟘𝟞　————-««

In a move that came to the relief of most of the Cullen's side of the field, Aro turned around to face his mob and softly spoke to them, like a parent to a child. "Dear ones, there is no danger here. We will not fight today." 

Caius's expression was nothing short of livid; he immediately gazed across to Shoomah, trying desperately to entreat her with his eyes to stay. Knowing as he did that this was drawing to a close, he begged her silently not to turn her back, to not allow him to see her walking out of sight behind the trees. His eyes showed such vulnerability that would've shocked anyone who paid attention. Such a cantankerous and vicious man was laying himself open to be wounded in his very gaze, opening the leather-bound book to his heart with little thought to merely communicate with the opposition. 

What placated his disconsolate and yearning heart was her eyes briefly flickering over to the tree line to her right, specifically at a spot that was halfway between the both of them. A small smile graced his features, his eyes sparkling with that glimmer of hope he had lost three hundred years ago. She would stay. If only for a moment, that was far more than he could ever ask for. 

As much as Caius truly despised the Cullens, his heart had to thank them for this unexpectedly gratifying opportunity. 

Shoomah also sensed the end of this drawing nigh and so placed a delicate hand on her former lover's arm to indicate her desire for them to remain with their allies as she sought after ghosts of memories. When he nodded his assent, she silently conveyed the same message to the rest of her court. She was met from them with unquestioning respect of her decision. Something that she valued them extremely for, loyalty, was earned; that was a fact that unlike Aro, she understood, and so having earned it, it became invaluable in times like these. 

As the Volturi blurred away to the far treeline, with the exception of her mates, who very overtly went over to the out-of-sight halfway line—it seemed Aro and Marcus had been paying careful attention to their previous interaction—Shoomah's eager eyes followed their forms. Statuesque and utterly transfixed by their retreating figures, she stood. 

She briefly turned to her compatriots to wish them luck in their future endeavours and to warn Vladimir and Stefan against doing exactly what their thoughts had trespassed onto. They were indignant at her suggestion and still reprimanded the others for their cowardice, for their pacifism, for losing the greatest chance that their beady eyes had ever been allowed to view. 

Not a soul heeded their foolhardy thirst for revenge, aware of the hollow heart that came with such fury. 

»»————-　♔　————-««

Behind the treeline was a small space, which the three Volturi kings occupied. A dead heart could not beat, and yet as she faced three people whom she had loved so completely and so dangerously, she was aware of a thumping in her ears that could only be surmised to be her undead heart beating for them. 

Each vampires eyes held centuries worth of emotions: heartbreak, joy, anger, pain, loss, nostalgia, hope and so much more. Shoomah found words sluggish to her lips; they tripped and stumbled in her mouth, ultimately never passing her lips for the nerves that tugged them back. 

"I-" Shoomah laughed at herself, her chuckles filled with sorrow. Why did they stare at her so? Normally, she thrived in other's gazes, but with them, it filled her with the same nerves as hundreds of years ago. And why was it her that must traverse the leap to their side of the ravine to make that first jump to reconciliation? They had tongues, had they not? And Aro, such a silver one; Caius, such a sharp one; and Marcus, such a soft one—all apt to be used in this situation. Yet it was she who faced such a burden. "I've never found myself unable to speak before; I suppose I should congratulate you on such a feat."