Penance ↠ Volturi Kings {2} ✓

02

Despite my open scorn of Santiago's suggestion to have a proper talk with Aro, the following day found me hovering uncertainly outside the door of Aro's wing. Santiago and Afton were watching bemusedly as I dallied outside the door.

Finally, growing impatient, Santiago scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Forget this," he said, and knocked.

I flipped him off during the few seconds it took for Aro to open the door. Aro beamed when he saw me. "Mia cara, do come in. I am so happy to see you."

I resisted the urge to send Santiago one final glare and instead stepped past Aro inside. His quarters were usually in a state that I affectionately referred to as organized chaos, but it seemed in worse disarray than normal. I felt suddenly remorseful for neglecting him.

"How are you?" I asked him, absentmindedly gathering a few of his cloaks and beginning to hang them in the closet near the door.

"I am managing. I don't like this, not being able to do anything. I feel useless, especially with how much responsibility Caius must have thrust upon him so abruptly," he said, eyes following me as I began picking up his books and returning them to their proper places. "You don't have to clean up."

"Makes me feel useful," I said, pausing to frown at him. "It's not like I can do a whole lot at the moment, considering my mortality status. Caius refuses to change me – though I do agree that it's the right decision, all things considered – and I can't do much to help him while I'm still human."

"How is he holding up?" Aro asked.

I sighed as I slid the final book in my arms onto the shelf. "He hasn't fed since this whole thing started. He's promised to feed when Heidi returns, but I'm worried about him. Marcus, too."

"Marcus is still..." he hesitated.

"Comatose? Yes. I have no idea what to do or how to bring him back. I'm scared that-" my voice cracked. "I'm scared that I won't be able to bring him back."

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, looking as if he wanted to reach out to me. "I'm so sorry I caused you this pain, bellissima. You do not deserve this."

I wanted to scream, to cry, to agree with him. To tell him that this was all his fault.

But he knew that already, and I could never hurt him in that way by saying the words aloud.

"I just wish I knew what to do," I said, staring at one of the paintings that hung on his walls. "The guard expects Caius and I to have all the answers. But Caius is just one man and I'm only human."

"You have much more strength than you give yourself credit for."

"Yes," I said, thinking of my family. They denied their very natures in order retain a semblance of their humanity. "We Cullens always do."

"You are the most powerful human I've ever met. And not because of your gift. The guard respect you for a reason. Never doubt yourself, mia cara. We all must make difficult decisions. I trust you will make the right ones, when the time comes."

"You're talking as cryptically as Alice does, sometimes. Do you know something I don't?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "No. I have been kept relatively uninformed. But leadership never comes without the price of difficult decisions."

Something in his speech inspired me. I felt resolve where there hadn't been before. "Thanks, Aro."

Aro saw the change, the steely look in my eye, and smiled. "I have never once doubted you, Rowan."