Penance ↠ Volturi Kings {2} ✓

03

"That was quite a speech," Jane commented when I next saw her and Alec several days later. With Demetri and Felix gone, the twins spent most of their time working with Caius. I couldn't help but be a little jealous that they got to spend more time with him at present than I did.

"You think so?" I asked as we walked to the library.

"Yes. Not many people could so successfully bring the guard back together," Jane said.

I smiled at her. "Thank you, Jane."

"We were worried the pressure was getting to be too much for you," Alec said.

"What? Why?"

"This is a lot even for a vampire to deal with," Alec said. "Clearly, however, we were mistaken."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence, guys," I said drily.

"We have complete faith in you, Queen Rowan. Just not in your human condition," Jane said as Alec opened the library door for us.

"Trust me, I'm no happier than you are. But the last thing we need right now, on top of everything else, is me as a blood-crazed newborn," I said.

"Unfortunately true," Alec agreed.

"Still, I do what I can to make Caius' life easier. Even if it isn't much," I said.

"Uniting the guard has helped tremendously," Jane said. "You can't be in on trials, but the rift made it nearly impossible to truly execute justice. Things are now back to running smoothly again, at least in that respect."

"Good," I said, somewhat relieved. This was the first confirmation I had gotten that my actions were even making a difference. But I wasn't foolish enough to believe that uniting the guard, while helpful, was anything close to solving the root of the problem.

To truly fix anything, Aro and Marcus had to get along again. And before that could happen, Marcus needed to come back from within himself.

"We do have a shred of good news in the midst of chaos," Alec said.

I glanced at him. "Oh?"

"Yes. Demetri and Felix are supposed to return by this evening. Master Caius has been impatient for their return, but no doubt they wanted to gather as much intel as possible," he said with a nod.

I sat down in a chair without bothering to grab a book. "What was their mission? All Santiago was able to tell me was that they're investigating trouble up north."

"Well, yes," Alec said, looking uncertain. "It's all been kept rather quiet, so as to not raise alarm."

My stomach clenched. "Raise alarm?"

"Perhaps it is not our place to say," Jane interjected, giving her twin a sharp look.

"How am I to be any use to my mate if I don't even know the whole of what's going on, Jane?" I asked, not unkindly. "I believe, as queen, I have a right to know."

Alec nodded in agreement. "I can't say that Master Caius will be pleased that we told you, but you're right. We have reason to believe that the trouble up north is the Romanians. We received an anonymous tip a week ago that the Romanians are assembling an army. Master Caius is concerned that this may be tied to recent disappearances around the area."

"Tell me more about the Romanians," I requested. For someone who was supposed to rule over the vampire world someday, I didn't know a whole lot about vampire history.

"They ruled before the Volturi. This was well before our time, but all three of the masters fought in the original battle against them. I'm not romanticizing war - it's a nasty, dirty affair - but the battles waged between the Romanians and the Volturi are what legends are made of," Alec said.