Tanya Denali ♡ Meeting your eyes (it was fate in disguise) ♡

chapter 19 ~Mates, imprints and more such bonds

Dani was a nervous wreck and the more time passed, the more nervous she got. Being without Tanya for eight days, the longest they were apart thus far, agitated her. The newborn would wander the palace restlessly, train in the yard or - to her surprise - spent time with Marcus. The latter always had the effect of somewhat soothing the storm of negative emotions in her mind.

Chelsea, a guard who was never far away from Marcus, used her gift of relationship manipulation to strengthen the bond between Dani and him. Unbeknownst to the newborn and Marcus, Chelsea was tasked to do so by Aro. He must have seen the potential of strengthening this unusual bond; giving the manipulator can't weaken the mate bond between Dani and Tanya, it was smarter to instead bind her through Marcus to them instead.

As his protégé she was under his special protection, that, she quickly learned after Jane and Felix ignored her for the most part of her stay; and yes, Dani had some special rights as well, like having access to a closed off part of the Volturi's library. Papery scrolls and old leather bound books (probably human skin, Dani frowned with disgust at them) with so much knowledge, that she couldn't decide which one to read first.

Conversation between them was easy and flowed well into the morning hours, where they would talk about everything and nothing. When, after two days in his company, he told her about the founding of the Volturi, unshed tears sparkled in his eyes talking about his dead mate. Dani felt an ache in her heart, the pain of being apart from one's mate she could connect to - her situation fortunately not final. Tanya still lived and Dani was determined to keep it that way through her stay here within Volterra and also as Marcus' personal guard, he'd dubbed her just recently.

Because, what would the vampire world look like without the three kings protecting and enforcing the laws? With modern technology and the constant evolution of it, humans were more a threat than ever and thus the Volturi had to work all the more tiresome to prevent this. Dani wanted to help and make sure, that Tanya and her coven could live their lives in peace and in the security of staying hidden from the human eye.

The brunette sank deeper into her chair while carefully changing the page of a heavy book she was currently reading. It was about the Hundred Years' War and already the second book about medieval battles and wars she'd read. The room smelled like old papers, dust and Markus' honey and apple blossom scent. A soothing smell, that gave her contentment, not on the same level to rival Tanya's strawberry and almond scent however, but these days she would clutch at every straw that came her way and gave her a little comfort.

Dani huffed through her nose as she read how the battle of Agincourt was entirely one-sided through the use of longbows by the English, nearly destroying the French in one move. Long distance weapons would of course fuck foot soldiers. The French were dumb as hell for running into their deaths.

Markus' red eyes snapped from his book to the newborn and a small smile danced on his lips. "Something amusing?"

"History can be funny sometimes." Dani chucked. "I bet it's even more entertaining living through it than reading it. Dying through a rain of arrows doesn't sound so appealing, though."

His smile grew and the more time they spent together, the more his sadness dissipated from his eyes. "You will make your own experiences in your long eternal life, dear." His expression faltered when he saw how the newborn's face fell.

"Can I at least call her?" Her voice small.

The king sighed deeply, feeling for the woman he quickly bonded with. "Communication with a coven, who is under investigation is sadly prohibited."

"I know, you told me...but it wouldn't even be long, only a minute to hear her voice." Hopeful orange eyes looked at him and Markus had to steel himself not to melt and give in. He was supposed to uphold the law through living law-abiding. It didn't help that Dani looked a lot like Didyme and even the way she pouted reminded him of his deceased mate.