The Siren's Song

Shock

Aro's POV

Light, careful treading from here… Soon, it will all fall into place. Taking cautious, planned actions is key…

"Leon, Lotus!"

Caius' children, whom had been named prior, were just over a week old, and already responded to their names.

Caius and Athenodora, though they both were on regular non-conversing terms, had communicated enough to decide that it was best that they both chose the names for the twins, who were, after all, part of the Volturi family. Their names (of course) both had Greek origin, which was a tradition and honor to carry on.

Lately, they had become almost of an observing experiment, and Caius and I readily took mental notes.

Though Huilen had informed us of plenty of information concerning hybrids, it merely was not the same when one encountered them themselves. Strange, fascinating creatures they really were. They appeared to be small and fragile as human infants were, yet they were undoubtedly strong beyond the age they appeared to be. They were also very intelligent, given their young age: they could recognize their names, they had excellent memory, and both seemed well aware of their surroundings.

They had both recognized Caius as their father, and since Athenodora was the female whom they saw and spent the most time with, they had associated her as being their mother. They wouldn't know any better, after all- from what Huilen had informed me, the twins never even set eyes on their biological mother, as she died too soon for them to do so.

These half-immortal creatures intrigued me to no end, and Caius, though he'd never admit it, as well. As they lived their first few days, Caius and I, with Huilen's offering of knowledge, observed the two children in utter fascination and wonder.

The possibilities of these two unique (well, rare) creatures were undoubtedly endless. I even dared to hope that they might develop gifts of their own.

The rest of the Volturi had learned of the twins' arrival on the very first day they were brought to Volterra. They themselves were mesmerized by the children, and often found excuses such as delivering nonessential messages Caius and I as we watched over the children. It seemed that all of the guards were amused by the children (though they always attempted to hide it) except for Jane, who had always had a bit a of a jealous streak to her. It was because of this that I charged her with more important business related tasks, in an effort to both distract her and let her think that she was still being paid her proper amount of attention. She, having no idea of my intentions, took my orders and followed them reverently, and occasionally with her famed smile.

Since Lilith had been feeling ill for the past week, ever since her unexpected confirmation of pregnancy, she mostly kept herself shut off from the others and locked up in our room. I visited her every night, attending to her needs and assuring that she was in good health. But besides at those times, Huilen, Didyme, and occasionally Renata assisted her with whatever she needed.

Lilith's POV

I only saw Aro at night.

I didn't know whether or not to blame hormones, or if my concerns were completely genuine, but when I spent several weeks being around Aro almost every minute of the day and transitioned to seeing for perhaps only an hour every night for a week, it defiantly was a big change.

I feel… useless. Despite the certainty that that truly was the hormones speaking, I wondered if my subconscious was partially correct. Aro did not seem to want to see me as much as he had earlier, and this worried me. Is this the beginning of the end?