Serafina didn't know what to do after leaving Rosalie. She had no one to speak to about what was happening or how she felt. She wandered near her town for a few days, not wanting to go inside in case she lost her temper with someone. She was sad, confused, and furious. Her fury was most noticeable as many things near her would randomly burst into flames. She decided she would seek advice from immortals older than herself. She immediately took a cruise liner and went straight to Volterra.
That was where she had found herself now. She was looking to the courtyard, where she found Sulpicia and Athenodora relaxing. The twins, Demetri and Felix, were quite a distance away. They were the only ones allowed near the leaders' mates when they were outside the tower. Aro and Caius considered them additional protection. The ladies' usual guards oversaw the entrances to the yard, so Serafina walked over to one of them to ask for entry. They relayed the request, and Serafina was soon called over.
Serafina stood next to the two women who didn't even get up or look at her, "so, no hello for me? I haven't seen you for a few years, and it's as though you've forgotten me." Serafina said with a slight grin.
"A few years? Didn't we see you last week?" Athenodora asked, lazily looking up.
"I could've sworn it was just a few days ago," Sulpicia said, slowly doing the same.
"No, it's been a few decades," she laughed.
"How odd, well welcome back," Athenodora said as she stood up, removing her sunglasses and hugging Serafina.
"Forgive us. Even a few decades are only a drop in time for us," Sulpicia said as she stood up and hugged her.
Seeing the movement from the corner of her eye, Jane smacked Alec, who turned his head to look, and soon they both sped into Serafina. Two small torpedoes nearly knocked her to the ground. Their reaction caused all three women to laugh. Demetri and Felix noticed their move and saw the twins greet Serafina. They waved over to Serafina and went back to what they were doing before. She waved back and then hugged the twins harder.
"Finally, you've come to visit!" Jane said with a slight glare.
"We were starting to think you would never come back," Alec added, glare matching his sister's. This was one of the few times she saw the twins' similarities. She felt guilty.
"I'm sorry; I'll try to visit more often in the future," Serafina smiled.
"What's wrong?" Jane asked, looking Serafina over.
"You look different," Alec added. Both twins noticing a slight nervousness or agitation in Serafina but were so unused to seeing that on her, believed it to just be something off.
"I have to ask Sulpicia and Athenodora a question," she said hesitantly.
"Oh?" Sulpicia asked with a raised brow.
Serafina sat on a lounger with the twins on either side of her. Athenodora and Sulpicia sat opposite her, now sharing one of their loungers. Expressions were bored, but they both feigned interest. Serafina looked at the twins, unsure if she should talk about her mate with the twins there. The ladies saw her questioning look at them, drawing their attention. They were getting curious.
"How did you know you had found your mate?" she asked.
Both women's eyes lit up with excitement at the thought of gossip.
"Did you find your mate?" Athenodora asked while scooching forward in her seat.
"No, then he would be here too," Sulpicia answered Athenodora, turning her attention to Serafina, "Why do you ask? Do you think you may have met him? It may have been lust if he's not here with you. I'd get your fill of random affairs out of your system while you can. Once you find your mate, it will be you and him for the rest of your existence. So, if I were you, I'd sleep with the man that caught your eye now."
The twins scrunched their faces in disgust as Serafina smashed their heads against her sides to try and protect them from hearing such talk. But both twins giggled at Serafina's reaction.
"We know about sex. We're older than we look." Alec chuckled.
Serafina was almost afraid to ask, "but you two haven't-"
"Of course not! That's disgusting!" Jane retorted with brows furrowed.
Alec nodded, agreeing with his sister, "I'd rather be destroyed than be close to a girl. I can only tolerate being near Jane because she's my sister."
Serafina sighed in relief, then couldn't help her chuckle. She loved that while they acted so mature, they couldn't completely erase their immaturity, "maybe it's best if you two go back with Demetri and Felix. We're going to continue discussing adult topics." She said as she pushed them up.
"Well, alright, but you can't leave while we're gone! We've gotten much better at our sleight of hand! We want to show you!" Jane insisted.
"I won't be leaving Volterra for a while, I don't think, don't worry. I'll be able to test your skills later," Serafina agreed, smiling as she kissed their heads.
Once the twins left, Athenodora turned back to Serafina, "was there a man that caught your eye?"
"Not exactly," she sighed, "can you please tell me how you knew you found your mates?"
"We locked eyes, and that was it," Athenodora said, smiling fondly at the memory, "love at first sight is real. Even for humans, but it's a lot harder for them to tell. They could look their mate in the eye and still question themselves. More than likely chalking it up to a simple fancy. For ourselves, think of it as our sharper instincts, allowing us to tell immediately."
Serafina couldn't help the sharp inhalation at realizing that was how she had felt. But she wanted to deny it. Both women looked at each other in worry. Serafina noticed and cleared her throat, "is that how it was for you, Sulpicia?"
"Not necessarily," she answered, "I was human when I met Aro. He tried to stay away from me. But it was almost as though fate kept bringing us together. He then began to court me. I accepted. Then he told me what he was; this was all before the laws were in place. He offered me immortality. I wanted to be with him, and so I accepted. When I was turned and saw him with my vampire eyes for the first time, it clicked immediately. The love I felt for him was immediate. Instinctual, as Athenodora said. But Serafina, do you think you met your mate?" Sulpicia asked with a slight frown. She was concerned. If she was here alone, did her mate refuse her?
Serafina looked down.
"Come, let's discuss this in the tower," Sulpicia said as she stood and grabbed Serafina's hand, pulling her to the tower. Athenodora following.
The twins looked over, concerned.
Athenodora waved them off, "don't worry, we're just going to go into more detail on the sex. You wouldn't want to hear it, so we'll discuss it in the tower. She's not leaving yet!" she yelled to the twins.
The twins both had looks of horror on their faces. Alec began fake gagging as Demetri and Felix laughed.
As they made their way to the tower, she called over a guard and asked him to take them a bottle of wine and three glasses. Serafina looked at them questioningly. Anything not blood tasted horrible. She couldn't believe these two would be willing to drink swill that tasted of dirt. She scrunched her nose in disgust at the thought.
Athenodora chuckled at Serafina's look of disgust, "what? Have you forgotten what it tastes like?"
"Wait, I don't think she was here for the last batch we had gotten! Lady D only sends us a batch every century and a half. This batch came in a month or two ago. We usually run out within a few months, so your timing is amazing." Sulpicia explained.
They made it to the tower, and just as they entered, a guard arrived with the requested items. Athenodora and Sulpicia both grabbed something and entered with Serafina. They sat in their usual spots and passed out the glasses. Sulpicia poured them each a glass of wine as they made themselves comfortable. Athenodora was on her regular chaise lounge chair, and Sulpicia sat near the large window so she could still look out.
"Now tell us what happened," Sulpicia ordered, "did you meet him?"
"Not exactly," she said, taking a test drink of wine, "oh my god, that's delicious!" she couldn't help but exclaim.
"Sanguis Virginis, virgin's blood wine, now you can see why we finish these so quickly. Even if only leadership is allowed to drink, we can't control ourselves," Sulpicia said, taking a drink herself, "you know what, you're a guest, and you seem to be having some troubles. What kinds of hosts would we be if we kept this at just one bottle? Thena?" Sulpicia asked, looking towards Athenodora.
"Truer words were never spoken," she chuckled while ordering another bottle from a guard, "now, why do you keep saying 'not exactly'? Was he not what you were expecting? I'm sure he would be incredibly handsome if he were your mate. But if he refused you, he might not be too bright. But you can work with that. They're easier to handle if they're not too bright."
"That's right, just bat your eyes at him, and he'll come around. You probably didn't make proper eye contact anyways. You would feel the pull if it were a one-sided sight, but it wouldn't click until his eyes met yours. Don't worry; I'm sure that's all it was," Sulpicia reasoned while emptying her glass.
Serafina finished off her glass, trying to delay saying it out loud. She closed her eyes and exhaled, "it wasn't a he." She finally said.
"Really? That makes sense. You never did seem interested in meeting any of the men in our ranks," Sulpicia said, nodding, "was she gorgeous then?" she asked.
"If she isn't as pretty as you, then we can try to give her a makeover to see if that at least evens things out," Athenodora added, finishing off her drink and signaling Serafina to pour more wine for everyone.
"This doesn't bother you? Isn't it strange that it's a woman?" Serafina asked.
"Don't say strange. That sounds negative. I'd say rare," Sulpicia said thoughtfully, "wait, is this why your mate isn't here? Did you begin questioning things? Did you refuse your mate?" she asked, raising her voice a bit with a look of disbelief beginning to show on her face.
"It's not that simple," Serafina said while pouring them all a refill, "it's just that there was a man with her." She said with a frown.
"Did you two make eye contact?" Athenodora asked with brows furrowed.
"Yes," Serafina answered.
"Who was this man? Are you sure they were there together?" Athenodora asked.
"Well, I don't know. I didn't ask. I think someone mentioned him being a brother, but he had his arm around her!" she growled. Not noticing her anger was causing her wine to boil in its glass as she quickly drank it.
Both women looked at each other knowingly. Athenodora got up and walked over to Sulpicia, "how did he have his arm around her?" she asked as she and Sulpicia set their glasses down and stood beside each other.
"Did he have his arm around her like this?" Sulpicia asked as she pulled Athenodora by her waist closer into herself.
"Well, no," Serafina answered.
"Like this?" Sulpicia asked as she put her arm around Athenodora's shoulder but caressed her shoulder while pulling her into herself.
Serafina wanted to say yes, but it didn't seem right now that she was thinking back to that meeting.
Athenodora glanced outside the window momentarily but paused, "or was it like that?" she gestured for Serafina and Sulpicia to look.
All three women looked down into the courtyard, where they saw Alec with his arm loosely around Jane's shoulder as he whispered conspiratorially while glancing at Demetri, who had his back to them. Both with evil grins as they seemed to nod in agreement. Jane then went over to Demetri, where she began to seriously discuss something with him while Alec went behind him and quickly attempted to pick his pocket but was soon caught by Demetri. Both twins quickly fled as Demetri and Felix laughed. Then they noticed Felix pat his belongings and seemed to see they were gone as he gave chase to the twins. Demetri laughed alone while he watched Felix trying to catch them.
Sulpicia couldn't help her chuckle, "they always try to pickpocket Demetri. They have no problems with Felix, but it's almost as though they feel Demetri is the only way to prove themselves. I suppose they're right. They haven't been able to steal from him yet. I suppose they need more practice."
Sulpicia and Athenodora were laughing but noticed Serafina's silence and looked at her questioningly.
"He was holding her similarly to them," Serafina said in realization, a look of horror on her face.
"Oh no, you thought that was them being together? That amount of contact?" Sulpicia asked incredulously.
"You might be a bit more possessive than usual," Athenodora said sympathetically.
"I shouldn't feel this way about her at all; she's a woman," Serafina said, trying to deny it.
"Don't do that," Athenodora retorted, "it's alright for your mate to be a woman. As Sulpi said, it's not strange. It's rare, but it does happen. Take it from us. We've seen a lot of it in our time. Men and men, women and women, as long as it's consensual- it shouldn't be anyone's business. It was never really a big deal until religion got involved, now that I think about it. Then it became a sin." She scoffed, "don't tell me you're that closed minded."
Sulpicia nodded in agreement, "now be honest, did you refuse your mate?"
"I didn't say I refused her," Serafina said, looking down, playing with the empty glass in her hand.
"But you're here with us right now instead of with her," Athenodora shook her head, "was it because of her brother or because of these doubts of yours."
"Everything! There was so much; I'm not used to feeling anything. There was too much going on. I didn't know what to do, so I left," she huffed.
"You hurt her," Sulpicia scolded, "you need to fix it."
"How?" Serafina asked.
"Apologize and then court her. It will make her feel wanted," Athenodora answered.
"How does a woman court another woman?" Serafina questioned.
"I suppose how a man would but dressed better?" Athenodora answered questioningly.
Sulpicia giggled at Athenodora's response, then turned to Serafina, "use what men have used on yourself in the past," She suggested with a shrug.
"Most men went straight to my father and tried to buy me from him. I would ask my father never to allow them near me in the future, and he obliged," Serafina said with furrowed brows as she thought back to those times in the past.
"You don't have much to work with there, so we'll just tell you what we like. Gifts- Flowers, clothes, and jewelry." Sulpicia offered some ideas.
"Take her out and enjoy yourselves. Maybe some music?" Athenodora added, "but do it soon. I'm sure she's distraught right now."
"You better pray she's not like us," Sulpicia said with a shake of her head.
"What do you mean?" Serafina asked.
"If she's like us, yes, she'll be sad. But she'll also probably be furious," Athenodora said as she raised her glass to Sulpicia.
"Which means she'll more than likely make you suffer a bit. So good luck with that," Sulpicia said as she clinked their glasses and took a drink.
"Don't keep her waiting too long," Athenodora said as she put her drink down.
"Thank you for helping me see things clearly," Serafina said with a smile.
"You're welcome," they both said simultaneously, causing them all to giggle. They stayed drinking wine and talking about her mate. She described her. They asked what her coven was like, but she wasn't too sure. It was almost as though nothing else mattered as soon as she had seen Rosalie, so she forgot what her coven was like.
Serafina stayed a week to play with the twins who she hadn't visited in a long time. She also spent time with Marcus, telling him about meeting her mate. He was happy for her, but she could tell he didn't like speaking about mates in general. He still scolded her for abandoning her mate and made her swear to return to her and beg for forgiveness. Never once questioning the fact, her mate was a woman. Reaffirming to her what she had been told by Sulpicia and Athenodora, that it wasn't strange. Then he told her she should never bring her mate to Volterra. He explained that if she were to bring her mate, they would force the tie onto Rosalie to bind her to Volterra, ultimately trapping Serafina as well. This roused her vigilance and anger. She would never allow them to force Rosalie into anything. But she thanked him for his advice and prepared for her trip back home. She had to fix things with Rosalie soon.