Maya had been in Volterra for a week now. Her family had invited her down to spend the St Marcos day festival with them claiming that she had neglected them. She had laughed at that as she had been calling them twice a week at least to keep informed on all that she had missed. Which was a surprising amount. It never failed to amaze her at just how much could happen with her family in such a short time but she supposed the lack of ability to sleep probably left them with way too much time their hands. At least if the fact that her brothers, deciding they had lived long enough, attempted to commit suicide by trying to prank Jane by turning her hair lime green was anything to go by.
Since she had arrived though, she had constantly been busy shopping with Jane and the other female guards, pulling pranks and playing video games with her brothers, training with the guards and Caius and talking with her mothers and uncles. Currently she was out in the garden with both her mothers discussing the very topic she had been avoiding; Jasper. She had told them about him, but no one else fearing that they might just choose to descend on the small town of Forks to investigate him or worse, try and scare him off. And now that he had left her, she was doubly worried about how they would react when they learned that she had not only found her imprint but that he had left her. She knew that it was something Jasper needed to do to feel better and she was no longer angry at him for it but there was no guarantee that her family would be so forgiving. They had, on occasion, a tendency to be unreasonable when it came to her. Which is why she was once again glad for her mental wall that kept her uncle Aro out of her mind. Its not like she never intended to tell them. She did. Really. Absolutely. At some point. She just wasn't sure how to. But she definitely wanted it to be on her terms.
"So tell us Cara Mio, what has become of the charming young lad you are mated to?" Sulpicia asked, a grin spreading across her lips.
"Yes, we were both surprised that he let you come alone. Even if you had assured him that you were safe with us, not many vampires trust the Volturi." Athenodora added, a look of annoyance adorning her own face. She may understand why others were wary of them, but did not make it any less tiresome to deal with.
Maya let out a sigh. "Yeah, about that, I never actually told them that it was the Volturi that raised me. I know what some people think of you guys and didn't want them to look at me any different. I mean I love you guys, I really do, but you have to admit this coven does scare the daylights out of most vampires."
"Hm yes, we can't argue that. So how did you convince him to allow you to travel alone even without knowing you were coming here?" Athenodora prodded.
Maya hesitated; she had not actually told her mothers about Jasper leaving but realized that she was going to have to now. "I didn't have to convince him. He left almost six months ago."
"WHAT?!" Sulpicia cried, almost knocking over her tea cup filled with blood.
"Why are we just hearing about this now?! We must summon the guard, especially Demetri! We shall hunt this fool down and have him brought here to face punishment" Athenodora decreed, her fist almost breaking the table as she brought it down on it. Thank god most of their furniture was reinforced for this exact purpose.
"No! No please, its not like that. There was an incident. Due to his gift he can feel the emotions of everyone in the room as if they were his own. This unfortunately includes a vampire's bloodlust and he lost control when they were all exposed to the scent of fresh blood at once. I didn't get hurt but he felt bad and worried that he might accidentally hurt me if it happened again. So he left to gain better control and then he is coming back. He actually promised to take me to see all the wonderful sights across the world after my graduation" Maya rushed to say, attempting to reassure her mothers.
She purposefully left out the almost painful tugging sensation that had taken up residence in her chest ever since he left. She didn't think her mothers had ever been away from their respective mates long enough to ever feel it and if they didn't know about it, she certainly wasn't going to tell them. Not that the pulling sensation was the thing that was bothering her the most. In a way it was almost a comfort, letting her know that he was alive and hopefully fine.
"If that is so then why do you look so sad my child" Sulpicia asked gently.
Maya looked down, almost unwilling to admit what was bothering her so much. What had been bothering her since a few days after Jasper left no matter how much she lied to herself and brushed it aside. "Because he hasn't called mama" she admitted quietly. "When he said he was leaving I did not expect that it would mean that he wouldn't call to check in with me. I've left countless messages hoping that he would pick up so I could know that he was okay but he never does."
"Oh Gattina, sometimes men can do extremely foolish things thinking themselves wise. He probably thinks its for the best or some other ridiculous reason" Athenodora told her, standing to pull Maya into a hug as tears began to fall down her face.
"But why can't he call or if that doesn't work, why can't he write? I just want to know that he is okay or that he is at least thinking of me" she sobbed.
Sulpicia got up to join the hug, "there there, Cara Mio. All will be well. If he is as you described then he is definitely thinking of you and loves you very much. You two are mates after all. It is just as Athenodora said, sometimes a person can feel that what they are doing is best or right for the one they love when in fact they are only being silly. I am sure that he will return to you in no time."
"Yes. At which time you can demand an apology and remuneration. That will definitely teach him that he is in the wrong" Athenodora declared.
Maya let out a small chuckle, "has that ever worked with Zio Caius?"
"Well, no," Athenodora confessed, "but Caius can be more foolish than most men when it comes to emotions. Your Jasper definitely does not have this problem so I am certain it will work for you."
All three of them laughed at this, Sulpicia adding in, "meanwhile my Aro has the opposite problem; so caught up in the past he continues to try and make amends even when already forgiven."
This caused them all to laugh again and as they did Maya felt the weight that had settled on her chest begin to lift. It appeared that all she really needed was the assurance and comfort only her mothers could provide. She was still upset that Jasper had not reached out, but with both her mothers' reassurances that it was nothing for her to worry about she was finally able to accept it and stop letting it worry her so much.
As they settled back down into their seats and Maya cleaned up her tears they were interrupted by Alec.
"Excuse me my queens. But Maya's presence has been requested in the throne room."
"For what purpose?" Athenodora demanded. She would definitely be having words with her husband about interrupting her time with her daughter.
"I am not sure but apparently Lord Aro believes that Maya may know a vampire they have been dealing with and can shed some light on the case."
"Very well. You best hurry over Cara" Sulpicia relented, not happy that their time with their daughter had been cut short and intended to make that known to her husband later.
Maya let out a sigh and stood up, "Yes mother." She turned to Alec, "Off we go then brother" she said before dropping down to shift, not wanting to walk. Alec gave her an indulgent smile and reached down to pick her up and pocket her phone before heading off to the throne room.
When they entered the throne room, Alec passed her off to her uncle Caius to sit in his lap. No one said anything about her being in the form of a feline as on the few occasions that she had attended a trial it had always been in cat form. That being said she had only attended three and those in the past two years. Her uncles had wanted her to understand what they did, to see some of the truth of them and why they were feared. It had taken years of arguing amongst themselves to finally decide to allow he to see what they did, but in the end had decided it was for the best if she understood what their role was. They wanted her aware enough so that when she was out in public she would be mindful about announcing her connection to them to other vampires.
That being said, none of the kings had wanted to risk a criminal realizing she was important to them and attacking her but figured a cat could be easily overlooked. As such she spent all her time during the trials curled up on either her uncle Caius or uncle Marcus's lap in the form of a small kitten. She never even tried to sit on her uncle Aro's lap as he tended to stand up a lot and she had no intention of being dumped on the floor in his excitement.
Just as she was finishing getting settled, her uncle's hand running gently down her back, Jane pushed open the large doors. At the sight of who followed behind her, Maya immediately began to panic. What on earth had those four done to get in trouble with the kings?!
Translation:
Cara Mio - My dear
Gattina - kitten