vladimir took a deep breath keeping himself composed as he gave a small bow, he grabbed a tray and handed it to Catarina "this was the last room on the tour, if you could make yourself useful and get my lovely guests some beverages?" he said speaking to her as if she were any other servant girl, her face looked a bit hurt but it affected him none as he clapped his hands at her "chop chop girl!" he rolled his eyes and turned on his heel to reveal a grin as he saw Talia. he would bow as he took her hand and kissed it lightly "lady Talia, it is a pleasure to see you. to what do I owe this lovely visit. " he would avoid seeing the others in the room as much as he could, but he could feel Marcos eyes burning into his soul. talia gave a cold smile her eyes icy as they always were in his presence as she slipped her hand away from him. he would pretend not to notice as he pulled a chair out for her, Talia would take her seat as he found his sot next to his brother. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZBg5tGQgv
"it seems we have a misunderstanding." Talia began as Vladimir met the eyes of the ever-watchful Marcos. "a misunderstanding??" Stefan said with a raised brow. his eyes were darting around to the members of the Valhalla guard he was searching for aribella. all but Talia and Marcos had the hoods of their long black cloaks up over their heads blocking a view of any face they may have only their mouths were visible, Vladimir was only to familiar with this custom of theirs. these were the royal guards but not their elites , elites always had their mouths covered with a form of muzzle. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPzj46ppNk
Talia nodded " yes, i sent one of mine here as a way to attempt a bridge between our covens but you seemed to have disposed of him." stefan raised a brow aware of the boy being dead but had no knowledge of them wanting to bridge the gap between them...this was a trick. it had to be, right? stefan thought to himself. before he could speak vladimir stood and slammed his palms on the table, a thunderous echo reverberated off the dining hall walls " was killing my mate part of that bridge? how can u sit there and actually be upset that one of your spys were killed in my palace when your little group had the audacity to kill my mate!"he snarled, his tone feirce and deadly. talias face grew colder as she growled at him "are you so sure we killed her? if i recall she was gifted was she not" vladimir felt sick to his stomach at her comment, his eyes narrowed as his upperlip twitched "excuse me?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxbvi1JPmS
talia crossed her arms as her lips pressed together. she would lean back as the corner of her mouth tilted up in a sarcastic smile. "oh come now, your both very aware of my sisters nightmare's. how can you be so sure that my sister wasnt just helping her escape from you?" she spoke as if she knew things they did not, this made vladimir growl and throw a chair across the room shattering it into a thousand peices, before leaping on to the table " keep my lovers name out of your filthy mouth talia, your sister? shes a goddamn menace. i saw Natalie burn with my own damn eyes-" before he could finish marcos gripped his ankle with a tight grip and whipped him in to the wall cratering the wall..Vladimir would jump down the wind slammed from his body he would tackle Marcos and lam his head into the ground "dont you ever touch me again peasant, dont forget you would be nothing without Arabella"i snarled gripping the back of his head wanting so bad to crush it against the marble floor. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2z5c928cFt
"brother!" stefan said firmly, ripping my attention from marcos. i looked around at the guard that had peeled themselves from the outskirts of the room, they were all ready to pounce. "let us at least hear what it is they have come to say?" stefan placed his hands at his waist folding them respectfully. i lifted off marcos who was shaking, he scrambled to his feet and took his place behind talia. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCDwFFniRM
talia smirked at vladimir which enraged him 'how dare she be so goddamn cocky' he thought to himself rage practically seething from every sealed pore. he would turn his attention to stefan as looking at talia made him want to rip her in to a million peices "why should we? " i snarled through bared teeth. talia sucked her teeth "boy, i never forget how sexy you can be when you are angry Vladimir, but the reason you should listen is that we have a common enemy. we know all about your love affair with the mortal thanks to the servant you killed. his job was to bring her to us, she isnt our enemy but she is your singer which makes it dangerous for her to be around you. we want to grant her immortality not only to get a leg up in the fight we are fighting but also to give back to you something we wrongfully stole away, please. "she gestured to the chair.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpaKVV0pp9
Vladimir was confused, what did they mean by this? Change catarina! not a chance, but only to be nice to me?? "what in the world are you talking about talia?" he said very bewildered by her sentiment. she took a deep breath "natalia came to us once, she begged us to kill her. she said she could not bare the gift you bestowed upon her, we did not grant her request. Instead she decided after sometime with us that she would like to join our family, a grave error on our part. she asked arabella to show you those images because she manipulated my dear sister into believing that you were the threat, you know how easily you can manipulate a 16-year-old no matter if they are immortal or not. it was in the early days then , she trusted more, and she listened more. she sold my sister to numon as his bride, I cannot allow him to have her. you run your empire in openness and honesty which we don't agree with but you keep it under wraps and don't harm anyone near when you feed. this man was working with natalie the entire time and sought out the secrets of our coven and sold my sister to him for her gifts, he killed our entire lower villages in a night to collect more soldiers agaisnt us. our servant disclosed to us that you have found love once more, a gypsie girl. we believed natalie whome spoke horriable things in your name and this time it is us who are begging for forgiveness. we know her blood is potent to you, we can handle changing her if you need us too. " 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5shGvNQlA
he listened to every word, blinking and raising a brow to the last statement "you think i care for the girl, i dont. kill her bite her take her away see if i care, i personally dont give a damn. however, it seems we do have a common enemy. numon is a pest that must be exterminated, you had better be telling the truth about natalie." he said calmly, he knew they would dare to hurt catarina as she was a human and it really wasnt their right to do so on their territory. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfqENU7sBw
stefan gave a soft sigh and crossed his arms "do you have any proof of natalies existance or is this just something you are saying in an attempt to get my brother on your side? your sister may be capable of many things but we all know who vladimir can get when he is angry and without mercy" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgr16CaEaxe
talia gave nod placing her hand up as she pursed her lips " i have proof fear not, i know better then to come here throwing words like these without proof. as for you vladimir you can hide it as much as you want but even without your humanity nothing gets past Marcos."she held her hand out to one of the gaurds who brought forth a bag and dumped it on the table. among these items were clothing with a fresh scent of natalie. there was also jewelry stained with dried blood no more then a few days old. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53lhN1sAwR
vladimir looked over at his brother. his thoughts were scattered and jumbled, he stood up and walked out of the room. he placed his hand on the wall outside trying to make sense of what was happening, numon was his enemy because he was a danger to catrina,only to find out that his ex lover sold this vile creature his other enemy...then that means...natalia was waging war with him and it wasn't numon at all he was just a pawn in her game, but how did he miss this? how could he have been so naive? he looked for years for any trace of her from the sliver of hope in his heart that maybe he was tricked. all this time he was lied to, and all this time his enime was before him. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjKAvy0Ifx
stefan sighed "this is...alot to process, you want to take catarina but that isnt going to work talia." talia pursed her lips and gave an aggravated sigh. " stefan i understand your forestalling, we werent exactly kind to you in the past. but i assure you, we mean no harm." stefan huffed a sarcastic laugh as he shook his head and crossed his arms "no harm? is that what you call your persistence in wanting her changed?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LVCP0Lh1P
talia rolled her eyes "being this way isnt as much of a punishment as your brother seems to believe it to be. i want her to be one of us but only because i feel terribly guilty as much as my sister does now that we know the truth, we know he loved her. that being said, i also know he loves this girl. what he didnt know is she was hand picked by his dear little pet natalie, she is special. natalie will do anything to convince her to stand by her side-" stefans eyes got wide as his mouth twitched, he knew exactly why catarina was special he also knew why natalie wanted her. his thoughts would race as talia continued "and judging by your facial expression id wager you have noticed she is special as well. what is it? if you know what it is it could help us gain an upper hand just in case" stefan gave a sigh his response, did she deserve to know the truth? friend or foe it didnt matter catarina had a one of a kind gift, and to an immortal a formidable one. " i do know what it is, i do not know the extent of her gift the person you should ask is vlad but given his clear disdain for your presence i doubt he would tell you a damn thing. as for upper hand...with a gift like hers it differs every generation but no too much sometimes its range or limitation. from what i know of her gift as a human she poses a threat to us, as a vampire she would be a valuable asset as well as disquietly frightening" talias eyes narrowed as she rapped her fingers on the table lightly careful not to crush the surface in to a pulverised pile of dust. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4djHlu4aO6
now that he could breath vladimir stepped back in the room hearing the conversation regaurding catarinas gift which made him rather unsettled. he would approuch with caution along the table and place his hands upon its surface in the middle. inside he seethed with rage, every part of him wanted to rip talias head clean off her shoulders. however she knew things, he needed as much information as he could get if he was going to protect catarina from natalia. " i need your word that she will be safe talia." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GJz2c276c
talias eyes widened "what?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCPz6Bt4Hf
vlad took a breath and made eye contafct staring deeply into the ruby irises of his sworn enime"i hate you, that is the truth, i hate you beyond measure. you have tormented me and my family for centurys, you do not deserve an ounce of my respect. that being said, that beautiful wonderful woman who has graciously chose to stay here means everything to me. at this very point in time she isnt safe here, if natalie is looking for her she isnt going to back track back to you. she would assume she got what she needed, at this point catarina is simply a weapon. that isnt something that i can stand. so i will tell you what you need to know under one condition, you have to swear on your lives that not a hair on her sweet head will be harmed in any way, because if she comes back anything but flawless the way she left here...i will personally take great pleasure in burning your palace to the ground with your bodys used as the kindling." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWhVJ2qNmC
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talia swallowed a bit and straightened her self as her gaurd took a step inward toward vladimir. she would raise her hand to stop them" vladimir, i know you do not trust me and you have every right to feel that way, we betrayed you we tormented stefan over your mother we have done terrible things i am not discrediting our crimes towards you. we have deeply regretted it since it was done, why do you think you are still here living the way you choose too while the rest of the immortal world lives by our rules? because we have allowed it. we know we are no match for your coven and your many talents, but we are also aware that we have made grave mistakes that should have brought a war to our doorstep centurys ago and you have chosen to make no move. i see that as an empass, i promise you i come here only with good intention, we will hide her away feed and take good care of her and most importantly to you, we will keep her human. i swear it."71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZcEakvNJ3
vladimir pressed his lips together and sighed through his nose, her face was sincere. he didnt want to beleive her..why should he? she had lied to him in the past, they all had at one time or another. him and stefans mother the capture of calliope the murder and now brainwashing of natalie it was so much to take in but he knew this may be the best chance they had to get a weapon like catarina far from natalies reach. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArHxbsX23c
" alright. you can take her at dawn after i talk to her and allow her to make that choice, she has a rare gift. something ive only heard of till now, she has the ability to immobilize her opponents multiple at a time using shadows. i dont know the full extent of her abilities but i do know how valuable it would be as an immortal. theres more...she has a sibling that numon has, well technically two we have the sister. her brother i beleive him to also be gifted but with something different then what she has. from what she has told me her brother inherited the gift to burn someone to ash with a touch" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UXeNVofOh
talias eyes widened as her mouth parted in shock, she had not a clue this girl was capable of such powers. "you mean to tell me she can immobilize anything in her shadow? anything?" she asked wanting to be sure what he just said. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnqwZJ6TYh
vladimir nodded "as far as i know. yes." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYjnVmybQS
talia would take a breath and release a heavy sigh"well then, that is quite a gift...definately worth the fuss."she bit her bottom lip and tapped the table. after a few moments she sucked her teeth and snapped her fingers at a gaurd who brought forth a scroll. " if your knowledge on this girl is correct it means she is a desended from an ancient coven of witches" she said taking the scroll in her hand and standing up. she wore a silver dress that hugged her built tall frame. her mousy hair was kept up in a updo that looked rather painful as she looked over the scroll and brought around to set it infront of vladimir. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡND6T7o8Dqz
"shes a gypsy not a witch"vladimir said defensivly sure that talia was misinformed. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJH0qvLho4e
talia nodded "yes well, the descendents of these witches became gypsies after being exiled for their magic, they used to help women with abortion, birth for mistresses of royals, herbal remedies for sicknesses that actually healed, until the village found the familys that did this also had other practices."71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAxpMkn3he
she pointed to the drawing on the scroll of a baby with its throat slit being bled in to a bowl "apperantly the stillborns they delivered were used for another purpose. these children were sacraficed in a ritual for powers, they would take this blood and mix it with black death hawk moths wings the tear of the bereft mother the blood of the eastern green dragon and finally the essence of a fallen star. those who were given this drink were pregnant mothers and cheiftans of their community. according to this scroll these babys were born dead and resurected through the magic born again through the powers that were gifted to them. unfortunatly most of the time these babys were left abandoned in the woods to be fed on by the wild animals due to their practices. goddess is nature and she created them and so in death they return to her, these babys were found by the gypsie tribes that then passed through and habitated the abandoned village after the witches were ran out. so yes she is a gypsie that is how she was raised but her liniage is traced back to this...another thing you should know these children they abandoned they didnt just abandon them they fingured waste not want not and drained them of their blood as well...but once found these children were perfectly healthy."talia tapped the end of the scroll of the baby swaddled and healthy held by a chubbier gypsie lady with a scarf on her head. vladimir looked over these drawings "who drew these?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZyiki02C8
talia looked over at marcos and sighed "well, in truth we had met numon under another name. he is the one who gave us this information. he said he was seeking a child from these babys blood lines, we were sure these babies were brought back by some ritual but not that they passed down their gifts or even that their were more of them in this century" vladimir sighed and pressed his fingers against his temple " so thats his fasination with her, her gifts?" talia shook her head "no, his fasination is that he is her great great great great grandfather"
