just a queen and a rusty throne [caius]

[JANE MAGDALENA VOLTURI]

* i'm in the de-details with the devil ,
• SO NOW THE WORLD CAN NEVER GET ME ON MY LEVEL •

that was the problem with having such a short temper, jane supposed - there were some things that just ground on her last nerve, and losing a kill was one of them. especially if it was losing a kill to a different vampire.

nomads were all over the place nowadays; it made her skin crawl. she positively detested having to deal with the rats that slipped off of ships. it didn't matter if they were wearing silk ties or fashionable sun dresses; they were still rats to her, unable to form a coven, unable to tie themselves down to anything - skipping through her city like it was just a mere blip on the map.

perhaps dubbing volterra 'her' city was a little presumptuous. but jane had always been that way - another thing that she had come to realize about herself. after you lived a certain amount of time, it seemed, you sort of grew tired of trying to fix things about yourself that others might find displeasing.

jane was at that point.

needless to say, seeing some nomad rat steal her hunt for the day had put jane in a foul mood. she moved down the street, masked from the sun by the signature velvet cloak over her shoulder; when she threw the door open into the castle, she slammed it behind her, reveling for a moment in the heavy thud that echoed in the loud hallway.

it was nice to be strong, she thought absently, taking in a deep, unnecessary breath - it was more for the imagery of being annoyed than it was for actual breathing, and the sharp way in which she inhaled should have given a hint.

"ridiculous. that was my kill," she muttered under her breath as she stomped from the doorway into the entrance hall, pulling her hood down and undoing the clasp. she blew some blonde hair absently from her face, brushing it lightly until it was in place, and pressed her lips into a thin line. image was everything, after all - even if she was furious.

[caius alexandros volturi]

It had been a relatively calm day in Volterra thus far, so Caius was mildly surprised when he heard a loud thud echoed throughout the hallway. He watched as a familiar petite guard strode into the entrance hall, clearly trying to conceal some of her anger. He was quite fond of Jane really. Of all the guard, or at least all those he deemed important, he saw the most of himself in her. Disregarding their looks, the two could probably pass for father and daughter if he was ever struck by some inane desire to interact with humans as something other than a food source. Oddly enough seeing her angry made him feel calmer, as well as slightly amused.

"What has upset you so Jane?" He asked softly, wondering who had irked the small guard. He was not sure what she had been doing before she arrived, but he could not think of anything Aro might have asked her to do that might have upset her so. Well, whoever made her so angry, Caius hoped she taught him or her a lesson. Despite her size, Jane was quite a formidable vampire. You had to be either very stupid or very brave and determined, which he also thought of as stupidity for the most part, to know you were going to upset her and then do it anyway.

Nevertheless, despite her anger she was putting forth an admirable effort to retain her composure. Perhaps he'd have one of the lower guard find an unsuspected human for her to unleash her anger on later tonight. He would certainly enjoy watching that. At the moment he was just happy to have found someone else to talk to besides his fellow leader Aro, who always spouted such moronic drivel such as happy endings being so rare. If he were still human, he would surely want to vomit from hearing such things in Aro's annoyingly chipper voice. Of course, he knew the dark haired man did not mean it when such things most of the time, and merely said them to help accomplish his own ends, but that did not make them sound any less idiotic when he said them. Jane's mysterious ire was a welcome reprieve from hearing things like that, which made him all the more interested in it.

[JANE MAGDALENA VOLTURI]

* i'm in the de-details with the devil ,
• SO NOW THE WORLD CAN NEVER GET ME ON MY LEVEL •

if jane had not needed control so much - if she did not depend on her assertive image to keep people from crossing her - then she would have been positively seething. well, she was - seething, that was - but she wasn't showing it as much as she would have liked to. good be god, she was just about ready to take that lovely vase and throw it against the wall.

but she wouldn't, because she was in control. she might snap, lose her temper, say mean things - but rarely did she loosen her grasp on her poise long enough to truly throw a violent temper tantrum. jane resented even the mere idea of doing such a thing. she was not a child. she was older than some of the women here in the volturi. she was smart, and fast and strong - and people, even nomads coming off of the ships, were always underestimating her. she'd had quite enough of that.

a soft voice broke the red veil that had fallen over her vision, and she cleared her throat and turned around to find caius giving her a questioning look. he was gauging her - she could tell, because she'd been here long enough to tell - but she didn't mind; jane was fond of caius. he was not so different from herself; he was ambitious, like all of them, but certainly the more ruthless of her three leaders. while aro would always be special to her - and while she would always seek his attention and approval because of his role in her life - caius was, perhaps, a close second, in terms of non-blood-related. alec always came first.

"there's nomads everywhere," jane seethed, bristling. "i was on the hunt, and a crowd got in my way - and one of those blasted ship rats got him before i could!"

the blonde took a moment, shutting her eyes and composing herself once more. putting herself together, she opened her gaze once more and fixed it on caius, planting a practiced, pleasant smile on her lips. the lightest quirking of soft lips hiding venomous fangs beneath made for a very nice smile.

"needless to say, he didn't get away without punishment," jane continued, carefully regulating her voice, "but that doesn't change the fact that it was still mine."

important fact: never interrupt a woman before she's about to eat.

clearing her throat, jane smoothed out the simple black dress she wore, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "did i disturb you when i returned? i apologize. i got a little worked up, is all." the smile had already left her lips, because smiling took so much energy and it was such a waste that she only did it when it felt necessary. "rest assured it won't happen again, caius."

and it wouldn't. there was no way she was going to let a nomad get her meal again.

[caius alexandros volturi]

Apparently, Jane was so focused on not losing control of her anger, that she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. She only seemed to notice him once he spoke up. He frowned as she told him what had happened. Lately more and more nomads had been coming to their city and the cities around it, and he couldn't say this knowledge pleased him. Having so many, as Jane so aptly put it, ship rats near their city set him on edge. Even more displeasing was the upcoming ball that the Volturi, also known as Aro and most of the girls, were planning. Having so many enemies in one place was an unnerving thought. He was not so dimwitted to think that the Volturi was invulnerable, and several other covens had already proven that they could be a threat when they worked together, especially under the leadership of the Cullens. When Carlisle had originally stayed with them, Caius would never have believed he would be a threat to the Volturi. Now though, his coven was one of the most threatening out there.

His lips quirked upward when Jane mentioned punishing the insolent nomad who had stolen her meal. "Well, I am sure this ship rat won't do something foolish again. Take some satisfaction in that at least. I shall tell Heidi to bring along a nice meal soon." He told her, growing more amused at the thought of a faceless vampire being subjected to Jane's unique brand of punishment. He did so enjoy watching it in person. Of course, seeing her use her gift in action usually meant that someone had broken the law, which always put him in a bad mood. The satisfying part was watching the law breaker get what they deserved.

"Not at all, your presence is most welcome Jane. I was merely attempting to escape those making plans for the ball's preparation. Why they are under the impression that I wish to help them, I do not know." He told her while rolling his eyes. Really, why did they insist on coming to him for those sorts of things? Did he look like he cared? If so, he really needed to work on how other people thought of him. Sure, he would be glad for the chance to spend time with his wife, and to show her off to everyone else, but other than that he really had no interest in the upcoming event. Caius smirked when Jane promised not to let a nomad get her meal again. "No, I am sure it won't."

[JANE MAGDALENA VOLTURI]

* i'm in the de-details with the devil ,
• SO NOW THE WORLD CAN NEVER GET ME ON MY LEVEL •

it wasn't very often that jane didn't lose her temper. after all, she was notorious for being the more volatile of the twins with good reason; she was louder, shorter-fused than her almost eerily tranquil brother, but certainly no less capable than her more analytical twin. no, jane was certain that the two of them could easily have set the world on fire and sat back as it burned, if they so wished. and oh, there had been a time when jane wished it - she would have been content to destroy everything in sight, to crush beneath delicate fingertips the delicate mortal life that teemed around her like parasites.

thankfully, she had not been allowed to wreak much havoc when she'd first been a newborn. getting control of that anger - stifling it and wielding it as a weapon - had been the greater struggle for her, as opposed to her thirst; pain, she could handle - but not destroying had been difficult. not killing had been difficult. aro had rightfully robbed her the chance of slaughtering the village that put her to the stake, and for that, she was almost grateful. it had given her the chance to wield her anger in different ways.

caius' remark about the ball elicited an eyeroll from the youthful blonde. she had little to no patience for ball planning - there was no desire in her to put on a gown and wander aimlessly among vampires that she didn't care about, to make small talk, to do any of it. in fact, the entire idea of hosting a ball and putting all of their enemies in one place seemed to be a bit of a hassle, if anything at all. jane knew that there was an ulterior motive in the part of the volturi for hosting such a thing, but why they simply couldn't destroy their enemies was far beyond her.

"i have been attempting to escape those plans since the day it was announced we would be hosting the ball," jane said, her voice as dry as autumn leaves crackling underfoot. "i would rather we have no ball at all then bring all of them here. separate them back into their covens, and we could easily extinguish them one by one." she gave caius a crooked smile, smoothing out her dark skirt. "at any rate, shall we avoid the planning of this ridiculous idea together?"