So I don't know if any of you know this but finding Voltouri and Nomad Canon stories is not easy! I think it's one of the facets of the fandom that just does not have a lot of material in it. I did however manage to find a story though. And that story is Tempting Fate by Saluki. This is the story of Alec and by extension Jane. It's an interesting look into the minds of one of the Voltouri guards most useful members.
“Today was Alec's three hundred and fifty sixth birthday.”
Can you imagine seeing that many years pass? I sure can't. We balk at Edward's 117 years when he's just a mere baby comparatively. My mother told me that her birthdays stopped meaning something when she turned thirty. After over 300 I imagine that it's just tedious. However on this day Alec apparently likes to reflect on how exactly he got to this point.
There is a good reason that people call Jane and he the witch twins but most don't realize that it's a name fitting for more reasons than their remarkable powers. Who would have guessed the snooty, snobbish Jane had been the daughter of a common tanner. Saluki did, that's who.
In this story Alec and Jane's father wasn't exactly the best man to get along with. Quite the opposite in fact. To use her words he was “distant, cold and violent”. Alec was his mother's son. She was the daughter of a educated merchant who had married beneath her station and paid the price, but she had a kind heart and loved her children dearly.
Both Children were working. Alec, like most boys of the time, worked for his father learning the trade. Jane, though taught the ways of the household, found a job as the assistant to the local midwife. Everything was fine for a while, until their father decided to abuse one of his customers for lack of payment, also not something that unusual for the time period we're talking about here. Alec who's been sweet on the man's daughter attempts to find help and the only person he can think of is his sister and her new employer. They didn't have any money to pay for the healing monks. Someone finds out about the midwife attempting to cure people in the village though and when she comes shortly after the police come. She is arrested along with Jane and Alec and charged with witchcraft.
I'm pretty sure you know what the rest of the story is, right? Good...then I won't tell you ;-)
Now, I give her huge points for taking on something like this. She said in her author note that it was a departure for her and I'm not sure if that's just because of the characters or because of the format, but still I say congratulations. Period pieces aren't really that easy to do. People often think they're easier than they are, but good authors should care about authenticity and accuracy. That comes across to readers who might have studied the time. We (yes I'm including myself) tend to respect authors more for that. Also I give her lots of props for trying something that not many people had even tried.
This One Shot definitely deserves the read and it deserves way more than the two reviews that it currently has. So if you really want to know what makes Alec tick, go reed Tempting Fate by Saluki and you won't be disappointed.
http://myvampfiction.com/dungeon/viewstory.php?sid=554&chapter=1
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