Hello again! I want to apologize for the delay in updating, its been very busy for me lately. I'll try to update as much as I can. Of course all rights of the Twilight Saga and its original characters go to Stephenie Meyer, I only 'own' the plot idea for this pairing and the new non-original characters of the series.


Previously:


"Sulpicia...if you were married now, of all important times, it wouldn't be as easy for them to look at you as a Harlot, or as a Strega. If they saw you married, and as a true wife and companion to a powerful man, then Aldo could not simply use the excuse of how you are a Harlot wanting to cause trouble as a Strega."

(Strega - Witch)

Sulpicia swallowed nervously, she was not liking the direction in which this was going and she began to move her fingers nervously to her arm. "I-I see.." She stuttered quietly.

Benedetto reached forward and took her hand into his, looking her in the eyes. "If you were my wife, you would not have to fear for this trial to end badly. You'd be protected, we'd make them see Aldo was the true evil. I can protect you, Sulpicia. You have the choice here and now to realize what is your best option."

Shock was sent in waves through Sulpicia, who for now remained silent.

But outside the home, anger was going through Aro as his body began to tremble from how angry he was. This man...this...filth, was trying to use this trial and Sulpicia's life in order to make her think she'd be saved by becoming his wife.

HIS wife, it was the most absurd thing he could even think of! This man was trying to steal his mate, Aro considered her as his mate and the threat of another man trying to steal her was making him want to rip out Benedetto's throat with his teeth. He wouldn't lie if he was asked, but expected Sulpicia to begin saying no, to say that her heart already belonged to another.

But...the silence that followed began to make him feel uneasy, and far more angrier.


Now:

Chapter Twelve- Gifts


The silence that followed continued to make Aro feel more rage, but he forced himself to remain silent and stay frozen in place. He heard Sulpicia's heart rate was faster, he willed it to slow so she would not become too anxious, or worse.

Sulpicia took a deep breath and blinked her eyes, looking at Benedetto. "I...I cannot believe what I am hearing Mr. Marcello..."

"Ben, Sulpicia. Please, Mr. Marcello is too former. I could protect you from here on out, you'd be proven innocent, yet feared as well. But not in...this way. Lady Marcello has a better sound to it than Strega now doesn't it?" Benedetto smiled at her and watched her closely.

"It seems..you've backed me into a corner Ben..." Sulpicia glanced down at her hands and took in a slow, yet deep breath. Ben reached across and took her hands into his very gentle-like, which was not anything like she'd seen of him before.

"I do not mean to make you feel you have no other choice in the matter, Sulpicia. But I am not getting any younger, and I refuse to watch an innocent woman be dragged down in the mud when she deserves so much more. You, Sulpicia, deserve greatness."

His words hit a nerve in Sulpicia, and she decided to stay silent to not say something she did not mean. How could she allow this to continue? He was a dangerous man, and she had also grown feelings for Aro! The simple idea of being anyone else's made her feel like a traitor to Aro, she felt as if she was betraying everything that her and Aro stood for.

But what did they exactly stand for?

Benedetto took the silence in consideration, not as an answer. He simply smiled at her and raised his hand beneath her chin, causing her to look at him. "I know what you are thinking of, Sulpicia. You are thinking of Aro, the reale. But... I must ask this of you... what has he done to help you?"

(Reale - Royal)

Aro whom was still listening to all of this froze. 'That bastard...' His thoughts rang inside his head and he tried to contain his anger, surprising himself that he was doing so well. He nodded to himself, Benedetto Marcello was a sneaky bastard of a man who would use anything to make his offer seem to be the best choice.

"He's... Ben he's done a lot for me." Sulpicia spoke, trying to sound so sure of herself only for her words to leave her mouth in a light whisper.

"I did not say for you, I said to help you. Sulpicia, he has not tried to use his reale status to get you out of this, to expose your caretaker or to help your village find the real murderers or animals who have done these crimes. Is he there for you? Perhaps, but he has not done anything like I have. I have kept this village from casting you out, from sending you to an early death. He hasn't even offered you to be his bride as I have, how can you be so sure that he would protect you more than I could? He is a coward, Sulpicia. You can see I am clearly not."

Sulpicia felt offended by his saying these things about Aro, but again she had previously called Aro a coward so many times to herself, and to Athenodora. She pulled herself away from Ben and stood from the chair, pacing nearby. He said nothing else, but just watched her. He was in fact, nervous, Aro could sense it. He could hear the increased hear rate, the heavier breathing of an anxious man.

Aro stayed hidden and listened, staying still as though if he moved, he'd lose his concentration and not hear them.

"...Yes..." Sulpicia stopped finally and breathed out softly. Benedetto heard this and stood up at once, peering at her from where he stood. "Yes?" He asked, half unconvinced of her answer.

"Yes, what?" He asked once more.

"Yes Ben, I will marry you. But only if you prove my innocence and I am set free, I will not have you trying to use my trial to have me as a wife, for I cannot allow my dignity to be pushed so far for me to gain so little. I am willing to hurt a man, this certain man who has been there as emotional support for me to survive on my own with you. Do not fail me, Ben." Sulpicia looked at him carefully and Ben broke out into a smile, closing the distance to her and pressing his hands against her face ever so gently.

His gentleness surprised Sulpicia as she looked at him, seeing pure happiness across the features of his face. "Thank you, Sulpicia. And I swear on my life, I will not fail you."

Sulpicia offered him a small smile and saw him lean forward, she felt her body become tense as she was in fear that he was about to kiss her lips. But instead, being gentleman like as he always was, kissed her forehead.

"I will return you to the barn, Lady Marcello." He chuckled to himself as she let out a small laugh.

"I am not Lady Marcello as of yet, Benedetto. You must watch your tongue." She reminded him in a playful, yet serious matter. He said nothing but continued to smile, and returned the rope carefully around her wrists and returned her to the barn. He tied her to the same wood pillar, but this time gave her more room to stretch her legs or to move about a few inches. It wasn't much, but more than what anyone else had done for her.

She watched Benedetto leave and guilt of her actions began to settle inside of her, how could she promise herself to this man when she cared for Aro so soon? Was her will to survive going to make her unhappy also? It must. For once she married Benedetto, it could not be undone. She could never remarry, and the thought made her nauseous.


There were loud crashes in the forest near the village, Aro was tearing brances, destorying anything he had in reach of him. Yes, she had said YES! To the man who'd have soon of sentenced her to death if she had said no!

Aro thought himself a fool, how could he have let himself believe that she was the one for him, for his home! She was nothing but a human who he could have left to die, but he allowed himself to care for her, only to feel betrayed.

"Aro?" He turned quickly to his name being spoken, and saw Athenodora. "What is wrong, Brother?"

He let out a quick, unneeded but annoyed and raged breath before he decided to answer, "Sulpicia... is to marry Benedetto Marcello. She did not try to defend herself of her feelings for me, of her own wants. She gave in... she let him see how weak she was and he grasped the chance of it."

Athenodora tilted her head gently to the side and frowned. "I see... perhaps she does not mean to go through with it, Aro. If you so do care for the Lady Sulpicia, you will first try to understand why she would say yes to another man. She is frightened, she is threatened by death from her own village, from her own caretaker! Aro I know you hurt, I hurt at this news as well. But how may you be so selfish to only thing of your pain in this" Athen stepped forward as Aro watched her, his eyes growing dark from lack of feeding and from his anger. Although, Athen continued.

"You stand here before me, pouting and whining like a child who's toy has been taken away. A supposed man, who thinks he has lost his love. You are disgusting to me as of now, Brother. You may not stand here and sulk in the shadows while your mate, sits in that forsaken barn awaiting her words of death or living! You have not made her an offer or chance to escape, and you grow angry when another man who is controlling her trial does? And would you be happy if she had said no? Of course you would, because then it would not have damaged your pride-"

"My... PRIDE?" He yelled out, cutting her off in mid-sentence.

"YES! YOUR PRIDE!" She shouted back, then continued. "You would rather blame Sulpicia, my future Sister, of this than to let anyone cast blame on you to hurt your pride and your ego! All of this is your fault! As well as my husband's fault! You and him pushed these events to happen and yet you blame the human you brought into the world of the dead. You blame the human for simply trying to survive. You make me sick of this Aro, that is your crime to bear. Not hers. If you want to stand here before me and Caius, and be a boy, then blame yourself for her saying yes to him. Or... you can be a man and fight for her better. Make this.. Marcello's plans, stop. Sulpicia is not safe anymore, not even with him."

Aro decided to keep his comments about what his "sister" was speaking of to himself, he couldn't deny that these events were his fault. Though, he could not do much without exposing what he was. He reached up his hand and began to rub his forehead. "Fine... fine... you are right, Athen. But what do I do?"

"You do what you have always done, Aro. You use your simple gifts. You have Felix now, train him. Make him in your image so we can get this finished. I will not leave this village without my new Sister."

Aro fixed his coat and cleared his throat, even though he hadn't needed to. "Good. Now... I need your help. How will you be with... your simple gifts?"


Sulpicia couldn't sleep, she was too deep in thought about how she'd tell Aro. She heard the barn door open and she looked quickly over, suddenly feeling nervous as she saw him walk inside. He waited for the door to close before he went to her and touched her face with his hand.

"Are you alright?" He asked her in a whisper.

"I hardly know..." Sulpicia frowned, whispering back to him.


Author's Notes:

Hi again everyone, I wanted to apologize again for the long wait for Chapter Twelve and for it being short, I lost my idea of how it could go towards the ending and I think this chapter was a little lacking out of all the chapters, but I wanted to leave it just in case you all liked it more than I did. I will try to have Chapter 13 up soon!