La luce della Luna

Disclaimer: Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stephine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

Summary: The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

Author's note: I'm so sorry this has taken over three months to write. I've been ridiculously busy with sewing. I've had at least one big event each month since April where I needed to make at least one outfit for. In the case of the last one -not only did I have to make three different outfits for me, I had to make my Mom an entire 18th C wardrobe complete with stays. Now that sewing is slowing down, I can write again, I hope!

Chapter 13

For here was seized his dame of peerless charms,
(How often human judgment wanders wide)!
Whom in long warfare he had kept from harms,
From western climes to eastern shores her guide
In his own land, 'mid friends and kindred arms,
Now without contest severed from his side.
Fearing the mischief kindled by her eyes,
From him the prudent emperor reft the prize.

-Orlando Furioso VII by Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533)

Church. The very name would not strike fear into any normal vampire, despite the demons we were. Crucifices, holy water, all things that were construed by the Volturi to make humans think they had a chance against the legends of old. Only my angel had found our true weakness –to be burned as we all would be once our time was done here upon the Earth.

And yet, it was Church I did fear in some measure for it was a Church that had been the last building I entered as a good and confident Christian man. Upon leaving, I was nothing more than a murderer, a sign of the demon I was yet to become as the priest's blood called out from the altar for revenge upon my very form. Father Piro was an innocent; his only sin –if it could even be called as such- was not giving into my demands to have my marriage annulled. He would not listen to my pleas and the devil took me over in that Church in my hometown; I allowed him to cloud my head and my judgment so that I killed that man. It was the last time the blood did not call to me in the sense of hunger.

When my Elizabetta stomped her foot and demanded to drive to the Church that she wished to go –even knowing that no service would be preformed today- I gave in for but two reasons: One was that I had denied her much in the past day. The fairy vampire had seen that if we were to separate, then we would both be lost from her visions. She had trouble seeing Elizabetta apart from me so I did not let my angel leave my side for more than a few minutes. My savior loathed that for there was something she much wanted across the street.

I had seen her as the evening settled in, standing upon the balcony above the waterfront of this harbor town. She gripped the handrail as she took in a breath of the air that blew from the bay, her dark locks blowing slightly behind her. As I stood within the room, thinking upon the beauty of her skin in these twilight hours, I also noticed something else about Elizabetta. She was home. Her movements were more free, her smiles more frequent as she spoke of this place. She knew every street and every turn when we had drive in –she even knew each store in the mall below us. However, it was to the mall across the street that she demanded to go and to that one would I not allow during the day. The sun had been too bright that I was regulated to the room and kept my savior my prisoner; thought I wished not for it. Upon the night coming, she had given up all fight and looked to the strangers below in longing. She wished to join her own kind –her fellow humans though I did not believe she was one of them truly, only that she believed herself to be one. Though she smelled as a human –far better than most in truth- she did not act as one nor speak as one. She knew more than she should and had no fear due to her minor insanity.

Now, it was my remembrances that were to drive me insane. For nearly half an eon have I not set foot within sacred ground yet to such did she wish to go. How was a demon such as myself to tell an angel no upon this holy day? I began to question whether she was truly my savior for though she had saved me from the witch Jane, I was now within Elizabetta's hands; herself a revenging angel.

Was she to toy with me? Was this God's plan? To send onto me the most beautiful of his angels so that to torment me further? She wished for what I could not allow in order to protect her very life. I wished for her but knew that even one moment of not considering even the gentlest of caresses could break her fragile skin. My beloved savior was within my grasp yet I could not have her without destroying her. This was the greatest torment for it was all my mind could consider as she slept at night in her peaceful land of dreams.

I would watch as her breathing slowed, the rhythmic rise and fall of her perfect breast, only to consider but one touch upon the cheek. A simple gesture of moving one lock from her face would all but persuade me to kiss her succulent lips. I knew it would wake her and I would not be able to control the lustful demon who demanded to be placed between her creamy white thighs. I would hold back my hands from her form but the demon in me would not stop. His thoughts became my own. The night previous had been the worst of these nights that I have spent in the human lady's company for I could not control myself. It had taken hours to calm and force the lustful demon back down as much as I hate to admit as such. I could not take her; beyond the normal object of sin, I would kill her.

The very thought of destroying my angel was beyond grief. My mind could no longer comprehend being without her. I did not see a world where no matter how many glares or snide comments she may make, I could be without her. A true love only meant that even upon the very worst, there was still no place you would rather be –such was I beginning to believe I had for Elizabetta.

Despite the lust that attempted to conquer me at night, and the bloodlust of her blood during the day, it was now the man that wept for I was more monster in my last human moments than I had ever been as a vampire. It was within a Church that my true form lashed out and struck down an innocent man; yet it was to a Church we went.

I took no notice of the car stopping for I warred with myself. As my savior's protector, I should follow her always. As her mate, I should want to be wherever she graced. Yet, as a coward and a fool did I fear the stone building to which she wished to enter and that I could not admit to myself. My pride and my honor demanded that I both protect her and yet do not enter the Church. Truly, she was sent from God to torture me further for I could not deny her and yet I had need to deny myself.

I heard the click of her seatbelt and the soft creak of the door as she moved to vacate the vehicle. Even as her shoes hit the pavement, I could not move. It was here that God had brought my human life to an end, upon his sacred home, and I had no wish to remind myself of the man I had been before those last moments.

But a week ago, such a remembrance would not matter. I would gladly walk within a Church more as a provocation, a dare to God to strike me down, but now a different fear replaced me. I did not wish to recall my sins from the time of my last human moments until now. However, now, I had Elizabetta. The guilt inside of me was a guilt of a human man filled with regrets for his sins. How could I atone for them?

I thought on Elizabetta, how she had change me, how I wished to know more of her, to know more of this peculiar human lady who showed no fear of us but struck fear into the heart of every vampire. For I knew well that her family feared for her. I had called them and spoke with them enough this week to know of their feelings for our human lady. Worry was the lady Esme's constant companion and it was with apprehension that Carlisle did answer the phone each time. They feared as I did; that she would be taken from us.

"Coming?" my savior asked a knowing smile upon her pink lips. I did not answer. Instead, I thought upon the Volturi and why they feared her. If it were by her hands that I was to be given into my Death, then so be it. They knew not what they feared for they feared an angel. I feared God's condemnation upon my human soul for no longer did I have a soul. I lost the moment I took an innocent life.

I reached for the handle of the door and looked upon the Church. Would such a place welcome me now that I have agreed to no longer take human life but protect it? Was that enough in the eyes of the Church? I heard the sarcastic quick laughter from my savior's lips before I heard her speak. "I'm doubting God is in a smiting mood today but if you'd rather stay here," she stated in a snide manner. Given my thoughts of fear and dread, I lost myself and did not consider that my glare would affect her. Truly, I believed that it would scare her off the moment I looked at her; that she would react as any other human and run from me, leaving her sable fur behind.

But no, not my little treasure. As her face did fall so did all hopes of any sort of reconciliation with God, the Church, and my human life. But all of that left with her smile. Instead, she took a step forward, her vehicle's frame preventing much more forward movement. A single hand did she reach towards me and she spoke the one word that made all the anger, all the hate, and all the self loathing leave me to only be filled with the need to love and protect her. "Gabriel?" her soft southern voice whispered to me. "What's wrong?" As her hand grew closer, I turned away from my little treasure for I did not deserve her.

When I did not answer her, I could see from the corner of my eye her quizzing look. My savior was clearly attempting to assess the issue before her and discover what plagued my mind though she could not know it. Her beautiful green eyes darted to above her vehicle and surveyed the surrounding area quickly.

"I should go inside with you," I informed her. It was the simple truth. I should enter into the last place I was truly human with her, a Church. I saw my love furrow her brow before she responded.

"You can stay out here with Ginsie. I don't mind," she informed me as if this were an obvious choice. Perhaps so, but not for me. I could not allow my eyes to leave her and to not hear her heartbeat so close. Within the Church, her feather light breathing would be lost to me as well as her soft green eyes.

"No, I cannot," I stated more for myself for I could not. I could not sit within the confines of the truck with her sable fur, unknowing if the Guard had found some entrance to the Church to commit a massacre. Even if it was not them, what if some other demon stalked her within those stone walls, unseen from my eyes? I could not leave my only love in such a way.

I exited her vehicle with care as I looked upon the stone masonry structure. It was in a place such as this my last human moments lived and, if God did have mercy upon even the soulless, than it would be to this one that the human in me –what little was left and had been reborn- should be baptized again.

Upon closing the door, I walked around the dark blue truck to Elizabetta's side. My hand reached for her's without thought and without words. It was her physical presence that I needed to remind me that not all was lost in this world. I would keep her alive and no longer destroy those that God deemed worthy of his love. It would be to animals that I would turn for my hunger and not to humans. As much as the idea of the taste disgusted me, the idea of no longer being a loathsome demon –one who was little better than those he destroyed- intrigued me greatly. Was this the consciousness my former mistress told me of? This guilt?

The wooden doors for the church were but slightly open. I pressed upon one with my free hand and allowed my savior to enter. It was only then that she looked down up on her right hand of which I had taken possession of. Her brow became knitted in a confused manner but it was not one anger.

When she opened her palm to extract her hand from mine, panic filled me. What if she were to run? What if she were leave? The Guard would catch her quickly. The human man in me could not take even the idea of her no longer living. He wept bitterly at the idea before becoming enraged by it. All had passed in a manner of a half second before my little treasure whispered within my ear, "Don't worry." I was confused until she took a half step towards the baptismal waters to bless herself. It was not to leave me that she broke contact with my grasp –one I allowed her to break for I could have held her still if I had wished but I had no desire to harm her- but the break was only to engage in a ritual known well for nearly two eons.

As she dipped two fingers of her right hand in the water and made the sign of the cross upon her person, she further spoke unto me. "I'll make sure the scary church doesn't eat you," my love said with a smile upon her lips. I could only half heartily chuckle at her for what she spoke was not to far from the truth of my fears. With the blessing done, I reached for her hand again and she did not pull away.

Within the nave of the church, Elizabetta stopped towards the back. There were but a few others, clustered near the Sanctuary, within what was a moderately sized church. It was done up in a style that was old even within my time though I doubt the building itself to be of any older than the last century.

Her vivid green eyes gazed up at me and she gestured with her head towards the back pew. I was unsure as to why she wished to sit there but I did not argue. Again, her hand left mine to bless herself prior to entering the pew. She knelt quickly and simply before taking her seat.

It was automatic. I did not think. The human man in me demanded it. I knelt upon one knee, my eyes averted from the cross in the Sanctuary, and blessed myself as well. For me, it was a humorous thing for I had no soul. My motions were but that of ingrained childhood rituals and not of thoughts for forgiveness and afterlife for I was undead. Yet, could even the soulless be forgiven? This time, Elizabetta took my hand as I sat next to her in the back of the church. I held on to her as tightly as I dared though she seemed to think little of it.

Such a simple gesture, to hold one's hand and yet it was a gesture profane in my time. Lovers held one hand upon the other, not palm to palm. None would walk down the street –let alone within a Church- with palms facing the other. It was analogous to having two bodies pressed upon the other and yet was not Master Shakespeare correct when he had Juliet speak that even those that sought God did but dip a finger against the icons of the saints? It was intimacy sought and intimacy gained. The pure innocence of wishing to know a saint versus the lustful intentions of wishing to know a lover. And how greatly did I wish to know her.

I fought with the demons of my past as I sat in the pew. The only reason I stayed was the same as the reason I came, the same as the reason I was still upon this plane of existence – my Elizabetta. She would recite the prayers along with the others and ask for God's forgiveness – for what, I knew not for killing a vampire was not a sin and yelling at one such as me certainly was not either- but she stayed. I had a need to protect her.

Even if it was from herself. Her driving was unique and brought about a most mortal fear within me. I could see the strawberry covered ribbon seated to the side –for no purse did she ever had with her- and I took them when she stood during the prayer service. I would drive from now on.

Through the duration of the service, I thought upon many things. The simple act of Elizabetta taking my hand –could it be possible at all that she did feel something more than disgruntlement towards myself? Or was I reading far too much into an act that was common place these days?-; the service being in English and not in Latin –something that I realized I missed-; and how to deal with the Volturi Guard.

Upon the end of the prayer service, still hand in hand, we both were silent and exited the Church to once again go back to her vehicle. Again her green eyes pierced me as she gazed upon me. I had no idea what she was looking for within my face until she spoke.

"You need to hunt," my Elizabetta stated emphatically. Of the many thing I considered upon seeing her gaze upon me, none were the simple checking of my eyes. It occurred to me that, in the past few days, I had become so accustom to the hunger pains that Elizabetta's sweet blood induced in me that I had ignored them completely. Did I truly need to hunt? It had been a week…

My sweet climbed into the passenger seat and reached back to pet her pet in greeting. The sable fur was much joyed by this. I climbed into the vehicle upon the driver's side prior to answering her.

"No, you will be unprotected," I stated in the same tone. To this, I received and exasperated sigh and a roll of those lovely green eyes. I simply started the truck so we may leave. It was the truth. If I were to leave, it would leave her vulnerable to the Guard. I cared little of my meeting them but I could not let my fragile human mate within their sights alone.

Her arms folded in upon themselves across her ample chest. "I saved you, remember? Not the other way around," she stated, much vexed. It was but a second for any of her anger to dissipate though. Her tone was much more quite, what a human might think of as a mumble as she spoke again. "I'll surround myself with gasoline and a lighter to keep the guard away if it makes you feel better," she informed me.

I did have to let one small glimmer of mirth escape as such an idea. "You with gasoline and a lighter would not make me feel better," I replied to my angel. The very idea made me far more cautious. Humans died in fire as well. It could be a very painful death or a very painful life should they survive the burns. I wished no pain upon her and would prevent such as happening as much as I was able.

For it was but yesterday that she stood within the confines of the hotel room, a bit of fabric in her hands. She had looked at it puzzled and perplexed for a bit, moving it between her porcelain fingers, before she searched for her purple lighter and a pair of scissors. She cut no more than half an inch off the edge of the fabric – I could tell by the smell of it it was both silk and rayon intertwined but I did not know at the time that she was curious of it's contents- and then lit the small scrap aflame. The flames were quite tall immediately and she still had a small burn upon her hand though it was nearly healed. It was by chance it seemed that she had thought enough ahead to do such an experiment above the bathroom sink.

I glanced over at my love. "I saw what happened when you tried to…burn test was it? That piece of fabric yesterday," I reminded her. The look upon her face when the fabric caught fire was something that still amused me.

Her glare was instantaneous upon my form at my mention at the experiment of yesterday. A low grumble erupted from her throat though no words were actually said. No more would she say for a bit and I did hope that such a discussion was off put at the very least if not forgotten. Of course, I was wrong.

"There are a lot of bears in the western part of the state. Emmett likes those," she informed me after ten minutes of nothing more than the light sounds of her musical device.

I glanced at her quickly, confused by her meaning. "Of course, there are a ton of deer in the area but I'm told those are like how broccoli is to humans," she continued whilst she looked ahead.

"I will not leave you," I informed her again, taking the roads towards the freeways that would lead us further east.

She sighed before she spoke. "You need to hunt, Gabriel. I'll be fine for a couple of hours. I'm sure Alice will warn me if they get too close," my little treasure stated. Alice. Elizabetta had shown me pictures of the small vampire, a tiny creature that looked more like a much loved doll than a vampire. My little treasure referred to her as a pixie. I thought of this Alice as an impetuous fae –given her ability to call at the most inopportune of times.

Elizabetta moved and with it, a burst of her scent came over me. I clutched the wheel slightly too tight and could hear it's creaking beneath my hands. My bloodlust wished to take the sweet scent and enjoy it for all it was worth –but it was far easier to overcome than I thought it should be. The man in me was aghast at such an idea as draining the blood from my heart. It would destroy us both.

Once I was sure that the bloodlust was well under my control, I took a breath to speak. "You are sure your Alice will watch over you?" I asked her. "How will you get away if I leave?"

Elizabetta shrugged before her eyes turned to me once more. "I'll go down to the lobby of the hotel and go outside. It's Annapolis. If you come back by midnight, there will still be a ton of people outside. They won't do anything in public," she stated. It was true enough. With many humans as witnesses, the Volturi Guards' hands were tied. They could not risk exposure.

I sighed. I did need to hunt to protect Elizabetta from myself but I could not leave her unprotected either. If I were to be gone but two hours… Decided, I would hunt this night. "I shall get a phone as well. You will call me if anything should occur. You will stay within your room and not venture out of it while I am out. I will not leave for more than two hours, if that long," I informed her. My beloved looked at me as if I had grown two heads. Her arms were crossed and her brow raised as if who was I to dare give orders.

"You will hunt. I will be fine and do what I da…," she started, her voice raising to the point her sable fur became most interested in our conversation. I interrupted her.

"If you do not agree, I will not hunt," I stated simply, unable to avoid the smile upon my face. Her brow fell and her green eyes pierced me thought I looked not at them. I could feel her glare upon my frame burn through my hard cold skin into the very center of my being, and yet, I attempted to ignore it.

"You will hunt," she stated through her teeth. I thought it wise not to argue with the one human that could truly destroy me anymore.

"I will hunt," I repeated. However, I would also take precautions to not allow her to leave the room. Perhaps a movie she liked would be upon the television or her family could talk to her?

No sooner did I think upon the Cullens than did Elizabetta's phone chime. She reached for it and greeted the person upon the line with her typically greeting. While doing so, my little treasure was attempting to convince her sable fur to stand down from the center of the vehicle and sit by her side. The pup refused and stood upon the center, her tail wagging and tongue lopsided into a wolfy grin. This clearly only added to Elizabetta's frustration.

No sooner had the voice spoken my beloved's name upon the line than I knew of whom it was. Edward had been my companion for three years some 80 years ago if not more. At the time of his leaving, I found it nothing more than a childish whim –a need of a child to once again see his "parents"- that he choose again to be apart of this vegetarian lifestyle. How wrong I was! It was out of love and the need to preserve human life. It took me, a man, five hundred years to learn what a boy learnt in but three.

Confusion filled Elizabetta's face upon hearing her name. "Edward?" she asked in a similar tone to that of Edward's.

"Yes, I apologize for calling like this but Alice demanded it," he continued. Recognition and a hint of that smile poured forth from her.

"Alice demanded it?" she asked in a manner of one who thought it but some trick about to be played. How one would play any trick upon the phone other than the typical "Prince Albert in a can?" from half a century ago was beyond me.

Edward answered in a fashion that I heard nearly hourly from Elizabetta –disgruntlement. Is it from him she learned such a tone? How long had Elizabetta been with the Cullens? I had thought no more than a month or two but was that part of her illness? She could not recall one day from the next?

"Yes, she has found new ways to threaten me," Edward informed her upon the phone.

Amusement played across my little treasure's face. "And why, may I ask, not that I mind, but, has she asked you to call rather than just call me herself?" she asked in a confused manner. I was enchanted with this little conversation as I saw now, or rather heard, the similarity in tones and realized that –though their syntax was quite different- even the manner in which they spoke was similar. Yes, she must have known them for quite a bit longer…

"Because she is busy with Bella right now," he responded in a muttered voice. Bella was not a name I recalled hearing from my little treasure's lips. Was this yet another member of this clan? How large had Carlisle's clan gotten?

The full beauty of her smile danced across her face but for a moment. Had I not been a vampire, I doubt I would have seen it. "Bella Barbie time, huh?" she asked before bitting back her laughter rather literally. She sucked in per pink lips and bit upon them to not laugh.

When no response was made, all mirth vanished from her face. "Edwa.." she began as if she were to apologize. Instead, what interrupted her and created her was Edward's laughter. It was a sound I had not heard in many years and I was surprised at the joy it brought me. Elizabetta, on the other hand, held the phone away from herself and if it needed holy water to correct it. I could not help but laugh with Edward and at my little treasure.

"Yes, I suppose that would be the phrase for it," he stated still with mirth in his voice. The smile that I was growing to adore adorned my love's face before she spoke again.

"Poor Bella. All that foundation and nail polish," she said with a false sense of woe. Even in her tone, the laughter pooled forth though she tried hard to suppress it. Though, I thought upon both the objects that were the subject of her laughter. Such farding had I never seen my Elizabetta attempting –her nails were natural and her skin had been touched by nothing more than beeswax upon her lips or a bit of rouge upon them.

As I thought more in the split second that I considered this, if such things were this Bella to wear, then she must not be one of our kind either. How many humans did know of the Cullens? If that was what this Bella was?

"I believe she is more fearful of Alice's clothing choices," I heard Edward state upon the phone to my little treasure. At such words, did she look down at her own clothing with a more cynical eye. "Alice wished for me to inform you of her latest vision," he continued.

Elizabetta did not look up but, rather, she bit her lower lip as a piece of string upon her blouse became the object of her attentions. The clothing she wore was not what I had noticed before –only that she was either dressed within her day clothing or nightgowns. But now that I did look upon her I realized that much of what she had was nothing more than old jeans and cheap t-shirts. They were not well enough for a lady such as herself. "Oh?" she said though her attention was still quite diverted.

"Alice believes that the Guard will meet up with you in approximately two days. You will need to make arrangements, she said, before then," were the words that Edward spoke, but it w as more of an impending death sentence. The vehicle fell silent. Even the sable fur dared to do no more than breathe. Though we knew the Guard were after us, to know the time was something altogether different. Death hangs upon every mortal's head and is a possibility of even those of us that are undead –but to know the very day that one may cease all living upon this plane called for a different type of preparation. We needed to act. I needed to protect her.

"Thank you, Edward," Elizabetta whispered into the receiver. Her perfect green eyes looked further away than I could imagine. It was almost if no hope was left within them.

"Of course," I heard of Edward's reply. Elizabetta was quick to respond as hope returned in those few short moments.

"And please, give Alice and the rest of your family a hug for me," she said quickly, her southern accent clearer as she now spoke than before. Edward let out a little laugh before he spoke again.

"Alice says to tell you she loves you too," he said without much enthusiasm. They finished their goodbyes and Elizabetta fell silent once more. Her eyes gazing out the passenger side window, denying me the access to them. She began to draw patterns upon the window again which worried me greatly. Had she not done the same upon us leaving the New York?

Of course, she would come out of it again. I needed to have hope in that. However, what was our hope? If we did destroy the Guard that was after us, what then? To run? To hide with my Elizabetta forever in the deepest corners of the world? That was no life for her. She could not see her family again –not if she wished to protect them. Truly, even having a simple device such as a phone would track them to us. We would need to drop cleanly off the face of the Earth.

How long could we run? Again, I thought of Elizabetta as changed –as my proper mate and wife- though I was unsure if that was even what she desired. If she did not wish to be changed, then we need not worry about running for long. Less than a century and all would be lost. It pained me greatly to think of it –as if I were loosing my soul once more yet the pain was not a physical one. Elizabetta was my soul now and I could not loose her.

"You heard what he said?" the soft southern soprano voice woke me from reverie.

"Yes," I said in a bit too short a manner. My thoughts were still filled of what the future was for us and I liked not what I saw. Elizabetta deserved her family, her friends, to live as she wished and yet the Guard prevented just that. This running that we were currently doing was no temporary measure but what the future did hold for both of us.

"Don't crush the steering wheel," she muttered as her head turned back to the window. I looked to the device to see I did hold it a bit too tightly. I believed it softly screeched in protest three miles back. Immediately, upon her asking, I loosened my grip.

"We should get the supplies tonight," she stated in a voice that was monotone for her. My little treasure's mind was elsewhere.

I nodded in reply, knowing she could see me through the reflection of the window. "Do you have a list of supplies?," I asked of her. I was unsure of what she had planned still other than something involving gasoline and fire. She would need supervision with such items.

"I know how to make the remote detonator if that is any help," I informed her softly. The sadness etched upon her face was too great for me to bare –though I saw it but in the reflection of the glass. My little treasure's only answer was to nod and no more did she say to me.

Rather, she looked behind her towards her sable fur. I did not glance behind me to see if it was to the pup that Elizabetta reached or for something else. However, given the lack of noise –Elizabetta tended to throw things when she was looking for something- and her not turning around immediately, I believe she was simply petting her pet.

"Gabriel?" she stated after but a few minutes.

"Elizabetta?" I teased. Immediately, the glaring green eyes fell upon my form and I was glad to have them. It was far better than the immeasurable sadness of earlier.

"Can we…drop Miss Ginsie off at a vet for a few days? I hate to do it but I don't want to have to worry about the guard getting her and taking her as a pint sized snack…literally," she asked as she twisted back into her seat. Her hands once more were occupied by a loose string upon her blouse as she looked down at them.

I laughed slightly at the Guard being even the slightest bit interested in destroy a mere dog but I knew well that this dog meant much to Elizabetta and that was all I needed to know. Reaching for her, to let her know I did understand, I stated, "We'll drop off your precious sable fur, little treasure."

When she did not do more than nod again –I could not take the sadness she seemed to radiate- I move my hand to force her eyes to meet mine as gently as I could. "Do not worry, my dear. I will make sure you see your precious pet again," I tried to tell her as emphatically as I could. I would make sure she lived and the Guard did not. I would make sure my Elizabetta was safe, at all costs. I would protect her.

Author's Note: Reviews make my day!