A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Chapter 7-

Marcus's POV-

She was staring at her surroundings in awe, a huge grin on her face as her eyes gleamed at the sight of the wonderfully lit garden in front of us, the various plants capturing her immediate attention as they left her mesmerized with their beauty.

This was Sulpicia's treasure….her only hobby and source of happiness, the only space outside the tower that she was allowed to visit, of course with Corin and Santiago standing on either side of her- guarding her from every and any attack that could come her way.

It was ridiculous, I had to admit- locking their wives in a tower was beyond brutal and disgusting, and even though I should have understood their need for such drastic steps, considering Didyme had been killed by the Romanians when they had invaded our Castle more than millennia ago, I simply could not understand or accept their reasoning.

It was demeaning and wrong.

Sulpicia and Athenodora were no valuables that could be stored in the safe for keeping safe.

They were people, and as such deserved the respect of one.

I had opposed them even when they had first decided to banish- let's call a spade a spade- the wives to the tower, of course taking a cover of the need for protection- and I still did not agree with them.

In fact, the last time I had visited Dora, she had seemed like a light bulb about to turn useless, used to its capacity. Dora had been a sharp woman- witty and confident- but centuries of having only Sulpicia and Corin- and occasionally Caius for company had turned the woman into a meek, scared to even look up shadow of her earlier self.

It was heavily unfortunate.

That was when I had silently assured myself that had Didyme been living, I would never have forced her into such a half life- locked in a tower away from the eyes of another soul.

She had been my equal in every which way that mattered- and was worthy of such respect.

"What are you thinking about?" Bella softly nudged me, bringing me back to the present; a warm smile on my face.

I shrugged, responding back with a smile of my own. "You remember I had told you about Sulpicia?"

She nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah…Aro's wife, right,"

I sighed, nodding my head. "Yes, his mate."

"What about her?" she enquired, curiously.

I sighed. I had no idea of how she would take such controversial news.

It was not every day that someone was revealed to be a prisoner till eternity.

"I would like you to meet her." I began, hesitantly.

"Okay," she trailed off. "But; there is a 'but', isn't there?

I sighed. So, we were going straight to the topic, was it?

"Yes, there is a mighty big but." I agreed, pausing briefly. "The thing is….Sulpicia doesn't live in the castle. I mean, she…."

"Where does she live then?" Bella enquired, interrupting me. "Are they estranged or something?"

"No. No." I was quick to squash that thought down. "They are mated. That is permanent in the vampire world. There is no separation or divorce…"

"What if the person is a leech- of the metaphorical kind? That could be equivalent to ruining your own life. Why would anyone want to stay with such a person?"

I had half a thought of enquiring of if she blamed me for bringing her into this world- hence the choice of words, but one look into her eyes and I knew that this was a rather general question. She was genuinely curious to know of my answer.

"It is always like-minded people that mate with one another. Our instincts always find the person who would be our closest match- our soul mate." I admitted with a sigh.

"So, say for example, I was a serial killer with a penchant for torturing my victims, I would find someone with a similar approach to life?" she questioned.

I smiled in response. "Exactly,"

"Wow," she stated. "I am glad I am not some sadistic bitch then. Imagine living with the male equivalent of that!"

I chuckled loudly. She definitely had her way with words.

"I am glad for that, too."

"So, Marcus, how do you figure that you and I are two peas of a pod? We could be chalk and cheese for that matter." She smirked in question.

I shrugged. "From what I can see, we are pretty similar. We both value our freedom, and our loyal to the ones we love. And more than that, you like to dream and I like to fulfill every dream of yours," I winked at her. "I would say we share the same interest- seeing you happy."

She blushed, looking at the ground all of a sudden.

"Well…" she started to speak. "You were saying something about Sulpicia?"

"Right," I nodded my head. "So, I want you to meet her…"

"You have already told me that." she raised her eyebrow in question. "One more time you repeat it and I am seriously going to have to wonder over your memory retention."

I gave her a half smile- half sigh.

I don't know why I was this nervous.

Maybe because I knew that she would react badly to my next few words.

Didyme would have, had she been here.

No Marcus, Don't go there- I stopped myself mid thought.

This was not Didyme.

This was Bella.

She was her own person- with her own strengths and flaws, personalities and beliefs.

I would have to respect that.

I could not keep comparing her to another- even if they had shared a soul.

Neither would it be fair nor did Bella appreciate it.

She could not have made this fact anymore obvious.

"Sulpicia…" I began once again. "She lives in the tower behind the Castle. You see that one?"

I pointed towards the tall building that stood to our right. It was a windowless ugly structure with only one entrance and exit- from a heavily guarded passageway connecting to the Castle. The only people allowed in there were Aro, Caius- obviously, Corin and I. Once a month their meals would be taken in there, but that was it.

They had no more contact with anybody outside these four or five faces that they were permitted to see.

"They live in that?" Bella questioned with her eyes wide.

I nodded my head in agreement.

"But…" she stumbled over her words. "I have seen dungeons better than that- not literally, of course, but you get the point. What the hell is that?"

"Their home," I answered, even though I was aware that it was hardly a question.

She rolled her eyes. "Isn't it suffocating to live in? There are no windows or anything. I mean I know that you don't really need the fresh air…"

"But it feels good," I interrupted her, ending her sentence.

"Yup," she nodded her head. "Why do the four of them even live in that thing?"

I sighed- another can of worms was now to be opened.

"Aro and Caius live in the Castle."

"Only their wives live in there?" she demanded to know.

"With Corin," I sighed. "She is their only company and also their bodyguard."

"Oh," she stated, thoughtfully. "How often do they come to the Castle? Were they there today in the throne room?"

Was it just this morning that so much changed in my life?

It seemed to be such a long while.

Anyhow, I sighed, knowing that I had to be honest with her.

"No, they were not there in the throne room. In fact, they have not visited the Castle in centuries now, apart from visiting this garden, of course."

"What? Why?"

"Their husbands don't let them." I shut my eyes, knowing of what was going to come.

Didyme and Bella may have been two different people, but I could still predict of what was about to come in front of me.

"What the fuck?"

Didyme would not have cursed- that being the only difference.

"Do they know that their husbands cannot dictate over their lives? They are not some puppet who will jump when told to jump. They have something known as free will. Why do they even agree with this bullshit? Sorry, why did they even accept this bullshit when it was demanded of them?"

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Immortal, remember? We are from a different era; of course there is no excuse for such behavior…."

She huffed, cutting me off. "Aro and Caius are such MCP's. It is not even funny."

"MCP," I raised an eyebrow in question.

What was the meaning of this word, or rather randomly placed three letters. It sounded as just random garble to me.

"Male Chauvinistic Pig," she scowled, irritably.

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. They had an abbreviation ready for such an insult? The world had surely turned into a strange place, having started the process of becoming so centuries ago.

"It is not only that."I sighed, continuing when I saw her raised eyebrow. "They are protective of their wives- agreed," I ignored her scoff of 'more like suffocating-ly overprotective'- continuing. "The thing is…they were not originally this overenthusiastic about keeping their wives visibly away from others. In fact, Sulpicia and Dora had very much been a part of the council in the early days, but after Didyme was killed, Aro and Caius were no longer willing to take any risk with their safety. Their intentions were not completely bad in the beginning."

I shut my eyes, needless to point out- talking about Didyme's death was never an easy topic for me.

"She was killed?" Bella whispered; her eyes wide in shock and hesitance.

I sighed, nodding my head.

"How did she die? Who killed her?" she murmured, instantly adding. "I am sorry. You don't need to talk about this; obviously it is a difficult topic for you."

I sighed, shaking my head.

I had promised to always be honest with her- and answering difficult questions was a part and parcel of that promise.

"She was brutally murdered by our enemies- the Romanians. They are a coven like ours. We had defeated them to gain control, only we didn't know of what was awaiting us." I frowned, the memory of that day still bright in my mind.

It had been a lovely day of summer. Didyme had been in our room, singing to a melody she had recently composed, dancing joyously to the sound. I had sat there, in front of her, a smile on my face as I watched her laugh and just be happy. She had been such an optimistic soul, always making the others around her happy and satisfied with life.

She had frowned for a brief second then, pausing suddenly, her silence immediately capturing my attention. That is when I had heard it- footsteps- loud footsteps as they ran across our castle floor.

Didyme had followed me out, as we went to research over whom this visitor was, entering a battlefield as soon as we took one step out of our room. In hindsight, I often wondered if Didyme would have survived that night had I forced her to stay in the room that dreadful day.

But of course, I have only questions and no answers to provide them with.

Anyhow, it had been a massacre the minute we had walked out. The Romanians- seven of them, led by their leader Borris- had attacked our castle, challenging the six of us- Aro, Sulpicia, Didy and I, and Caius and Dora- who had come to visit us but were not yet a part of the Volturi coven.

It had been an equal fight to begin with, but what neither of us had been expecting was for one of theirs to have a gift. Aro and I had gifts, indeed, but they were almost useless against an opponent. That vampire's power had been unlike us- it had been horrifying. He could create fog from the power of his mind, causing his opponent to get lost in the created fog. It was a dangerous power, and we had been quick to succumb. A massive fog had surrounded the then equivalent of the throne room- and by the time it had vanished, Didyme and Aro were both nowhere to find.

I had quickly ended the over exceeded existence of whomsoever came in front of me from theirs- a new surge of power running through my bones, including Borris, running through the Castle to find my Didyme.

And I had found her alright, a purple fire lit in the middle of the room.

She had been killed.

She had been brutally murdered.

Aro had been standing there, a painful expression on his face.

"I am sorry, brother. I tried to save her. He was quick. Please forgive me."

I had shaken my head at him. He had lost his sister- his family. He was hardly to blame.

I had almost contemplated to jump in the fire myself, but one arm on the shoulder by Aro had kept me from going through.

My wife had died.

My mate had died, and so had my will to live.

I looked up, having finished the sordid tale, Bella's eyes wet with tears as she stared at me.

"I am so sorry,"

I shook my head at her, managing to give her a small smile in return. "It has been a while."

She nodded her head. "What happen to the rest of the Romanians?"

I sighed. "All were killed but two; their weakest two. Aro purposely let them go alive. They were hardly a threat."

She accepted my answer, growing silent for a few brief minutes. "Something doesn't add up," she muttered more to herself than to me.

"What doesn't?" I asked in confusion.

She sighed. "I just get a bad feeling about this. I don't know. I can't recollect anything as such, if recollect is even the correct word for it. It is just that…." she sighed, letting her sentence trail off.

I narrowed my eyes in confusion and curiosity. "A bad feeling, as in,"

She sighed. "It just seems off. Anyway, it is probably nothing. So, Aro and Caius went sort of crazy after Didyme was killed?"

"Yeah," I agreed with her. "More so because she was killed while in the very Castle; they were not willing to take any such risk again. The Romanians are not our only enemies, you know?"

"How many enemies do you have?" she asked.

I sighed. "The number is much more than I would have preferred. Majorly, only the Romanians but there are many nomads and small covens who dislike the fact that we rule. They are not powerful enough to be a threat though."

She nodded her head, accepting my answer.

"Let's continue with the tour?" I suggested, her smiling face being her only response. I led her out of the Gardens, proceeding towards the Library and activity room, the latter holding the supplies for painting and sculpting, passing by the training room without even bothering to stop. I could scent that a few of the Elite guard were in there, training at the moment, and introducing Bella to them was probably last on my agenda. Either way the training room was not a place for the faint hearted and till I wasn't assured of Bella's acceptance of the supernatural world, I would rather not she see it.

"Marcus," Bella whispered, looking to the ground in nervousness.

I raised an eyebrow in question, waiting for her to continue.

"I…I am your mate, right?" she questioned, her eyes unmoving as they stared at the ground, her feet though not stopping for even a brief second.

I stated, confidently. "Yes,"

A nod- that was all her answer, followed by minutes of silence.

"Will you…" she paused, almost as if she were gathering the strength that lay in her. "Will you too…lock me in the tower?"

"No." I instantly shouted, her cowering back in fear bringing me back to my senses. "Of course not," I said softly, my eyes apologizing for my rude tone. I placed a caressing hand over her arm, soothingly rubbing through it. "I could never even dream of doing that to you. You mean way too much to me to treat you like a valuable."

She took a sigh of relief, visibly relieved.

"I know that you don't know the first thing about me," I began to speak. "But trust me; I value you too much to even consider messing anything up. I could never even think of hurting you or causing you pain."

She gave me a small smile in response. "You are a good man, Marcus."

I shrugged at her. "Being humane is hardly a milestone to be awarded for."

She smiled back, nodding her head. "Anyhow, tell me something about yourself? That is the only way for us to get to know each other, right."

I shrugged in response. "There is nothing that you need to know about me. I am a simple man, with very few likes and wants. I keep to myself, occasionally talking to my brothers. My hobbies include staring at the wall for hours, alternating between staring outside the window for hours."

She chuckled at my revelation- it was completely true though.

"Yes, that's pretty much it." I concluded.

"What did you like to do earlier? Before, you know,"

I sighed, pausing to remember of what exactly I had liked to do back in the earlier days. "I painted, a lot. I often read and wrote, occasionally. I tried my hand at translating works and even know how to knit, having specifically learnt it."

"What did you paint?" she enquired. "Scenery…abstract art…..Fantasy…"

"People," I answered, interrupting her.

"You painted people?" her eyes were wide in question.

"They were more like portraits," I sighed. "I can show you if you want."

"Yes please," she was quick to accept my offer. "Where do we need to go?"

Her eyes were bright with newfound excitement- I could live and die for this happiness.

"In our…my old room; I shifted it all out there."

She nodded her head, letting me lead her towards the massive sized room in one corner of the Castle.