Chapter 16

"I loved once," Buttercup said after a moment. "It worked out badly."

- The Princess Bride, William Goldman

"How long have you known about Edward? Before Vermont?" Carlisle was weary.

"No, not then. There was a general consensus that he might be gifted, but no one had gotten close enough to determine anything. Eleazar saw you once, in France - that must have been the first year you had him - and he said the boy had a talent but he was too far away to discern what it might be. So we sent a scout to learn what we could, try to coax the boy to come visit. Nothing came of that. I believe he came twice, correct? Aro was very eager to know, but we were just biding our time really."

"I don't understand. Then how did Aro figure it out?"

"You told him."

"I?!" Carlisle was taken aback.

"Yes, you walked in completely unsolicited and told him everything yourself. He was absolutely delighted." Caius laughed quietly to himself.

"But he already knew before then," Carlisle protested.

"He didn't. Well, he knew there was something - just from what we had seen of him during your short time with us. The things Edward wrote on the mirror. He actually thought he might be a seer. That's why he sent Jane for him. To find out if Edward would see it before she got to him. But he had already planned on separating you prior to that. Jane was just part of the set-up. And then, once he saw Edward's reaction to Jane, it confirmed it, but he still guessed wrong. And then you waltzed right in and told him everything. And then Edward left the room and Alec caught him and everything played out perfectly. You can only imagine how happy Aro was. He couldn't have planned it better himself. He had actually thought we would have to take you both by force."

"I told him…" Carlisle repeated to himself, staring into space, struggling to assimilate the information.

"Don't blame yourself," Caius clucked sympathetically at the other man's poignant despair. "Others far older and more experienced than you have been trapped. I have to say I am actually impressed you did as well as you did for so long. We had absolutely no idea you had all of this telepathic communication going on right under our noses. Well, done, Carlisle!" Caius was not generous with praise, so it really was a huge compliment to the young(er) vampire.

Carlisle's head was ringing and his body felt numb. None of this seemed real, as if he were on the outside looking in through a fogged window pane.

"So why did Aro want him before if I was the one that told him?"

"Oh, you know Aro," Caius rolled his eyes a bit and exhaled in faux exasperation. "He wants everything that has potential. He probably wanted you back as well. He never really did recover from your departure. He carried on the entire century as if it was the greatest betrayal since Judas and Jesus," he chuckled at his own joke and then frowned when he saw that Carlisle was not laughing. "It was a joke."

Carlisle nodded, still dazed. "Who ordered the attack on Edward?"

"No one," Caius said matter-of-factly.

"No one?" He didn't believe that.

"No, no one. It just happened."

"It just happened?!"

"Yes, actually they were on another mission, on the other side of the continent. Alaska. And they were coming home. I suppose they were curious; we all were, since Aro talked about it so much, and they must have gotten interested as well, overhearing him. I imagine they just decided to see for themselves since it was on the way. They chanced upon Edward, alone, and as they had no authority with them, well, you know how they are. They went a bit wild and… things just got out of hand." Caius shrugged, dismissing it as just another misdeed on the part of the unruly youngsters.

"It just happened," Carlisle repeated to himself, bewildered. No plan of attack, no evil intent, just warriors coming home and it just happened.

Edward was alone, Carlisle was at the hospital, no authority was present, and things got out of hand.

It just happened.

A random event that was a minor embarrassment for the governing powers, one that they could easily suppress with counter rumors.

An incident they dismissed as unfortunate while it had completely destroyed his and Edward's lives.

Carlisle wailed out loud; so great was his anguish he could not contain it. He curled in on himself, his mind railing against the injustice of it all. His life, his exemplary existence, trying to make his way the best he could, trying to lead a morally upright and godly existence in spite of what he was, and then out of the blue, some hooligans passed through and - things just got out of hand.

For the first time in a long, Carlisle Cullen questioned the wisdom of his God.

Caius had left him alone, totally at a loss for how to deal with so many emotions that were utterly foreign to him, and Carlisle spent the rest of the night in a stupor. Trying to make sense of the fact that he, solely, was responsible for his - and, by extension, Edward's - current plight was simply overwhelming. He could have written the whole thing off, stayed home, been at the hospital, come home to Edward every day. The boy would have recovered in time and their life together would have been a happy one.

He wondered fleetingly what had been done with his possessions; he was certain Aro had already arranged for his house to be vacated and probably had fabricated his death for the hospital as well. They were so thorough after so many centuries of experience. Was there nothing they could not manage?

How inexperienced he was by contrast. His mere three centuries of life, it all amounted to nothing now that he was stuck in the cellar of the fortress, staring at the stone walls, reflecting on the tragedies that he had endured.

He began to howl again, like a trapped animal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Caius returned the next day, a little hesitant as he wasn't quite sure what awaited him in the room. He had never really liked Carlisle - although they had had some fun with him - and was actually relieved when he had left Volterra. He had never understood Aro's obsession with someone so completely different. It wasn't just the issue with food preferences; it was that Carlisle was, he frowned, peculiar. Caius had not spent any time with humans in his three thousand years and the veneer of human behavior on a fellow creature made him very uncomfortable.

"Better?" he asked diffidently, ready for the dike to burst again.

Carlisle was still hunched against the wall, hugging himself.

"What do you want from me?" he asked in a flat, lifeless tone.

"Ah! Figured it out, have you? Yes, I suppose you would know that visiting the weak and imprisoned is not my cup of tea."

Carlisle glared at him in disgust.

"Alright, alright. Enough of that. I need you to help me. And, in exchange for that, I will help you."

Carlisle's huffed and his eyes narrowed. "Why should I trust you?"

"My dear fellow! Here you are - stuck in the most unfortunate of situations with only me to rely on for any good thing that might happen to come your way," he tapped his fingertips together. "Do you even have a choice?"

Carlisle closed his eyes again, leaning his head back against the wall.

"Carlisle, we both stand to benefit from this arrangement," Caius had never met a more recalcitrant captive. No wonder Aro was always sending for Jane if this is what he had to go through to elicit cooperation.

There was a long pause in which Caius felt his every nerve breaking.

"Edward?" It was only a whisper, but that one name carried every sentiment in Carlisle's entire being.

"Yes, I will get you to Edward."

"I need to see him."

Caius flung his head back and exhaled loudly. "Fine! You can see him."

"Now?" Carlisle turned his head slightly, waiting for the answer.

"I'll see what I can do," he grumbled, standing to leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Edward?" Aro asked in a placating tone, worried that the boy might explode again. "Come outside for a bit. It would do you so much good."

The boy was leaning against the wall, staring out the window, refusing to speak.

Aro ventured out a hand to touch him. Edward jumped back, much too fast for the elderly vampire to catch him.

"I'm not stupid, you know," he said bitterly.

Aro looked stunned. "Edward, what would make you think -"

"I can't hear anything anymore! Not since... what happened. So you are doing something to me, to make me like this. To prevent me from knowing what is going on."

Aro took a deep breath. "Edward - " he had underestimated him; the boy was shrewd as well as talented.

"No! No more lies! You know where Carlisle is, don't you?"

"I don't, I promise you I don't!" Aro said quickly, struggling to regain control of the situation. "You are correct - I won't lie to you! - we have taken measures to protect you from others' thoughts. We saw what happened after Jane went on one of her rampages -"

Edward gasped. "You knew about that?"

"Edward, it is my position to know everything that goes on around me! I didn't know what happened to you before in Vermont until after I first touched you - I told you that and I swear to you that is the TRUTH! I was very angry when I found out and they have been punished for their behavior. I told you I would protect you from them, and I have! Nothing has happened to you since then! Jane can be a bit wild sometimes and I have placed great restrictions on her. And let me assure you there have been repercussions for that decision! But I did that for you, Edward!To protect you! I championed you against all the others!

"It is true that I had your senses cut off, but only so that you wouldn't have to hear the horrible things they say about you! They are so jealous because they see what you are to me. I thought it would be too much for you. You remember what you did to yourself when you were upset? And while that is very, very normal behavior for someone your age, you are so dear to me! I cannot bear the thought of anything ever happening to you!"

"What do you want with me?" he was blunt.

"Edward, how can you still be suspicious of me?"

"I repeat, what do you want? Do you want me so that you can use my ability?"

"I want you to join me, stay here with me. We can work together! You can help me to govern responsibly -"

"Please!" He spat the word contemptuously. "You want me to spy for you - because I can tell you if someone is plotting against you, warn you of what they are doing - is that about right?"

"Edward, you make it all sound so Machiavellian! I assure you I am not what Carlisle has made me out to be!"

He wasn't sure what "machiavellian" was but the mention of Carlisle's name hit a nerve.

"Actually, I think Carlisle was quite accurate in his description of what goes on here," he said with abject loathing.

"You are harsh! You live with one who would make you something you are not, ask you to reject your very nature, and then you shun those who accept you! We who appreciate all that you are, we who can help you to become all that you could be! You would leave us for someone who asks you to deny who you are?"

"I will not be used for your petty purposes!"

"Petty? The governing of a society is petty to you?" Never in three thousand years had anyone had the audacity (the courage) to address him in this manner!

"You murder anyone who questions you!" He was quaking with rage and was oblivious to the warning signs.

"I assure you we do not!" Aro thundered, outraged by the boy's intuitive grasp of the situation. "Carlisle is proof of that, and there are many others who have chosen to leave -"

"Name them!" The boy challenged him.

"And I suppose Carlisle has never asked you to use your talent?" Aro countered, flustered, desperately grasping at straws.

"That is hardly the same thing!" He said in disgust. "How dare you compare yourself to him?"

"How dare I?" Aro was astonished by the boy's gall. He felt like knocking him back to show him. A few minutes with Jane would put him in his place! "Alright, why don't you tell me what Carlisle uses you for?"

"You are referring to my mate -" he ground his teeth, ready to attack.

"I am referring to your maker." Aro said coldly. "The one who chose you to sate his desires, serve his needs, and further his purposes."

"He had no idea what I could do -"

"Neither did we. So, tell me, what did the honorable Carlisle say when he learned of your talent? Did he just willingly allow you to venture into his mind -"

"As a matter of fact, he did." He was growling fiercely now.

"Oh, I see, so he has never attempted to hide things from you? No, please!" He held up his hand to silence the tirade brewing. "You forget I have known him just a little bit longer than your, what is it now, two years?" His jaw clenched and he returned the boy's level stare. "So, your beloved Carlisle has never sullied you for his own purposes or ever asked you to do anything that might be contrary to your own wishes? How perfectly wonderful for you! But I wonder how the good Christian man explains his, er, preference for a male companion, when his God condemns that? But there I go employing human morality again! Somehow I keep forgetting I am a vampire whenever Carlisle Cullen's name crops up."

Edward paused, clearly stunned by the speech and Aro could feel the tide turning in his favor.

"So," he continued softly, "Virtuous Carlisle has thought only of you and never of himself? Tell me, Edward, how easy is it for you to live with your fellow man? Does he never have to restrain you to prevent things from occurring?"

Edward was struggling to recover his line of thought.

"It isn't that it is easy to live among people. That is part of our nature that we always have to fight. And if he does ask me to use my ability, it is not for evil pursuits. He only asks to know what others might think of us - because if they catch on that there is something... wrong... with us - we might have to leave. Or if someone means us harm and I need to keep an eye on them for..." Edward suddenly stopped short. "Oh!"

"Everything is relative, Edward." Aro delivered the death knell. "We all justify our own desires. Carlisle simply disguises himself better than the rest of us."

"Oh." Said Edward again, quieter still, feeling the staggering blow of the betrayal. His senses were reeling and he wished suddenly that he could lie down. He felt weak, as if he were losing his equilibrium. He sagged slightly, knees buckling, and heard Aro somewhere in the fog sharply call his name. But his eyes were closing, as his body began its descent to the floor.

"Edward!" came Aro's voice through the thicket, and he felt the man's strong arms around him. "Edward! Let me help you!" Edward moaned and leaned heavily against him, and then his mind went blank.