A/N: First of all I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. So nice of you! But of Course a

big "Thank You" also to all those who put me on their Alert/ Favourite story list. And to

the guests who are reading anonymously. I did that for a long time, myself, before I

decided to register. Have fun!

You will see that I will change the povs sometimes from now on. You will most probably

hear a lot of Marcus' pov as he is just too important to be ignored.

Disclaimer: As it always has and always will: Characters and the Twilight universe belong to

S. Meyer.

IMPORTANT: In my story Didyme has not been killed by Aro, but by real werewolves.

Review: "You can't make that decision for me! I want to die! Please!" I started out loud and angry,

but the energy left me in a rush and the last word was merely above a whisper, while tears

were running down my cheeks and I stared into his eyes pleadingly. That was all I could

do, before unconsciousness claimed me.

Marcus' pov (obviously it should be in Italian or rather Latin but I was too lazy to translate it into either language and if I had, it would have taken sooo much longer as my Italian is a bit rusty... )

I sat on my throne, as always. My brothers were leading a discussion, as always. And I did not care, as always. I think I might have forgotten when I was last interested in something that was going on around me. Time went on. It seemed it had simply forgotten about me.

Heidi I was due today with our meal. I had to admit: The thirst was getting uncomfortable.

It was march, again, already.

Let me revise my statement from earlier:Time did not just go by, it flew by.

My brothers were so lively, as were my sisters. To be honest with myself, I envied them and their happiness. I don't exactly recall what it was like to be happy, yet I know I was happy once, when Didyme was still here with me... My Didyme. I still missed her, very much so. Her presence alone had brought so much joy for everyone and me a lot more.

It had not helped that we had almost extinguished the children of the moon, in an action of blind rage. I did feel satisfaction by bringing revenge upon them, it did not change anything though, nothing would bring back her smile, her laughter, the mischievous glint in her eyes, when she was up to something... She was gone. I never was the same, had not managed to break out of my depression, not even with the help of my brothers and sisters.

They had tried – in vain – to "set me up" with some females of our kind. It was a lost course: Why would I like to spend my time with someone who clearly was not a mate to me? And I knew what a bond to a mate looked like. A beautiful thing to be seen, it was: A golden bond, surrounded by the colours of the aura of the man and woman involved. An intricate, complex bond. Nearly unbreakable.

I could see these bonds between my brothers and sisters. Breathtakingly beautiful. In a way like the northern lights I had once seen; long, long ago.

As always, I quickly lost focus again and was completely engulfed in my own world, disregarding reality.

That is until my brother snapped me out of my bubble, rather rudely might I add, by taking my hand in his. When he was sure of my attention he merely arched an eyebrow to remind me of his displeasure regarding my repeated track of thoughts. We had had many disputes in which my "gloominess" and "lack of real life" had been broached as a topic. Needless to say we never reached an understanding. I did not blame my family, though. They just could not fathom the pain, that loosing a mate brought with it.

So as an answer I merely shrugged my shoulders.

He let go of my hand and addressed me with words instead:

"Heidi must be here any moment now, I thought I would let you know."

Time truly flew by. It had happened twice in the past, that I had sat here in my throne, thinking and reminiscing, not realising that our food had arrived and therefore, "missed dinner" so to speak. It still amused them highly and I knew they would never let it slip. I sat up straighter and stared uninterestedly on. Minutes later you could hear them approaching. Those unsuspecting humans had been lead here by Heidi and their lives would be over before they would really notice.

The door opened and Heidi, followed by our food, stepped in. There were 17 of them. Heidi took her place in the guard while Aro started to tell the people welcome and stuff. I did not hear him though. Standing in front of us was a young woman, 20 at most, and she was unbelievably beautiful, despite her being so very thin, almost haggard. In that moment she looked at us, her gaze scrutinising, roaming from Caius to Aro and then to me. As soon as her eyes rested on mine I saw it: A fragile, weak golden bond, tying her to me. I was in shock. Could it be? After all these years? Would there finally be delight again? My mind went miles an hour considering all the possibilities. Then, I caught her scent. It was weak, but oh so enticing. She smelled like roses and freesia.

Due to my hazy state, I barely heard Aro' s last words: "...let the feast begin." She was standing there, her heart rate normal and a knowing smile gracing her full lips. She looked like an angel in this moment. Her beauty was ethereal.

It dawned on me at this moment: She would die, my intended mate! "No!" my mind screamed at me and I was instantly in front of her and flung her out of Santiago's reach, who apparently found her scent appealing, too. I heard when she made contact with the wall behind her, into which I had hustled her in an attempt to get her out of danger. When I heard the whoosh of air leaving her I was instantly concerned I might have hurt her myself by my action, but had no time to make sure she was fine, as Santiago was now crouching in front of us, ready to fight for his "food". I growled loudly at him to stake my claim to her. Luckily – for him - he snapped out of it, bowed to me in apology and then turned to find something else to eat.

I was furious with him all the same.

In no time at all I had turned around to face her. Her eyes captivated my gaze and I could feel it soften. Here eyes were like nothing I had ever seen before. Around the pupil they were green, like moss but the further you looked to the outside the darker they became, ending in a soft, dark, deep brown on the outer regions. I composed myself. Why had she been so calm, while standing in front of us? Normally humans did not act like that when near our kind. And the strange smile? There was only one conclusion I could make: She had known.

I decided to voice my observation: "You knew what we are, before this started."While stating this I gestured around us.

She gave no answer. The only reactions I perceived were her body tensing, readying itself to ward off an attack and her teeth drawing her lower lip between them.

We stood their. I waiting for an answer and she anticipating my next move.

Some moments later she broke her silence and burst out: "YES! Yes I did! How could I not! After all that Your kind has done to me and those I loved most! You ruined my life! EVERYTHING!"

I was at a loss for words. Never had I seen or heard of a human to display such an attitude towards one of our kind. They feared us, instinctively. But her emotions were clearly identifiable

in her eyes: Anger, frustration, despair and pain... lots of pain. Not a single ounce of fear.

She hardly took her time to take a deep breath before she continued: "You took everything from me, ripped my heart out and stomped on it!"

I flinched at her tone as well as at her reminding me of my own loss.

"You truly are horrible!" She had begun to stab her finger at my chest. Because I did not want her to get hurt, I took a step back.

So she had known. How? Why would she come here then? Why had she been looking so peaceful? Like the impersonation of an angel? I needed to know, so I asked her bluntly:

"And why did you come here then? Into the lions den? Knowing what we are capable of doing? Are you suicidal?" I had meant that last part rhetorical.

She however shocked me again, when she breathed her answer: "Yes". Was the one- wordreply. No specifications.

I did not want to believe my ears. For the first time in my new existence I was doubtful about my hearing. The determined look on her face, however, confirmed the truth behind this simple word. I could not, I would not let her die. She had to see reason!

My mind was made up then: "I will not kill you." I told her. In my head I silently added: "Nor will I let anyone else harm you."

She stared at me uncomprehendingly, obviously flabbergasted. "Pardon me?" was her disbelieving return. I was not the only one questioning their hearing today.

"I will not kill you" I repeated myself.

This was evidently not something she would accept. Her eyes were the first indication of her fury. They went ablaze.

Meanwhile we had gathered quite an audience, that was following our exchange closely and with interest, but I could pay them no attention, it was solely focused on her.

"You got to be kidding me! Listen, Mister, I did not come all the way here and went through all this trouble to be denied! This is ridiculous! ….. You know what, forget it, here sure as hell is somebody who will gladly finish me! I don't need you for that!"

Her words were sharp like razors. She had one big temper, I had to admit that. I was sure for a human she looked rather frightening right now. Suddenly she charged by me to get further into the room. After only two steps she began to sway dangerously and stumble, her heart rate doubled. Immediately I had her in my arms and was shielding her fragile body from Santiago, Chelsea and Felix who saw their chance coming and prepared to lunge at her. I was furious now. "How dare they covet my mate? - No matter which part of her!"

Guttural, menacing growls bore from my chest,defying them. After a moments hesitation and an "Enough!" Lowly spoken by Aro, they bowed deep and backed off.

The young woman in my arms stroke back at me, hitting my chest repeatedly with her ineffectual fists, whilst yelling: "You can't make that decision for me! I want to die!" Her voice faded as her strength abandoned her and the last word, barely audible, nearly broke my dead heart:

"Please!"

All the while tears were running down her cheeks, her eyes pleading with me to give in to her wish.

In that moment, her body gave out on her and she fell limb in my grasp.

Almost co-instantaneously, I was speeding through the doors. Intending to get her out of danger, away from preying eyes and into safety, where she could comfortably rest and recover.

I sprinted through the castle, the unconscious woman cradled to my chest. Holding her close to me. Her scent engulfed me, so appealing and faint, yet somehow I knew it could or rather should be even stronger.

If scents were visible I imagined hers to be some rich colour, full, like a dark heavy green, red or blue- royal. And I was sure that you you would see it like a plume trailing out behind us.

I only slowed down when I had reached my chambers, to be more exact, Didyme' s and my old bedroom. It was the only room with only one access, that I would defend at all costs. I had not been in here in centuries. There was dust everywhere. I did not really want to put her down on the cover of dust, that had collected on the bed, but on the other side, I wanted and needed to have my hands free, in case I had to defend her. I was more then ready to shred anyone to pieces who dared to come for her.

Merely some seconds later, my family was standing in the door frame. They were cautious, wary even. When Aro took a step towards me and subsequently to my mate, I let out a low growl in warning. He froze.

As soon as he had found his usual calm composure, he stepped back , to show me that he meant no offence, no threat. I straightened out of my crouch, that I had not even realized I had taken.

"Marcus, it is all right. We will not enter, brother, we mean no harm.". Caius was about to object but a look of Aro shut him up. "But you must comprehend that your behaviour, over the last minutes, is highly unusual and strange. We don't understand. Will you explain, please?"

He spoke in a calm, soothing manner to coax me into a more relaxed conversation.

Unnecessarily, I took a deep breath and tried to elucidate what had happened in the throne room:

"She... my … the woman, I mean... I saw it …no food... how could he dare to threaten her! So much pain, her eyes... " I could not continue, my mind reeling now with all the things, possibilities that could have happened, the ways she could have been hurt. I sat down on the bed, beside her, lost as for what to do or say. Looking helplessly up at my brother, willing him to understand my predicament... My mate had demanded death from me, by my hands. How could she? Then again she did not know...

Aro intervened again: "Marcus, we could not actually follow your thought process just now. If you would let me see for myself?" With that he slowly offered his hand. He did not want to startle me again.

I hesitantly took it and let him take all that had happened in. My thoughts, fears, the hope, simply everything.

His lips formed a little "o" in surprise and his eyebrows almost reached his hairline. When he had let go of me, he was in deep thought, contemplating the situation.

Caius, Athenodora and Sulpicia were watching the scene anxiously.

Finally Caius' thin string of patience tore under the tension of not being in the picture and snapped: "So, are we going to kill her then? She has seen far too much!"

I was instantly on my feed and in a defensive pose in front of the unmoving girl, lying on the bed. What surprised me was the fact, that Aro stood defensively, too.

Evidently that fact alone got Caius backtracking: "Or would you like to indulge some of your knowledge to us, Aro?" He sneered, not liking the way things were going.

"He has never been good at being diplomatic."I thought while taking Aro' s hand in mine again.

"No, that certainly has never been one of his virtues, Marcus."was his outspoken dry answer to our little conversation.

"You explain them, Aro" I told him, sitting back down next to the girl and taking her hand into mine. She was so fragile, even more so then humans normally were. Her hair had clearly lost its lustre and she was so pale, almost as pale as I. The circles underneath her eyes were alarming and even in her slumber she looked haunted and exhausted. I concentrated on her bonds now and what I saw had me horrified: There were 10 bonds that had been recently broken, strong bonds at that. Most likely familial ones. Had she lost 10 beloved people? Was that what had happened? What had caused her to come here to seek out death? 3 bonds were obliterating, drying like flowers in a vase. The other seven had me worried even more: They still wept, like a wound not healing properly... taking precious emotional energy from her. Yet again she had rendered me speechless. "Aro" I whispered, interrupting his explanations to the rest of our family. I could not take my eyes off of her, so I just held out my hand for my brother to take. He complied and I heard a small gasp coming from him.

"Have you ever seen ..."

"No, never." I interjected.

Well, I hope you like it. I hope you like Marcus, I know right now he seems to be quite the "softy", but give him some credit, he met his mate, a human and she has almost been attacked by his family, not to mention all the other stuff... ;-)

Please review.