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"We shall leave you two to have your lunch. Felix will be waiting outside, and I will come to give you the promised tour when you are finished." Marcus explains.
Before I find my voice to say something in return, they are gone.
A/N: A huge 'Thank You' goes to my betas again:"Isarma" and "Servant of Time" They help me so much!
Bella POV:
"Ah Bella, come now, have a seat. I only made a little something: "Minestrone". It is very light. It will not burden you stomach in the slightest."
"I assume you are Gianna?" I am unsure, and my voice shows as much.
"Oh my, yes, yes I am. I am their secretary during the day. Heidi covers for me at night."
She sure is bubbly.
"Okay. They have told me about you. Thank you for the clothes and the food. It tasted very good."
She is likeable and all warm hearted. I can tell she is happy to have another human here.
"Ah, the clothes. Sorry I could not give you something more youthful. But I guess you will have your own soon enough."
While exchanging that small talk, she had put a scoop of soup into my bowl, and we began eating; talking about this and that.
She tells me a lot about her family. Her mother, the matriarch, now a widow, and everything about her brothers and sisters. She officially applied for this job and had gotten it. The salary was very good. After a few months, she had been attacked by a visiting vampire; that is how she had found out about the existence of vampires. Felix had saved her. After this episode she was, of course, not allowed to leave any more. She took consolation in the fact that everyone treated her kindly, and that she had permission to call and write to her mother every week. All in all, she had been living here for 5 years now and was 24 years old, though she did not look it. I managed to only speak as little as possible about my past. Clearly she realized, yet decided to let it go, which I was very grateful for.
When two hours had passed, we were done and I was surprised that I had eaten two scoops and some bread. I prepared to get up and do the dishes, when there was a knock at the kitchen door.
Gianna called for whoever it was to come in. It was Marcus with Felix in tow, who winked at Gianna unashamedly. In reaction to seeing the first, she bowed her head in submission, to the second, she blushed and a small giggle - very unlike her - escaped between her lips.
"I was wondering whether you were done by now and I can see you are, but only just. How did you like your lunch Isabella?"
"I enjoyed it very much, thank you Marcus. Gianna is an excellent cook and I enjoyed her company very much." At my words the young woman smiles proudly.
"I am glad to hear so. Are you up for the walk? Or would you rather do something else?"
Marcus inquires.
"No, I would truly like to see more. It is so interesting here. Can I just clean up a bit? Gianna has had all the work with cooking..."
"No need for you to stay, Isabella. Just go. There is a dishwasher. It is no trouble at all. I enjoyed your company very much, too. Perhaps we can have another meal together sometime?"
She seems to be intimidated by Marcus' presence. And now that I look at him, he looks as bored as he had when I first saw him. Strange. Just a moment ago, he smiled at me and his eyes were sparkling. Stupid vampires and their perfect control over everything! They lie and you will never know.
"Let us go then." He gestures for me to leave the kitchen first and he follows after me. Felix stays inside.
"I think it would be best to keep to the more private part of our home, which is the one that your quarters are located in, as well."
I nod. I have no words. My mind is still reeling with the thought of how it almost seems to be in their nature to lie. We walk to the end of the hall before he abruptly stops. I walk on several steps before his stopping catches up with my mind.
"Bella, what has your mind so utterly and completely ensnared? Ever since we left the kitchen you seem so altered." Now his face is open to be read again. It does not make sense.
"Just thinking." I stall.
"Would you share those troubling thoughts?"
With two long strides he is next to me and gazing down into my eyes with his crimson ones, apparently trying to unlock my thoughts that way.
Slowly, I turn my gaze to the ground.
"It is not much, honestly. Some things I have observed. A waste of time..."
"Would you allow me to be the judge of that?"
I don't answer and walk on.
We continue to promenade in silence. Every now and then Marcus points out some highlight, without much enthusiasm.
It is not long before I begin to feel a little weak and light headed. I stop and stand still, but the funny feeling does not leave me. Additionally my chest and stomach begin hurt again.
"Bella? Are you not feeling well? You look so pale. Would you like to sit down? Or should I take you back to your room?"
"Sit down." I slur the words, the dizziness getting the best of me.
He helps me into a sitting position one the stone floor but not before wrapping his black cloak around me in a fluent movement. The sitting does me good and my vision clears.
I sigh when everything, apart from the pain is back to normal.
"Better?" The concern in his voice is evident.
"Yes. I just felt so dizzy all of a sudden. It usually passes when I sit down. Would you mind though, if I told you I would like to go back? I am sorry."
"No, of course I do not mind. I think it is better for you too. But I would rather you don't walk there. Are you terribly opposed to the idea of me carrying you?"
I think it through quickly. Walking is probably not an option. I would have to stop every so often to clear my head. But being carried, while the vampire holding me is running, does not sound any better. I chance a look at him before I word my qualm carefully.
He smiles kindly at me, after my explanation. "Do not worry. I will walk at a human pace. Don't be sacred."
With that, he carefully picks me up bridal style, making sure I am covered with the cape and walks at a brisk human pace back to the 'private' wing. Aro is in front of us all of a sudden, alarm reflected in his ruby eyes. They have a quick silent conversation and they both nod, Marcus lets out a breath in relief. Aro explains:
"Bella, I am sorry, I have just set out to find you. I learned that people who had been hurt intensively, like you, are supposed to move, stay mobile, but not too much, as that causes distress to the healing body. I am afraid we took it a little too far today. Does your torso hurt?"
I nod.
"Badly? No lies Isabella." He states seriously.
"No, not too bad. Nothing an ibuprofen would not help with." I am embarrassed with all the attention and begin to shift in Marcus' arms.
"I will take Bella to her quarters and make sure she is comfortable. We can converse later brother."
When we enter his quarters he sets me down in 'my' chair, in front of the fireplace, where once again a fire is blasting its heat into the room. He vanishes for only a moment and is back with a foot rest.
"Thank you." I say when I place my feet on it.
I receive a nod in answer.
"I did not mean to give you the 'silent treatment'. I just never know what to think of you, to be honest. And in consequence, what to talk about. One moment you smile and are open and then the next you look so emotionless, so dead. When I do or say something wrong I would wish you would just tell me. Then there is the possibility that you do not want me to know what is going through your head and that only makes me angry, or rather jealous, because nothing I do or say will ever be a secret. It seems unfair. Every change in heart rate or breathing is detected by you- as you pointed out earlier. Plus, although you said you would answer my questions, somehow something always interferes, and I don't get one.
To make matters worse, I often enough find myself distracted by something or someone and forget my questions myself, only to come to my mind later and find the opportunity to ask has passed already...leaving me angry at myself. To put the icing on top of everything, I still have no idea why exactly you are keeping me here. It is frustrating. Everything."
By the end of my rant I am breathing heavily and looking at him accusingly.
"I see. Well, we will remedy that today. Important things first: would you like to take something for your pain? Or has it gotten better? Do you need a drink? Tea perhaps? It is 4:30 pm now. Dinner will be ready by seven, Aro informed me."
"Now that you remind me, tea sounds great. And I'll be back in a moment. I'll take something for the pain." 'And use the toilet...' I add mentally.
"Of course. I will be right here."
When I come back from my little pit stop, there is a pot of tea and a cup, already poured, on the side table along with a little plate with three cookies on it.
I take my seat carefully, still not trusting my chest, and go straight for the tea. It must be herbal tea. I like it: it does not taste bitter.
"So, which question would you like me to answer first?" Marcus speaks up after a few moments during which I find a comfortable position in my chair. Ignoring the foot rest, I pull my legs up to my chest and turn slightly to my right to fit snugly into the recess of the arm chair, at the same time giving me a better view of Marcus and the fire.
"How come my torso hurt today? I thought you healed it? And how did you do that?" I am excited to finally get some much desired answers.
"As Aro tried to explain to you the other day, our venom is healing any tissue damage it encounters, usually that is the case while someone changes. It works from the inside out. It is not commonly known, but when our venom is applied to a wound without connection to the bloodstream, it heals just as well, changing the tissue like it would during the change. We did just that, as one of those gashes was infected badly. The problem is that your wounds went deeper than just a scrape and the tissue beneath the skin is healing on its own pace. Which explains the pain you felt today. I am sorry I urged you to be up so much. Perhaps you should take it slow for the next few days. Give your body time to heal. That reminds me, while you were in the other room, Aro stopped by and left some pills for you. He said you are to take three per day. They are 'antibiotics'? He thought you would know them. He wants to make sure there is no infection left in your body..."
It took my mind a bit to dissect all the information until I got to the crucial part: 'How do you apply venom superficially?' He surly didn't...? I mean, there is no way one of them...'licked' my wounds, is there?'
The thought alone made me blush, and I mean a real blush for once. I know the shape and location of the scars perfectly well and the thought that someone had licked me there, was unsettling...
"How exactly... did the venom get there? Onto the scrapes, I mean...?" I was flaming red by now and could no longer look his way.
To go by the way he looked he was not comfortable with this subject, either.
"My sisters, they…they helped you, they discovered the gashes when changing you and took care of them as best as they could..." Then his voice trailed off, uncertain.
"Oh, I guess that's okay then...I mean. Yeah..." I don't know whether I was okay with that, but it was less awkward than thinking Aro or Marcus had seen me so intimately - my mind had ruled out Caius as the 'benefactor' almost instantaneously. It should not matter anyway. I shouldn't care, right? But I still did.
"Ready for the next question?" I ask lightly, to get away from this topic. At least he has been honest and I had my answer. Sometimes I cursed myself for being so curious.
"Of course, go ahead." I think I heard a sigh of relief, I am not sure. But his lips definitely turned up in amusement.
"Okay. Why are you keeping me?" This issue bothered me to no end. I leaned forward in my chair anticipating his answer.
"Next question, please." Marcus announced in a calm yet serious voice.
"Please! I need to know this! I cannot even come up with an idea for a reason for your behaviour! You just make no sense."
"We have a deal Bella. You do not have to answer all of our questions and in return, the same goes for us. Next question."
He would not budge on , I leaned back in my chair and took another sip of the tea, while thinking of other questions. There were so many I just did not know which one to ask first.
"Hmm. Then, would you tell me what the different shades of the cloaks mean? Are they indicating some kind of rank? And if so, does it mean the darker the higher?"
"You are quite perceptive. Yes, to all your questions."
"Then, why did you give me a black cape? I am of no use and certainly not important?"
"You are our guest and we promised that no harm would come your way. Whoever wears black in this castle is sacrosanct. No one in their right frame of mind would dare to touch you. It ensures your safety." He seems to consider something and I wait for him to continue.
"I like to be honest Bella." His eyes meet mine for the first time since I asked the awkward question. "I only now realize that we promised something we cannot possibly keep for sure. I apologize. We asseverate your safety all the time, yet you must understand that you will never be 100% safe here. Accidents do happen. We are doing everything we can to ensure your security, I assure you, but a risk remains, nonetheless."
"I understand that. And I am sorry you have to go to such lengths to protect me." I truly mean it.
THEY left because I was such a bother. Because they lost interest in me. But during my time with THEM, THEY always kept things from me. 'To protect me'. Would it not have been wiser to tell me what was dangerous and discuss how to avoid such a situation? No, THEY patronised me, like a child.
"Thank you for telling me, for being honest with me."
"Why would you be grateful for that?"
"Not all people are honest about those things...at least that is my personal experience. It is niceto be taken seriously for a change." I start out bitter and end with a soft, content voice.
After that a deep silence falls. I ponder the ways I have been treated throughout my life. My hand catches me a cookie and I begin to nibble at it.
"Is that all your questions?" Marcus' calm inquiry gets me back to focus.
"No, I do have more, but it seems fair that you get to throw in a question or two now." I grin at him. It is just too easy to talk with Marcus. It seems like he understands me, up to a certain degree, at least.
"Ah, that is too gracious of you." The sarcasm weighs heavy. I can not help but smile and play along:
"Yeah. I know." I reply condescendingly. "Now quick, before I change my mind." A little chuckle escapes my lips, as well as his.
"Well then, my first question: Are you feeling better? Is the pain gone?"
"Uhm, Yes. I feel much better. And the pain is almost none existent. Thanks again for taking me back here."
"It was nothing at all. Have you seen much of the city while being here? Or of Italy, especially the Tuscan countryside?" He sounds eager for some, to me, unknown reason.
"No, not really. I arrived in Rome, Fiumicino and took a taxi to a small city just outside. 'Sette Bagni'? I was too tired to make the whole trip. So I stayed a night at some hotel. The next morning I had the driver pick me up and drive me here. The rest you know. What I saw of the landscape was beautiful though. The hills and stuff. I think, come early summer, it will look so much more beautiful, though. When it is all green. The city must be very old, right? I walked around a bit. But the atmosphere is quite chilly. The houses look so well fortified. Not that welcoming..."
"You are right on both accounts: The countryside is so much prettier, when green. As for the city, it had to be defensive. To hold back conquerors. It was once a blooming, rich city and as such, coveted by many."
It goes on like this for a bit. He asked me where I had been and where I wanted to go, friends I had in Phoenix, what it was like there...we had a harmless conversation.
When Dinner time arrived, he insisted on me having it in the study. He explained I have had enough exercise for one day. I agreed.
So, right now I was having dinner as he kept me company. He was reading in today's newspaper when he suddenly looked up at me and recited a passage of an article, obviously translated into English, so that I could follow, while looking at me intently.
..." Something exceptional has appeared in the small town of Volterra: An unknown benefactor has donated a more then generous amount of money to the old orphanage of aforementioned town, which in itself would be unusual, granted, yet very appreciated. However, the most remarkable thing about it is the way in which this donation was made. Mid morning the unknown and unseen donor rang the bell to the main entrance of the orphanage, placed an envelope on the stairs and must have run away. Only the envelope was found by the nurse on watch. Enclosed were several thousand dollars in cash.
"We are so very grateful to whoever donated this money. The person enclosed a note with the money suggesting a paint job be done and the establishment of a little library. We will of course fulfil these wishes. It is the least we can do. We really needed help. It is the answer to our prayers." Says the leader of the institution.
Help now comes from different directions after this has been made public. Private persons are bestowing the orphanage with free manpower, new blankets and lots of books. The painters will also only charge for their paint, not their working hours.
"Miracles obviously still do happen" Says a woman helping cleaning out the future library..."
The colour drains from my face. I did not want anyone to know that it had been me.
"What do you say to that Isabella? Do you believe in miracles?" Marcus says conversationally.
I gulp the lump in my throat and answer in my best cheery voice:
"It could be, could it not?" Even I cringe at how insincere it sounds.
Marcus bursts out laughing. It sounds nice. Not five seconds later, there is knocking on the door to the study and in between laughter he manages to call out "Come in!"
The door opens to reveal Aro, Sulpicia, Caius and Athenodora, who are staring at Marcus in disbelief and amusement.
"Are you quite well brother?" Caius does look concerned for his brothers sanity, it would seem.
"Yes, yes I am fine. You just missed the funniest situation ever."
Marcus would be wiping tears away now, were he able to shed them.
"Care to let us in on the fun, Marcus?" Sulpicia is smiling broadly.
'Yeah, go ahead and have a laugh at the human...'
Marcus only shows them the article and grabs Aro's hand, who stills for a millisecond and bursts into laughter, as well. The colour returns to my face tenfold. I hate to be laughed at, to feel denounced. As inconspicuous as possible I get up from the chair, mumbling something about the bathroom and manage to get to the door and open it before I feel a cold hand on the forearm of the hand that is still on the doorknob.
"I am sorry. Please forgive my rudeness Bella. It truly never was my intention to hurt your feelings.
You are no good at being insincere and the expression on your face was priceless. You did not even believe yourself. Please, don't leave. So far, this is one of the best days I have had in a long time. Please, come back to the fire with me?" His crimson eyes are beseeching and I would say he is sincere, but I don't trust my judgement any more.
"I need a moment to myself." Some of the tears I tried desperately to keep in had spilled over and were leaving trails on my cheeks now. I pull my hand from under his and he allows me.
"I am so, so sorry. I'll wait here." He looks crushed as I walk into the bedroom.
When inside, I run over to the bed and throw myself on it. I hold in the sobs but the tears leak out of my eyes. After some time, not much, has passed there is a soft knock on the door.
"Yes." Although I whisper this single word, my voice brakes.
First thing I notice is a cold hand on my back, then the bed sinking in beside me.
"Isabella, please listen: I have known my brother for a long time now. He did not mean to hurt you in any way. Yes, he laughed about the facial expression that you wore, but he did not twit you. I promise. I have not heard him laugh like he only did minutes ago, in years. Somehow you bring him happiness. Please come back?"
As it was Athenodora who had come to me, I took these words even more serious.
"Okay."
I don't mean to be such a child, but it hurt when he laughed at me. My discernment has always been one of the things I could bank on. THEIR leaving me had affected me in more ways than I have yet come to know. How should I know what Marcus was amused about?
"I'll be right there."
'Get a grip on yourself, Bella! This is ridiculous! Just go out there .'
I take a little detour into the bathroom, splash my face with some cold water, dry it and then get on my way to the study again. On the way there I give myself another pep-talk and then enter.
Four smiling and one neutral faces meet my gaze and I blush as usual.
"Sorry I overreacted like that. It just...I don't know."
"Let us not mention it, Isabella. Our behaviour was far from flawless, too. Please accept our apologies therefor. But I am rather curious now: I know that it was you. Demitri saw you doing it. What I am curious about though is: Why did you do it? And why in that fashion?" I could see the fire burning in Aro's eyes.
End Note: Let me know how you like it! Review... :)