Disclaimer:
I own no part of the 'Twilight Universe'. Only the idea to this story. This is strictly for fun.
Author's note:
Hi Guys! So, this is the scene from Marcus pov and the outtake will follow in its wake. Many asked for it. ;)
Now: Enjoy Marcus' ramblings.
Previously: (This Chapter takes place after Chapter 33)
When he didn't pick up again, I took over, "Corin, as soon as she is inside this room, you come and get me and Sulpicia. Santiago, you will ensure the safety of the doctor and the nurse," the younger guard member was obviously disappointed with his task, but I was positive he would follow the plan.
When the family has convened here, we will hold court. You are invited to witness the dealings. Remember that my mate's security has the highest priority. Due to her human state and her illness, she is absolutely defenseless; a sitting duck. Felix, Renata, when I leave her side to join my brothers and sisters, you both will be responsible for her life and well-being. Should Miss Swan sustain any harm, during my absence, I will hold both of you responsible for it. Is everything clear?"
"Yes, Master," the guards answered as one.
"Leave then!" I barked out.
When everyone had cleared out, I was tense and pacing. Surprisingly, so was Caius.
Chapter 37 (Marcus' pov)
I felt like a caged animal and I knew I'd only feel better once I thought the culprit of my love's pain had been sufficiently punished. I couldn't wait to wrap my fingers around her neck. I wanted to hear her scream; see her writhe in pain. But it was stronger then a want, it was a need, somehow essential.
I craved that woman's death more than I craved blood right now. Why was Caius so tense? Aro standing still was natural, he was stressed, processing everything.
But Caius, why would he be relentless? Was he mocking me? I'd rip him to pieces were that the case.
I stopped abruptly and spun around to see him and scrutinized him, analyzing his bonds, searching for any hint to why he was so upset.
He was so preoccupied himself he didn't notice me straight away. When amongst our family, we tended to let our guards down.
It was amazing. The tiny bond he had shared with Bella before, a mouse-gray, proof of his disdain for her, was morphing, changing before my very eyes; on his part at least.
Silently I held my hand out to Aro, who grasped it quickly.
Together we witnessed a rare occurrence, a profound change in a vampire.
On his side the bond grew stronger, became solid, rooted itself deeply into his core.
His hands clenched into fists and relaxed periodically.
It seemed like he didn't simply allow the bond to grow, but enforced it, nurtured it willingly.
The color slowly changed from the dull gray to a vibrant mixture between blue and green. Much like mine, or the one that led from Aro to her, it pulsed. We were all trying to pump life into her, to bond her to us. The basis on our side was firm, in case of Aro and Caius, rooted deeply in their hearts, in my case, it infused my very essence, had spun a web through my soul. And I knew what it hurt like, when such a bond broke: your heart breaks, bursts into a thousand tiny shards, all sharp and pointy, and your soul is torn to shreds. You are no longer yourself, too many pieces of your former self go missing, never to be found again. You are forever changed.
I was. Didyme's death had changed me. I was now a differently shaped puzzle- piece. Bella matched that changed side of me. She had experienced change on such an elemental level, too. Her heart and soul also had been torn to pieces.
Now I understood, how it was possible for me to find love again in another mate.
Bella and I were a perfect fit. Both changed irrevocably.
The truth fell like scales from my eyes: One was not born to be someone else 's mate, but life events formed you, molded you into someone's mate. You grew to be a perfect fit.
There was no known vampire apart from me, who ever lived for as long as I had, after his or her mate had been ended. So there never was a vampire I had met, that was able to sympathize, to understand my pain, to share it. But Bella, Bella had suffered in a very similar way, and she had barely survived. She would have died of the infection within a few days -or weeks had we not intervened. Than again, she had come here to end her life. Such a small time-frame; half a year. I shuddered. What if she had not decided to to seek death at our hands, what if she had not found out, where to find us? She would have been lost to me...
Thinking of it: How did she find out? I had never thought to ask. Had she been told?
My mind was reeling now, yet I could still appreciate the beauty, that was the changing of my brothers bond.
"What is going on?" Athenodora ripped us all out of our contemplations.
Aro and I whipped our heads around to face her, and Caius turned instantly. We had all but forgotten about her presence and the time.
It had been a good quarter of an hour, I realized.
"Would somebody explain? Now!" she fumed, her sharp eyes fixed on her mate.
"Please, Athenodora, calm, my mate. It is simple: I allowed the bond between Bella and I to grow. She will be my sister; I accept that now," Caius told her matter of factly. He strolled over to her and took her hand in his, while he explained the situation.
"That is not all," Aro pointed out, letting go of my hand.
"There was more to it, you did not just passively let it happen, you were somehow proactive," he accused.
"I admit it," Caius replied haughtily, smirking right back at him, before he bent down to place a soft kiss on Athenodora's cheek.
"How? How did you do it?" Our brother demanded.
Aro knew about my suspicions, he must have read it in my mind. His bond to Isabella had grown rapidly, too. I had long suspected that the way of thinking influenced the bonds we forged, but unlike Chelsea, we were only able to influence our part of the bond.
"I decided to make the best of this unusual situation. I want to be a good elder brother," he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll be a better brother, then you can ever dream of being," he smirked smugly. Leave it to him to make a competition out of this. Athenodora only shook her head in exasperation.
"So, in essence, we can all rest assured, that you won't threaten Bella anymore?" She clarified.
"Yes, no more threats. I'll be civil, more than that even, I'll be a brother to her, if she will let me."
Athenodora stood up on her toes and placed a soft, swift kiss on her mate's cheek. However chaste it was, it was full of emotion.
"We will talk about this more at a later time," Aro redirected us. To my surprise he had not risen to Caius' challenge.
"For now I think it would be better for us to concentrate on the situation at hand. We will dispose of this threat to our family first and only then will we discuss everything else," he repeated himself.
"I agree," Caius assented.
"Aro, Athenodora and I will stay here, while you stay with your mate and Sulpica. We should decide on the punishment swiftly though, I would not want to leave the room to agree on a verdict," he elaborated after a short pause.
"Yes. I would not want for this woman to leave my sight anymore, either. I want to deal with her as quickly as possible," I reasoned my agreement.
Aro nodded.
"Very well. We will proceed according to the plan," Aro conceded.
"Go ahead, Marcus, we all understand your need to be with Isabella. Everything will be well," Aro encouraged.
"You just keep her company for now. We will send someone to go and get you as soon as the redhead has been brought here," Athenodora went on.
It was true, I was itching to be closer to Isabella once more. I needed to see with my own eyes that she was safe and well.
With a curt nod to my brothers and sister I flew to the door and out. I didn't even wait for whoever was outside to open it for me. I reached our quarters within a few moments. Felix was back on his post again, standing ramrod straight.
"Did anything out of the ordinary occur while you have been back?" I inquired without preamble.
"No, Master. I caught no foreign scent either. Lady Sulpicia seems to be inside still; there is no leaving trail.
"Very well." I stepped closer and our guard opened the door for me, bowing slightly in respect.
When I entered the study, I was confused to see the nurse standing awkwardly in the room. She jumped when I entered.
In my curiosity I started questioning her on what had happened so far and why she was outside.
I was appalled to hear that Bella was burning up again and that my sister had upset Isabella to the point of tears. Gladly I was in enough control to know I could hardly burst into the room just now.
It seemed like an eternity to me until my sister let us enter. I reached Isabella's side as fast as I could without forgoing the human charade we had to keep up.
Isabella lay in my sisters arms, hardly awake and in no way lucid, if her bleary eyes were any indication.
Carefully I did as my sister had asked me and picked up the lump form of my love. I got no reaction to my soothing words but soft whispers that even I could not understand.
The heat coming off her was alarming. Yet I felt better when I had placed her safely on my lap.
She nestled herself closer to me, held on to me. When her forehead came to rest against my throat, and a soft groan escaped her, my chest tightened. I was so conflicted. I loved to have her so close, to hold her like this, but I wanted the circumstances to be different. I hated to know that she had suffered like I had, that she had had to endure such pain. Then again, were my suspicions correct, I would not be suited to be her mate and she not mine, had it not happened.
My eyes closed on their own accord. It was no use to concentrate on the past, when our life lay ahead of us. I would be a good mate to her; I would cherish her, would do good by her, respect her.
When I had a handle on my emotions again, I talked to my sister to hear from her what had happend, while the nurse worked to change the sheets.
Aro had been right, Isabella was stubborn and I would have my hands full with her and even more so once she was changed. I smiled sadly.
How long would it be until she would grant me the honor to gift her with immortality? Would she ever? I would wait. If she needed time, I would give it to her, she was still very young.
As soon as the nurse had left to call her uncle to Isabella, Sulpicia ambushed me with her questions.
I had placed Isabella in her bed when the doctor had neared. He had long since come and gone. He had given her more medication and renewed the infusion, after he reminded us to treat Isabella with the utmost care. If she got so emotional again we were to send for him. He explained it would be better if he put her asleep then, so that she would not waste the little energy she had on useless actions.
Gianna had been led up to join us in our quarters by Felix. I observed her carefully. It was obvious she was very comfortable around him. His mere presence relaxed her, while she was always cautious around us. So being intended to be a mate to one of our kind did not imply that the human was automatically comfortable around all vampires, like my mate seemed to be. It was a personal trait of my love.
The human secretary had brought a light lunch for herself and Isabella, hoping the latter would awake and eat something.
Gianna was sitting on a newly brought in chair in my study reading silently. The door to my study was slightly ajar; communication would be easy, if necessary. My sister and I were conversing easily in our native tongue. It turned out to be useful that no one was fluent in this dialect anymore. They called it a dead language. If only humans knew... I told my sister about my musings and we shared a brief laugh.
In the late afternoon Bella stirred from the deep slumber the medication had put her under. She was not awake for long, but I cherished every moment. She managed to eat some of the soup and a slice of bread before she slipped back into unconsciousness. Her temperature held steady on a moderately high level.
The day was drawing to an end when I became aware of someone approaching the study. Felix granted the requested entrance and I knew Afton had come to call for us. Gianna came to rely the message formally. Finally they had captured the wrench. Sulpicia stood up swiftly and I carefully disentangled my shirt from Isabella's nimble grip. She mumbled something in annoyance and swiftly fell back into a deeper sleep after that.
Slowly I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her burning forehead. When I stood back up I caught our secretary still looking at me form the doorway, an unfathomable twinkle in her eyes before her gaze dropped and a rare blush colored her cheeks. I ignored her.
"We are coming," Sulpicia stated.
We left the private quarters quickly after I had strongly reminded the guards to keep excellent watch over my intended mate. A subtle threat might have shone through my words...
My sister smirked with an understanding glint in her eye.
Afton could not keep up with us when we sprinted towards the throne room.
I stormed into the throne room, the doors opened with a deafening thud as they hid the walls and the hinges groaned in protest. I was charged with anger, barely holding on to control.
In no time I stood next to my family on the dais and Caius wasted no time to start the court session.
The male twin let off with his gift and was guarding the door with his sister before the redhead had gained her wits. When her situation finally sank in she shrieked in tones so high it hurt my ears.
"What!? How did I get here? How dare you!" she growled in anger and looked around the room.
Intently I used my gift on her, it was an automated move on my part to gain knowledge on an enemy. She had lost her mate that much was clear at once, and there were no other remarkable bonds. Nothing held her to this earth but the pain of loosing her mate. She had descended into insanity, but I could not find it in me to feel for her. I was unbelievably grateful in this moment for the continued efforts of my family. Without their help that pathetic sight might as well have been me. Well, not like her, I would never be such an easy target, I would be a challenge to anyone. I thought smugly.
"Silence!" Aro roared. The witch fell silent in fear. I liked that emotion in her eyes. I promised myself I would get see this look on her again tonight.
"We were informed of the things that happened in the street. You have information on a human that has knowledge of our kind, you say? Let me see," he held out his hand to the redhead. There was no need yet to tell her exactly how much we knew really.
I could tell from experience that his patience was extremely thin already. The set of his eyes, his tone and stance betrayed this fact to those who knew how to read him.
"What do you mean by let me see? I will tell you all I know..." the culprit tried to sound forthcoming and innocent. She made her eyes big and pouted slightly. Fool, we were all happily mated and whatever allure she might have towards other males was none existing with us.
"No," he interrupted her. "You see, I am gifted, young one: by simply touching you I will see all you have ever seen, felt or thought. I will hold all your knowledge. If I may say so, it is a rather useful gift, because no one can lie to me," my brother explained to her like one would to a toddler, his voice deadly calm.
"Now. Let. Me. See," he growled threateningly.
The woman in her stupidity shook her head 'no' and took a step back.
The last shred of control I held broke and I had her in my iron grip instantly, my skills unparalleled despite the years without practice.
"Believe me, you will show my brother all you know," I roared into her ear.
The woman shivered and my beast purred in delight.
She took a deep breath to answer and began to fight me instantly screaming on top of her lungs: "You smell like her! Her scent is all over you! You..." Her efforts were futile against me and I felt a sudden urge to forgo the 'necessary' farce my brother liked to call a trial and simply dole out my punishment right this moment. The pressure on her throat grew to the point her neck might break and it shut her of effectively. I needed to set her straight on a few things.
"Listen now, you wench. Isabella is my mate, and I will protect her with all I have, all I am, and don't for one second delude yourself into thinking you might ever harm her again. You won't even set eyes on her ever again."
I yet again increased the strength of my hold and felt satisfaction run through me with force, when I felt small cracks form underneath the tips of my fingers. My beast had come out to play and I would simply try to be patient enough to make it through this waste of a time without loosing my composure. I had all the time in the world to act on my urges later. She would only leave this room in ashes. This thought settled my frayed emotions to somewhat and I pushed her towards my black haired brother. He touched his right index finger to her forehead. He was obviously disgusted with this individual. Inwardly I laughed in mirth.
All of us were quiet, no one even breathed, all our eyes were fixed on him, intently waiting for him to finish.
"Vipera venata! Te anullabo! Ambubaia!" Aro suddenly swore in our native tongue. I wondered what he had found to infuriate him to this extent. I didn't think I could possibly be angrier than I was already, but his reaction had me doubting my own assessment. I growled as did the rest of my family. His findings could only be disastrous.
After he had regained his composure and had finished his 'line of questioning', he took a step back from her, and scowled. It was clear we would talk about this later in private.
"So it is true, Victoria. You have created an army of newborns in Seattle. Such a shame you did not take Maria's warning seriously, when she told you of us and to keep a low profile. As it is, you broke that law," Aro summarized some of what he had found.
'Maria, that snitch, from the south. We should have ended her back then' When everything was settled here and peaceful I would approach her demise as a topic to my brothers.
"Before today I had only feared, that the loss of your mate drove you to insanity, but now I have proof. You created the army for the lone purpose of revenge, not caring for our secret as long as it would help you to succeed. You would not have cared had the army annihilated the complete northern part of the united states, exposing us by doing so," he paused then for a short while, observing her fruitless struggles against my grip, before he continued. I smiled inwardly. 'How frowzy of him...' In his emotional state he had slipped. He just told her that we had known of her and her actions prior to this meeting.
"When one looks at it objectively, you did expose us, as you didn't manage to murder Isabella. She survived, you left a witness," he told her calmly, now pacing slowly in front of her, like the predator he was, his muscles rippled with restraint, his hands- clasped on his back- twitched, a malicious smile curled his lips up. "So, you broke two of our laws, you created an army of newborns, that you obviously couldn't handle," he tsk'ed at her like a scolding teacher would, then went on "and, even worse, you exposed our existence. Believe me, we were about to dispatch a team to clean the area.
"Proof of your transgressions is in numerous news articles, and in your own thoughts.
Do you deny your actions?" he asked.
I let up on the pressure just so that she could speak.
"She killed my mate! I won't let her live!" the last word was only choked out as I had cut her off again and shook her like a rag-doll in a fit of rage. Aro shook his head in the negative.
"No, no she most certainly is not to blame for your mate's death. It was no ones fault but his own, and perhaps yours. He decided to go up against a coven of seven, that had declared her as theirs, he set himself up to fail. He played a game and he lost, and you were not even there, because in your deluded self-concept it never even crossed your mind that he might fail. You could have warned him; he could still be with you...
"The problem was that you drew just as much sick pleasure from the cruel games you played as he did. You were high on excitement, in no way in the mind frame needed to play a deadly game. Your own hubris is at fault, no one and nothing else," my brother lectured her further. I felt my need for violence grow with every passing moment. He had better hasten his speech or might simply snap her in two.
He shook his head again and sighed deeply.
"But your talent, such a waste. Alas it can not be helped," he shrugged.
'Finally he is coming to an end.'
"I say we should pass judgment now."
Yes! It resonated in my mind. The beast coiled, ready to pounce.
The 'witnesses', nodded.
"Caius?" Aro turned to face our brother who had not uttered a word since the beginning. His eyes were still black though.
"Guilty, on both accounts," he growled in answer.
Aro nodded.
"Sulpicia? Athenodora?" He inquired again.
They answered as one,"Guilty, on both accounts." When they had spoken the last word, their eyes were black as well. In response to his mate's ire, Aro's eyes darkened rapidly, too.
"Marcus, brother?"
"Guilty. And I petition to be allowed to conduct the execution personally," I snarled delighting in the anticipation that filled me to the brim; all the things I could and would do to her. A red haze began to cloud my view.
"Granted," Aro and the wives agreed.
"On one condition," Caius bargained, and my head shot towards him. Surprised by what I had heard.
"I want to partake," he elaborated and smiled cruelly.
Of course he would want that, now that he had claimed her his sister. What had me surprised though was the thirst for violence in his eyes.
"I want a hand in it as well," Sulpicia said. She gave me a silent nod, telling me that my mate was a sister to her, too.
I couldn't repress the smirk, that split my mask. After such a long time, we would unit as a family of six again tonight. Isabella would be fully accepted, a worthy member of our family. I knew of Aro's bond to her, so it was safe to say he was on board. Only Caius had me worried until before, but now that he had acknowledged her as his sister, there was no harsh feelings anymore. Undoubtedly Athenodora would follow his lead, too.
We would be whole again as a family. I would no longer have to feel like the fifth wheel when around my family.
Right this moment a divine light seemed to shine on me and it erased all doubts that had been bothering me the days prior. Isabella would recover, she would overcome her past and she would be mine. She was my match our bond proofed as much. It was only a matter of time and I could allow her that. I would give her all the time she needed and in the end she would be mine. Eternally.
With theses thoughts I rose deep within.
Only one thing right now was hindering me from being with her, and I would end that tonight. Closure. I would give that to my mate first.
"We will lend our hand, too." As expected Aro and Athenodora didn't take long to join us on the platform.
We looked down at the convicted, and I felt unexpectedly bad tempered towards my brothers and sisters. I didn't want their help, I wanted her death to be mine, wanted do that for my mate. As soon as I had caught myself I knew it was almost childish to think like this. I grinned.
"Very well," I agreed.
"You can stay now and bear witness or leave this room. Decide now, the door will only open when the punishment has been dealt," Aro boomed, looking over the assembled guards.
No one left. They looked at us in wonder.
"Good. Keep out of our way and silent. Jane, Alec you guard the doors." Aro was all business and no one dared question his orders when in this mood.
"Let us begin!" he exclaimed then. He was excited, too, burning for revenge.
'How to go about this now. We never really had to share a victim...' I mused.
"Ladies first," I smirked at my sisters. I knew I had to go last because her final death would be at my hands, after I had dealt her my part of the punishment. I wondered how long I would be able to draw it out until finally my urge to be close to Bella would cut it short. "I will be the one to finish her though," I reminded my brothers and sisters. They nodded their understanding.
'Well then, let the games begin' I thought with grim satisfaction and set the abomination free.
End note:
Hi there! Sorry it took me so long to update. I had to figure some things out first and then decided to add in this chapter after I had written the originally intended one.
Please review and let me know what you think.