9. RETURN
Didyme sat in the turret of the castle playing her violin. The past few weeks had been miserable for her and the song she played reflected her mood. She could not help but worry about Marcus. She feared for his life and imagined the worst case scenarios. What if a member of the guard with an unknown talent could figure out that they were lying, the same way that Charles could? What if they had been caught traveling during the day and been put to death for their crimes? She did not know if a vampires prayers were heard by God but that did not stop her from pleading for Marcus' safe return.
Athenodora did her best to try to cheer Didyme in Marcus' absence. She was actually quite a talented seamstress and would design her own clothes. She would make Didyme pose as a model to work off of. Athenodora was excited about the upcoming ball so that she could make costumes. The fact that the ball was going to be the center of war did not ruin her enthusiasm. Didyme would humor Athenodora during these plans for the ball but her mind was most often focused on Marcus.
So as she sat in the turret playing her violin and she heard the sound of three approaching men it took all her willpower to not burst through the walls of the turret and jump down to her beloved but to use the stairs instead. She quickly made her way out of the castle and ran into the woods heading straight for the sound of approaching footsteps. One of the pairs of feet began to speed up in their pattern. The breeze blew Didyme's floral scent to Marcus. Within seconds they were locked in an embrace and were sharing a passionate kiss. Every emotion behind missing a person was felt in that kiss.
When Didyme stopped to catch her breath she whispered "Never leave me again."
"I won't. I promise," Marcus assured her.
Aro and Eleazar had now caught up to them and were walking past. Aro said aloud "Well where's my girl?"
"Which one?" Marcus teased.
Aro shoved him in the shoulder but couldn't help to laugh. "He was an utter mess without you, Didyme. Now that you're together again maybe he'll stop feeling like such a zombie."
"I didn't feel like a zombie!" Marcus protested.
Aro laughed scornfully. "You forget, brother, that I read your mind in the Romanian castle. You can keep no secrets from me."
Marcus rolled his eyes and laughed. "Alright Aro, you caught me." He held Didyme in his arms even tighter, relishing the feeling of her. Then he whispered to her, "Do you want to go to our spot?"
"Yes!" Didyme enthused. They took off running, avoiding the castle altogether. They easily found their secret clearing again and tossed themselves onto the ground with Didyme wrapped in Marcus' arms. Her aura of happiness that had been missing during Marcus' absence was now returned with his presence. They were complete.
After a long stretch of kissing again Didyme interrupted with her thoughts. "Marcus?"
"Yes, love?"
"I was so sick with worry while you were away. You don't know how hard it was for me to not go chasing after you. I felt like my world had come to an end." Didyme struggled with the words as they brought back all the dark emotions.
"It was the same for me," Marcus said. "Imagine a world without the sun and that is my world without you."
Didyme sighed softly and pressed her lips to his once more. "I don't think I can bear being separated from you again," she whispered.
"You won't have to. I promised you, I'll never leave you again," Marcus reassured her.
"No. That's not what I mean. What I mean is that if anything were to ever happen to you I don't think I could bear it. It would be the death of me." The mere thought filled Didyme with sadness.
Marcus tried to comfort her, "I thought we already covered that in another promise. Neither of us will move on to the next life but we'll stay here with each other. There's no need to worry."
"Marcus, you are making promises you can't keep!" Didyme was now frustrated.
"I keep all my promises," he said with all seriousness.
"How can you promise me that you won't die when you're marching off to war at the same time?" she shouted.
Marcus thought about this and saw the contradiction. "What would you have me do? Tell me and I will do anything you ask of me."
Didyme chose her words carefully even though she had played them in her mind a million times. "Leave. Leave with me. We can get away from all of this. Aro and his politics, this stupid war! We don't have to die for Aro's revolution."
Marcus was not prepared for this. "You want me to leave? Abandon my brothers, my family? You want me to run away from war like a coward?" He could not believe what he was hearing.
"This isn't our fight, Marcus! Who cares if we can't go out during the day? Who cares if we can only feed once a week? I would rather live a thousand years under the Romanian rule with you at my side than to have Aro as my king and you left to ashes!" Didyme choked on the words and Marcus embraced her tightly to try to soothe her.
He warred within himself on what to do. "How can you ask this of me?" he whispered to her.
She looked up at him with soulful eyes and all the begging and yearning in the world filled them. "Imagine if it was me. Imagine that we went to fight and you prevailed but the cost was my life. Could you bear that?"
The thought broke Marcus. "No. I could not."
The decision was made. Marcus and Didyme would leave Volterra and all of their friends and family. They would not fight against the Romanians for the freedom of vampires. Marcus told Didyme that they could not run away like cowards but would need to tell Aro, face to face. When they got back to the castle they found a meeting in the turret already taking place.
"We cannot attack at the ball," Aro said to Santiago. "Our mission was shy of a failure. We only met with one leader and two body guards so Eleazar was unable to pick up on all the unknowns. Octavian wouldn't allow me to touch his hand so I was unable to read any of their thoughts! We are not ready to attack at the ball. Instead, we will let the ball serve as our mission should have. We will gain their trust and they will surely allow me to shake their hands. All of them will be here along with the body guards so Eleazar and Marcus can get a better reading." Aro looked up at Didyme and Marcus in the doorway. "Speak of the devil."
"Aro, may we have a moment with you?" Marcus asked.
"Of course, brother, what is on your mind?"
Marcus looked at Santiago and Eleazar. "Alone?"
Aro began to feel uneasy but he turned to Santiago and said "Please, pardon us. We will continue discussing this later."
The already frustrated Santiago picked up the scrolls from the table and stormed out of the room with Eleazar following behind. They were now alone in the turret.
"What's this all about?" Aro asked with a nervous smile, looking at Didyme and then back to Marcus.
Marcus started, "Didyme and I have been talking and while we care for you and the rest of the family and for the revolution very much, we cannot go through with risking our lives to be a part of it. We've made the decision to leave Volterra. I'm so sorry, brother-"
"Brother?" Aro scoffed at the word bitterly. "How can you call me brother when you so easily turn your back on me for some whore?" Aro spit the words.
"Aro!" Marcus shouted. "She's your sister and she is no whore." Didyme shrunk behind Marcus.
"Marcus, we are on the cusp of victory! I need you now more than ever. You cannot abandon us!" Aro was desperate.
"Our minds are made up, Aro. I am sorry." Marcus looked at the ground.
Aro realized that no argument could bring Marcus back to his side. His sister had bewitched him and he would only obey her now. He paused to collect his thoughts. "I am sorry. To both of you, I lost my temper. Forgive me."
"No forgiveness is needed," Didyme offered.
"No, I should not have said that about you. If I could take it back I would," Aro said.
Didyme nodded.
Aro sighed. "You two deserve to be happy. I let my ambitions blind me to the needs of those around me. I wish you all the best."
"Thank you," said Marcus. He was relieved that Aro understood.
"But can I ask one last thing of you? I promise to never bother you again. Hell, I'll even build you your own castle when this war is over!"
Marcus was cautious. "What is it?"
"As you know our trip was hardly a success. We will have to try again at the upcoming ball. Your gift is vital to our triumph. Is there any way I could persuade you to stay for just the ball? I promise there will be no fighting and no threat of war that night. It is strictly a time to gather information. As soon as the ball is over you would be free to leave. I just need you for this one night." Aro looked at the couple hopefully.
Marcus wanted to be able to help this one last time and looked at Didyme to see what she was thinking. She knew how much it meant to him and she forced a smile and nodded yes. Marcus was grateful for her kindness.
Aro was so pleased and clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! You don't know how much this means to me. You will be doing a great service to all vampire-kind."
Eleazar was back at the door and gave it a quick knock even though it remained open. "Excuse me Aro, but there is someone here to meet with you."
A tall, cloaked figure entered the room. His hands reached up to remove the hood that hid his face. A man with shoulder-length, dark hair was revealed with an olive hint to his pale skin. Marcus recognized him at once.
"Demetri!" Aro called. "Welcome friend, I hope you found us alright. Oh, what am I thinking? You're a tracker! Of course you found us." Demetri smiled but still looked uncomfortable. Aro turned to the others "Now I have to ask you to excuse us! Demetri and I have much to discuss. You understand."
Marcus nodded and guided Didyme by the waist out of the room. This time, Aro shut the door behind them.
