"If I weren't a queen, I'd say I look like a princess," exclaimed Didyme as she twirled her long, flowing yellow dress. It was tight in the bodice and flowing like a bell made of river water and sunshine. It had off the shoulder, sheer cuffs, silver embroidery, and Didyme couldn't have looked more radient. It was her wedding anniversary with Marcus, and a party was being held in their honor.

The beautiful brunette had her hair up in the same hairstyle as when she had first tied herself to Marcus, as was tradition. This was to be their once a century anniversary, and Didyme thought it was all the more important to make a spectacle out of it because Dean was there.

Dean herself was dressed in a shimmering ice blue gown, also off the shoulder, but rimmed all the way around in soft, pure white feathers. She had her hair up in a soft half up do, curls framing her face with glittering hair pins holding back the thick strands from her face.

Athenodora wore a deep dark burgundy and black dress decorated with beads and lace. Her golden curls were fanned around her like a halo, as they usually were. She hadn't been feeling like expending the energy. She could take any man to bed she wanted while Caius was otherwise...destracted...and she wouldn't even need hair to do it at all. She did enjoy the matching diamonds the four of them were wearing.

Sulpicia was lounging on the chaise, her black gown sleek and futuristic, adoring more fabric to create a full skirt and some hard bone to keep the bodice tight and constricting around her ribs. Some light tulle peaked out from under the satin, and the women had all cooed over it the moment she had walked in, chin high with pride. None of them had ever seen anything like it. Her dark hair was pinned up, with only a thin strip of hair being allowed to flow down her back. Dean imagined that if she had been human, and not married to Aro, she would have been very popular with the men.

Dean adored the way that her friends husband's looked at them. Marcus was like a puppy dog. Didyme and he matched like soul mates. It was impossible not to be happy around them.

Aro and Sulpicia had a calmness about them. While Marcus and Didyme were joy, Aro and Sulpicia were peace. Aro himself had a mischievous side, a giggle never too far behind his lips, a child like quality about him, but his wife balanced him out perfectly.

Even Caius had a certain undeniable affection for Athenodora. Dean's stomach had twisted in knots over it at first. As she grew more and more attached to the blonde, her feelings had deepened. She knew his had as well, as they spent nearly every moment together.

Athenodora had approached her first. At first, Dean had been terrified. But the woman had instead given her a blessing. She knew she did not own Caius. Not fully. Their love was something that had grown and room had been made for them, just as she had made room for Dean. They were a family.

Dean was happy.

As the evening went on, Caius swept her into his arms, laughing at her flushed cheeks. She'd had several glasses of wine, and very little to eat. It felt off putting to be the only guest in attendance who required food. Marcus had ordered an entire buffet of food. For just one person! She supposed she should go back and try not to waste his efforts.

The music was loud. The bard was strumming his dulcimer and singing an awful rendition of a 100 year old song.

"If he doesn't stop with that racket, I may be forced to retire him. Permanently," Caius exaggerated. Dean giggled, tilting her head into the gentle sway of their bodies.

"He isn't that bad," Dean protested.

"Contrare. I believe my ears have begun to bleed."

Dean rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder, causing Caius to let out the most magical laugh. It rumbled in his chest, barking out suddenly and adorably. Dean pressed her body against his, running her fingers up into the hair at the nape of his neck and trailed her lips across his collarbone. Caius stiffened, but did not push her away. She paused, looking up at him.

"Caius."

He looked down at her, his eyes soft. "Yes?"

"Can we go somewhere quieter? There's something I would like to tell you."

Their feet stilled, senses shut off from the rest of the world as Caius stared at her blankly. Her palms began to sweat, fearing he may say no. What if he didn't accept her confession? Worse, what if he didn't feel the same? Finally, he took in a breath he didn't need and nodded.

"Allow me a moment to get some things in order. Meet me in my chambers in five minutes."

"Okay?" Dean phrased it like a question, confused by his sudden shift in personality. He let go of her then, and she watched confused as he lifted her hand to his lips and laid a kiss upon her knuckles.

"See you in five minutes."

"Yes," she agreed. He smiled widely at her and dropped her hand, turning around and leaving.

Two minutes to go and she started making her way out of the ballroom and towards Caius' chambers. A loud boom like a bomb going off shook the walls and nearly made her fall over. The next thing she knew, there were hissing, screeching, and screaming all around her.

Dean took off at a sprint.

~~\\~~
The sounds outside the castle terrified Dean from where she hid underneath the bed she shared with Caius. Though he never slept, he made a point of always coming to lie down with her until she fell asleep. This bed had been a refuge, where she felt loved and safe. She used it now as a shield from all the scary sounds outside her door.

There were screams, and loud banging, thunder cracking through the air and making the stones rattle as they came loose. She was alone, and covered in blood from the bodies of her human friends that she'd had to climb over to find her own safety. The crimson life force was smeared across her face, stained her slender fingers, matted her long dark hair, and ruined her dress. She'd been having such a good time before all this mess started, and she'd been on her way to tell Caius she loved him.

But the screams, and the bodies that dropped like flies, they'd stopped her. Her human friends had found her and ushered her into a small room where a dozen of them had been hiding. But when the rival clan of vampires had broken through the hidden catacombs of the castle they lived in, sniffed out their hiding places, there'd been nothing for them to do but conceal her with their own bodies. Even as they died, she stayed hidden.

When it was safe, she'd ran back to her room and hidden under her bed, quietly weeping to herself. The door opened and Dean sucked in a breath, trying not to make any noise.

She could see a pair of bare male feet. Toe nails black with dirt. His voice rattled like rocks in a cage when he spoke. "I can smell you, little girl." He laughed lowly, a terrible sound that made her swallow a terrified sob even as the tears freefell down her cheeks. She faught the sniffle, her hand covering her mouth.

He dropped to one knee at the side of her bed. His fingernails were too long and just as black as his toes. The stench that waffled to her, like rotting flesh and decayed fruit, made her gag.

Her bedroom door burst open.

Whoever it was that came inside her room moved too fast for her to see them. The vampire hunting her stood up in a second, but was flung off his feet again. His feet lifted into the air and there was the sickening sound of minerals breaking mixed with a cut off shriek as frozen pieces of his chest fell to the floor, scattering. His scream was cut short by his head being split in two and the top half fell to the floor and rolled under the bed inches from Deans face. Dean breathed forcefully but tried to keep it low. She couldn't hold her breath anymore. Her rescuer dropped down in front of her, making her scream in fright and flinch away.

Athenodora's blonde curls spilled over her shoulder and onto the ground as she frowned at her husband's true love. As Dean calmed herself, the blonde offered her, her hand. "Come on, we have to go, now. It will be alright," she said to the human girl. Athenadora tried to smile without showing her fangs, in an effort to keep from frightening her friend. Dean swallowed audibly and took her offered hand, allowing her to pull her from under the bed.

"What's happening out there?" Asked Dean as Athenodora grasped onto her hand more securely and headed for the door to poke her head out.

"A Saxon clan has attacked. They challenge our rule. Come along, quickly."

They darted out of the room, running down the hallway, listening to the slap of Deans bare feet against the stone while Athenodora barely made a sound.

"What have you done?" Bellowed Marcus from behind the throne room doors as they approached. "What have you done?" The first time he'd yelled it in such shock and anger that it made her shiver. The second time was full of grief and disbelief that her body stiffened and her blood ran cold.

Athenodora opened the door and pushed her through to see Marcus and Aro standing on the floor beneath their thrones. Bodies were everywhere, and Marcus was on his knees beside a smoldering burned corpse. There was another man, being held down by Felix and a fellow guard named Roman. Arms locked out to his sides and knees pressed so hard into the stone that the floor was cracked beneath him.

The stranger bared his teeth at Aro, ignoring the nearly sobbing Marcus beside him. Athenodora squeaked from beside her, halting and accidentally yanking her back as a result. Sulpicia was nearby as well, behind Aro and on her knees, hair a mess and she looked like her world had ended as much as Marcus' just had. It took a moment for Dean to catch up.

"You will pay the ultimate price for what you have done," says Aro in a deadly calm voice. His eyes were crinkled in a pleased manner, as if everything was going to plan, despite the circumstances. It was like looking into the eye of a tornado. You just knew you were going to die. "She was my sister," Aro continued and the stranger winces as Felix yanks off his arm. Aro takes another step forward.

"She was Marcus' wife," Roman takes it as his cue to rip off the other arm as Aro continues. "You will take nothing else from this coven." He places his hands on either side of the strangers head and Dean finally catches a glimpse of a piece of fabric not yet succumbed to ashes. Yellow in color with silver etchings of design in the skirt, the same as Didyme had been wearing earlier that day. Dean caught her sob in her throat, her hands coming up to cover her mouth as she choked on her realization.

The stranger spoke at last, a low, forced chuckle. "You are the one who deserves death, my lord," he spits the title out with venom. "One day, they will figure out what you truly are. What you have done."

Marcus was still sobbing dry tears, and his head snapped up at once upon hearing him speak. He was on his feat in an instant, yanking the head of the stranger out of Aro's hands and right off his shoulders. The cracking and shattering of the vampire's crystalline skin made Dean wince and lean into Athenodora, who had wrapped her in her arms protectively. Roman had a fire started in a moment and cast the body into the flame. Marcus collapsed by his dead wife's corpse once again.

Aro leaned over to speak to Felix. "Fetch Chelsea. I do believe Marcus will require her services. Have her moved up to an upper guard position and put on Marcus' detail."

"At once, my lord," responds Felix, and he is gone faster than Dean's eyes can track.

"No," Marcus breathes, and lays down in the ash and remains of Didyme, his white hands being stained with the sickly sweet scent of the soot. "No...let me go with her. Please, I cannot live while she does not!"

His words force Dean's chest to feel like it's caved in, and it brings her to her own knees, tears already falling down her round cheeks. Athenodora catches her before she hits the ground, and Caius is at Marcus' side at once. Together, she and Athenodora gently settle on their knees, and Dean sobs into the other woman's chest. Caius gently, but firmly, grasps onto Marcus' shoulder.

"You must not, brother," he says more softly than was in character for himself. "We need you here. Let the dead rest in peace."

"Easy for you to say," Marcus spits, equally as out of character. He'd been such a happy man in the short time that Dean had known him. Usually smiling, ready with a joke. Didyme was his everything and she lit up whatever room she was in, brought out the very best in Marcus no matter what situation they found themselves in. Dean didn't think he would ever be the same. But when Marcus pointed his angry, broken gaze in her direction, she was not ready for it. "You've still got your mate! You'll always have your mate come back to you!"

Marcus roughly yanked his shoulder out of Caius' hand and bared his teeth. "You'll never understand, so just get the fuck away from me!" His voice boomed, echoing throughout the otherwise silent chamber and he shoved Caius once more, so hard that he flew back a few feet and had to catch himself before he fell over.

Sulpicia finally moved from her spot, seeing Aro's stricken expression, his wall breaking apart just slightly as the grief shown through. She wrapped an arm around one of Aro's and pulled him in close, comforting him as a wife would. He leaned into her, taking in her scent and calming down his racing mind. Reading her thoughts, and gathering his own.