The doors to the throne room groaned open, the sound reverberating through the vast chamber. I remained still upon my throne. Aro turned from his conversation with Caius, interest evident on his face, and I turned to look towards his gaze as well. It was, for once, almost a curious sight.

A human girl, led forward by Jane.

At first, I paid her little mind. Another foolish mortal, another fleeting existence soon to be extinguished. But then I saw her face, and then, finally saw her—not just with my eyes, but with my gift.

Bonds stretched and twisted around her, most of them weak, frayed and tarnished from grief as colours the colours stretched and warped into the air, but one connection gleamed with an intensity I had not seen in millennia. It burned through the air like fire, a thread so absolute and unyielding. Rare. It coiled around my chest chest, radiant and undeniable and golden, tethering me to this fragile, trembling human. The bond of two soulmates, eternal.

My entire body stiffened.

This was impossible. It could not be. And yet—there it was, binding me to her in a way that defied all reason. The same irrevocable bond I once shared with Didyme. The same bond Aro shared with Sulpicia, Thena shared with Caius. I had seen it many times in my existence, but never twice for the same person. It never appeared twice. But here she was, it had. It had, somehow.

My thoughts fractured as I reeled from the discovery. Soulmate. Aro and Caius continued as if nothing had changed, as if my world had not just been shattered at my feet. To them, nothing had changed yet. This was just another normal day in a long eternity.

I forced my expression into its usual mask of indifference, though I knew Aro would not be fooled for long. He would have seen the shift in my posture, the sudden sharpness to my gaze as I stared at her, all I saw was the glow—how it wrapped around her like a shield, how it reached for me, insistent and right.

Didyme?

The girl—Bella Swan—spoke, her voice trembling yet strong as she pleaded her case before us. She was being hunted by one of our kind, an immortal named Victoria. She was from Forks, Washington. Her father was dead. Briefly, I found myself wondering about the Cullens in all of this, knowing they'd recently relocated, but I wasn't even entirely sure if the dates of their arrival to and departure from Forks aligned with Bella's short life there. I rarely paid attention over the past millennia, to outside affairs.

The grief was clear in her voice. She had endured nightmares that were beyond mention in such a short amount of time. But that was not what shook me.

She was mine. My mate.

I barely heard Caius's sharp remarks, nor Aro's mild inquiries. My thoughts drowned in the impossibility of what lay before me.

Didyme was gone—had been gone for thousands of years, millennia. And yet here she was, standing before me, impossibly alive in another form, perhaps? I could almost laugh. Could fate be so cruel as to shackle me to another, after I had long since withered into nothing? Could I even dare to believe? I wasn't sure if I was so far gone that I was ready to believe in reincarnation, but we were definitely taking baby steps today.

I knew I had to act for her. I hesitated for only a moment before standing, gliding towards Aro with the silence of death itself. I could feel her eyes on me, hesitant, uncertain.

"Brother?" I asked as I approached him.

I hadn't been paying attention to the conversation around me—not fully—and I wasn't sure where Aro was leaning towards in his decision making process. I felt terrified for the girl, in this moment. I needed to plead my own case for this fragile, adorable girl who stood before us.

"Marcus?" Aro asked. "What do you see?"

I reached for Aro's hand, pressing my fingers against his palm. See, I willed him. See what I have seen. I was begging for her life—for my own life. They were now intertwined, and I would do anything to protect her, going so far as to lay down this life of mine that had just finally gained meaning via her introduction to it. I brought the bond, the way it intertwined around us and held us on this Earth together, to the forefront of my mind, forcing him to observe it in its' entirety, bright and blinding.

This important, I thought as I pictured Didyme, she's this important.

Aro's eyes widened as he probed my thoughts. His lips parted slightly as the weight of my revelation settled over him. And then—slowly—his mouth curled into a delighted smile.

"Fascinating," he murmured, his gaze flickering between Bella and me. "Truly fascinating."

I said nothing, withdrawing my hand as my mind continued reeling. All I could do was hope that he would extend protection to her, or I would have to act myself. I began looking around the room, assessing my possible opponents, strategizing. I would have to fight our way out.

Aro, I could take on easily in a fight. I felt certain of that fact. I had sparred him more than enough to understand what his tactics may be in a proper, all-out fight—and Aro wouldn't even want to kill me, either. But I would have to kill him, for this human girl before us. Caius would be another problem. We both were pretty evenly matched, even in size, not that size mattered much when it concerned strength in our immortal bodies. But Caius had spend a lot more time in battle next to the guard, honing his tactics. He had survived a child of the moon before. In pure determination alone, maybe I could take Caius. But it would be a gruesome, brutal fight.

Jane. My eyes flickered towards Jane—one of Aro's favourites out of the assembled permanent Volturi guard. Jane's talents would instantly halt my pursuit in saving Bella. It was why she and her brother had been recruited, after all. Their gifts were absolutely disabling. I grimaced as the plan that had been forming fully unraveled before it had had time to get off the ground. Once they understood what was happening, I wouldn't make it very far at all. Especially not when the others began pouring in when they heard all the noise erupt from this chamber.

What was I to do?

For centuries, I had languished in monotony, existing rather than living. My bond with Didyme had been the only light in my endless night, and when she was taken from me, I had surrendered to the void. And yet—this girl, this fragile human, had shattered the silence I had so long embraced.

She had no idea. No understanding of what she was to me.

"Well, Bella Swan," Aro spoke again as we returned to our thrones. "It seems you've given us much to consider. Your story is indeed troubling, and your request... intriguing. But before we decide what to do with you, there is one more thing I must know."

He sttod once again, stepping down from the dais to approach her. I held my breath, tensely watching his movements. Bella went still under his gaze, like a deer in headlights.

"Tell me, Bella," Aro was speaking softly, mostly for effect. "What do you know of the Cullens?"

Bella's heart stuttered for barely a beat before it reoriented. Forks, The Cullens. Aro's line of thinking finally clicked into place in my head as well, and I had to at least briefly regard him as a genius. Aro had been paying better attention to the outside world, after all. The Cullens had indeed been near Forks during Bella's time there, then. There were so few other options, outside of the Cullens, to begin with.

"The Cullens?" She repeated, feigning ignorance. She didn't exactly sound convincing, at least not to my ears. "I don't know what you mean."

Aro reached out towards her, brushing his hand errantly against her cheek. I had to bite back the growl that was building in my chest before it escaped me.

"Oh, I think you do." Aro said. "But no matter. We have all the time in the world to uncover your secrets."

Aro turned on his heel and began walking back towards his own throne. I looked at him incredulously, and he flashed me a smile before he turned back to look at Bella mid-step.

"You know, Bella Swan," he said as he turned to her. I internally groaned—he was putting on theatrics, dragging this out. "There is a much simpler way to determine whether you're telling the truth."

He reached for her hand.

"Give me your hand, let me see for myself."

Bella hesitated for a moment, seeming to think it over in her head. Nervously, she reached out and placed her hand into his.

I watched, withering yet again, knowing what would come next, tense with anticipation. When Aro's expression shifted to confusion instead, I felt something stir in me—something unfamiliar, something protective.

He could not read her.

"How... curious." He murmured. "I can't hear you."

"What do you mean, you can't hear her?" Caius demanded harshly. He was growing increasingly more upset. "Is she blocking you?"

"No. It's not that. It's as if... there's nothing there. No thoughts. No memories. Just silence. I don't hear a thing."

Aro released her hand abruptly, a subtle flutter in his movements as he took a step back, his expression a mixture of fascination and frustration. "How is this possible?" Aro whispered. "A human whose mind I cannot read? Extraordinary. But... unfortunate."

Caius stood, his movements quick and agitated. He began to stalk towards Aro angrily. "This is absurd," he snapped, throwing his hands back. "She's a human. A weak, insignificant human. There must be some explanation."

I winced internally, biting back the urge to snap at Caius. If this was going to work in any capacity at all, I would have to get my fair-haired brother on board. This human, my mate, my Bella, was a mystery to Aro, not a threat. Not a threat in any way.

Caius was furious, his disdain for her growing sharper by the second, but Aro—Aro was intrigued. Too intrigued.

Aro held up a hand, silencing him, something I was ever grateful for. "Patience, Caius," he said, his tone calm. "This is no ordinary human. There is something… unique about her."

Aro turned to me. "Marcus," he said, his voice thoughtful. "You saw something in her earlier. What was it?"

My eyes flickered towards the human—towards Bella—wondering how to best word what I had even seen at all. She had so little concept of our world to begin with.

And yet, she was mine.

"She is… significant," I said firmly as I looked back at Aro.

"Significant, indeed," Aro said coolly. He turned back to Bella, his red eyes gleaming with a new intensity. "Bella Swan, it seems you are full of surprises. A human who cannot be read, who comes to us with a tale of danger and desperation, and who has caught the attention of my dear Marcus. Tell me, what else are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything," Bella said, my voice trembling. "I just want to live. I just want to stop Victoria before she destroys everything."

"Very well, Bella Swan," he said. "We will consider your request. But know this—if you are lying to us, if you are hiding anything from us, the consequences will be severe." I wanted to bite back at him, to interject, but I watched as he calmly worked through the situation instead in his head, praying to the deities above us for the best possible outcome.

Aro walked back to his throne, leaning back as he sat steepling his fingers. He addressed Bella. "You will remain here, under our protection."

Protection.

The word was laced with subtle threat, but it did not matter. She would stay, and I would have time. Time to understand this impossibility. Time to discover if fate was truly giving me a second chance—or if it was merely playing a cruel trick.

Aro gestured to Jane, who had been standing silently at my the girl's side. "Jane," he said, his tone light, "please escort our guest to her quarters. She will stay in Marcus's wing. Ensure she has everything she needs."

My grip tightened upon the folds of my cloak. Aro was giving her to me, in the only way he could without fully revealing the truth. He knew what she was to me, and this was his way of ensuring I had no excuse to withdraw in my willful plan to care for her. Caius cocked an eyebrow at me from where he was seated.

Bella glanced at me, her brown eyes filled with cautious curiosity. She did not know why she was being placed under my care, nor the depth of what she had just walked into.

Jane nodded. "Of course, Master Aro."

She turned to Bella, curiosity in her gaze. "Come. Follow me."

I did not watch them leave. I could not. It almost felt as though my still heart could break from the act of it.

I sat back further in my throne trying to process the events that had unfolded. She was my mate, my soulmate, somehow. Didyme was gone, but Bella Swan stood in her place.

I did not know what to feel. Hope? Agony? Resentment? I had long thought myself incapable of feeling at all, having long been a former shell of myself.

And yet, for the first time in centuries, my dead heart ached, leaving me wondering if a dead heart could beat once again. It almost felt like it could.

"Brother," Caius finally spoke, "you look… revived." His lip curled, suspicion etched in every syllable. Aro smiled knowingly, but kept quiet as he sat between us.

Let him speculate. For the first time in centuries, I felt. The bond was a live wire, sparking through the cracks in my resolve. She thought herself a pawn, surely, but she'd unraveled me with a single glance. Caius was still watching me as I thought, assessing me, but his frustration was wearing him thin.

"She's a liability," Caius finally snapped. "A walking breach of secrecy. If this Victoria is as reckless as she claims, we should eliminate both the hunter and the hunted. Cleanly. Quietly."

I bared my teeth as I leaned forward towards Caius, but Aro casually put a hand up in between us.

"Ah, but where's the fun in that?" His smile was serpentine as he turned towards me. "Our dear brother seems to disagree with your assessment. Don't you, Marcus?"

The bond still hummed in my veins, pulling me steadily towards the hallway that Jane had led Bella down. "She's telling the truth about Victoria," I said flatly, regarding them both. "The girl's fear is vivid."

Caius scoffed. "Since when do you care about human fear? You haven't cared about anything since—"

"Enough," Aro interjected right as I winced, though his eyes glittered with curiosity. He drifted towards my throne, his voice softening to a conspiratorial murmur. "You saw something in her. Would you like to share, brother?"

I spared Caius a glance, who was fuming where he sat, hands tightly gripping the handles of his throne. I was growing incredibly tired of this already, being pressed about a bond that I hadn't even grown to understand myself yet either.

I reached for Aro's hand, smiling faintly in amusement as our hands met. He would see my earlier frantic planning about his own demise before he had made his decision for Bella's life. But I couldn't deny him, either. This would be what he wanted in the end after all. He took my hand eagerly.

No, I thought coolly, and to be quite honest this is becoming rather unpleasant.

Aro stepped back releasing our hands as he nodded. The smile had left his face. He eyed me carefully. "Then I will not press you further for now brother."

Caius threw his hands up as he rose, frustration etched into all of his features. "Fine, then. I'm leaving to find Thena. I don't want to be bothered with your frivolous human pet project any longer."

Aro and I watched Caius leave through the back doors of the grand hall, and I was grateful to see out of the corner of my eye that Aro was still no longer smiling. I had been lucky enough to catch him during a serious moment so I would be sure not to waste it. Once I was certain Caius was out of earshot, I began.

"Aro—"

He interrupted me. "That's your soulmate. How wonderful. A true prophecy of Fate's Loom."

I blinked, looking up at him in surprise. Fate's Loom, I mused internally, I'd been so unraveled that hadn't been up there on my theory list yet.

"If only I knew what this meant." I muttered.

"It means you let yourself be happy." Aro grabbed my hand once more, assessing the direction of my thoughts. I wanted to pull away, unhappy at the insistent intrusion, but instead I simply let him.

Happy wasn't exactly a word that I would use to describe the new predicament that had been gifted to me at my feet, even if I was overjoyed that Bella had appeared after all. The thought of being with someone who wasn't Didyme, being so tied to them, was a terrifying one in so many ways. And that was even after reaching acceptance that in the end that, despite everything I know about the way bonds are interwoven between people, I had a second soulmate after all these millennia after the loss of Didyme. An impossible feat. But I still couldn't deny the pull in my chest that wanted to lead me off down the hallway corridor, towards the human who had found herself within our stronghold.

What a mess. A cruel mess. I don't deserve this.

Aro laughed, grip tightening on my hand as he snapped me back to reality. He patted my hand before letting it go, walking towards his throne before sitting casually, semi-facing me.

"Such a tumultuous timeline, Marcus." He mused. "I will give you my blessing."

I looked up at him. "Blessing?"

Aro nodded, smiling warmly. His next statement was shockingly reassuring. "I will treat her as if she was my own sister. She basically is, already."

"Any other theories?" I asked. He had to have thought of something outside of the Three Fates.

"Well, there's reincarnation." Aro sounded wistful. I shot him a glance.

"I'd already thought of that one."

Aro nodded, a knowing smile playing on his lips as he found himself lost in thought. After a few beats, he finally spoke again.

"So what will you do?"

I sighed, the action unnecessary but feeling increasingly necessary. "I'm really not sure."

Aro sighed as well, mirroring myself as he spoke. "You're no fun tonight. Very well—let's strategize. This connection of yours… it could be useful. The girl is immune to my gift, tethered to you, desperate for protection. She's a puzzle, Marcus. One I'd very much like to solve."

I finally met his gaze. "She's not a riddle. She's a person."

"Oh, delightful!" He clapped his hands. He was smiling again. "You've already adopted the mortal's tedious morality. How quaint."

The bond flared, hot and defensive. I stood abruptly, my throne scraping against stone as it shifted slightly. "If you've nothing but mockery, I'll leave you to it."

"Wait." Aro's voice sharpened, the playfulness bleeding into something colder. "You think I don't see the danger here? Caius isn't fully wrong—this infatuation risks everything we've built. But then again, Sulpicia was a human when I first found her, so I can't fault you in the slightest." He smiled, slow and sly. "I've always adored risks. And you, brother, are finally interesting again. I'll keep Caius at bay for you, for now."

He circled me after he rose, his tone shifting to faux mentorship. "Now, let's say you indulge this bond. Court the girl. Woo her. What's the mortal phrase? 'Netflix and chill'?"

"You're insufferable."

"And you're smitten." He grinned in my direction. He was right, I already was smitten. "Use the bond, Marcus. Let it anchor you. But remember—she's a candle in a hurricane. It's your job to keep the storm at bay."

I shook him off. "You mean your storm."

"Semantics." He drifted toward the door, pausing to glance back. "Speak to Athenadora and Sulpicia on the matter when you're ready to. Gain a woman's understanding, you know what I mean? Oh, and if you do recite poetry? Make it Shelley. 'Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.' Mortals eat that up, I have heard."

His laughter echoed down the hall, leaving me alone with the bond's hum and the ghost of our talk together. The longer I thought on it the more I knew that Aro was right, that I would have to make a decision at some point regarding Bella. Whether I would court her or not. The word seemed entirely foreign at this point, long cast aside.

I sat back down, pressing my hands against my cheeks as I leaned forward. The opportunity for love again reintroduced the opportunity for pain. Deep, searing, twisting pain. I winced as I remembered the decades after Didyme had been taken from me, trying to imagine how I would handle that same pain a second time around. I let myself become dripped in the pain as it seared into me, keeping my breaths steady as I imagined all the possible ways that I could lose this fragile human. The pain ripped through me like a wildfire. Reassuring, almost.

Unbearable, I thought, Absolutely unbearable. I guess that means I will have to court her then.

I allowed my nervous system to resettle, re-focusing myself back into the moment as the pain dipped back below the surface.

The threads that tied me to Bella hummed with promise, allowing me to feel again. For so long, I had been a relic, a king of shadows wandering near the human world, just barely on the outskirts, watching. I would do anything to protect Bella, to protect these threads. But I was terrified.

I sighed as I rubbed at my face, closing my eyes.

Love. Love is too small of a word for what this is. This is inevitability. Astronomy. A star collapsing into the orbit of another. I'm helpless to it, helpless to myself. Maybe I was more hers than she was mine. I didn't belong to myself anymore.

The loom's ghost murmurs to me in the quiet, sent straight from Atropos. She is yours, it insists, as though possession could mend the rapture in the cosmos. Mine. So long as I turned Bella, doomed her to this eternal existence in the same way the rest of us had been, Atropos would not come for her. She probably wouldn't come for any of us for numerous more millennia. Atropos almost never bothered with her scissors, on immortal threads. To love will be to surrender to the weave. I could feel the prick of hope, sharp as a spindle's point.

And if she doesn't want to be turned? The thought intruded on me boldly, stunning me. She will die.

The pain that I had tested myself with earlier rips through me again, this time with a renewed intensity that would have toppled me over if I had been standing. I feel an open wound, a hemorrhage of time gaping in my chest. Bella's body cooling, her breath stilling, the thread snapping away from us as she floats off into the abyss. I gasp at the pain, reeling.

The Fates are gluttons. They feed on the marrow of longing, and on the wine of regret. Bella's face superimposes over Didyme's in my mind, a palimpsest of pain.

I have to convince her, I will myself to believe in myself, though I feel anything but certain, why would she object to eternity?

Destiny, it seemed, was a tapestry that was still in progress.

And Bella—my Bella—was the brightest thread.

Atropos' scissors gleam in the periphery of my vision, patient as planets.