Caius POV

"What I really don't understand is why you are hung up over him. Why did you allow yourself to let him do this to you? It seems to me that you are hung up over the idea of love, because for once, someone paid attention to you and claimed that you were special to them. You loved the idea of being in love, but refused to see how toxic he was to you," I heard Chelsea say before I even got anywhere near the door to my quarters.

As much as those words sounded harsh, but everything that Chelsea said was the truth, I thought to myself. I decided to linger at the door, listening to the conversation between Chelsea and Bella, picking up on the fact that Bella's heartbeat increased soon after Chelsea said that.

My eyes narrowed as I realized that Chelsea made my mate cry. I put my hand on the doorknob, before I heard Chelsea quickly apologize to her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry," Chelsea apologized. "Master Caius would probably have my head if he realized that I made you cry."

"No, no, it's fine," Bella said, sounding really calm despite someone who is probably close to crying, "I just realized how much I needed to hear those words. No one had ever told me something like that before."

"Well that's a relief," Chelsea said.

It seemed like it was as good time as any to interrupt their conversation, as I knocked on the door to announce my presence before entering my quarters. Chelsea looked at me briefly with her crimson eyes, and backed away from the bed with Bella sitting there, her leg propped up, looking like she was well-rested and much better than what she looked like back in the throne room.

"Leave us," I commanded, looking at Chelsea.

Chelsea didn't bother saying anything else before she left the room, closing the door behind her with a small thud. I approached Bella who was looking at me with a blank expression. I tucked the hair away from her face, before I asked her.

"Are you okay?"

I already knew the answer to that, but I just wanted to make sure she was. I didn't want to see Bella in pain, not when she was just finally recovering from what the bitch did to her before I even got there. It was my job to protect her, and I didn't want to fail her.

"I'm fine," She told me.

"Are you sure?" I asked, pressing on the matter further to make sure she wasn't lying. "Any pain? I don't want to see you in pain, or rip open your stitches."

Bella didn't say anything, but simply blushed my response. Now, seemed like as good a time as any to tell her what happened, and to tell her that everything would be okay. Now that Victoria is dead, we can finally focus on Edward's trial and help Bella recover and help her learn to live again.

"She's dead," I told her.

"Did you make her pay?" Bella asked quietly.

I nodded, "The guards had fun with her until they got bored. I got the satisfaction of torching her… I promise you, nothing- nobody will ever touch a strand of hair on your head or I will make them pay."

There was silence in the air before I heard Bella's stomach rumbling and I knew that she needed to eat, to have something in her system. I chuckled a little bit, when I saw Bella's reaction,

"Let's get you something to eat, okay?" I told her. "Do you want to stay here, or do you want to venture out and see what this place has to offer?"

"The latter sounds nice," Bella said quietly.

"If you're sure."

I helped her off the bed, as she steadied herself against me. I kept up with her hobbling pace, and kept my arm around her to make sure that she wasn't going to bend over backwards, or fall over. It was also to prevent any stray vampires from deciding to feed on her. As much as I knew the guards wouldn't do that, but I wasn't going to risk it, considering that some of the guards were most certainly on a mission, and wouldn't know any better.

Eventually, we got down to the kitchens where our human staff was. I opened the door for her, and watched as the human staff took notice of her.

"Master Caius, what could I do for you?" One of the humans asked.

"Give her anything that she asks for," I told them.

"What would you like, miss?" The same human asked.

"A garden salad is fine," she told them quietly.

Bella hobbled over to a table that was located in a dark corner of the room, and pulled out a chair to sit in it. I watched as one of the humans prepared her food, a garden salad with red tomatoes and a white dressing on the side with it, along with water. Bella murmured her thanks, before she started eating her food.

I watched her eat her salad in silence, paying no mind to the staff that walked around the kitchen, looking at us, particularly me. I knew what they were probably thinking, mainly because I was in the kitchen in the first place or if someone did something wrong as there was particularly no reason to go down here. No one dared to say anything while I was there.

"I'm done," Bella murmured.

I looked at her bowl and noticed that it was still half-full.

"Eat a couple more bites. You hardly touched it. Don't humans need their strength?" I told her quietly.

"But I can't eat anymore," Bella protested.

"How about this, you eat two more bites and I;-'ll take you to the gardens," I told her.

Bella looked at, with a small smile on her face. I knew it would probably make her happy.

"You guys have a garden?"

This story is on Ao3: FireisEverywhere

Update (03/21/23): More clarity, fixed grammar, and just a better scene overall.