Chapter 7: Marcus

Chapter 7: Marcus

A few days after our return to Volterra, I was summoned by Aro.

“You wanted me Master?”
He smiled at me sweetly.

“Yes,” he said. “I wanted to speak to you about your mission.”

I had a feeling this was coming. “I’m sorry if I disappointed you Master.” I whispered, looking at the tiled floor beneath my feet.

Aro laughed, which confused me. I thought he would want to punish me for not doing the job I was sent to do, and for running away. Apparently that wasn’t the case.

“I am not angry with you Isabella. You showed excellent leadership skills, and, considering your past, it is an achievement that you went in at all.” He smiled at me.

“I have decided to give you a very great honour; a promotion if you will.”

“I live to serve Master,” I answered obediently. “Whatever you ask, I will obey.”

His smile softened. “Of course you will.” He got up and began to pace. “I have noticed that Marcus has been a little down lately. I think it is because he lacks a female companion.” Aro looked me in the eye. “You will be that companion.”

I blanched. “Me?”

He laughed softly. “Yes, you. You are exactly what he needs; young, intelligent, and beautiful. You will put some life back into him.”

I was in shock. Aro wanted me to be a companion to Marcus. My mind spun, trying to figure out everything that this would entail.

As if he could read my mind, Aro spoke.

“With regards to your standing here, you will no longer interact with the other guard members on a personal level.”

Not that I did that so much before; but I would miss talking to Chelsea.

“You will mostly be with Marcus. You will answer to him, and obey his every command. The wives are no longer off limits; in fact, you will be joining them, to a certain extent. You are no longer required to take part in missions or training. You will stay here in the tower. Understood?”

“Yes Master.”

“Good!” he smiled at me. “Come here. Let’s get you out of that old cloak.”

I approached him with as much confidence as I could muster, untying the strings of my cloak as I went. He moved behind me, pulling it off my shoulders. For a moment, it was as if more than just the weight of the material had been lifted from my shoulders.

Then he put my new cloak on me. It was thick velvet and pure black. It felt very heavy, though of course it wasn’t. Aro tied the strings, then stepped back to look at me.

“It suits you,” he sighed. Then he smiled widely. “Off you go now. Marcus will be in to see you shortly.”

I bowed deeply, thanking him for this honour, and retreated to my turret room.

I had had very little time to myself over the last few weeks; but every so often, there would be uninterrupted periods when I could wallow in self pity and let my feelings wash over me.

At these times, I would take of my cloak, pull out the albums and look at pictures. When things were really bad, I would look at the picture of Edward on the first page of my scrapbook and talk to it, imagining I was telling him all my troubles, and daydreaming about the things he would say to make it all better.

Today I took out Nessie’s baby book and started flipping through the pages, stroking my fingers across the pictures, letting my sobs flow freely. I had been here a month now. Even the most recent pictures would be out of date. My little girl was growing up, and I wasn’t there to see it.

The light knock on my door made me jump, and I hurriedly pushed the book away.

The door opened, and Marcus entered, closing it behind him before turning to look at me. I stood up hurriedly and bowed. “Master.”

He scoffed. “You know I really hate that. Just call me Marcus, please.”

I almost smiled; he sounded like a whiny teenager.

All of a sudden, his cool finger lifted my chin, making me look him in the eye.

“Have you been crying Isabella?” he asked, and I was surprised by the concern in his voice.

“N-no.” I tried to shake my head, but he held my chin tight.

“Yes you have.” Why was everyone set on proving me wrong? “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing Mas-Marcus. Really, it’s nothing.”

He frowned. “I don’t believe you.”

I sighed and pulled myself away from him, plopping down on the bed and staring at my shoes.

Unexpectedly, he sat down next to me. “You can tell me anything Isabella. I know Aro expects you to make me happy, but really, I could never care for anyone that way again, so there’s no point in trying.”

I looked up. “Again?”

“I had a wife too,” he sighed. “Once. Her name was Didyme. She was lost many centuries ago, during our squabbles with the Romanians. I’ve never really gotten over it.” He turned to face me, sadness in his milky eyes. “She was everything to me; my whole universe. Athenadora, Sulpicia; they are drawn to the others by their power. But what Didyme and I shared... it was true love Isabella. I know you can understand that.”

His eyes begged for my acceptance, and I was a little taken aback. I hadn’t expected any of them to be capable of feeling that way, and yet here was Marcus, baring everything to me, just some girl who he barely knew.

That was when I decided something that changed my life in Volterra for good.

He had showed me his soul; I would show him mine.

I pulled the album I had been looking at out from under my bed, along with the others. He looked at me curiously.

“I brought these with me from home. They’re pictures from my past. You can look at them if you want. Or I could show them to you.” I looked at him, holding my hand out to the books; letting him decide.

Marcus picked up the top book- the little wedding album- and opened it up so that it rested between us, one cover on each of our knees.

“Why don’t you show me? I’ll only be asking a million questions otherwise.”

I smiled and turned over the blank first page.

“This is from our wedding. Alice collected up all the best pictures from various people and put them in here for our anniversary.”

We spent the rest of the evening, and most of the night, looking through pictures. I got more and more animated as we went through, telling funny stories that went with a few of the pictures. Marcus seemed so interested, it compelled me to continue, not worrying that I was boring him. It reminded me of Edward’s two day interrogation when we first got together.

Over the next few days, Marcus and I continued to build our relationship. We talked about everything; but mostly about our pasts. He told me what little he could remember about the two decades ‘BA’ (Before Aro), and all about his happy years with Didyme. I told him about Jake and Charlie and Renee and Phil, and all the crazy things my family did, and how much I missed Edward. I even told him about our time apart after my disastrous birthday; something I had never gone in to detail about with anyone.

About a week after I became his companion, Marcus gave me a beautiful jewelled hair slide from his personal collection, and I showed him my wedding dress. We came to trust each other, and I was almost happy with him.

My past was becoming closer, but also more distant. It was a world of stories and fiction, just something I talked about.

Until two months after I joined the Volturi, when reality decided to make itself known.