𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃

VII | "I've seen it."

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HERE THEY WERE, ONCE AGAIN, IN THE SAME PLACES AS THE DAY BEFORE. Except everyone's eyes were on Margeaux instead, for she held the verdict. She stood from her chair and walked across the room. Passing Felix, Alice, Edward and Bella, she went straight to her father.

He rose expectantly, holding a hand out to her. Aro looked far too excited for whatever was to happen next. For the second time in her life, his venomous red eyes were beaming with pride at her. No matter if she chose to keep them alive or murder them all, he was just ecstatic she was actively participating. Whether or not his other King rulers agreed with him was another matter entirely.

"What is your verdict, my dear?" Taking her palm in his cold, paper hands, his eyebrows arched with intrigued.

A stare down between father and daughter that could level a small city. For a moment, Aro saw Valerie. Her extravagant air and striking colored eyes. Her passions were written before him on weathered, golden pages. Signed in ichor.

His lips curled in a sanctimonious smile that didn't give much of anything away. He turned towards his brothers, staring down Marcus a little too long to make a unspoken point. "It would seem, Margeaux has proposed a solution to the trouble our friend has found himself in."

"Well, out with it." Caius jested imprudently.

Marcus sighed, "Patience, brother."

"Isabella must be changed or perish," Aro announced it slightly above natural volume, which created a grandness around the room. His voice echoing off the high cathedral ceiling. "Ispirato, Margeaux!" He praised. (inspired)

Edward clenched his jaw tightly, boring holes in the profile of Margeaux's face. Although, it was a more peaceful option, Edward only saw his mate being forced to change. He didn't want her to be stuck with this life like he was. There was something innocent about humanity in his eyes, unlike Margeaux who sees everyone for who they were. It deeply displeased him.

"What say you, Edward?" Aro spun on his heel to face the Mindreader.

The sight of Marge and Aro on the same marble step, mere echoes of each other triggered an epiphany within him. One that could ruin the hierarchy of the entire Volturi... but he saved it, in case he wasn't for certain.

"That's not possible," He gritted.

Aro clicked his tongue, clasping his hands together. "So, what do we do with you now?"

"You already know what you're going to do," Margeaux replied. Of course, she felt some pity for Bella and Edward's love affair, but she gave them a choice. A generous offer that could continue their love forever more. That was her mother winning the battle within her.

It was Edward's fault his Bella was going to die, not hers. The responsibility was out of her hands and by making it this way, she didn't feel the urge to bat an eyelash at the sickly expression on Isabella's face.

Everyone seemed to agree with her. Although, she hated agreeing with Caius on anything, Caius leant back on his throne, chin propped arrogantly. "She knows too much. She's a liability."

Aro sniffed, dramatically crestfallen. "That is true. Felix," He twitched a finger and the executioner descended upon the Swan girl.

Of course, Edward intercepted. Spun Bella out of the way while Alice lunged for the delicate girl.

Margeaux focused her attention on Alice, causing her feet to forcibly shuffle away from the fight. The pixie was surprised, glancing up at Margeaux with furrowed brows. There was something about Alice that Marge liked. Maybe it was her unbiased approach towards her last night. The lack of judgement and aggressiveness. It wasn't often she came across someone willing to see past her royal black robes. For that, Margeaux chose to spare her in this chaotic mess.

She watched with drooping blue eyes as they trapezed around the room. Crashing into exquisite marble statues, causing delicately carved stairs to crumble under their weight. It must've been a blurry mass of flesh for Isabella to see, Marge could imagine. But for her, it was a elaborate brawl between two toddlers.

The entire event was unnecessary. If only Edward would take the handouts when he was given them.

Unfortunately, if Bella was going to die, Edward was going to die trying to delay the inevitable. He was thrown over Felix's back and slammed into the stairs. He forced the Mindreader to kneel, right before Marge's feet. It was tragically poetic.

As Felix's large hands contorted Edward's face, causing the porcelain skin to crack and pop. Margeaux knew she could watch Bella's end without issue, but it was Edward's demise that caused her to avert her eyes. Even after what he'd done to her, she frustratedly couldn't completely turn her back on someone she once considered a friend.

The screams of his lover echoed around the room, protesting with all desperation she could muster. It was admirable, how strong and deep her love for him ran.

But was it enough? Is the question Margeaux asked even when Aro raised his hand to pause Felix from snapping Edward's head off.

"Kill me. Kill me, not him." Marge wanted to explain that, that was exactly the point of all this but she remained mute. Her part of all this was over for all she knew.

"How extraordinary. You would give up your life... for someone like us? A vampire. A soulless monster." Aro walked down to Bella's panicked frame, tilting his head in fascination.

It was like he was seeing another time and Margeaux like to imagine he was thinking of her mother. When she was young and beautiful, willing to give up her dreams for a powerful vampire. She wondered if he regretted treating her poorly. If Bella's selflessness caused him to reflect, even for a second, Bella would win her over.

"Just get away from her," Edward hissed in Felix's tight restraints.

"You don't know a thing about his soul," Bella muttered.

Margeaux sucked in an audible breath as her father turned to look her in the eye. To many, this glance would be unreadable. But to the last Bellerose, it was somber. It was then that she knew he was thinking of Valerie. "This is a sadness," He sighed. "If only it were your intention to give her immortality."

Aro leeched forward to bite Isabella, his purpose to kill. However, the brightest voice, in the corner Margeaux confined her to, protested one last time. "Wait! Bella will be one of us. I've seen it." A Hail Mary from Mary Alice.

"I'll change her myself."

Thus began Aro's descent down a vision of Alice's creation. His mind caught a glimpse of her visions and he was transfixed. Bewitched by such a unprecedented gift.

"Mesmerizing, to see what you have seen, before it has happened." It was at that moment, that Margeaux realized she would meet Jasper last night and the reaction she would have to him. The sly smirks and matter-a-fact confidence. Alice knew she wouldn't hurt Isabella because she had seen it.

Alice was precognizant. "Pleurage," She breathed, impressed.

"Your gifts will make for an intriguing immortal. Isabella." Aro caressed the Swan's face, tenderly. Annunciating her name like he were simply calling her exquisite. Margeaux knew this gaze well, it was one when Aro believed he had suddenly gained a powerful possession. A knew toy in his arsenol.

Marge's jaw ticked, her fingers flexing in their intertwined pose. "Aro. Heidi will arrive any moment." She called to clear him of his greedy stupor.

Clearing his throat, he waved Bella away. "We are done here."

It was as if the members of the Olympic coven couldn't get out of the throne room fast enough. Margeaux watched them speed away with a clear decision of her next moves in mind. "I would advise that you follow through on your promise soon, for we will visit and we do not offer second chances." Caius ominously droned.

"Goodbye, my young friends." The grand door closed behind them and opened once more to a crowd of unsuspecting tourists.

She felt her throat burn with temptation despite their innocence. Her impulses overcoming her self-control. Although she didn't have to feed from humans too often to survive, Margeaux somewhat reckless feeding created a habit within. The sight of blood flashed before her eyes and in the next second, she was practically flying across the throne room. Her hands smoothing down a woman's cocoa neck before she penetrated her venom-less fangs into her next meal.

Screams of anguish pierced the air, haunting every passerby who were unaware of the bloody chaos ensuing inside.

...

Later when their feast had been cleared away, Margeaux was in her own quarters. Her bathroom mirrored revealed a woman with no purpose or plan in life. No real destination. If her encounter with Edward and Bella had shown her anything, it was that she was simply existing instead of living. There was no goals in mind, only lasting another day. It saddened her.

She raised a dampened wash cloth to her face and wiped at the remnants of her meal. Droopy blue eyes downcast, she felt that familiar itch to leave Volterra again. It tightened around her neck like a noose, suffocating her.

Marge tossed the towel aside and padded into her bedroom. Only she stopped short when she looked up and found Caius there, waiting on her chaise with a patient expression.

"I have rules about my chambre, Caius." She murmured as she walked to her closet for her luggage. Something that never changed throughout the years growing up in Volterra is that she always felt uncomfortable in Caius presence. Whether she were full clothed or in her nightie. He was a lecherous man. One that made her skin crawl with disturbance. Even now, he made it his purpose to invade her personal space despite her rules.

It was why she wanted to leave now and all those times before.

When he saw her taking out her suitcases, he stood to his feet. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Out," She bluntly replied, tossing the bag onto her bed. Margeaux started refiling through her drawers for pants and trousers.

Margeaux made the mistake of turning away from him. Because as soon as she did, she felt his presence on her back. The hairs stood on every square inch of her body. A unsettled frown dragging down the side of her face. "Your decision was unwise today. I would have finished them on the spot for their insolence." He whispered against her ear, causing her grip to tighten around her cashmere sweaters.

His fingertips slid across her supple flesh in a seductive manner, but she was only repulsed. Her mind froze to the many other times she was in this position, under his control.

Marge's muscles locked up and she was suddenly the prey that had always been the predator. Suddenly, she was small and defenseless little Bellerose in her five year of life yet physically in her teenage years. Learning the basis of her new gift of mind control, being mentored by the dark, authoritative king like Caius. How far could he go before her mind was strong enough to command him to stop.

She was trembling in the shadow of her memories coming back to haunt her. "However, this was your first trial. You will learn with time."

"Let me leave," Margeaux muttered. She winced as he brushed the curtain of her raven hair away from her neck. Exposing the thin straps of her blouse.

Caius tutted, leaning down to kiss the top of her shoulder. "You know the rules, pet. Command me."

Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced her mind to focus on the matter at hand. Marge felt foolish. She could demand a room of men slit their own throats, but under his ministrations she was still and meek as a mouse. Nothing but a child. Weak and powerless.

"Release me."

"Hm?" He smirked against her, tugging down the strap of her top till it fell limp.

Her throat closed, overwhelmed. It was only the saving grace of her bedroom door opening that freed her of a repetitive hell. Jane stood on the other side, catching the pair by surprise. Her expression was blank as always, observing her surroundings. Margeaux averted her gaze, pulling her strap into place.

"Master, your presence is required in the throne room."

Caius narrowed his eyes into slits before backing away from Margeaux. He didn't say a word to Jane in acknowledgement. When he left them with arrogant strides, Jane shared eye contact with Marge for a short moment before following after him.

Jane was there this time, but last time she wasn't so lucky. So, as she was besieged in silence, Margeaux knew she needed to continue her packing and get the hell out of there.

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Written Unedited 04 November. 2021

A long chapter today! A lot of things happened and some sad things were also revealed. Let me know your thoughts. I've got some surprises coming next chapter.

Next Update: Wednesday

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