chapter 19 : Please kill me now (Marcus's pov)
The entire guard seemed under a lot of stress. Demetri, Felix and the twins had just come back from some out of town errand, and short of the almighty himself finally coming down to dispense justice, I couldn't picture these four running into something they couldn't handle. Being on my way to meet with Aro and Caius I was sure to find out, but for the life of me, I couldn't seem to hazard a guess. I eventually came into the throne room and found my two brothers of sorts sitting while the members of the returning expedition where standing in the middle of the room facing them. I took my place on the remaining throne to the left of Aro, And waited for them to start.
”My dear Jane, would you care to explain why our problem hasn't been dealt with?” Aro started almost instantly.
”Master, we did as was planned 25 years ago when you said that the Cullens recklessness was going to cause problem again. We followed the instructions given to us by Santiago, thinking that their seer wouldn't be watching for his decisions. But it would appear that they knew about Fred's plan to come here, which certainly brought them to be more vigilant about what was happening in Volterra. When we landed in Egypt, Amun and the rest of his coven were on their way to Chicago, we reported back to Santiago, and after considering the different options we followed them. Four of the Cullens were with them waiting for us.” 'Of course the Cullens, I almost forgot about them.' I honestly could not understand why Aro and Caius were so sure they needed to be dealt with. Carlisle had always been the nicest, most non threatening vampire there was.
”I understand that you were outnumbered, but that never stopped you before.”
”That ... shield was with them, so Alec and I couldn't do much of anything. Also they had the mind reader, the seer, and let's not forget the Egyptian earth mover. Engaging them would have been suicide. I realize that our duty to our world goes beyond the value of our own lives, but I fail to see the how losing four of your top soldiers would have benefited you in any way. It seemed like the only sensible course of action was to report back to you and plan our next move. Master, there is no doubt in my mind as to the righteousness of our intervention, but may I ask what is the nature of the breach the Cullens are guilty of?” 'That's a very fair question, whether it was smart to actually voice it is another matter entirely.'
”Of course you may. But if you do not doubt our judgment, why do you need to know?”
”Does it have to do with the progeny of the creature we initially went to destroy 27 years ago? Because if it does, I believe we have information that may change your opinion on the matter.” 'I swear if that kid keeps thinking like that she's going to grow a conscience.'
”Really, then pray tell. What is this piece of information?”
”The children, twins, they are 15 years old and stopped aging 8 years ago. In their 15 years of existence, they never threatened our secrecy, so much so that we didn't know they existed.”
”I can see why you would think this a critical piece of information, and I am pretty sure the Cullens hoped it would have that effect on us, but you misunderstand the gravity of the problem. Last time, the birth of Renesmee was an accident, a huge surprise you could even say, they had no idea a human could carry a child fathered by a vampire. The fact that there were previous cases of human vampire hybrids was the last element we needed to dismiss the charges. But it's only because it was an accident that we didn't punish them. We can tolerate an accident, but knowingly bringing into this world a creature that may put our entire community at risk is unacceptable. Time may have proven that this particular pairing was safe, but it does not excuse their recklessness. We did track down this Joham 27 years ago, and we killed him for his reckless behavior. The situation is the same here; this time it didn't go wrong, but what of next time? We need to stop them.” 'I can't believe the length he goes to to justify his quest for domination. The Cullens didn't abandon the pregnant woman to die and then let the baby grow up alone without teaching him restraint. Anyone who knows Carlisle knows he's the opposite of reckless.'
”Yes Master.” 'Well it seems she hasn't completely lost her mind. Well no matter, life has been tedious for so long, I don't see that it would have changed anything.'
”If you ask me, the real problem is their unnatural diet. They give to much importance to humanity, they loose their basic instinct of self preservation. Their entire lifestyle should be made against the law.” Caius said, his voice loaded with hate, which tended to be the case no matter what he was saying. Sometimes I wonder if he even is nice to his wife. 'I should have ended it all when Didyme died. Please kill me now!'
