Sanguine - Aro Volturi

Chapter seventeen

**For the sake of this fanfic, Didyme is still alive, it just makes the dynamic of the wives better for what I imagine - so don't complain!**

All that was on offer were dresses, long chiffon or silk things that were very flowy and mostly transparent, I chose the one with the highest neck. The sleeves were long and billowing with elastic cuffs, once I'd put it on it reminded me heavily of an old-fashioned nightgown.

I had tossed and tuned all night, very little sleep had come to me, my mind was too active. Aro had left me alone as soon as he had seen me eat a whole slice of toast, and once he had gone, I had abandoned eating. I had searched the room, tried every draw, every window, scrutinised the view of the gardens to see if I could work out which wall was the perimeter. Was an escape route possible? I had started to guess not when I realised Aro had locked the bedroom door, he must have assumed I would try to leave, how else to contain me than trapping me.

Demetri had come in expecting me to be asleep, but instead found me perched at Aro's desk, reading through random documents regarding a case of nomads tracking through Mongolia. "It's morning," he says as if to inform that I hadn't noticed the sun streaming in through the cracks in the curtains. "I'm here to take you to the day room," he said after a moment of silence.

That had been the order for me to get ready, I had forgone any kind of washing, noticing that Demetri stepped forward as soon as I turned in the general direction on the bathroom. Thankfully he gave me some space to get changed, not that I was sure if that would have bothered me much. So many random people had inspected my naked form recently that the novelty had worn off, vampires especially would most likely be disgusted by my lack of perfection.

The day room Demetri had referred to was out of Aro's main chambers and up one floor. Although its name suggested that it would be designed to relax in the sun and full of windows allowing natural light to wash over the selection of couches and settees it was muffled in shadow. Lamps were lit on every table, but all the thick curtains were closed.

"What a treat!" the voice was like a tinkling of bells to my ears; I had never heard a voice so perfect before. It belonged to one of the two women who had appeared from the shadowy depths, they were goddesses.

The first had hair like spun gold, even in the dim lights it shone beautifully, she was about my height but her feet were clad in a delicate pair of incredibly higher heels, I could just make out the point of a stiletto under the flowing material of her dress. She wore a long chiffon gown too, but it barely looked sewn, it draped around her like it was part of her own body. Her face was even worse, I struggled to meet her eyes which were an uncomfortable shade of red set between a perfectly straight nose, her eyebrows arched perfectly above her long lashes and her soft pink lips were pulled up into a curious smile but perfectly sculpted smile. She was unbelievably beautiful! To her left was the second woman, she had long black hair, so dark it looked stained by ink but was equally as lustrous and radiant as her companion. Her features were softer and younger, she looked no older than me, but vampirism had defined her features brilliantly, giving her an awe of maturity. She also wore a dress, hers was strapless and looked modest in comparison to the blonde, the blush pink complemented her dark hair and gentle features, her smile was wide and seemed genuinely interested in whatever was about to occur.

"Dem, thank you for bringing her to us, we have been ever so excited to see...meet my brother's curiosity," the dark-haired woman smiles, her voice was like pure joy, even Demetri smiled.

"You are most welcome Mistress Didyme, Afton will be staying, Master Aro has requested it," Demetri's words were final, and he swiftly left the room. Another vampire was stood by the door, still as a statue he must have been Afton, just waiting in case anything went wrong.