Sanguine - Aro Volturi

Chapter nineteen

My perception of time had become very loose. The joint rooms shared by Didyme and Dora were always kept dark, the thick curtains were strictly off limits, meaning the room stayed shrouded in shadows.

Chelsea had left hours ago, and since then there had been little conversation. Dora was quite content reading alone, she barely reacted when I was frog marched in and allocated the sofa I was now led on. Didyme hadn't been here when I arrived, I could only assume she had gone to find Marcus and get the low down on the gossip. A tray of food had been left for me and Dora had raised an eyebrow at its arrival but hadn't made any other action until now.

"Will you be sleeping tonight or are you going to sulk until sunrise?" Her eyes didn't move from the pages in front of her.

"I'm not hungry," I reply knowing why she was asking about my sleeping arrangements. Who and when had she been filled in on the rules?

"Watching you starve won't be particularly entertaining, so I encourage you to pick your battles wisely."

"I would have placed money on you finding it entertaining," I force a laugh.

"It's far too slow and quite pathetic," Dora sighs, closing her book and sitting up straight to stare at me across the small space. "You're already weak, your wounds are still very fresh, they won't heal correctly if you don't give your body the fuel it needs...however disgusting that fuel may be." She sneers at the cold plate of food sat on the table. It was a simple selection of sandwiches and some fruit and there was also a jug of water. "You'll be stronger in your corner if you feed yourself, what's the point of picking a fight if you're sabotaging yourself?" she asks.

We sit quietly and stare across at each other for a good minute before I reached over and plucked a sandwich off the tray. Dora reclines victoriously and watches as I slowly make my way through food. She was right, I had to choose my battles and how could I face the obvious battle when I was as weak as currently was.

~V~

"I don't like the chiffon," I say as Dora passes me another clone of a dress. I hadn't seen or spoken to anyone but the two wives in over a week. Day and night – not that I could ever really tell the difference when I was awake due to full blackout curtains - they'd been my only company and I was ashamed to say we were getting on reasonably well. There had been one hour long period where I had been completely alone when Dora and Didyme had been allowed to leave to go and feed with the rest of the coven, I'd spent that entire hour feeling sick and mostly crying in the small moment of peaceful freedom.

Dora and I had come to a silent agreement, I can't quite place when it happened but somehow she had persuaded me to join her in scheming against Aro. It would benefit me too I hoped, make him realise not to mess with me, regardless of my mortality status, I was not to be pushed around. If he wanted to treat me like an animal he could lock up and control, then I would show him just how much of a bite a caged feline could have.

"Fine," Dora snaps. "Instead of listing problems, give me solutions..."

My eyes nervously dart to Didyme who was observing from the dressing table inside Dora's large dressing room. The dark haired vampire held a smirk as she watched us, her fingers mindlessly playing with the fabric of her own waif-like dress.

"I want structure, tailoring, fabrics I can't see my nipples through-"

"-a waste of an asset," Dora mumbles but allows me to continue.

"I want to look powerful, I don't want to look like some sort of..." I caught myself before I went any further, catching Didyme's narrowing expression in the mirror.

"I'd hardly say we looked like the average prostitute my dear," Dora smirks. "But, I do think we can get you something you desire."

"I'd be careful mia dolce, you know our brother will see," Didyme sculpts an eyebrow so high it brushes her hairline. She meant that Aro would see Dora's thoughts, I wondered whether she wanted to hurt him like I did, what were Dora's motives?