For a fraction of a second, he pondered lying or avoiding the question all together, but in the end he let out a deep sigh and shrugged his shoulders as his dull, lifeless void filled the cavernous space of the library.

“I am dealing with it.”

Aro merely arched a brow at the response and he lifted his pale hand from the scroll it was resting on and held it out to him. “Show me.”

Marcus stood there, looking at his brother’s hand, knowing his brother wanted to see his thoughts, and not just what he was thinking now, but every thought he had been avoiding showing him since Edward and Bella’s visit. He let his eyes rest on the outstretched hand for a moment before he lifted his bored to meet his brother’s challenging stare.

“I’d prefer not to.”

Aro nodded once and with a sigh he let his hand fall back to the ancient piece of parchment that was laid open on the table in front of him and he nodded slowly as he started to speak.

“It is as I suspected. You have been good at hiding your feelings from me this time brother, but this evening…well, you have not spoken her name aloud in centuries.”

Marcus said nothing to that and let his gaze wander around the library once again. It wasn’t that he was avoiding the conversation; he just really saw no need to discuss it, but he should have known that his inattention wasn’t going to be enough to deter his brother from continuing along this line of conversation.

“Is the bond between Edward and Bella that strong then?” Aro asked.

Marcus’ gaze drifted to his brother. Of course Aro was not interested in his pain; he should have guessed that his true interests lay elsewhere. If he cared, he might have been upset at himself for not realizing that sooner, but as things stood, it didn’t make a difference. Aro was Aro, and the most important thing next to Sulpicia were his “histories” as he liked to call them. He knew that his and Didyme’s story were part of his collection, but he had no desire to read it. After all, he had his own memories; he didn’t need to read his story as filtered through the eyes of Aro.