He believed it to be a futile effort, but he did not voice this opinion. What was the point? Aro was going to do what Aro wanted to do.

His thoughts were interrupted again as Aro spoke directly to him, “Caius is against gift giving, Marcus. Will you send something to the lovely bride?”

He merely nodded in response and turned away again to look out the window as Caius scowled and Aro grinned brightly and exclaimed, “Excellent! Bring it by the council chambers before the evening meal, yes?”

Again he only nodded in response and sensing that his presence was no longer necessary he made his way out of the room and headed to his chambers. Once he closed the chamber doors behind him he made his way to his wife’s wardrobe after glance briefly at her portrait.

Opening the large, heavy, intricately carved doors he ignored the protesting squeal from the hinges and looked to the top shelf of the wardrobe above her dresses. There were several boxes there and he just stared at them a moment.

He knew from memory what each box held. There was the box carved of ivory that held her bracelets and arm cuffs, the ebony box with onyx stones that held her various hair pins and combs, the red jade box that held her necklaces…His eyes just continued to scan the various boxes but they kept drifting back to the box at the very center of them all.

It was a beautiful box of ancient wood that had once been part of the hull of a Viking ship. It was ornately carved with symbols from humans that his wife had been descended from before she had become a slave, then a priestess, and finally a vampire and his wife. The artistic work of the carving was offset by gold and mother of pearl inlays and a variety of precious and semi-precious stones ranging from lipase to emeralds.

Taking the ancient box delicately into his hands he moved to sit at the foot of his bed and he ran his long white fingers over the surface. He remembered when he had had this box made for her.

Didyme.

Opening the box carefully he looked at the different mementos she had kept within.