Remus stared back at her without a thought behind his eyes. It was as though her words simply went over his head.
Tears still stread, but the frenzied pleadings halted. Head tilted and mouth agape, everything else, besides his twitching eyebrows, froze in place.
"Do you understand , Rem? Say you do," she held his hands in hers.
In response, the boy said he understood as it was asked of him, but his head offered a different answer as it shook from left to right ever so slowly.
"Do you see what I an, now?" Silas’ voice ca from the side, "He will obey every order you give him, but that is all,"
"I’ll be good, I promise! Can we go now, mother?"
At those words, Arabella sighed sharply, allowing her forehead to fall on their connected hands, "Oh dear...," she muttered, "Remus," the young woman spoke again after inhaling deeply and raising her gaze towards the kid, "I am not your mother,"
"Father doesn’t lie!" he cried, his voice echoing throughout the dungeon.
"I never said he lied," she shook her head, "I said he was wrong to say what he told you about . He was wrong to try and keep against my will,"
"But he was only going to give you a family,"
"That is not how you build a family, Rem,"
His breath seed to hitch in his throat as his head tilted to the side again.
"You are wasting your ti," once more, Silas had brought her attention towards himself, "It is how families are built among wolf folk,"
The vampire had crossed his arms and stood in a position he’d almost never held in front of anyone before.
He glared down at their interaction like they were out of reach one mont and then right within his grasp the very next.
"I understand," she nodded to her own words, "But Rem... This isn’t how we, my people, build families. First, we et soone that we get along with and then we spend a lot of ti in their company, get to know them and... Eventually fall in love with them if that happens. That is when we make the decision to whether or not stay with each other,"
Remus looked at her intently, seemingly studying every inch of her face as he took her words in, but then he finally spoke, "But Sana and Sindri are happy with us,"
"Who are Sana and Sindri?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"The humans that currently live with the pack,"
"Were they mated to wolf people?" her voice grew steadier the longer their conversation went on
"Yes," he said simply.
"And how were they made into mates? Do you know how they ca to be... Happy?" Arabella put emphasis on the last word of that question.
"At first, they scread because the marking ritual hurt but then the-"
Remus had launched into the explanation, but Arabella cut him off before he could finish, "Exactly! They had to be marked, they had to be hurt in order to join this new family," seeing the perplexed little eyes on him, her tone softened further, "Choosing your partner, ... Your mate shouldn’t hurt. This Sana and Sindri were left with no other choice but to join your pack and that is not real love," her head shook from left to right very slowly.
"Father loves you," the boy muttered.
"But I don’t love him back. Do you think my feelings don’t matter, or do you not care what I think and feel?" her voice turned brittle as sugar glass.
"I care!"
That reply seed to co from the heart as the boy practically leaped forward, eting her eyes to ensure its aning was delivered.
"But with the mark-"
Remus started, but Arabella cut him off again, "The mark can’t make you truly love soone. It just makes you obedient and docile to whoever marked you and that is all. Would you want to be sobody’s puppet? Would you want to be a puppet?"
"No! That is not true! Father would never-"
The boy was cut off mid scream again, only that ti around, it wasn’t Arabella’s doing. Neither was it Silas’ for that matter.
Remus’ cords hitched in his throat as a gasp escaped him. First, his eyes darted to the side, towards Silas’ figure and then past it, directed at sothing or soone behind it.
They kept on widening and forgetting to blink while his vocal cords began to emit the lowest, most guttural of growls.
Very slowly, he pulled away from Arabella, sniffing frantically and retreating towards the far back of the cell until his little body was pressed against the cold, harsh wall behind him.
"Rem? What is happening?" Arabella attempted to reach him, but to no avail.
He continued to shrink into one corner, shivering all over.
When no response ca from the boy, she turned to Silas, "What’s wrong? Is he sick or sothing? Can you please open this door?" her grip tightened around the bars separating her from Remus.
Silas, on the other hand, kept calm and unfolded his arms as he turned to look behind himself.
Arabella’s eyes continued to snap between Silas who remained still and the quivering figure of Remus, curled up the furthest from the bars into a ball.
Although, it wasn’t long before an answer ca to her in the form of a sound. That of light and calculated footsteps. Their clattering bounced against the walls and then into her ears.
She pushed her weight back onto her feet and waited for the approaching individual to beco visible.
From the shadows and into the light stepped Persephone, very graceful in every motion, every micro expression painted across her features.
The Lady seed to carry sothing in her right hand. A white porcelain plate that reflected the amber hue of the flickering flas brightening that gloomy place.
"I hear we’ve got a guest," her voice, although warm and smooth, blared loud, buzzing with resolve.
The closer to them she walked, the more agitated Remus grew, his growls turning from frightening to desperate.
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