Chapter Fifteen- Numb

  Hello everyone! We have reached Chapter 15! I am very excited :D Sadly I must say, the ending of Castle Of Hearts will be coming shortly, I will say there should be no more than 20 chapters, but I am not sure if Chapter 20 is exactly going to be the last. We shall see! 

  Remember: After Castle Of Hearts, there will be a sequel called Castle Of Glass with brand new characters and uses of original characters, and original characters unmentioned in the movies but are in the books/wiki's! :) I'm excited for that! I hope you are too! Now for Chapter 15!

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  Chapter Fifteen- Numb  ______________________________________________________________

  "Villagers... we are brought here to this lake today to prove Sulpicia's innocence or guilt." Benedetto glanced at Sulpicia, who had been tied to the chair that would lift and lower her into the lake's cold water. He then glanced at the lake, the water still and unmoving but giving its silent promises that it would work to his advantage and do as he pleased directly.

  He took a moment of silence, sending silent respect to the element before him. You see, Benedetto could understand one thing about witches, just one. Their high pride and fondess of nature and how it gave them their supposed power. May it be witches of 'light' if any such existed, to which he highly doubted, or harlots of evil, he could understand it.

  He looked back at the fearful villagers before him and simply smiled. "If she takes in water to her lungs and is brought up unbreathing, we will find that the evil inside her has fled to escape from its own death. Before you all were here this morning, our local preacher of God blessed this lake, reading from our Holy Bible and sending out wishes and prayers that our Lord would bless it and keep it clean to us once we rid the evil from her. If she is close to death, she can be brought back to us. It will prove to ALL of you that the evil is either gone, or she was never a witch to begin with. If she comes back up, alive and breathing then... it will show she was a Strega after all."

  (Strega - Witch)

  Benedetto paced back and forth calmly, though the sets of eyes all on him were not calm.

  Especially Aro's and Sulpicia's.

  Nervous villagers, panic swelling in each of them of dangerous thoughts. What if he was wrong and the evil did not leave? What if they were wrong and were ready to let an innocent young woman be murdered for their fears? What if the evil returned once she recovered and she harmed them all?

  What if's are some of the most dangerous thoughts to people, those simple words can cause the most stress and panic in a small society than most other words can. Because to simple villagers, "what if" can mean many different things.

  The uneasy looks of the villagers made Benedetto shift from foot to foot. He was becoming impatient and he glanced around at them. Taking a calming breath to himself, he showed a confident smile and walked to Sulpicia. As soon as his back turned to the villagers, they all began to speak in whispers among one another about their concerns and what they should do.

  Benedetto heard the whispers, not the actual words. But Aro could, a sinking feeling in his stomach made him swallow venom that had been pooling inside of his mouth. He glanced at Renata who gave him a soft and sorry filled look. She knew this wasn't easy for him and she could see his emotions fading through the usual mask he placed up. She had known Aro for so many years and she had never seen him this emotional.

  Benedetto leaned closer to Sulpicia and gave her a reassuring smile, whispering to her so only her and himself could hear them. "All you have to do is hold your breath, we will bring you up a selected few times. On the last time, let water come into your mouth and appear that you have fainted in the chair. Once the villagers see this and see you are not breathing, we will take you down and bring you back to us, so to speak. This will convince them enough and then we can move onto planning our marriage and future family." 

  When he was finished, he stood back up and fixed his coat, walking back towards the villagers, whose whispering slowly died as they saw him return. Whatever Benedetto was saying to them next faded into the background as Sulpicia blocked out all around her. He simply told her to fake proving her innocent, she knew he didn't completely believe her like she had believed the first time she spoke with him.

  And by how clean and calm he spoke of her pretending to spit out the evil, as simply like asking for pints of bitter, she made a guess this wasn't the first time he had tried this. Oh how many women he had found guilty of being witches! So many!

  How many, she began to think, had he made offers of marriage once he saw something of them that he was attracted to. How many were willing, but changed their minds once his true colors started to form? How many, he probably decided were unworthy to him and his so called "cause" that he killed anyway? 

  What if they had all been like Sulpicia, innocent and in love with someone else? 

  Again, what if. 

  She gripped her hands against the arms of the chair that she was currently tied to. She had two options, ones she did not like.

  She could, one: Agree to this charade and condemn her life to a man who may or may not decide he wanted her and forced to fullfill her wife duties of giving him children, stay stuck in a town while he went out and continued to put women to death for witchcraft and take any other of his true colors until she grew old and died unhappy.

  She could, two: Ignore the charade, allow herself to show the people she stayed alive (if she could hold her breath for so long) and be found out a witch. She'd be hanged, no less. She hadn't heard of anyone burning witches. Although the idea had been circling, no one had acted on it once they saw that hanging was just as effective. Although, there was a first time for everything.

  But, if she did one or the other, she'd still lose Aro. The very man who had been at her side, whom she felt such a strong bond to without them having to speak many words. She believed with all her heart and soul that this was the man she was meant to be with, he made her feel happy when everything was in chaos around her, he made her see that yes, life was worth living. 

  This decision wasn't just about life or death or being stuck in an unhappy and emotionless marriage. This was also about Aro. If she married Benedetto, she'd never see Aro again. Who knows, Ben may say Aro was the true demon after all and sentence him to death, royal or not. Fear overpowered royalty no matter the cause.

  If she was found guilty, yes, she'd see Aro shortly and have her time with him before she was sentenced to death. 

  Decisions, decisions...

  Her chair being lifted had startled her and she jumped in her seat, the action snatching her out of her thoughts. She stared ahead at everyone before stealing a glance at Aro, she could see how this was effecting him. She knew how he felt, she felt the same way.

  She looked back at the villagers before her and swallowed hard. Her next look was to Benedetto who, smiled and gave her a quick nod as to say, 'Remember, do as I say.'

  She felt bile rise up in her throat but she forced it down. She glanced towards Ciro and he was looking at her eyes. He shook his head, the action seeming to surprise her. It was as if he had heard what Benedetto had said to her, the action made her think quickly of her decision and she sent a tiny smile of thanks to Ciro.

  (Ciro - Felix) 

  "And we shall begin." Benedetto stepped away as the other men along with Felix lifted up on the pulley and pulled it towards them, making Sulpicia's chair swing slowly to be over the water. She was facing everyone, seeing Ben send her a final nod. 

  The men pushed down on the pulley, sending her into the icey water just as she had looked at Aro to see him a final time. Luckily, she had held her breath and continued to hold it, but the cold water made it hard. She shivered and shaked in the chair, her entire body becoming soaked as she stayed under the water.

  Felix himself, looked from the water then to Benedetto and waited for orders upon to 'help' pull Sulpicia back up. He didn't need the help, glancing at the men next to him he saw how weak they were. He glanced towards Aro and felt a flash of pride that the man gave him such a chance like this. 

  He heard what Benedetto had whispered to Sulpicia and, when Sulpicia had looked at him, he shook his head as if to tell her 'No, don't do it. It's not worth it.' 

  Whether she understood what his head shake meant, he was unsure. But he could see the conflict on her face and hear the racing of her heart. Whatever she was thinking, had her heart beating faster in fear then in something else which he could not tell. He could easily sense fear now, Aro taught him how different the pulse felt underneath his teeth as he bit down onto someone's flesh, how different it felt between fear or excitment. 

  He taught him how to tell between different heart beats, how sadness was different from happiness. How it sounded when a person was asleep, versus being awake. How fear sounded different from being nervous. Yes, Aro had taught him a lot that he needed to know and Felix had soaked it all up as much as he could. 

  But still, he heard her heart full of fear now and he could tell that she needed to breath, by the look on Aro's face, he could tell as well. Aro was becoming anxious, shifting from foot to foot which he rarely ever did. He fiddled with his hands, moving them behind his back to in front of him and then back again. Aro looked more human to Felix, to Renata, to any of them in that moment than he had in years. 

  If he had ever seemed human then at least.

  It took all Aro had to not say something, the same for Felix. Though, when Felix had had enough, despite needing to 'follow orders', he began to add soft pressure to the pulley. Just at that moment, Benedetto ordered the men to pull Sulpicia back up. 

  Felix let out a gentle sigh of much needed relief and quickly, with him adding speed to it, they pulled Sulpicia out of the water. Though, the men didn't notice the quickness of which she was pulled up, some of them looked pleased with themselves like they had actually accomplished something. 

  Humans, how pathetic.

  Sulpicia felt the rushness of water above her as she was pulled up from the cold depths of promising death, as her head came above the surface she gasped for air. Filling her lungs with as much of the pure and beautiful needed substance. She breathed in deep and hard, causing herself to wince at the spike of pain she felt. It was her lungs way of telling her to calm down, to breathe slower, that the air was still there the calmer breaths she took.

  She acted on that, listening to what her body was telling her as she calmed herself and took slower breaths. Some of the villagers looked smug that she wasn't already 'dead' yet, that they were right and she was a Strega after all. But Benedetto had told her to do this, to make it more believable. 

  At another single, she looked at Ben who gave her another nod, mouthing 'Now'.

  She was lowered back into the water, gaining enough breath to hold. She could hear the muffled sounds of him speaking to the villagers, no doubt saying that the evil would be gone. Her mouth shook and her body shivered, the water would usually seem calm and soothing if not for the horrible circumstances that she now faced.

  She loosened her jaw and began to open her mouth...

... Then stopped. 

  No. She couldn't do it. She couldn't ignore the feelings she held for Aro, or the feeling or needing to be free. She wouldn't throw all of it away on a man who used women, who used their feelings against them and then killed them when they refused. She felt it in her heart that was true, she had no doubts even if she could not prove it.

  She felt numb, all inside her body and her heart. She was tired of all of this... chaos. She was tired of feeling numb, she yearned to feel alive again, if she ever had truly felt it before. To which she highly doubted.

  This time was taking longer to pull her up, she gripped and dug her nails into the chair. She briefly opened her eyes, then immediately shut them at how the water stung her eyes. She leaned forward in the chair as much as she could, she may not be agreeing to Benedetto's terms, but she was going to at least shock them all.

  Finally, for what seemed like an eternity, she was brought up, and as she was, she showed her body was limp. She held no water in her mouth, she could feel her heart beat against her chest. 

  This was it. 

  The silence echoed around them and she dared not look up, even though she unknowingly made Aro and Felix anxious and afraid of what she had done. Benedetto on the other hand, looked smug as ever and held his hand out towards her. "Do you see my good people? As I have said all along, Sulpicia is not a-"

  "SILENCE!" Sulpicia suddenly raised up, cutting him off for a change. The relieved looks on peoples faces that they had began gaining, quickly left and panic swelled into their features. A few of them jumped back at the sudden yelling. 

  Sulpicia slowly raised up her head and looked at Benedetto. His expression was shock... then anger. Most likely at her defiance.

  'Awww..' Sulpicia thought. 'Too bad.' 

  Sulpicia arched in her chair, pushing out her chest and allowing herself to show her cat-like actions as she seemed to curl as much as she could against the chair. "I am tired, of hearing your babbling you sick, twisted, and vile piece of filth. I am sick of you whispering to save me, but you do not know me. You cannot control me, you cannot take me away from him, or take my life decision."

  Sulpicia spoke, looking directly at Benedetto. What seemed to sound like admissions of evil to those around her, it sounded clear to Benedetto. 

  He couldn't have her. She wouldn't allow it, just like the others he'd condemned. 

  Anger swelled within him. And to add to the shockness and to the "admission" in the villagers minds, Sulpicia began to laugh at the man, tilting back her head and puffing out her chest as she laughed. 

  Aro couldn't contain his chuckle and grin at this. How theatrical of Sulpicia! He felt pride of this, of her in this moment. How strong she was to face the man who'd quickly kill her for it. 

  Felix and even Renata, though even Renata not having met her yet, looked proud of Sulpicia. As well as Athenodora and Caius. Though, it was surprising for Caius, since he only saved those looks of pride for his wife or when The Volturi did something grand. 

  "She's a Strega!"

  "A harlot!"

  "She murdered our family! Our friends!"

  "Kill her! Kill the Strega before she kills us all!" 

  Many shouts began from all the villagers and Benedetto stood there, feeling defeated. He made fists at his sides, he thought this would be the one. A slow deep breath he turned away from Sulpicia, sending her his cold shoulder not that she gave a damn.

  "People! Calm yourself, trust in your faith!... We will deal with this... this... this Strega. I apologize with whole heart, for I thought she was innocenzo..."

  (Innocenzo - Innocent) 

  Benedetto glanced at her, then the gallows nearby and back to the villagers. "She will.. be hanged until dead, purging us of this evil she's allowed into our lives. This I promise you. We will ready the gallows. In three days, the Strega will be dead." He turned towards the men that operated the pulley, a glare in his eyes. "Get. Her Down. Now."

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  Sulpicia had been returned to the barn, tied to the same wooden pillar. She was allowed fresh clothes and her hair was pulled back, for one of the first times in her life she felt... happy.

  She felt happy with herself that she was strong enough to face her fears, to refuse such a filth excuse for a "man". If he even was a man.

  Benedetto had not been to see her, perhaps it was because his pride was so damaged or that, he was thinking of what to do. She had humilated a respectable man, but she didn't care. She felt happy with herself and that is all that mattered. 

  He gave her three days, she thought that was generous enough but she was sure it was because he had second plans to his mind, maybe he would try to change her mind. Not that it would ever work. 

  She looked down at the floor and gave a gentle sigh, at least Aldo would have the satisfaction of having some kind of revenge on her. Maybe the poor old man couldn't handle the loss of his wife and had lost his mind, she could understand that. Adelie was the best woman she had ever met, a strong mother figure who'd have done anything to help her in this mess.

  Tears began to sting her eyes, but she forced them back. She would not cry. Not now.

  She heard the barn door open, but refused to look at who it was in slight fear that it was Benedetto, she wasn't ready to face him yet.

  "Sulpicia?..." But the soft voice wasn't him... it was Aro! 

  She looked up just as he had placed his hand on her cheek. "Aro.." She smiled gently at him, new tears of joy and sadness stinging her eyes again. "Aro I'm so sorry.." 

  "Don't ever... ever apologize to me, Sulpicia. I am so proud of you, I know how afraid you must be but..." Sulpicia noticed how Aro hesitated, how he seemed he needed to say something but did not know of how. 

  "Aro?..." She asked him softly, feeling concerned.

  "Sulpicia... what I am about to tell you is unbelievable... but it would allow us to remain together, to save your life and to save mine... I cannot lose you Sulpicia, I couldn't bear it..." Aro spoke the lowest she had ever heard him speak, he seemed so open to her in that moment, she could see how it all was effecting him.

  "Aro... what are you saying?..." Sulpicia spoke to him in a gentle-like manner, anxiety forming in her stomach at whatever he was about to say.

  "Sulpicia... what if I could give you immortality?"   _______________________________________________________

  Good thoughts I hope? Let me know if you'd like! Thank you for reading! Until the next chapter =)