This is a little different from what I usually write, but my muse smacked me around a little until I wrote it. So enjoy, sit back, and keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.
Full Summary:
For over a thousand years, Volterra has been a protected and scared city, being ruled by the descendants of Aro Volturi. Isabella Volturi, Queen of Volterra, wants nothing more than to continue with the peace her city has been encased in for nearly a thousand years, but all of that is destroyed when the Cullens, believing that Volterra has broken laws created between them hundreds of years ago, storm the city and take Isabella prisoner. There is something about Isabella that makes the Cullens pause - the fact that she looks exactly like a girl they all knew and loved once, but died a millennium ago.
In the land of Gods and Monsters
I was an angel living in the Garden of Evil
Screwed up, scared, doing anything that I needed
Shining like a fiery beacon
"They are approaching the gates, my queen." My nervous handmaid Angela said, bending down beside me.
"Let them try to enter." I replied, calmly daring them.
The strength in my voice belied the fear clenching inside my chest.
Mostly, I felt anger.
How dare these… these animals attack our city?
Volterra was the last Sacred City on Earth. No one had ever used force to enter its gates, and certainly never dared to attack it. Volterra held the sacred men and women of our world; priests, priestess, healers, guardians of our city, and me.
My family had been the rulers and protectors of the Sacred City since it's beginning.
I was the last of my family, Isabella Volturi, the Queen and High Priestess of Volterra. It rested on my shoulders to maintain the traditions and values of our city, while keeping peace and safety throughout.
And now, all of that was being destroyed before my eyes.
The men - if they could be called that - outside our walls had no justification to come and bring their violence and demand that we open our gates so they can slaughter my people and defile my city.
"They've breached the first gate, my queen." The leader of my guard, Jacob, informed me as he entered the room, his breath shallow and heavy, his voice worried.
"What about the second gate?" I turned to ask him.
"It remains strong." Jacob said.
"Do not let them through, Jacob." I told him, rare vulnerability showing in my voice.
We had no heavy military training here, the members of the guard having been taught to fight of course, but they could not compare to small army outside. We would all die if the second gate failed.
"You should go to the high temple." Jacob advised softly.
"I will not cower!" I snapped harshly, then apologized. "I am sorry, Jacob."
"No need to apologize, you have reason to be upset." He assured me kindly.
Jacob was always so kind to me. He was only five years older than me and the youngest leader of the guard in Volterra history. Jacob was a skilled warrior and had more than earned his rank.
"It is not cowering, my queen." He continued. "If the gate does fail, you will be the only one that may be able to reason with these people. It will do no good if they kill you in their haze of blood. The high temple is protected and may hold them off longer."
"You are right, I know all of this." I said, mostly to myself.
I needed to calm myself, worry and anger were making me forget myself, the calm that usually radiated through me was lost.
"Come, Angela." I said to the frightened handmaid beside me, rising and adjusting the layers of my dress.
We followed Jacob through the winding stone hallways, the archways we passed revealing beams of sunlight. It was odd, that such horror could happen during such a cheerful looking day. I'd always imagined the sky to be dark and rain falling down on us when people were being murdered.
The three of us ascended up the spiral stairs, fifty of them as I had counted once when I was younger, and the ornately carved double doors to the high temple were opened before us.
This was were Jacob stopped. No man was allowed to enter, only the residing ruler and priestesses.
I went to enter, but Jacob stopped me, reaching out to place his hand on my bare arm before yanking it back as if I'd burned him.
"What is it?" I asked.
He looked at me, his dark eyes darting nervously from mine to the wall.
"I will not fail you, Bella." He whispered, surprising me a little by the use of shortened version of my name. He used to call me Bella when we were younger, before there were so many responsibilities put on us both. Over the past couple years, it had only been my queen or sometimes Isabella.
I had forgotten what it felt like to be called something from my childhood.
"I know you won't." I answered, slowly taking his hand in mine and giving it a squeeze.
It was the most real human contact I'd had since my mother died. I had a dozen handmaids, but none of them really touched me unless they were helping to dress me or paint the ritual marking for prayer on my skin.
A roar arose from the direction of the gates and Jacob took off down the stairs without another word.
"My queen." The soft voice of Angela called my attention to her.
I retreated into the room with her, the doors closing firmly behind us, the lock mechanisms clicking into place.
"Are we going to die?" Angela asked.
I stared at her, for once not knowing what to say. I could not lie to the poor girl and say that everything would be fine, that we would live. But I also could not look her in the eyes and tell her we were going to be killed, for I did not know if that was to be our fate either.
"I will do everything in my power to make sure we live." I said, hoping that would sooth her fears, even a little.
Angela nodded in acceptance, but I could tell that she saw through my words.
Sometimes, when I was left alone to my thoughts, I would wonder what things would have been like if I had been allowed to learn to fight. That maybe I could do more than sit here and wait to live or die.
But no, I had been taught rituals and lessons, taught how to rule peacefully and maintain the secrets and laws within the city.
All I could do was sit before the statue of the original members of my family. They had been called The Volturi, three of them - Aro, Caius, and Marcus. They had ruled over the vampire world for thousands of years before the rebels rose up to overthrow them.
It hadn't worked as they had planned.
Aro Volturi knew that if anything were to happen to them, there would be nothing left of the Volturi, so in secrecy he took a human woman to mate with. The result had been a hybrid child - half vampire and half human. My great-great-great grandmother.
After the vampire who rebelled against my family thought they had conquered Volterra and killed Aro and his brothers, Aro's hybrid daughter drove them back, engaging in a twenty year war with the rebels.
It had nearly cost vampires everything, including their reveal to the human world. After the twenty years of war, Aro's daughter and the rebels came to an agreement.
The rebels did not want to stay under the rule of the Volturi, believing it had become too corrupt and controlling, but there were other vampires that liked the rule of the Volturi. So it was decreed that Volterra remain under the rule of the Volturi, and any vampire that wished for things to remain the way they had once been were to live in Volterra.
It became largely a vampire providence, the humans being evacuated over the course of just a couple months.
The rebels had gotten what they wanted, too, going under the rule of one of their own; a man named Carlisle Cullen.
A hundred years after the war, Volterra was claimed a Sacred City. And fifty years after that, the wall had been built.
A large towering wall that ran along the border of the city. My mother had once told me it resembled The Great Wall of China, but was nearly three times the height.
Hybrids had the beauty and increased power of vampires, but not quite the immortality of them. They had longer life spans than humans, but they did eventually die, after around three hundred years.
Aro's daughter had mated with a human male, having two children of their own; Jane and Alec. They had ruled together for nearly two hundred years before Alec was killed.
That was when Jane made the laws that existed now, to protect Volterra and to see that we were completely peaceful. No death or weapons, only vampires and hybrids that wanted to live in peace with one another.
Jane had only mated with a male vampire to ensure that the Volturi bloodline remained, and my grandmother, Heidi was born. Heidi and my grandfather Alistair ruled for the next three hundred years, then my mother, Renee took over.
Now, twelve hundred years later, all of that work, that peace, was crumbling. And for what? Why were they attacking us? We had done nothing wrong, all we wanted was to be left alone by the outside world with all their traitors and violence.
I could hear a tremendous crashing sound, followed by screams and battle cries.
Oh Gods… they had somehow broken through.
Angela knew this as well, her breath catching as I heard her heart rate spike.
I was a hybrid child myself, making me able to hear ten times the level of human hearing, along with all of my other senses being heightened. Both of my parents had been hybrids, so I was completely equal on both sides. That in it's self was rare, most hybrids either mated with a vampire or a human, but that was because hybrids were few and far between. Maybe one hybrid to every fifty vampires.
That was another reason the rebels had wanted to separate from the Volturi - they believed that the act of a vampire and a human mating was an abomination, and the children of such unions were monsters.
The men who had just broken into my city considered me a monster.
"Isabella!" Angela whispered hoarsely.
"Silence!" I snapped, standing up. "We will not show them our fear. If they do kill us, it will be without the shame of crying and groveling."
She looked like she wanted to cry, but she did as I said and stood up to stand behind me without tears.
I had a momentary thought of fleeing, but I would disgrace my family like that. Even if I had wanted to run, I was not dressed for it. My thin flowing white dress with it's web of crystals was made for ruling in, not running in.
I listened as they made their way through the city, screams and growls, the sounds of vampires being torn apart, the smell of smoke and flesh burning.
I wanted to throw up.
How dare they? How dare these animals do this to us?
Anger surged up inside of me, making my body shake and my vision blur.
Power I barely knew I had pulsed through my veins and in the back of my mind I could hear the glass windows shaking with the force of my mental energy.
I heard the heavy footsteps make their way up the stairs, stopping when they reached the barricaded doors. I knew the doors would only hold them back for maybe a minute, but at this point I didn't care. I wanted them to get through. I wanted to kill them, any agreement between our kind be damned.
As I predicted, they barged through the door in fifty seconds, the heavy wood and steel bursting open to reveal a group of about twenty vampires. I knew this wasn't even half of the army ravaging my city.
"Here's the bitch." A blond male vampire shouted to the group.
I tried not to blush at the crude word. We did not use such language here. The only time I heard anyone cussing was when Jacob and I were younger, we had snuck into a human pub and one of the men had gotten drunk and was singing a very colorful song.
"What do you think you are doing to my city?" I asked in my most demanding voice.
I saw a couple of the vampires take a step back, but the blond with the crude words stood firm.
"My name is General James Hunter, I have been ordered to take the city of Volterra." He stared at me, his eyes cold and blood red.
"On what grounds?" I asked, still keeping my voice firm.
"On the grounds that you and your people have broken the laws agreed upon by our ancestors - evidence has come to light that there are vampires here that are forcibly drinking human blood." He answered, clearly amused by the shocked look on my face.
No.
That was not possible. Not from those who lived in Volterra.
Six hundred years ago, Jane Volturi and Carlisle Cullen agreed that the practice of feeding from humans was outdated and particularly cruel. That was shortly after the synthetic blood had been created, leaving no real excuse for humans to be the main food source. Of course, there were still a few cases where the humans were willing, and the law had a clause that deemed it acceptable if the human was able to keep their own free will within the relationship and treated kindly.
But here… we did not feed from the very few humans that were here.
"There have been no humans here that were meant for feeding for nearly six hundred years!" I protested.
"Lies!" James suddenly growled at me.
"You think I would break my own laws?" I asked, completely scandalized.
"You are a Volturi, I think you would do a lot of things." Was his scathing answer.
"We are a peaceful people," I started, trying to contain myself from ripping the skin off his face, "the people here in Volterra do not drink human blood, we import the synthesized blood that is made by you. All humans are here by their own free will, and they are treated with respect, not used as food."
He ignored me, turning to give the men an order that made my blood run cold.
"Kill her."
Three vampires stepped forward, hatred shining in their eyes as they advanced toward me.
"I am the Queen of Volterra, the last Sacred City on Earth, you have no right to touch me without proof of your accusations!" I spoke loudly and as calmly as possible.
"What do you want of us - a trial?" James asked sarcastically, laughing with the ones who were told to kill me.
"No, search the city - what's left of it - and if you find a single human who has been harmed by a member of my city, I will die." I told him.
"That will not be necessary… my queen." He sneered, stepping aside to let another vampire through the crowd. This vampire was pushing a human girl in front of him, stopping a few feet away from me.
"We already have a human witness to the cruelty that goes on here." James gestured toward the girl.
I looked closely at her; normal looking, with pale brown hair and green eyes, her frame fairly thin. I didn't recognize her, but that didn't mean anything - she could belong to one of the houses outside the palace.
"Speak girl." James commanded her.
She looked fearfully between me and James, her words tumbling out.
"A-A couple of the s-soldiers… they t-took me and fed from me. I-It was h-horrible and I-" She broke off with a cry and shook her head frantically.
I felt sorry for the girl, but it was still not enough reason.
"You're going to condemn my entire city because of the actions of two men?" I asked lowly.
"There have been others." James said like he was speaking to a child. "This girl is only one of nearly a dozen. There are many here that break your laws."
"So you give me no warning, or tell me of these acts so I can punish those involved myself. Instead you storm my city, kill my people, and now wish to kill me. How is that just?" I asked semi-rhetorically.
"No matter how big or small, the law is the law." He quoted from the mandate.
I scowled, both of us knowing that was not how it was meant as.
James motioned toward me and the three vampires from earlier darted forward, grabbing onto my arms with iron force. I focused, my anger driving my power, and watched as they collapsed to the ground from the crippling mental pulses I was sending them.
But I wasn't a very good fighter.
So I was unprepared when another two vampires came at me suddenly, tacking me to the ground. I wasn't as strong, so my efforts to fight them off was in vain. I used my powers, but as soon as two dropped from me, another two had taken their place.
Angela was screaming at them not to touch me, threatening them. It almost made me laugh.
One of the vampires gripped my long hair, using it as leverage to force me to the stone floor, bending my head back painfully.
James stood above me, looking smug and satisfied, as if he was doing some great thing by having me murdered.
Everything felt as if the world was suddenly going in slow motion.
James reached down, placing his hands precisely on jaw and my cheek, squeezing so hard tears nearly came to my eyes.
"Wait!" A female voice shouted.
I saw a momentary flicker of annoyance cross James's face, but he released my head and turned in the direction of the voice.
"My lady?" James asked.
I managed to look beyond him, a small girl stood in the doorway of the temple, staring at me with furrowed eyebrows.
"Don't kill her." The tiny girl commanded.
She was obviously a vampire; pale skin, delicate features, blood red eyes. Though as I looked closer, I could see a kindness in her that was not apparent in the others. She almost looked like she could have been one of my own people.
"Alice," James said, half chuckling, but he looked worried. "This is the queen of Volterra, the city that has committed so many atrocities against the very laws your family helped create. Why should I spare her life?"
"Because I said so." Alice said darkly, glaring at James as if she was trying to set him on fire.
He backed away, motioning to the men holding me and they released me. I stood quickly and fluidly, meeting Alice's look from across the room.
She took careful and slow steps toward me, I tensed, but saw no threat in her.
"What's your name?" Alice asked softly, her eyes taking in every bit of me, almost as if she couldn't believe I was standing there.
"I am Queen Isabella Volturi." I told her harshly.
Though she seemed kind, I held in the back of my mind the thought of what she'd allowed to happen. She was obviously important, James obeyed her, called her my lady, and I remember James saying something about the laws her family made.
Was it possible she was a Cullen?
Alice sucked in a sharp breath as I told her my name, and I could swear she looked excited.
"Bring her with us." Alice told a couple of the vampires who had come with James.
They immediately grabbed a hold of me, making a twinge of pain shoot through my body at their rough touch.
"Don't hurt her!" Alice snapped at them.
They looked thoroughly reprimanded, loosening their fingers around my arms.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm bringing you to my family." She said simply, almost cheerfully as I was forced to follow her out of the temple.
Yeah... what the hell, right?
Love or hate?
Next chapter is being written right this moment, so it should be up by next Tuesday. See you then!
