Jewel in the Crown
Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use.
Chapter 4: The Long Ride Home
How could this have possibly happened? I ask myself the same question over and over. It is only once that I am safely on the plane and flying back across the Atlantic that the enormity of what I have just done hits me. I have left Bella to face the Volturi alone, with only my immature, fickle brother for protection. But worse yet, what the hell was Edward thinking?
This is one of those times when I wish that I could know more than outcomes. Right now, I am blind. Edward has made his decision to stay with the Volturi as part of the guard, but I don't know how or why.
I know that Bella found him, because I could see her make the decision to stop him once she caught sight of him across the square. I saw the black-cloaked figures on either side of him. I saw Bella clinging to him in his arms. But then it all faded to black. Their futures disappeared.
The minute that their futures disappeared, my own shifted in front me. I decided to try and chase after them. I would put my plan into action. I would go before the Volturi and beg for her life by offering to change her, on the spot if they would let me. But my vision shifted rapidly to the outcome.
Aro would want me for my gift. I would refuse and the guards would kill Bella and Edward as an example. Then Caius would threaten to hunt down the rest of my family and kill them if I continued to say no. And I couldn't let that happen. I ran away and the futures for the three of us shifted once again. Bella and Edward vanished, but did not die. I returned to Denali.
This only means one thing. The next decisions about what happens to either one of them will not be theirs. Someone else will be deciding, probably Aro. I try to search for his decision, but it is not easy. No one has made any decisions, which means they still must be assessing the situation. Feeling useless, I pick up the phone from the back of the seat in front of me and call Carlisle.
"Did you get him out, Alice?" he asks the minute he hears my voice.
"I'm so sorry, Carlisle," I reply. "But I couldn't get either of them out. I had to leave them both with the Volturi."
There is dead silence on the end of the line. I cannot even hear whispers in the background. Then Carlisle speaks.
"Both of them?"
I can hear Esme in the background.
"What, Carlisle? What? What does both of them mean? Are they dead?"
"They are not dead," he says. "Alice is calling to say that Edward and Bella are still with the Volturi."
There are gasps all around. Esme is repeating the word "no" over and over. Then I hear Jasper come on the line.
"Alice? Are you safe, Alice?" he asks.
"Yes, I'm on a plane over the Atlantic on my way back to the US," I say, fighting my own emotion. "Bella and I separated, so that he wouldn't hear me coming. We didn't want him to act too quickly because he thought that I was trying to lie to him with my thoughts. But then I saw . . . "
"What did you see, Alice?" he asks anxiously.
"I saw Edward change his mind at the last minute," I reply weakly. "He decided to stay with them. But I don't know why. Then Bella saw him from the middle of the square and she decided to run as fast as she could to stop him from killing himself. That was the last decision that either if them made. But now there's nothing."
"What do you mean nothing?" he asks glumly.
"They aren't dead," I insist. "But their futures are no longer in their own hands. I won't know what will happen until someone else makes decision."
"Jasper, what did she tell you?" asks Emmett.
Jasper quickly repeats my words. No one says anything, but there are a lot of gasps and moaning. Carlisle gets back on the phone.
"Alice," he says tensely. "Were you close enough to see anything?"
"I was on the other side of the square," I answer. "I saw Edward at the very edge. When Aro told him no, he decided to make a scene by stepping into the sun at noon, right under the clock tower. There were two guards on either side of him waiting. One of them was enormous."
"How did you know them?"
"They were wearing grey capes," I say. "They took a step back when he made his decision. They must have been there to prevent him from acting. But they didn't have to."
"Of course," says Carlisle. "I should have thought of it myself. Aro would want Edward's mind reading abilities. The guards were probably Felix and Demetri. Felix is the most powerful guard physically, bigger and stronger than Emmett, Demetri is the tracker. Aro must have thought that there was some reason that Edward would not come back, even if he changed his mind about killing himself. He must want Edward very badly."
"But why would Aro want Bella too?" I ask.
"I'm sure that he doesn't," answers Carlisle. "She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is of no value to him, except perhaps as some kind of bargaining chip with Edward. You are sure that she is still alive?"
"No one has decided to kill her," I answer. "I'm watching as closely as I can. But for some reason the decision has been deferred."
"Well, I'll let you go so that you can continue to monitor things," he says. "Call us if you learn anything new. And come straight to Denali. Do your best to cover your tracks in case they saw you and decide to follow you."
"Yes, Carlisle," I say soberly, and hang up.
I close my eyes and lean back in my seat. I know that this is going to be a very long flight home. I try to catch a glimpse of any decision that any of them might be making. But all I can see is a deferral. Someone has brought them a meal and Bella and Edward have been sent away while they eat.
At least I know that they are both still alive . . . for now.
(Revised: 3 Jan 14)