Revenge Is A Dish Served In Numbers

C7: Audience

Standard Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters

Bella's POV

About an hour later Esme knocked on our door again, both Alice and I had by now showered and had changed into our best dresses, wanting to make a good impression on the Volturi Queens. Alice had chosen an expensive looking red dress for herself and a similar dress in black for me, and the fact that neither of us could wear a bra with it, didn't even matter to me anymore.

Alice opened the door with a soft gasp, and I couldn't help but agree with that statement. Esme looked more regal than I had ever seen her, wearing an elegant dress fit for a Queen.

She smiled at us. "I see you like the changes I made to my wardrobe."

We both nodded at her. "You look like a Queen, mom." I said honestly.

That brightened her smile and motioned for me to come and hug her. "Thank you sweetie. I try to look my best when I get to see Sulpicia again after such a long time."

I smiled as Alice and I linked our arms as we walked to Rosalie's room, the blonde looking equally stunning in her dark blue dress.

Finally we got Victoria who had chosen an emerald colored dress, which did wonders for her red eyes.

"I trust you girls are ready for today?" Esme asked with a smile.

We shared a look among us. "We are, but I am a bit curious what will be expected of us, because I hope you remember our conversation back in Forks." Rosalie said in her usual tone of voice.

"I do, and all will be clear by the time we wrap up our conversation today. We will stay no longer than we have to and we have made plans to deal with Edward and Carlisle." Esme said with a smile.

Rosalie and Victoria nodded at her, while Alice and I pretty much already knew that it was going to be something like this.

Our heels echoed through the halls and I had to smile that everyone seemed to have matched their shoes with their outfits, although I didn't have much choice in that. Alice had probably picked out my outfit even before we got onto the plane, which by now I didn't really mind anymore. She had the sense of style out of the two of us to compensate my lack of it, so I didn't mind my mate dressing me.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice how the others had joined us, and seeing Tanya in a similar dress as Esme was going to take a bit of getting used to.

Carmen and Eleazar were also very elegantly dressed, but by far the biggest surprise was Charlotte and Peter, who had dressed up similarly to Carmen and Eleazar.

I smiled at them. "It seems the miracles haven't ceased yet. You two certainly look different than when last we saw you."

"Hush Bella, there are certain standards one has to live up to in this Castle, and we are merely meeting them." Charlotte said with a smile.

I only smiled as we arrived at the ancient wooden doors that I figured led to the Throne Room, and now I understood where Esme had gotten her sense of grand styles from, living here for centuries would certainly help with that.

Esme and Tanya then pushed the big doors open, and the smiles that lit their faces were so bright that they could have rivaled the sun, and that alone brought a smile to my face.

Of the six thrones that were in the back of the room, only four were filled. One of the thrones in the center was a dark haired woman whose eyes never left Esme's.

On the right of her was a blonde that could give Rosalie a run for her money in terms of beauty, and by the looks of it she had an attitude to match. On the left were a man and a woman who seemed only to have eyes for each other, until Esme and Tanya started leading us inside, then they both sat up a bit straighter and gave us their full attention.

The other vampires in the room looked at us with a mix of curiosity and disdain, which I could understand given how they must think of us.

"Esme, it is so good to see you again, my love." The dark haired woman said as she hugged and kissed Esme.

"It is good to be back Sulpicia. I promise not to leave again for so long." Esme said softly.

Sulpicia smiled at her. "That is something we shall discuss once we are alone. Please, introduce your family to us."

Esme smiled and nodded at her, although she didn't let her mate go. "Of course, my love, but we should include the others as well, because some of my Coven have found their mates in Tanya's Coven."

By now Tanya and the blonde Queen had joined us, as well as the other Queen. "I think etiquette requires us to introduce ourselves first. I am Sulpicia, and I think my mate Esme needs no further introduction. The woman hanging so affectionately on Tanya's arm is Athenodora and last but certainly not least we have Didyme and her mate Marcus." Sulpicia said with a kind smile.

Esme smiled at her mate. "Thank you love, First we have my eldest daughter, Rosalie, who I saved in 1933 back when we were staying in New York. Carlisle almost got to her first, but I managed to remind him why that was not in Rosalie's best interest. Next we have Alice, who you already know, but not her story. I found locked away in an asylum in Mississippi in 1920. Her powers of foresight were active even then, and when I learned that there was another vampire after her, I offered her the gift myself as well as my protection, and while we unfortunately failed to kill the one that was after her, she has stayed with us ever since. Through her visions we also met Jasper a few years later. He was one of the vampires that escaped Maria in Mexico before we sent the Guard to destroy them. Alice had seen them becoming great friends and convinced him to stay with us. After that came Emmett, who was more of a chance encounter. He used to be a hunter that was one day mortally wounded by a bear that Rosalie happened to be hunting at that time. She brought him to me and begged me to turn him, which I of course did. When we visited Denali a few years later, both Jasper and Emmett found their mates in Kate and Irina, and since that time we've seen ourselves as one big family instead of two separate Covens. Many years later Bella came into our lives thanks to Edward, who had sunk his claws in her pretty deep from the start, only when I stepped in and said that enough was enough and that he shouldn't lead her on, he stopped pursuing her. He of course did the most Carlisle thing ever and left her, saying that we didn't want anything to do with her. And that was all after he had led her into a trap with James, the tracker that was also after Alice when I turned her, but this time we cornered him and finished him off. This is also how we met Victoria, the last one to join our little family. She wanted revenge for James but after hearing our side of the story, she joined us in our plan for revenge against Edward. We turned Bella a few months ago, and while she has the most amazing control I have ever seen, we thought it more prudent to let her experience the newborn phase in relative isolation, although she and Alice took that a bit literally and spent almost a month in complete isolation, exploring their newly found mate bond."

"That is quite the story and I see you have spent your forced time with Carlisle well, my love. I have heard a lot about the precognitive Seer of course, but it is an honor to finally meet her in person, and of course I heard a lot about Isabella as well. I heard you possess a powerful shield, is this true?"

I nodded at her. "If I am to believe Eleazar, which I do, I possess a strong physical and mental shield which I believe was the reason Edward could never read me."

Sulpicia smiled at that. "I happen to have a similar gift to Edward. With one touch I can see every memory you ever had. Would you mind if I try?"

I shook my head and smiled at her. "You are mated to the woman that has been a mother to me for longer than I want to admit. I have no problems with you trying to read my mind."

Sulpicia smiled and took my hand as she closed her eyes. "I see… absolutely nothing, you are really and enigma, my dear Isabella. I look forward to getting to know you a bit better, along with your dear mate of course.

"That's more than okay, but please, call me Bella. I have always found Isabella to be so formal." I said with a soft smile.

Sulpicia only nodded as she turned her eyes to her Guard, one of whom was staring very intently at Rosalie. "Is there something wrong, my dear Jane?"

The petite blonde shook her head, and gave her hand when Sulpicia asked. "I see, this is a very interesting development. We are nearly done, my dear Jane. After that the day is yours."

The blonde nodded and as I looked to Rosalie, I saw a similar look on her face directed towards the petite blonde.

I took a glance at Alice and she only smiled at me, and I got that this was one of the things she had seen but wanted to keep a surprise.

After everyone had given their own introductions to the three Queens, all eyes were suddenly on me. "There isn't much to tell about me really. I was always the girl that nobody really noticed, and I didn't really knew what to think of Edward when he first shown interest in me. I was more interested in getting to know Alice, she had drawn my eye from the moment she walked into the cafeteria. Being with Edward changed me. My Mom had raised me to be confident in myself and be independent, but he took that away so easily that it scared me. I became a shell of myself and I hated it, which made me pull away from him even more. As Esme said it all came to a head a few months ago when he left me and I got together with Alice in the same night. I wanted and still want revenge for everything he has put me, my mate and my family through that it is all that I can think of." I said honestly.

Sulpicia shared a smile with the other Queens. "That is something we can arrange, young Bella. We have most of our best trackers finding information on where they are and what their plans are. Until we hear from them you are all welcome to stay here, if you want that of course, there is no obligation."

We all shared a look with each other and then looked towards Esme, who looked happier than any of us had ever seen her. "We would love to stay. It has been too long since we have seen Esme and Tanya this happy." Rosalie said with a very rare smile.

Sulpicia only smiled at her. "Then I think it is time for everyone to get reacquainted with each other, or in some cases acquainted with each other, but for the non human drinkers among us, I would advice you to do that away from the Throne Room, Heidi is bringing a pack of tourists in."

I was a bit torn about this. I hadn't really thought about feeding up until now but the thought of feeding from humans didn't bother me as much, and as I looked to Alice, she only smiled at me. "It is what we are made to do love, if you want to switch diets, I'll be right beside you the entire time."

"Are you sure about that love? What about the others?" I asked softly.

Alice smiled at me. "Rosalie has other things on her mind, and I have seen that Victoria won't have any problems with it because she used to feed from humans in the first place, and to be honest, I want this too."

I smiled and kissed her softly before taking our places at the edge of the room, close to Esme, who merely smiled at us. "I'm proud of you that you are willing to try this. I can't imagine it being easy."

"Easier than you think, Mom. With Alice by my side everything is easy." I said with a smile.

She only smiled at us as the doors swung open and a buxom brunette led in an unsuspecting group of tourists, closing the doors when the last one was in.

Rosalie's POV

I couldn't believe it when we walked into that Throne Room and I locked eyes with that petite girl. I have never believed in love at first sight, but when I saw her all I wanted to do was to run up to her, cradle her in my arms and never let her go again. I had never been fickle with my emotions and I wasn't about to start now, when I felt a certain way about something I very rarely changed it, but this girl had managed to tear down all the walls I had built around my heart with just one look, and for some reason it didn't annoy me as much as I thought it would. And as I took one quick glance to my pixie of a sister, the look on her face told me enough. She knew this was going to happen today.

I listened as the dutiful daughter I recently portrayed myself as these days as Esme explained everything to Sulpicia, but while I listened, my mind was somewhere else. I didn't even know how I would start a conversation with my petite angel. Hell, I didn't even know her name yet. All I knew is that we were meant to be, and in the way she kept staring at me, I just knew she knew it too.

I managed to tear my eyes from her when Sulpicia took her hand, a smile immediately gracing her features, and I think I know what had caused it. It seemed to me like my angel was somewhat of a daughter to Sulpicia and Esme, and as any mother, they wanted to see their children happy. I know that Esme had always hoped that I would one day find my mate and once again be happy.

I wasn't sure that she actually was my mate, but after seeing Bella and Alice interact with each other over the last few months, I was pretty sure that this what it should feel like if you found your mate.

When the obligatory introductions were over and done with and we had been given a basic understanding of what was to be expected of us we waited for the batch of tourists that were coming, and now after eighty years of going without human blood, I couldn't wait to finally get a taste of it.

Victoria's POV

As soon as those doors opened my unbeating heart sank. It was her, the woman that had saved me all those centuries ago, the one I still loved more than anything else. I knew it hadn't been a silly girl's crush then, and I was certain it wasn't now, because even 500 years later I still loved her, and I only hoped that I would get the chance to speak to her again, but for now that could wait, because I was thirsty and the humans in the room smelt of fear, like they usually did when we were just about to pounce.

When we received the okay to attack, I settled on a young girl with brown hair, a substitute for my dear sister when I still had the urge to kill her.

Within a minute I had the girl drained and tasting human blood for the first time in many months gave me back all those things that I had missed so much. I could think clearly again, but apparently not clearly enough because I saw the woman of my dreams coming towards me.

"I remember you, I turned you at some point." Heidi said sultrily.

I smiled at her. "You did, and you are still the angel of death you were back then, dangerous and beautiful."

She smiled and led me to a quiet corner. "You feel it too then, this pull?"

"I do, I have felt it since the moment I woke up and every day since in the last 500 years. I've missed you so much." I said honestly, figuring that was the best way to go right now.

"I have missed you too Victoria, and now that I have you this close I will never let you go again." She said before kissing me.

To say that I was shocked was an understatement, but to feel her lips on mine lit a fire deep inside of me that I would never want to quench. I was home, and I would fight anyone who would take me away from that home.

Alice's POV

After all of the humans had been drained and disposed of, Sulpicia once again stepped to the center of the room. "Now that we all have eaten, I think we have all earned some time to reconnect with each other. We will reconvene here in a couple of days. Feel free to help yourself to anything in the Castle, but I would like to talk to Alice and Bella for a bit, if that is okay with you two."

Bella and I nodded and followed her and Esme to one of the offices, and by the way they were clinging to each other I could see how much they had missed each other, but what surprised me is that it was Sulpicia who clung to Esme's arm instead of the other way around as I expected.

Bella wrapped her arm around my waist and smiled down on me. "I think we have more in common with Esme than we thought."

I smiled and squeezed her hand. "I suppose we are that close to each other most of the time, but I couldn't picture being away from you for so long. Just a few hours drives me crazy at this point."

"We haven't been together that long Ali, we have plenty of time to drive each other crazy and love each other just as much. I actually think we can learn a lot from Sulpicia and Esme in that regard." Bella said with a soft smile.

I smiled and rested my head against her arm as Esme and Sulpicia led us into a spacious and luxurious office.

"I suppose you two are wondering why we wanted to talk to you alone?" Esme asked with a smile.

We nodded at her as we took a seat across from them. "It is quite simple really. We're going to have these talks with everyone about what they want. It will only be a matter of time before Edward and Carlisle are caught, tried and killed and after that I am sure everyone has their own goals and dreams they would want to pursue, and while Esme and I would love it if you girls were to stay, we can of course not force you to stay."

I shared a look with Bella, who only smiled at me. We had already talked about this before Esme came to get us, and we had come to an understanding. "We will stay for a while after they are dead, but now that we have the chance we want to travel for a few years, see the world for a bit, and after that we don't know what we want yet. We do know we want to be at least somewhat productive. I have always wanted to do something in fashion and Bella wants to be a writer, and since we both wouldn't need regular jobs for that, we can easily do that from any place in the world, so we might do that from here, but as Esme has always said, no matter where we are, we will always be a family." I said with a smile.

Both Sulpicia and Esme smiled at us. "You are of course free to do whatever you want, but I would hope that one day you would consider joining our Guard. Edward and Carlisle are far from the only threats in our world, and we could use two strong women like yourselves."

"We actually talked about that already and we definitely accept that offer once we return. I think that given recent developments with Rosalie and Victoria, they'll want to stay here for a bit to get to know their mates, so I think for the time being that they will stay here as well. So after we return, yes we would gladly join the Guard." Bella said with a smile.

"That is good to hear, and I hope you know that we will always see you as our daughters, no matter where you are, and I hope you would give me the opportunity to get to know you as such." Sulpicia said with a smile.

Bella and I smiled at her. "Of course, we have plenty of time to get to know each other, but if it's okay with you, I would like to call you Mom as well." Bella said with a kind smile.

Sulpicia and Esme smiled brightly at that. "Of course you can sweetie. Jane had been our only daughter before Esme introduced Alice to us and it already feels like I have gained another daughter."

Bella smiled at that before stepping into Sulpicia's arms for a hug, both of them smiling at the embrace.

Esme was beside me in an instant and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "It's sweet, isn't it Alice?"

I only nodded at her, knowing Esme wanted more than anything for Bella and Sulpicia to have a similar relationship to the one she shared with Bella.

When the two separated and Bella stepped back into my arms, she kissed my cheek as we retook our seats. "There is one thing we need to ask you before you are free to explore each other again. Have you seen anything in regards to Edward and Carlisle recently?" Esme asked with a smile.

"Unfortunately I haven't. I have been looking out for them since we left Forks but I haven't been able to get a vision of them for a while, which either lets me to believe they are still in Forks sticking close to the Reservation so I can't see them, or they have found a method to hide themselves from my visions." I said honestly.

"Ah the Reservation, are these the shifters I have heard so much about?" Sulpicia asked with a smile.

Bella smiled and nodded. "They are, and one of them used to be my friend, until I started showing interest in Alice and they basically treated me like I already was a vampire. They have tried to attack us several times because of it, but Esme and Rose managed to inflict enough damage to send them back with their tails between their legs."

Sulpicia nodded at her. "Yes, I heard, and I still do not agree with the treaty Carlisle made, but until now we haven't had any reason to step in, but with your story we have all the evidence we need to end them all. We have been too indulgent with the shifters for far too long. This is not the first time they have caused us trouble."

Bella smiled at that. "If you and Esme are okay with it, we would like to be the ones to end them."

Both Sulpicia and Esme smiled at us. "Of course, but we would worry less if you would take a few more people, just to be safe."

"We shall ask Rose and Jane if they want to join us, and perhaps Victoria and Heidi would like to join us as well." I said with a smile.

Sulpicia and Esme smiled and nodded. "Then we give you leave to set up a team and a plan. But we would like to see everyone before you leave." Esme said with a loving smile.

We nodded and gave them a hug before we made our way in search of Rosalie and her newfound mate.

Rosalie's POV

As soon as we were dismissed, I made my way over to my angel, who at the same time made a beeline for me.

She then grabbed my hand and started leading me out of the Throne room, which I was surprised at, but did not come as a complete surprise, she had to be a bit dominant if we were going to be together.

She led me to a room close to my own and led me in before closing and locking the door and turning to me. "I know you feel the same thing I did in that Throne Room and I want to know what it is, and you are going to tell me what are these things are that I am feeling." She said with a glare, which I am sure could rival mine.

I smiled at her. "Well, if I am not mistaken in my own feelings, which by the way have been unshakable in eighty years, I believe we are each other's mates."

"Since we have no way of verifying things, let's say for argument's sake that I believe you, how do we go from here, I am often called a sadistic bitch as a part of the Witch Twins and I just want you to know that it will be very hard for me to show anyone affection." She said as she crossed her arms, which I found very endearing.

Again I smiled at her. "Well, since I am more often than not called the Ice Queen, I think we'll fit perfectly because of that. I hate almost everyone and once I feel a certain way about someone it will be very difficult to change my mind, and to top that of I have very little patience for humans left."

Finally she smiled and motioned me to a couch so we could relax a bit while we talked. "Then I really think we were made for each other. I have no patience for anyone beside my brother or my Mistresses, so to finally share my life with someone who feels the same will be interesting, but I hope you know that I thoroughly enjoy my duties and position and have no desire of leaving Volterra for any length of time unless it was for a mission."

"Before today I would have said the complete opposite, but having seen what keeping mates from each other does to a vampire, I am okay with staying here with you for the foreseeable future." I said honestly, because there was no way I would leave her alone now that I had finally found my forever.

She only nodded at that as she scooted closer to me. "I just realized that I haven't even asked your name yet, so how shall I call you?" She asked softly.

I smiled at her awkwardness, which reminded me a bit of Bella. "I am Rosalie, and if I am not mistaken, you are Jane. Esme told me a lot about you and your brother on our way here."

She smiled softly at that before resting her head on my shoulder. "I never thought that I would be okay with something like this, public displays of affection really disgust me at times, nor would I ever have thought to be okay with loving someone who was taller than me."

"That is another thing we have in common then. I also hate those sappy displays of affection, but I do hope you don't mind something like this in private." I said softly as I wrapped my arms around her.

She purred at me. "I don't mind doing this in private, and no one but my brother or the Queens dare to disturb me here."

"I think in the near future my sisters will find us as well, but I think you will get along famously with Bella. She hates Edward almost as much as I heard you hate him." I said softly.

She nodded at that. "I do hate him, how could I not after everything Esme has said about him. But Bella is the brunette girl mated to that pixie, right?"

"That she is, but they even each other out so you don't have to worry about her going all out on you. I will make sure of that."

"I don't mind her bubblyness. We got along quite well when she was here a few decades ago."

I only smiled and repositioned us a bit so we could relax while we talked, and the more we did that, the more I realized we were almost the same person, and that gave me very good hopes about the future.