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Chapter 9
Bella POV
It had been several days since our discussion of the Romanians in the throne room and we were expecting the Cullen's, Denali's and the major's captain and Lieutenant to arrive at any moment. Marcus and I were still in the bedroom and we untangled ourselves so that we could get ready to greet our guests. I had mixed feelings about seeing the Cullens again. I had never met the Denali clan but I had heard them mentioned in the Cullen home on occasion. Other clans and nomads were arriving in the next several days and Marcus said that this would be good practice for me for when the others started to arrive.
We showered and dressed quickly and headed down to the throne room where the Cullens would be arriving. I was admittedly a little nervous but I pushed that aside as best I could. Marcus and I walked hand in hand into the room where Aro and Sulpicia were already present. We took our positions and waited for Caius who was apparently not as punctual as I thought. Caius finally came in with Athenadora close to his side and I couldn't help it. My sarcastic and playful side slipped out.
"So nice of you to join us Caius. You know the saying, if you can't get here on time, get here when you can." I said and raised an eyebrow challengingly while Aro, Cia, Marcus and Dora laughed. Caius smirked like he wanted to laugh too but held it in.
"Well Isabella, you should know by now how little time means to us here. Besides Dora was late too." He reasoned. I laughed.
"Oh brother, do not blame Dora. Do you have a habit of throwing her under the bus to save you own ass? That's not a good idea you know, eternity is a long time to go without getting any." I reminded while we all laughed at his expression. Dora looked at Caius with false anger and played her part well.
"I am sorry for keeping you waiting sister. It won't happen again." He said and I smiled while the rest were trying to contain their laughter.
"Well see that it doesn't brother." I said regally and winked at him. It was silent for a second before we fell into a fit of laughter. We grew silent as we started to hear multiple footsteps approach the throne room and we composed ourselves. The doors flew open and I looked up to see the Cullens grouped together with Edward's mate, four female vampires with a male vampire whom I assumed were the Denali clan and what looked to be another mated pair. The male that stood with the Denali coven eyes me strangely which set me on edge.
"Bella?" I heard Edward whisper and I knew that the others were thinking the same.
"Welcome friends!" Aro exclaimed in his usual happy tone while I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
"Aro my friend it has been too long." Carlisle said and shifted his gaze to me. I suppose that it was interesting to see me perched in Marcus' lap but I couldn't care less what they thought.
"It has Carlise. Eleazar it has also been a long time since you have graced these halls." Aro said. "The Cullens know of our new addition but allow me to introduce Isabella to you. She is happily mated to our dear Marcus." He said and they all stood in shock with the exception of Alice and Edward who were here that day. I had explained it to them during my last visit to collect my belongings but apparently it didn't sink in.
"Aro it appears that I am no longer the only one of us that can shock vampires with their words." I said. "You are stealing a little of my thunder." I accused and he laughed while I could see Caius trying desperately to hide his smirk.
"Indeed, forgive me sister but I simply cannot let you have all of the fun." He said and I laughed. "Anyway you all know why you are here. Eleazar, I would like you to work your gift on Isabella if you don't mind. You might be interested in what you find." Aro asked and the Denali male who I had found was named Eleazar nodded. Marcus urged me to stand and I stepped forward towards the man. He gazed at me with scrutiny before his eyes lit in awe and amazement.
"She is intriguing. Isabella is a mental and physical shield, but also has a gift of tactical memory. She can simply watch an action or a fight and then perform those actions as she had done them for years. Her physical shield is interesting. It is also a formidable weapon in itself." Eleazar stated.
"How can her shield be a weapon?" Edward scoffed.
"She can crush someone to dust with her shield Edward." Eleazar explained. Edward didn't look convinced.
"Don't doubt my abilities Edward. Any one of the guard can vouch for my gifts, scared Angela almost to death when we had the red headed bitch's trial." I said and they looked at me strangely.
"If you can do that then why are we here?" Edward said angrily, already getting on my nerves.
"Edward for once in your miserable life, just shut up." I said getting irritated.
"Why you…" He wanted to say more but I held up my hand.
"Before you finish that sentence or that thought Edward, you might consider that I am mated to Marcus and also have been added as one of the rulers. You may continue but choose your words wisely." I said. He didn't continue. "Aro would you care to explain to them brother?" I asked.
"Of course sister." He said smiling as I rejoined Marcus. "You are all here because we have all been threatened. The Romanians have gathered an army of great numbers and there has already been an attempt on us and our mates. They have amassed close to one hundred and our scouts have reported they will move on us soon." He finished.
"Forgive me brother but I think that introductions are in order before we go any further." Marcus added.
"Yes, how silly of me. Isabella these are the Denali coven. This is Eleazar, his mate Carmen, Tanya, Kate and Irina. Those two there are Captain Peter Whitlock and Lieutenant Charlotte Whitlock." Aro said and I studied the two he had pointed out as Captain and Lieutenant. They stood out as the only human drinkers among them but they smiled warmly. I liked them both immediately. I looked over at Jasper to see that he looked sad and guilty. I stood and walked towards him. He looked up as I stood before him.
"Jasper, do not feel guilt over that night. You were bombarded by the bloodlust of several vampires and I was the singer to one of them. You couldn't have been prepared for that or have stopped it." His eyes had widened as I revealed I was Edwards singer. Edward looked furious and stood by his new mate, emitting a low growl.
"How did you figure that you were his singer?" Jasper asked.
"Think about it Jazz, he never wanted to change me, and claimed that intimacy with a human was too dangerous and made sure that there was very little chance that I would bleed around him. That first meeting in Biology where he looked as if he could slaughter a whole town was my first clue, but I didn't recall in until after you all left. He may have loved me to an extent, but his love was mostly for my blood." I paused to let my words sink in. "If we were mates as he had claimed, he would want me changed and have never been able to leave me as he did. Not that it matters now, since I found my mate and he found his." I finished and turned to Edward. "So will you be so kind as to introduce us to your mate?" She slunk behind him and seemed afraid of all the vampires around her.
"This is Bree, my mate," Edward stated sounding bored. I shot a look at Marcus quickly but smiled at the young vampire.
"Bree I understand that you were in Victoria's army, but do not worry. No one will harm you here. In fact there is someone here that you might be rather glad to see." I said. "Angela." I called and she was there in a flash with Alec at her side.
"Bree?" she exclaimed. Bree looked at her and her eyes lit up and pulled away from Edward. They hugged one another and I smiled. Edward just looked irritated but a small smile graced his lips as he looked at his mate who was extremely happy to see Angela again.
"You are all welcome to come and go as you please here but we would like for you all to agree to assist in this matter. It could cause risk of us being exposed to the humans thus involves all of us." Aro informed them. "Jasper and Peter, would you do us the profound honor of helping some of our guard to hone their fighting skills. I might add that you would be quite pleased with the progress of our dear Isabella." He finished and the whole room turned to me.
"Great brother. I beat Jane in a fight once and now I'm some pet project or something?" I exclaimed while the others laughed at my reaction. I didn't miss the fact Edward was shooting daggers at me with his eyes.
"Of course not Isabella, but we are proud of your accomplishments in such a short time here." Caius added.
"Anyway, we can discuss that later. I am sure that our guests would like to be shown their rooms and possibly hunt if needed. Don't you agree brother?" I said cocking an eyebrow at Aro.
"Of course, Jane, Alec, Angela and Demetri will direct you to your rooms and let you get settled. When some of the other guests have arrived, we will have our introductions and briefing on the matter at hand." Aro said and the guests were led out to their new accommodations for the next several days or so. I perched myself back on Marcus' lap and melted into his embrace. I didn't miss the daggers that Edward was shooting with his eyes at me.
"Marcus, what were Edward's bonds? Something is seriously off about him." I asked and he looked thoughtful for a moment.
"He is mated to the newborn, but he must still believe that you are mated to him as well. I don't believe that they are soul mates however. We will have to keep an eye on him." Marcus said.
"Is it possible to be mated to more than one person at the same time? It doesn't make sense." I said.
"I guess it would be possible, but I haven't seen it in my 3000 years." He mused. "Don't worry though, your bond to him was severed when you became fully mated to me." He said smiling and purred to me while running his fingers through my hair.
"I'm not worried. I don't want to be with him and nothing he can do will change that. I am where I belong." I said with conviction and he smiled. "I'm going to the training room for a little while." I said and kissed Marcus and turned to go. Cia and Dora decided to accompany me.
Jasper POV
When we were led into the throne room, I wasn't really surprised to see Bella sitting comfortably with Marcus. Something always told me that she and Edward were not mates and when she returned from Volterra the last time she told us that she and Marcus had some type of connection. Peter and Charlotte stayed close to us but I knew that most of the others didn't care for them being here. Emmet and Alice got along with them rather well but Edward was the worst. Bree was hardly allowed around the rest of us due to his possessive nature.
I was surprised when Bella told me that she knew she was Edwards singer. Before I couldn't place it but when she said that his possessiveness with her and refusal to change her made sense. I was glad to see that Bella was happy here and she seemed to brighten the mood of everyone she came in contact with. Even Caius was mildly pleasant to talk to this time. Marcus looked so much more alive and I could see the love he had for Bella shone in his eyes. Aro had also mentioned that Peter and I had the opportunity to assist in training of the guard and I was surprised that he mentioned that Bella was making such progress in her fighting skill. We were finally excused and shown to our rooms. Several minutes after we were left to our own things, Peter and Charlotte came to mine and Alice's room. He was smiling like the cat that ate the canary and I rolled my eyes at him. Something was up and he knew what it was.
"What is it Pete?" I asked.
"We need to go to the training room. I think we will be pleased with what we see there." He said grinning and we headed to the training room.
Please R&R.
