Unlocking Hidden Secrets: Chapter 10

Isabella's POV

The tomb was sealed by thousands of spells. Thousands. On top of that, there were ancestral witches guarding the tombs. Getting passed them, after unlocking or breaking each spell, was going to be impossible. It was impossible. No one even dared to think someone would be idiotic enough to enter that tomb. And the witches?

There was no way the Galloway Family could enter that tomb and survive. There was no way.

I sent Victoria back to Aro and Caius. Since what she was saying is true, it was best to have her on our side. I know that she was a part of getting Seth killed, I haven't forgotten about that… but this was more serious than the crash.

The Galloway Family and the Volturi were working together to get rid of my family. But what's worse, is that they're working together to free Valerian.

"It's impossible." My father said. My parents and I were now in a private room, trying to figure out what to do.

"The tomb is sealed with thousands of unbreakable spells. Thousands of spells that could kill a witch is you try to break it." My mother said. She was pacing back and forth. "And the ancestral witches? If those witches awaken after even one spell is broken…they are impossible to kill. The Antonius Family made sure of that."

"Every witch knows about the tomb. They know it's impossible to break." I said. "In fact, no one even dared to think about it. Why, all of a sudden, are the Galloway's confident about breaking this spell? Are we missing something?"

My parents stayed quiet. Were we missing something? Did they know something we did not? If we were missing something, hypothetically, whatever it is, that means they are capable of breaking into the tombs without any causalities.

"Isabella…" My father said. "What will you do?"

My parents will in no way be involved with this. What's going on with this war was my doing. On top of that, my parents were the rulers, their safety came before mine. The reason we did this, and why it's so unusual, is because we did not want my family to stop ruling, a lot of families didn't. So why not have the children of the King and Queen sacrifice? Although I was the only child, at the moment, my parents were planning to have more. If I were to die, my parents would move onto another child. And it will keep going and going. If my parents died, before I did, I would take over as Queen, regardless of having a husband, and immediately have child. It was to keep the lines going. Our family wanted to rule till the end of time.

"I need to know how many of the Galloways are involved." I answered. "It could be everyone, it could be some. Either way, I need to know the locations of each Galloway. So I will have some guards go into their homes, bring them here…I believe that's the best way."

"Don't wait." My father said. "Start making plans now. Your mother and I will be in the desert." The Desert was the safest place for my parents. Even I didn't know where the Desert was. And it's not actually a desert, it was just a code name. So communication with my parents would be limited, so their own safety.

"You'll be fine, darling." My mother said. "You always have been."

I nodded. If the Galloways and the Volturi could get to Valerian, then I'd worry. But as of right now, I wasn't worried. It was just two groups who believe they could win at something like this. When in fact, it was impossible.

"Make another baby." I joked. I always joked about my parents having to make another baby when we had to be separated. It didn't mean I was going to die. It was an ongoing joke.

"We just may." My father said, smiling. "They won't get into the tomb. If they do, contact us immediately. But I'm not too worried about it. You'll be fine."

Only a couple of my parents' private guards would be going with them. There were already some guards living at the Desert. The guards who would be staying here were now going to accompany me.

I kissed my parents goodbye, hoping to see them soon. It could be a while before I do, but it not years away. At least I assumed.

I walked out of the private room, entering the hall. The guards that were left behind were standing out. I could probably send them to the homes of the Galloways. Gather all of the family to make sure no one else would be joining the Volturi.

"I need some of you go to the Galloway's homes. There are many across the villages around, I'm not sure if there are any here. But I need you to go and bring them here." I ordered. "Do not talk to anyone else, if questions are asked. I do not need anyone to find out about this just yet. If there are any complications, do not hurt anyone, do not kill anyone. Oppress them until I can arrive."

"Yes, ma'am." They said.

"Get to it."

I made my way back to the dining hall, where I heard some commotion. Then Edward came out of the room, looking upset. He stopped me before I could walk into the dining hall.

"I know now isn't the time, but you need to know." He whispered.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Seth's and Leah's father." He whispered. "Sam got a call, about a couple of mintues ago. He died of a heart attack."

I froze. I didn't exactly know Mr. Clearwater. But losing a parent…

I didn't know what to do. Or what to say. I just stood there, looking towards the ground. I know this was my fault. I know he died as part of bringing Seth alive. I just didn't know how to comprehend it. I didn't know what to say to Leah nor Seth. A lot of harm on their family came from me. How do I even speak to them? What would I even say? Because sorry wasn't enough. It wasn't even close.

I saw Leah come out of the dining room hall. It was clear she's been crying. Then Seth followed behind her. Tears formed into my eyes. I couldn't face them.

"Bella…" Leah whispered. Her voice cracked. But she took a deep breath. "I'm not upset with what happened. We're not blaming you."

"If my father knew about what happened and he could save me in exchange for his life, he'd do it immediately." Seth said. "Just think of it that way. Either way, he would have saved me."

And I just lost it. I know they were trying to comfort me. I know they didn't blame me. But it still hurt to know someone's life was traded in against their unknowing.

"Isabella." Zyra said. "I don't mean to interrupt…but this is important."

"What is it?"

"We have heard back from the ones who have gone to the Galloway's home." She said. "Only one came back."

"What do you mean only one?" I demanded. A guard appeared in front of me, he was bleeding, slightly dazed.

"The Galloways, none of them are there." He said. "The last house we went to had a trap, a bomb."

I turned away and immediately started running down the hallway. There were certain spells that were kept hidden from the public. Especially bad witches. Making a bomb to kill a witch was different from a bomb that could kill a human. It required multiple spells…multiple ingredients. The only way they could have figure out how to do make a bomb was either by an older witch who's known about the spell, or they were capable of breaking into the library.

"Bella?" I heard Edward. He was following me.

I ran the entire way to the library, if the book was missing, the Galloways had tons of destructive spells. Either they have been in the castle, or someone was working for them.

As I entered the library, I ran straight to the back. The book wasn't out as the other thousands were, it was hidden. And only a couple of people knew where the book was hidden. I ran and ran down the aisles, going to the exact location of the book.

"Princess?! Wait!" I heard Zyra scream. Once I entered the aisle of where the book was, I started to walk, and place my right hand on the third shelf, running my fingers. The book was cloaked, but the only way to find it was through touch. And only me and my parents knew what the touch actually felt like. But others knew which aisle the book was in.

I continued to run my fingers through the books, waiting for that specific touch to come across my fingers.

And then it happened, I stopped in my tracks once I felt the touch happen. The book was here.

Just as I turned around, I was struck in the face. I landed on the floor, slamming my head against the ground. I heard Edward and Zyra say something but it wasn't clear.

Edward and Zyra picked me up on my feet.

"It was Luther." Zyra said.

"They tricked you and the guards." Edward said. "The guards weren't killed, it was a spell. It was made to seem like it was a bomb. They knew the guard would come back and tell you. They knew you would look for the book."

I paused, trying to gather my thoughts.

I looked at Zyra. "Make sure there are no members of the Galloway Family in the villages. Get every witch back into their villages, then close the villages. I want shields place around each village, I want guards posted at each village. I will make a televised announcement in the evening. I need this to happen immediately. It is under my orders."

"Yes, Ma'am." Zyra said.

"And if anyone sees any member of the Galloway, put them under." I said. Putting them under didn't mean killing them, it meant taking their powers away, something that only the Royal Family could accomplish.

"I need to talk to everyone." I said.

"Your head…" Edward said.

"I'm fine." I said. "I've had worse."

I walked back to see the others, who were now standing in the hall.

"What is going on?" someone asked.

"The villages and the castle will be in lock down." I said. "Luther attacked me, tricking me into finding an important book, which he now has. I will not force any of you to join this war. But I will ask if you will."

Everyone, of course, agreed to join this fight. If it was just the Galloways, I wouldn't have to have the others join in. But since the Volturi were involved, it just made it impossible for them not to join.

"Wolves, I think you should return home." I said. Sam was about to argue, until I stopped him. "This isn't your fight. And you need to return home and protect the reservation. And feel free to tell the tribe members what's going on. It's important they know. I will have some guards check in with you every day."

"If any of the Volturi step onto our reservation, we will automatically be involved in this fight." Sam said. I nodded, agreeing. Although I would love to keep the wolves out of it, I couldn't control what decisions would be made. If the Galloways or the Volturi step foot onto the reservation, they have every right to be involved.

"I will have a couple guards take you home." I said.

I said my goodbyes and apologies to the wolves and finally sent them back home.

After about an hour, Zyra came back with news of having all the villages locked down. No members of the Galloways were in sight of any villages, they were all in hiding. And I wouldn't know where they were until I heard from Victoria.

Now, it was time to televise a speech to all the witches. They needed to know what was going on. I couldn't just have them stay in their village without announcing why. My family would never keep secrets from our people. It's one of the reasons why 98% of the witches love our family. Honesty is always needed when ruling.

I will be talking to the people who lived in the village as I did. Everyone else will be hearing this speech through television in their homes.

I didn't know exactly what to say, or how to say it. My mother was the best at speaking to the people. She was very articulate and logical. It was hard to win an argument against her.

While I was changing dresses, I had Zyra call in the witches in my village to the courtyard. The courtyard was a massive field, where my family could talk to the witches in person, allowing them to ask questions while I am on the balcony. Since this would just be my village and not all the villages, it couldn't be as packed as usual. But I could talk to majority of them in person.

I was now wearing a white and gold dress. White and gold was my family's colors. When we wore the colors, it was to symbolize our power but also to promote peace. Dark colors felt like it asserted dominance in a negative way. Light was the best to make everyone feel comfortable with the family in power.

"Everyone from the village has arrived." Edward said. All the vampires will be positioned behind me. It was best to have the witches see their face, instead of hiding them. I did this to have everyone see that I could trust them, that I wasn't afraid of them.

Edward stood behind me, twirling a couple of my curls. I had all the vampires change into something more respectable. Edward, of course, will be next to me, along with Zyra. The witches would now know about the relationship between Edward and I. I wasn't exactly worried about people being upset, I was more worried about their reaction to having another war with vampires.

"We'll be fine." Edward said. "I'm sure of it."

I took a deep breath then finally made my way towards the balcony that was above the courtyard. Everyone was talking, probably about why I suddenly called the meeting, and why all villages were on lock down.

I stopped at the doors that led to the courtyard. Some of my guards were scoping out the crowd and walking through, making sure there were no Galloways standing around. Depending on who the person was, it was ok to have a member of the Galloway Family attend these meetings. But for safety purposes, they were never allowed near my family. Especially when my parents were speaking.

When I was ready to speak, everyone became quiet when the doors opened. I walked with Edward and Zyra on my sides. I could tell from the faces on curiosity and nervousness, once they spotted the vampires. Out of respect, everyone slightly bowed and stayed quiet. It sort of surprised me, considering there were a bunch of vampires behind me. I would have thought they would automatically questioned me. At this point, I wouldn't have mind. But they still respected me.

I reached the edge of the balcony, looking through the crowd of witches.

"We're live." Zyra said.

"Hello." I said. Then I stopped. Usually I was very formal in my speeches. But I didn't have time for formality.

"I'm not going to jump around the truth, I'm not going to sugar coat anything." I said. "We have a war on our hands. The Volturi, who rule over the vampires, is now working with the Galloways to rid my family. Not only are they trying to get rid of my family, they are also trying to rid of these vampires behind me. And I know what you're all wondering. How did this happen? Why?"

I looked at Edward, then grabbed his hand.

"As you all know I left home. I left home to find someone I truly loved, who died when he was human due to a disease. But later became a vampire. I found him and returned. Many months later, a vampire named Victoria was set to kill the Volturi and I was happily ready to help. One of the members, Caius, caught on and wanted to expose who I truly was. As he did, he ended up killing a werewolf in the process. Long story short, the vampires behind me have stayed on my side, as well as the wolves. They will be in this fight as well, going against the Volturi. The reason for the lockdowns was not out of fear from the Volturi. Today, I was attacked by Luther Galloway, who has obtained a book that consists of many destructive spells. It is important to keep my people alive and safe. And in order to do so, a lock down was taken place."

I started to hesitate when it was time to tell them about Valerian. Although it was nearly impossible and highly unlikely to get him out, the thought scared me. Edward turned to look at me. He urged me to keep going.

"The Volturi and the Galloways have come up with a plan…part of that plan is to try and free Valerian out of his tomb." Before I could continue, I saw someone raise their hand in the crowd.

"Are you taking questions?" Zyra whispered. "Or shall he wait?"

"It's fine." I said. I pointed to the man raising his hand. "You have a question."

"Are the Volturi and Galloways idiots?" he said, then everyone chuckled. It slightly surprised me. "Sorry for the inappropriate language, however, the tomb has been sealed with spells. It's guarded by the ancestral witches. It's impossible."

"Yes. I know hearing that statement is…ridiculous. But we are keeping track of the Galloways and the Volturi, and we've found out that they are going to try and free Valerian from his tomb." I couldn't announce that we had an inside person working with us. Victoria was the only person needed for this fight. We needed eyes on the Volturi and Galloways.

"I will also like to apologize for this war being started. I know our past history with the vampires is…strained. But with change and the help of the peaceful ones, who stand behind me at this very moment, I believe we can change the relationship between witches and vampires. I hope that every single one of you will be open minded in this war and not be judgmental or prejudice towards these vampires." I said. "Regarding my relationship with a vampire, I hope you all will be open minded to this relationship as well. However, at the moment, Edward's position in our family will be set aside, until we can finish this war."

I saw another hand raise a few moments after. I nodded towards them.

"In other words, Princess, you want a blessing, from us, on the relationship between someone you knew before he was a vampire?" He asked.

Slightly confused, I said yes.

He man smiled and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Princess, I do not see why you're so concerned with everyone's approval. Your family has always taken care of their people. Your family has always kept us safe. Your family has always put the people first. With that being said, I believe we can say everyone here and in the other villages trust you and your family." He said. "If you believe the vampires behind you are safe, then ok, they're safe. If you love the vampire next to you, ok, then we approve. You have always put your people first, why would you stop now?"

It brought tears to my eyes when everyone verbally agreed with him. My mother always told me, being close to your people will get you far, it will get you what you want and need. On top of that, you will always have backup whenever you need it. I worked hard to gain the people's trust. I still do. And to know they immediately trust my actions really makes me happy.

"Thank you." I said. "That truly makes me happy and more relieved. This war will not be easy, but I can promise I will try my best to protect my people and keep peace within the community. As for the vampires, once this war is over, I hope we will join forces and have a better ruler for the vampires."

"Will you be recruiting for this war?" someone asked.

I looked at Zyra. Neither of us don't exactly know how many Galloway members were in the fight and we didn't know how many vampires were in as well.

"That will be determined later." I answered. "I will love to keep many of my civilians out of this as much as possible."

"I heard there was some sort of bomb at one of the Galloway's homes?" a woman said.

"A spell was presumed to be one of the bomb spells. A couple of guards were ordered to find the Galloways and bring them here. From what I heard, it wasn't an actual bomb, just a spell to trick me and these guards."

"The guards that were ordered to go into the homes were left unconscious, however, they are alive and well. The attack on the Princess, which was by the hands of Luther Galloway, is now to be arrested for his crimes."

"Will you be getting rid of the Galloways? As in killing them?" someone asked.

Killing a witch was rarely done by my family. We would only kill a witch when a mass murder of any kind was taken place. From what it will be looking like, the Galloways have a huge chance of being put to death.

"As you know, I'm always honest with everyone." I said. "Although my family is known not to kill anyone, our laws state that any witch who decides to kill any kind with no logical explanation will be put to death. As of the moment, the Galloways have yet to kill anyone. But I know that will change in the near future."

"What about the Volturi?" someone else asked.

I turned around to look at Marcus.

"As some of you may know, there was a vampire involved with the Valerian War. This vampire was let loose. Marcus, who was a part of the Volturi is now working with us." Someone was about to ask a question until I stopped them. "I know what you're all wondering, why work with a Volturi? Marcus found out that the people working with him has done unbelievable actions against him, resulting in the death of someone close to him. Not only that, Marcus is the least dangerous out of the three Volturi leaders. I can personally say that I trust Marcus. And his decision for the Volturi's fate will be in his hand."

Marcus came up next to me. "I'm going to kill them. Aro and Caius will lose their power and position as rulers for the vampires and be put to death." The words sent chills down my spine. Marcus was usually quiet. Hearing him speak this way surprised me.

"Are there any more questions?" I asked. Since there were no other questions, I called the meeting to an end.

Once I walked back inside, we were all a bit more relaxed by the decisions my people have made. They were not against the vampires, they were more than willing. And that was my biggest fear. With this support, I felt more comfortable winning this war. We have tons of witches standing behind my every move and decision.

We could win this war easily.

Unknown POV

We finished watching the speech Isabella gave. We were sitting around in some abandoned warehouse, planning attacks. But that changed once we found out Isabella shielded every single village. She was taking every single precaution possible.

On top of that, she had every witch ready to help her whenever she asked. She was a powerful person. Going against her was now nearly impossible.

And this plan of getting Valerian out of the tomb? Impossible.

If we tried and failed, the Volturi and the Galloways will be the next biggest laughing stock.

But they were willing to risk a lot to get this Valerian out. They would do anything.

And that's what scares me.

A/N: I am back in my dorms! You can expect to receive chapters on Tuesdays and Thursday, maybe even Sunday, unless I say otherwise.

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