Chapter 11: Deliberation

Marcus' POV

Our kingdom had taken millenniums to make and in a little under a month it was in complete shambles. I could almost feel the rage as I neared Aro's chambers.

"Aro, meet in the conference room. She has given terms and we must figure out what we need to do to prevail." A second later his footsteps fell in behind me. I gave the same speech as I passed Caius' room. I didn't want to look back and see the emotions on their faces.

As we sat in the conference room I finally looked at them. Aro looked surprisingly calm, almost apathetic. Caius looked like the devil incarnate. His eyes seemed to be blazing and his teeth were bared. Caius' hands were steepled and his posture completely ridged.

"We must first discuss that woman's sudden appearance." Caius said through clenched teeth. "She may be your mate, but if she keeps threatening Athenodora I might not be able to restrain myself from ripping her to shreds and burning her." I growled at his threat. "She's one of the enemies, Marcus, what do you expect to happen?" His voice was starting to rise as he stood up in anger. "I don't think she is your mate! She obviously regards you as nothing more than an enemy." I wanted to leap across the table at pin Caius to the wall, but controlled myself.

"I both felt and saw our bond. She is my mate!" There was no doubt in my voice even though on the inside I was divided. My emotions told me she was my mate, but my mind was debating that fact.

"So you have said a thousand times over, but you admitted earlier that you couldn't see any of her bonds towards others only the relationships to her. For all you know she is some sort of emotionless creature incapable of forming bonds." I tried to ignore his allegation even though they filled me with dread.

"As you were attacking her I was looking at the bonds. Where the invisible wall was keeping you at bay was the exact point where the relationships others have to her stopped. Also, when I first saw Jasper he had many bonds, but when he was in Bella's invisible wall I couldn't see them. It must be her gift. I think it stops physical attacks and my gift."

"So Alec's gift might not work on her?" Caius and I were both startled by Aro's sudden involvement in the conversation. He had been silent and unmoving throughout our whole argument. He sounded weak and sad. Caius sat back down, contemplating this prospect.

"I don't know, but it's possible." We three were silent in thought.

"If we can capture them we can't torture her, but we can torture her companion." Caius said offhandedly. I grinned.

"I'd be more than happy to torture that nuisance." I could still picture him fawning over what was mine. She is mine. Even if she doesn't know it yet. "But first I think we should try to get Chelsea to use her gift on them. Have her make Jasper and Bella loyal to us. If that doesn't work we could try Alec's and Jane's gifts together. Jane's first to distract them as Alec's gift sneaks up on them." Caius nodded at my plan and Aro just stared at the table.

"What should we do if their gifts don't work? Tell all the guards to attack? See how strong her wall is against all of us." Caius seemed reluctant, but I could tell just from looking at him that he didn't have a better plan.

"It may come to that, but let's hope it doesn't."

"That 'invisible wall' as you called it. It felt completely unmovable. I broke two of my fingers trying to get through it. It also felt slightly rounded. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a dome or sphere. We could try digging under it, but I doubt that would work unless we completely surprised her." Caius' words trailed off. "What were her terms?"

"Bella said that Vladimir and Stefan want us to burn Alec and Jane, then one third of our guard. After that is done we must 'abdicate and swear to never claim to be the rulers of anything'."

"Those are wholly unacceptable terms, but the alternative of me never seeing my Athenodora is even worse." We three didn't say anything for a few minutes. "We might just have to yield to their demands." Caius whispered.

"Even if we do comply, there is no guarantee that they will let us have our mates back. How would we even accomplish restraining Jane and Alec enough to tear them apart and kill them, let alone one third of our guard. They have set before us an impossible task." Aro wasn't looking at us as he spoke. His eyes were trained on the table. "I'm afraid that if our plan doesn't work we have truly lost everything."

"I am sorry this tragedy has befallen you, my brothers." They didn't respond. I summoned Chelsea, Jane, and Alec and told them of our plan. The rest of the guard didn't need to be informed since they would follow our directions right away when we issued them.

My mind wondered away from the issue of my brothers' captured wives to Bella's gift. Perhaps the bond didn't work both ways since she had her invisible wall up. If she just let it down for one second in front of me it might strike her as hard as it did me and resolve the whole situation.

It was a desperate thought, but I clung to it.

Bella had no reason to lower the only thing keeping her alive in this castle though. Especially not to me. She might let me in though; the way Jasper went right through her invisible wall when she went to hug him when I first saw her.

But what if, even with her invisible wall down or me inside it, she didn't feel the bond? I was full of doubt and indecision.

We started on our way to the throne room at a slow pace and I had one of the guards fetch Bella and her companion. We waited fifteen minutes in the throne room and they still hadn't come back.

"Perhaps this is some sort of power play, showing that they are the ones in control of the situation or maybe they are about to attack?" Caius speculated in a low voice. A minute later they walked in. The guard I sent had his head down. I took in Bella's appearance. She had what looked like a bed sheet wrapped around her form in a makeshift toga of sorts and her hair was in disarray. My nose flared as the scent of copulation filled the room.

My emotions went crazy. The audacity of Jasper, touching my mate, in my home, especially during such a tense situation as negotiating the release of my brothers' wives!

Bella was practically glowing and Jasper had an annoying little smirk on his face. It took everything I had not to pounce from my seat at him. He looked me right in the eyes and his smirk became bigger and he grabbed Bella's hand in his. She didn't seem to notice. She was looking at us, probably trying to read on our faces what we decided.

It took everything I had to suppress my rage.

As they stepped in the middle of the room that was Chelsea's cue to use her gift on them. She stared at them with a look of concentration that quickly changed to panic. She nodded towards Jane and Alec and Jane started trying her gift. Once again they were unaffected. A thin layer of Alec's gift slowly crept towards Bella and Jasper.

Jasper noticed it almost immediately even though when we had this room reconstructed we chose marble floors that looked almost exactly like Alec's gift. He nudged Bella and pointed towards it. She laughed.

"Yes darling I see it. I also saw them try two other gifts before he started his." Bella ran her hand through her hair as the fog of Alec's gift met her shield and simply started to roll over and around it. "Are you all done fooling around? Or must I punish you all for this insolence?"

"Guards! Attack the wall that surrounds her! She can't hold us all off!" Caius shouted. Everyone sprung at once towards her except me. I glimpsed Jasper tense up, but Bella remained unperturbed. She made eye contact with me and raised an eyebrow a second before she was blocked from my view.

More guards swarmed in from other parts of the castle and soon I couldn't see anything but them. Some were scratching against the invisible wall, others were hitting it. I saw Caius trying to dig underneath it to no avail.

Suddenly they were all pushed backwards. Many of the guards flew straight through the walls and ceiling. Bella stood unfazed in the middle of it all, only a slight glint in her eye showing her annoyance.

"Enough of this child's play. I've had twice your numbers of newborns trying the same tactic before. They're all dead now while I remain unscathed." She looked at me and my heart leapt even though I knew the only reason she chose me to speak to was because I was the only one who didn't attack. "Now have you all come to a decision about my terms? Or do I just have to kill you all myself?"


Stefan's POV

"We should rally the troops." Vladimir said as we looked over the terrace of the castle. Newborns were running drills under the direction of Bella's Peter and Charlotte. Peter's head shot up at Vladimir's words.

"But Bella said-" Peter started to say but I quickly cut him off.

"Now, now, young one, just because you held an important position in Bella's toiling in those pathetic battles does not give you power here." I chuckled as he and Charlotte exchanged a look. She disappeared into the castle then was quickly at our side.

"We were ordered by Bella to not attack the Volturi without her here." She said with complete conviction.

"She may have said this to you, but she also put you two under our command, so obey or die." I growled as I said my warning. If they acted this petulant with Bella they would have lost their heads long ago, so I'll attribute their unruliness to their loyalty towards her.

"But your plan to have her act as an emissary as to weaken their forces will be moot if we attacked now." My growl deepened at her brashness and disregard for my threat.

"Though I love my sister more than my own life she cannot be trusted to fulfill her role as emissary without exacting her own will over the strategy, inevitably clashing with my own plans." Charlotte was momentarily speechless. "I shall warn you only once more out of respect for Bella. Obey or die." Charlotte shrank back a bit and I could see her mate edgily fidgeting.

"Yes, we'll obey." Her eyes were trained on the ground, but I could tell she was speaking the truth.

"Good. I have a mission for you. There is a vampire named Paulos I need you to fetch. He is expecting my beckoning so he should be no trouble."


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