A/N: Everybody was on anon last update so Imma answer some things.

First, Esme's husband Charles is not the same as King Charles, Renee's husband and Bella's father. They are two separate people. I had Bella lament that they shared a name because her father was kind when Esme's husband was a tyrant, but I wanted to make sure to repeat it. I know y'all read a lot of fanfic hehe.

Second, someone said something about Bella's thought process about how she might actually enjoy James's company under other circumstances. If you want to talk about it, feel free to hit me up.

When she had seen her mother for King Caius's funeral, Renee had some advice to Bella on how to be a queen.

"You will be mother to your people, Bella. The King will not have time to go among the common folk, but you should make it your priority. See with your own eyes how they suffer so you may see how to help them. Your husband will come to depend on you. He will listen to you."

In practice, it was rare James listened to her. Bella reckoned this was his father's fault. James had some respect for women. He revered his mother and would have listened to anything she said. King Caius's disdain for Forkshire, including its Queen and Princess, was thinly veiled at best. Bella was part of a peace deal, nothing more.

Still, Bella did her best not to let James forget she had a voice. She didn't let him forget of his people's suffering, for what little good it did her.

"My King-"

"Yes, My Lady, I have heard you," James said, waving Bella off. "This and that and the starving guttersnipe children." He looked to Bella's uncle who sat at his right side. "The running of a kingdom is so tedious. You ran Forkshire for your sister after her husband's death, did you not, Lord Aro?"

Aro laughed, his gaze shifting to Bella and back to James quickly. "I assisted Queen Renee in the same manner I do you, Your Majesty."

"You got Forkshire on solid ground. Perhaps I should turn the running of kingdom over to you." James was joking but only just. Bella had no doubt the lout would rather be hunting or whoring as it pleased him. He had confessed to her, after his father's death, that he felt robbed. Caius had a good decade of life left in him if not more.

Bella almost wished her uncle would take over running things. The people of Forkshire were not starving like many in Nomadia. By chance, Aro had many decades of experience in kingcraft and…

Someone touched her arm. Bella raised her head and blinked at her husband. He looked concerned. "Are you well, My Lady?"

"I…What?"

"You gasped, and you look pale. Are you going to be ill?"

Bella's heart pounded fast. Her head was spinning. "I… yes. I'm not feeling well at all."

"Your ladies will escort you to your chambers." James beckoned to her ladies-in-waiting. "I told you it was too soon for you to be out of bed. You should rest easy, sweetling. The child you carry is my son, and this castle has a sordid history with babes in the womb."

"Your Majesty, you would do well not to tempt fate," Aro said. "This child is blessed, surely. We will announce your happy news soon, and that will bring joy to your people."

Bella trembled and let her be led away by her ladies. Her mind would not wrap around the thought that had occurred to her, but nor would that thought let itself be shaken. She let her ladies lead her as far as her room before she made her excuses, begging them to let her alone. As they were all no doubt aware of the ailing of breeding women, they were all too eager to let Alice take over.

When they were behind closed doors, Bella grabbed Alice's hand. "Alice. Oh, Alice, I have no right to ask what I am about to beg of you, not after what you've already suffered at my husband's hand."

Alice paled, but she knelt before Bella. "You may ask, My Lady. There is no harm in asking."

Bella took a deep breath. "I need you to get a message to Edward."

"That is easy enough."

"But you mustn't let anyone else hear you, nor even be suspicious of what you might say. That is important." She tapped her lips. "Or perhaps I might write it down so you will not know-"

"Tell me, Bella," Alice said.

Bella's breath caught. Since Edward had told her Carlisle's story, Bella couldn't help but fear for her and her child's lives. She arranged and rearranged the pieces in her mind, wondering if there truly was a connection between King Caius's death and the deaths so many years before. She had noted before that Aro, for a man who was not himself a royal, had garnered a considerable amount of power. All her life he had travelled between Forkshire and Volterra often to advise King Marcus. While Bella thought her mother a wise and capable Queen in her own right, Renee had taken Aro's council in most things. Now, though he joked, James did as Aro suggested most of the time. In fact, Bella had more than once taken to asking her uncle to reason with James directly rather than try to bring up a difficult subject to her husband herself.

"You can tell me," Alice said again.

Bella let out a long, slow breath, trying to calm herself and orient her thoughts. Did she really believe her uncle capable of such atrocities as killing kings and queens, of killing children and unborn babes? And to what purpose? Aro would never be a king himself. He could not be.

As strange as she found him at times, Aro was her uncle. He had doted upon her and sat her on his knees when she was little. It was him who'd held her when her father died.

Bella's stomach twisted.

What if he'd held her, rocked her, all while being the one responsible for her father's death? Though she had been but a child, she remembered Charles and Aro had argued. She recalled an argument she had accidentally witnessed a short time before his death when she went to show her father something she'd found in the forest.

"Enough, Aro. You are not the king."

Bella took a deep breath and looked up at her friend. "I need you to tell Edward exactly this: What if it was Aro?"

Alice blinked. "Is that all?"

Bella took Alice by the shoulders. "It is important Alice, and it is important you let no one hear you. I know you don't understand, and I hope you will never have to understand."

"Of course, I will abide, My Lady."

"Go now."

Alice nodded and moved to the antechamber just as James was coming in. She shrank back instinctually, and Bella's heart twisted. She hated to see Alice so scared. Her friend sank down into a low curtsey as the king entered. "Good morrow, Your Majesty."

Before she could rise, James put his hand on Alice's shoulder, holding her down so she had to kneel to keep her balance. He clucked, moving his hand up to her chin and forcing her head up. "Are you behaving yourself, girl? Have you learned your lesson about what happens to thieves in my midst?"

Bella sat up on the bed, fuming. She wanted her husband's hands off her friend as much as she never wanted them near her again.

Alice took an unsteady breath, and did not argue that she was innocent of any wrongdoing. "Your Majesty is most merciful. I would not waste this second chance you've allowed me."

"That is good. You are young yet and strong. You would have toiled many years in the fields if not for my mercy and your Queen's nostalgia. You understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"The Queen trusts you to care for her and your future prince."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Alice swallowed hard. "I was on my way to the kitchens just now to fetch the Queen a bit of broth to keep her strength."

James studied her and finally let go her chin. "Off with you then."

Bella was quiet as James stepped toward her. She remembered when Aro told her she was betrothed to the Prince of Nomadia. How she had hated him then. In the end, though, she understood. She had always understood her place. She was always going to be married to some prince of somewhere. Her husband was always going to be a stranger in a strange land, and truth be told, it was likely she could have had much worse than the likes of James.

She already knew she was a pawn for peace between Nomadia and Forkshire, but now she wondered if she was the bridge her uncle used to gain the power of the throne.

When James sat beside her on the bed, Bella pushed those thoughts away. She had to concentrate not to flinch when he patted her cheek. "You should be in bed, not merely atop it, sweet girl."

"That is a good idea." She did feel faint. She shivered, and let James pull her to her feet. Though his touch revolted her, Bella forced herself to relax as he helped her out of some of her layers so she could climb into bed in comfort.

He stroked the hair away from her face with tender motions, and for a moment, he seemed nervous. "Would you like me to hold you, sweetling?"

"I… no, James. I'm sure you have many more important things to do."

His brow furrowed as he ran his fingers over her cheek. His look was more intent than Bella had ever seen. "I am no fool, Bella. I know you have no love for me, much as I wish you did."

Bella tilted her head and wondered what love meant to a man like James. She had to admit, he had at least tried to show her tenderness. She'd heard enough gossip from her ladies to understand many men showed no consideration to their wives in their marital bed. James was gentle, or he had been with exception of that evening after he beat Edward.

If Bella had not known what true love looked and sounded like, she might have been fooled by her husband playing at it. "Do you love me, husband?"

He bowed his head. His smirk reappeared as his hand dropped to the bed. "Love is a woman's game and unseemly for a man. You are my wife. You carry my child. I care for you."

Bella thought of Edward and how readily he told her he loved her, how he loved their child. He thought of Carlisle's sacrifice, how he gave up his titles and most his lands so he had the freedom to remain unmarried for Esme. They were real men. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of the rest of her life. "I'm tired, James."

"Sleep, My Queen."

~0~

It was days before Edward could see Bella.

The mercy of the situation was now that she was with child, James did not visit Bella's room at night. Still, since Edward had returned to work, Santiago had been harder on him. He was oft left too exhausted to risk climbing the wall to her room.

Late on a moonless night, Edward could stand their separation no more. He scaled the wall and swept her into his arms before she had a chance to utter much more than his name. His hands were everywhere on her as he couldn't decide how best to hold her. With his hands spread across her back he could pull her close against his body, but he did so love to run his fingers through her soft hair when he kissed her. He couldn't imagine a time when he would ever have enough of her, of this.

Eventually, though, he recalled there was much to discuss, and she was with child. It would do neither of them much good if he forgot himself.

With a sigh, Edward kissed her once more and stepped back. He chuckled at the state of her hair and bedclothes. Both were rumpled. Remembering her fingers stroking and tugging his hair, Edward could guess he looked much the same. He took her hand and led her to the sofa. There, he pulled her close to him so he could kiss her cheek and hold her as they spoke.

She asked about his mother, and Edward told her of the little time they had together.

"Her hands were so soft. She was gentle and kind." He rested his head against hers. "You would like her, my love. I hope you will have a chance to meet her someday." He sighed. "My mother has loved me all my life. I heard it in every word she spoke, felt it in every touch. I am a son, Bella. I have never been a son."

"I am glad for you. I only wish there were some way to restore her title. You are not only a son but the son of a Queen. There must be some way. The throne should be yours."

"I've no desire to be a king. I do not want the throne."

She shifted in his arms so she could look in his eyes. "The throne would have entitled you to a great many things. Me, for instance."

He considered her words for a long moment. "I know something of being someone's property, Your Highness. I do not wish for you to be my property."

"That is not what I meant."

"I know, love. I simply wish we were free to love as we wished, without the complication of thrones and social classes between us." He kissed her forehead. "Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Have you…Have you considered that if my father could get my mother out, he could also do the same for you?"

She was quiet for too long, but she rested her head against his shoulder. "Of course I have considered it. But what then, Edward? If we disappeared at the same time, James would know. He is the jealous sort. I do not put it past him to hunt us to the end of our days. What would that mean for us? Would we have to give our child away as your mother gave you up?"

He held her tighter, feeling possessive. "And I have no way to support you, no trade to make my living. I know. I know."

She put a hand to his cheek and waited until he looked up. "You take better care of me now than my husband ever could. You are a good man, Edward. You would make a good king, and it is your birthright."

"What you speak of is impossible. Blood has not made James a good king. Blood will not give me a throne." He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with her insistence.

"It is not impossible."

"How, Bella? How would it be possible to restore my mother to a throne she doesn't want eighteen years after her death?"

Bella slumped. "I know not. But we may start by finding who set out to kill her all those years ago, who may yet kill me and your son."

A chill went down Edward's spine. He clenched his fists and held her tighter. Leaving her with her husband day after day was bad enough. He wanted to believe as Carlisle did, that she was in no danger. Whomever was killing kings had her where he wanted her.

"You truly believe it was your uncle?"

"I believe my uncle has slowly gathered more power since those days. Think of it, Edward. Nomadia, Volterra, Dwyer, Forkshire. All have experienced mysterious deaths. Yes, what those people died of were common enough ailments, so their deaths looked natural, but we need look no further than your mother to know with certainty they were murders."

"My mother's near death and her husband's death were murders, that is certain. But all the deaths here? King Caius, the deaths in Volterra." He touched her cheek. "Are you saying you believe your uncle is responsible for your father's death?"

"I am saying my uncle is the common link. In all cases he has come to have more power than he would have if people had not died. Do you suppose there's a way to speak to some of the older servants, someone who was here before? Carlisle told you he didn't recognize my parents because he had not seen them at court, but it would stand to reason Forkshire had a presence here. Perhaps Aro served as envoy?"

"That is something to consider. It will have to be investigated very carefully. After James's ill treatment of Alice and me, some may be willing to speak. We will have to be careful as to whom."

Bella shuddered and placed her hand against his cheek to turn his face to her. She kissed him then. It was a hungry kiss, needy. Edward was only too happy to return her kiss until the desperate way she grabbed at him caught his attention. When he broke their kiss, he was surprised and horrified to find she was crying.

"What is it? Bella…" He caught her face in his hands but she lunged forward. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him. "Sweet girl, what is it?"

She groaned and pulled away. "Do not call me that."

Edward was at a loss. Her temperament had changed, again, in the blink of an eye. "All right. I'm sorry." He reached out with tentative fingers. He half expected her to snap at him like a feral dog, but her scowl faded to a more sheepish expression as he wiped away her tears.

"It is I who should apologize." She settled against him again, hiding her face. "It strikes me at times how precarious our situation is. What we are doing is so dangerous, Edward. If the king caught you but looking at me… And yet I ask you to risk more."

"For your sake, Bella, for the sake of our child, I would risk anything."

She tightened her arms around him. "I cannot lose you. I cannot bear to think of my life without you."

Carlisle's words from weeks before. "It is all but guaranteed the King will kill you before you reach old age." Edward's ever-present worry was that the same was true of Bella. "We will endure. I will make you safe, I promise."

Bella sniffled in his ear. "I'm sorry. These tears overtake me at times."

"Emmett told me it is much the same with Rosalie." He rubbed her back in slow circles. "It is the baby crying, not you."

She lifted her head and smiled. "Our baby." She moved again so she was kneeling on the couch beside him and began to undo the buttons of her dressing gown.

"Bella, what-"

"Hush." Her cheeks flamed, and she hesitated. Then she took his hand and pressed it to the bare skin of her belly under her dressing gown.

He didn't understand what she was doing until she pressed down. He felt the contrast of the soft, pliant skin of her stomach and the taut ball she pressed his palm against. "I can feel it."

She rested one hand over his and the other at the back of his neck. She played with the hairs at his nape as he moved his hand over her skin.

His grin threatened to split his face. He kissed her reverently and stroked his thumb over her belly as though he were caressing their child.

"It's worth it," he said, resting his forehead against hers. "Every minute is worth it to me. It's a risk I take gladly."

A/N: Thanks so much to jessypt and barburella and everydaybella.

Getting down to the brass tacks, kids.