Chapter Fourteen
Forevermore Free
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Alice spent the night on one of the sofas. Bella didn't think she got much sleep because Bella woke several times during the night and heard Alice crying each time. Bella laid back down in the nest after checking on the babies and Edward reached out a hand and dragged her against his body with a grunt of contentment. She couldn't imagine the pain she would feel if she were separated from him. Poor Alice had to be in hell.
Rose arrived before breakfast to lead Alice and Bella to the palace baths, Tanya trailing them, suspicious of anyone they passed in the halls. Rose already located the baths because, as she said with a lift of her brow, she had an unerring instinct for finding naked chicks.
"Rose," Alice chided, "you'd better not let Emmett hear you say that!"
Rose shrugged. "He's really jealous around men, but a woman? He might go for that. How about you? Interested in having a little fun, Shorty?"
"Rose!" Alice was shocked but then realized that Rose was teasing her, trying to lift her spirits. "Sorry, but you so aren't my type."
The baths were nearby and easy to find, only requiring one turn down another hallway. Bella could only gape when she saw the interior. It was decked out like a harem fantasy with marble floors, divans scattered between the pools, lush potted plants and ornate fountains that functioned as showers. The mosaic walls, decorated with images of flowers, echoed with the splashing and giggles of the bathers.
The room went silent when the occupants saw the Empress had entered. Bella smiled and gave a little wave, but it was a long time before normal conversation resumed. Because of the numerous pools, they had no trouble finding an empty one. They laid their clothes on a nearby divan and sank down into the hot water with simultaneous sighs of enjoyment. Tanya knelt right by the edge of the pool, her staff laid across her thighs. Bella couldn't understand why Tanya wouldn't hop into the pool with them; surely it wouldn't impede her ability to protect Bella. But Tanya had firmly refused all invitations to join them.
"What was up with the kids this morning?" Rose asked. "I could hear them squalling as I came down the hall."
"Edward was clipping their toe claws," Bella said. "And the babies did not like it. Edward said that until they learn to walk, their toe claws have to be clipped really short because it causes pain if they're long enough to press against the floor. They won't step with their feet if it hurts, and they won't learn to walk as quickly. Once they can walk around on their own, friction against the stone floors will keep their nails from getting too long."
"Which reminds me," Alice said abruptly. "They should be getting their chip implants next week. They'll learn to talk easier once they're hearing the same language from everyone."
"Babies seem like a hell of a lot of maintenance," Rose said, shaking her head.
"I'm surprised you're not having one of your own yet," Bella confessed.
"Emmett and I decided to hold off on that for a while. I'm not exactly the maternal type."
"Rose, you would make a wonderful mother," Bella insisted.
Rose shrugged again but a bit of a flush appeared on her cheekbones. Rose hated it whenever anything made her appear "soft" or sentimental. Bella knew what it was like to fear being vulnerable and so she didn't pry.
"I didn't know the Volturi had birth control." Bella said.
"The males don't have to ejaculate in order to orgasm," Rose said and Bella blushed redder with every word. "That's why every woman here doesn't have ten thousand kids."
Well, that explained it. Bella had noticed that sex with Edward had been a little less ... messy since she'd had the twins.
"You'd think with their species dying off people would want to have more babies," Alice commented.
"Really?" Rose said. "Did you see Earth families deciding not to have kids because of the strain on Earth's resources trying to sustain seven billion people? People don't think about the good of the species when it comes to something like having kids. They think about what they want, even if they preach loudly about what other people should be doing." Rose dunked back in the tub to wet her hair and started shampooing vigorously. Bella marveled. If she wadded her hair up on top of her head like that, she'd never get the tangles out. "What about you, Bella? Have you and Edward discussed having more kids?"
Bella loved being a mother, but perhaps they should wait until things were more ... settled. "We haven't talked about it yet," she said.
"You're fucking him, aren't you? And you didn't think about birth control? If you were sleeping with a human, that would be a sure-fire way to find yourself with an unplanned pregnancy. Pretty irresponsible of you, oh great Empress of the Galaxy."
Bella flushed. "I didn't think ... I mean, I didn't ask ..."
"If you're too embarrassed to discuss birth control with your partner, you're too immature to be having sex," Rose said, her voice as blunt and painful as a thrown stone. "What? Are you going to tell me you got 'swept away by the moment' and didn't want to stop and discuss practicalities? You're an adult, Bella. Adults take responsibility for themselves."
Bella was scarlet. "Why are you riding me about this?"
"Because I care about you," Rose replied and dunked to rinse. "A little self-reflection never hurt anybody. You may be Empress of the Nine, kiddo, but you've still got some growing up to do."
Stung, Bella climbed out of the pool and dried off quickly. Don't pout. Queens don't pout. And you know she's right. Rose put a hand on her shoulder and Bella smiled at her. Her methods might be harsh, but she knew Rose spoke from love.
Jasper was waiting for them outside when they left the baths. Tanya stepped between Bella and Jasper, her eyes narrowed. This was the second time she'd done something like that and Bella wondered if Tanya thought Jasper could be dangerous.
Alice tried to walk on as if she hadn't seen him but he wouldn't allow that. He jumped into her path. "Alice." He looked like hell, his eyes bleak over dark circles, his face pale and strained.
"Go away, Jasper," she said. "I don't want to talk to you right now."
"Alice, please," he rasped. "Losing you is killing me."
"Well, you should have thought about that before treating me like I didn't matter," Alice retorted. She tried to step around him and he threw out his arm to block her.
Rose knocked it down and pointed a finger in his face. "Back the fuck off or I will hurt you, Jasper."
Jasper dropped his arm. He turned to Bella, his eyes desperate. "Help me, please!"
"I can't," Bella said. "This is a problem of your own making and you have to figure out how to fix it."
"Alice, tell me what I need to do!" he begged, but Alice walked away, her head held firmly high even though tears shimmered in her eyes.
"What do you see in the future for you and Jasper?" Bella trotted to catch up with Alice's swift strides.
Alice dashed away her tears. "Nothing. I can't see anything. It's like there's a black wall blocking my vision. And that scares me."
The palace's Council chambers fell silent as the Emperor of the Nine rose from his cushion and approached the edge of the dais. Speculation ran high as to the reason this Grand Council meeting had been called and the room was stuffed to full capacity with Council members, politicians, and the curious. Hundreds of camera lenses focused on him.
There were those who were certain that the Emperor was about to announce his daughter's mating with the Prince of Por Tangeles and the politicians among them had scrambled to make friendly overtures to the Por Tangelo Council members, sending lavish gifts to those who had influence with the king. Others felt that the Emperor was going to announce a tax increase because the Federation's financial difficulties were well-known. Tax opposition groups had already prepared rebuttal speeches and one was busily organizing a protest.
None of them were prepared for what the Emperor said.
"By my authority as Emperor of the Nine, it is ordered that mate searches be suspended until such time as the rebellion has ended."
Protocol was shattered. There were loud gasps, cries of shock and a few shouts of outrage. Edward continued as if he didn't hear anything.
"By my authority as Emperor of the Nine, all drones on planets which are in a state of rebellion against the Federation are hereby, and forevermore, free. Further, any drone who takes up arms in defense of the Federation will be granted full citizenship with all of the rights and privileges thereof."
None of the recordings were able to capture the last two words of the Emperor's statement. Pandemonium had broken out and his voice drowned out by the roar of the were a few cheers and the sound of stamping feet, but they could barely be heard.
Edward turned to Bella and extended his hand to her. Bella rose and took it, her eyes staring blindly out into the tumult. "So be it," Edward said softly, squeezing her hand.
"So be it," Bella echoed. Her heart was pounding, but with his hand in hers, she could face anything. She lifted her chin and let the noise wash over her.
"What can I say?" James responded to the question being asked by one of the reporters who surrounded him. "That human whore is determined to destroy the very fabric of our society. What she did not count on is the loyalty of our drones. They are part of our families and they love us. So, no, do not fear any uprisings and disregard any rumors you hear about drones running away in droves as falsehoods planted by the Federation to undermine your confidence." He said the words 'running away in droves' with deep sarcasm as if the idea drones would willingly leave their slavery was too ridiculous to even consider.
"You really have to be impressed with a guy who can lie so well," Rose said, clicking off the viewscreen. "Bombs could be flying and ships exploding in the background and he'd be standing there saying, with a straight face, 'Nothing to see here, people. Move along'."
Bella, Esme and Rose were in the palace storage rooms, packing up a boxes of Edward's father's clothing to take to the refugee center. Bella didn't want to watch the vids any more. Rarely were they positive these days, but Rose insisted she stay current and brought her portable viewscreen everywhere, even to the baths.
It was hard to believe it had been a week since they had issued the Proclamation. It seemed like one, long endless day. Bella and Edward were both exhausted, snatching a few hours' sleep wherever they could. They seemed to always be playing catch-up, with another crisis starting before the last had been fully resolved.
Drones were pouring in from all over the galaxy, escaping their owners and stowing away on ships and planet hopping to reach Volterra. An Underground Railroad of sorts had sprung up to help the drones escape, though the details were shadowy. One thing was clear: it was being funded by someone with a lot of money.
Horrible stories were circulating. Until Edward had issued another proclamation two days ago, it wasn't illegal to beat or kill a drone and many who tried to escape met awful fates. Bounty hunters and drone-catchers multiplied with the sudden surge in business. Some of the taller drones were cutting off their tails, hoping to "pass" as Betas with fake IDs acquired from questionable sources.
Processing all of the new arrivals was an immense job. Edward had transferred many of the people who worked on the mate search databases over to registration of the new drone troops so that there would be as few people put out of work as possible. To Bella's surprise, they also got a fair number of volunteers. Though there hadn't been an active abolition movement, it seemed that there had been an undercurrent of opposition to the slavery of the drones.
Supplies were scarce. Many of the drones came only with the clothes on their backs, hungry and scared to death that the Emperor and Empress wouldn't keep their promises. Bella had used some of her Empress funds to purchase an old hotel to give the drones somewhere to live until they could be transferred to camps for training, which, of course, brought up the question off who was going to train them. Edward coaxed a couple of his combat teachers out of retirement so that they could design a new training program which would turn the drones into adequate soldiers. Drones who had security or bodyguard experience found themselves promoted to officers in the new units.
Two planets, Kebi and Fenix, had hastily amended their constitutions, forbidding drones from entering military service or living as free men on their planet. Edward sighed in frustration when he heard it. "A symbolic gesture which will do nothing but cost the people money they can ill-afford. The inter-planetary courts will strike it down, because a planet's laws cannot contradict Federation law. They'll fight for it in court, of course, and drag it out as long as possible, but the ruling of the court is already a foregone conclusion. I don't understand why they'd do this."
"The politicians behind it will get credit for trying from their constituents who are opposed to Emancipation, even if the courts do strike it down," Bella said. "If it goes anything like what I saw on my planet, they'll then condemn the courts."
Now, this afternoon, Bella was searching the palace store rooms for anything that could be used to help the destitute drones. It seemed that no member of the royal family ever threw anything away and it promised to be a very long job.
Esme made a small, choked sound and Bella went over to see what had caused it. Esme was kneeling in front of a box, a small bit of fabric held in her hands. As Bella got closer, she could see that it was a tiny tunic. "This was Edward's," Esme said, her voice unsteady. "I made it for him when he was a baby."
Bella knelt beside her and put her arms around Esme, who now had tears streaking her cheeks. She squeezed Bella hard and laid her head on Bella's shoulder.
"Esme, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"I want to have another baby," Esme blurted. "Carlisle won't even consider it."
"Why not?"
Esme sat back and rubbed the little tunic with her thumbs. "He thinks we did something terribly wrong in raising our children for them to turn out as they did."
"That's bullshit," Rose said. "You practically raised Edward, didn't you? And look how well he turned out."
Esme shook her head. "Maybe Carlisle is right. We spoiled James, maybe indulged him too much or didn't discipline him like we should have. He was so sweet when he was little. It's hard to believe that-" She cut off the sentence, her eyes on the baby tunic. "His brothers always looked up to him, adored him. But I never would have dreamed they would follow James into something like this."
"Esme, it is not your fault," Bella insisted.
"All three of them have their communicators set to reject any letters from me." Esme put the tunic back into the box, laying it tenderly on top of other other clothes before she shut the lid. "I still love them, Bella."
"Of course you do. You're their mother," said Rose. "Want me to talk to Carlisle?"
"No!" Esme was alarmed. "He'd be upset, I'm sure, if he knew I were talking to you about such ... intimate matters."
Rose's communicator beeped and she glanced at it. "Alice says there's something we have to see."
Oh no, what now, Bella thought and braced herself for an assault as Rose turned on her viewscreen and selected the video.
The man who appeared on the screen seemed familiar, but Bella couldn't place him at first, but as he continued to speak, she realized with a jolt that it was the man who'd been hit by the rock the morning of their move to the palace.
"I was wrong. So wrong. If she's not the Goddess, she's certainly a gift sent to us by Her. The Empress ran across the rough ground to help me when I had done nothing but insult her, risked her own safety in a crowd which might have hurt her. With her own hands, she tended me until help could be summoned. I'm very ashamed of how I treated her."
"He's host of a popular talk-show vid series," Rose said. "Having him in our corner could be really beneficial to the cause. Good job, B. Maybe you should give him an interview or something."
Bella shook her head. "I wouldn't know what to say."
They finished gathering the clothes and Rosalie and Bella set off for the refugee camp. Some of her own clothes were in the bags Rose and the palace drones carried. (Bella had been shocked when none of them elected to leave her service to join the military.) A handful of women had come with some of the drones. Some were widows who had fallen in love with the drones who served them. A few had left behind husbands, a situation which required Bella to reassign some of the palace guards to the drone camp.
When they arrived at the refugee camp, Bella was swarmed. Tanya hadn't been exaggerating when she said the drones loved Bella. Some of them even wore images of her pinned to their clothes. They all wanted to touch her, which Bella tried to bear stoically, as much as she hated having strangers' hands on her. Tanya was surprisingly gentle when she moved the crowd back a few feet from the Empress.
She and Rose started passing out the clothing. A man and woman knelt in front of her and Bella automatically held out a woman's tunic to her. Bella was surprised to recognize her: the ginger-haired woman who had tried to introduce herself to Bella in the baths only to have Tanya slam her staff down to block her path.
"No, Empress, thank you. We do not need clothing," the man said. He and the woman joined hands, glancing nervously at one another. "We came to you to ask that you perform our mating ceremony."
"Mating?" Bella repeated. Drones couldn't mate- Or could they? If they had the same rights as other citizens...
"I- I'm not sure I can," Bella said. "I'm not a priest."
The man bowed lower, touching his forehead to the hem of Bella's tunic. "You are a living incarnation of the Goddess. You are the one who blends the souls of mated couples."
"I ... um ... can't answer now," Bella told him. "I'll be back here tomorrow and I'll tell you then."
On the drive home, Rose had a grim set to her features. "What's wrong?" Bella asked.
"I know what you're thinking," Rose said. "You're thinking that they can't mate. The law doesn't permit it. Are you really going to deny them marriage rights, B? I would think you'd understand why this hits home for me. You can justify not spending precious resources to go out and find them a compatible mate because they're infertile, but they should have the same goddamn rights as everyone else when it comes to marrying the person they love."
"I need to discuss this with Edward."
"No, you don't," Rose said, her voice sharp. "You're the Empress and you have the exact same fucking legislative powers that he does."
"Be that as it may, I cannot do something this momentous without talking to him. We're partners, Rose, and his input is important to me."
"So, all your talk about freedom and equal rights was just bullshit, then." Rose glared at Bella, her arms crossed over her ample chest. "If you don't do this, Bella, you're not the person I thought you were."
Bella wanted to seek out Edward as soon as they arrived back at the palace, but she went to check on the babies first. Alice was on nanny duty today. Rose departed for her own quarters, still angry, judging by the way she stomped down the hall.
Bella found the babies had been put down for their afternoon nap when she entered the nest room. Victoria's head was pillowed on Little Carlisle's stomach and Nessie was quietly playing with her toes. She let out a delighted coo when she saw her mother and held out her arms in the universal children's demand to be picked up. Bella leaned down into the nest and gave her a kiss and a snuggle but left her where she was. Her own schedule might be hectic and erratic these days, but she wanted to give the children the stability of routine.
Alice was lying on the couch, listless and wan. She'd lost weight over the last week, a cause for concern in someone so small. She wasn't eating nor sleeping well. Her face was pale and drawn and there was no doubt she was as miserable without Jasper as he was without her. Alice had been sleeping on a cot in the babies' room, and Jasper slept on the floor of their quarters by the connecting door, the tip of his tail poking beneath the door as if he were desperate to do anything to be closer to his mate.
"This can't go on," Bella said. "Get up, Alice. You need to talk to Jasper and work this out. You're doing nothing but laying on that couch all day, mourning your life away. You want to be with him, don't you?"
"Yes," Alice whispered. "More than anything. But I can't live like we were, Bella."
"You can't live like this, either. I'm going to find him."
He wasn't far. He was sitting by the connecting door and looked like he hadn't moved from that spot in days. His tunic was badly rumpled and creased and his hair stuck out wildly all over his head, except for the flat spot where he pressed it against the door each evening while he slept, his body instinctively straining to hear Alice breathe.
"Alice, come here," Bella ordered.
Alice obeyed, her head hanging. She dragged with her the blanket she'd been using on the couch as if it lent her some security. Jasper's eyes roamed over her, drinking in the sight of her like a thirsty man in the desert. Alice merely stood there, her eyes fastened on the ground. It was a few moments before he knelt at her feet and spoke.
"I want to ask your forgiveness. I've had more than enough time to consider my actions and the way I treated you, more than enough time to understand why it is that I've lost you. I'm just asking, please, Alice, let me stay on the periphery of your life. Let me see you, even if only from a distance. Let me see my daughter. It hurts to breathe without your scent in the air."
Alice burst into tears and did as she wanted: she ran into his arms. Jasper enveloped her tiny body with his own, shuddering.
Bella smiled and closed the door behind her as she left.