21

Song inspiration for this chapter is Agnes Obel's 'It Happening Again', which is foreshadowing of times to come…if you can, I recommend listening to it whilst reading this chapter.

"Are you sure you will be okay if I attend to some business? I offered to speak to the ancients and hold a small meeting about the situation with Irina," Edward asked for the tenth time.

I rolled my eyes at him, securing the towel loosely around my chest and plopped onto the bed. I made no effort to hide my ogling; his back was to me with only a towel hanging low on his hips covering his nudity. Since he was more acquainted with the clothes of today, he was determined to dress himself; right now, he was having a tough time deciding the appropriate attire for a rather formal addressal of the ancients. I was far from envious of that task.

I watched the muscles of his back dance together, his muscular frame made quite the enjoyable sight to me now I was sated and no longer weak.

"Edward I am not some invalid, trust me, I am far powerful now than I was before thanks to our little bonding activity," I winked just in time for him turning to face me.

His own proud smile found its place across his features; he seemed rather pleased with himself.

"That is true but I feel as if I should be spending as much time as I can with you with me missing two hundred years of your life," He added, finally deciding upon a navy button up shirt with some designer label. He shrugged it on whilst I crawled on my knees across to the bed to reach him. I perched up on my knees to stand up enough to level with his chest.

With a coy smile from me, I began to button up his shirt slowly, bidding my time with him.

"We have plenty of time for sentimental catch ups but you are the Prince of your people and have responsibilities. Besides, I will oversee the training of the newborns since everyone else is occupied," I countered, it was true, I was more than excited to run the training session and give the newborns my own thoughts, opinions and strategies about combat.

In addition, my perspective as a short female would also aid some of the women, especially Bree, who was used to the teachings of Jasper and Emmett who were over six feet tall, matching the height of an average lycan. This way, I could potentially make a difference between a mistake resulting in death or training them adequately to read the situation with their own limitations like height and come out triumphant.

From what I had gathered, Jasper and Emmett were busying renovating the tunnel and making plans where to build the new one, which would keep them busy for quite some time considering they would need to design it perfectly, purchase materials and finally build it. The previous tunnel was miles long so it would take a long time to completely dismantle so their time to train at least for the near future was limited.

I patted Edward's chest when I finished the job of buttoning his shirt, rubbing the material and smoothing out any flaws. He moved pulling on some smart black trousers and stepped into some equally as smart shoes. The contact warmed me somehow, knowing I could touch him freely again, feeling close to him was wearing at my willpower but every time I thought about forgiving him fully, my mother's final moments always flashed to the front of my mind. It was something I would never recover from fully after witnessing it first hand and being so helpless so stop it, I wished I had fought harder and reached her in time. Esme was a perfect mother like figure to me, in my eyes she was my mother but there was always the fact that she was only my mother through Edward, my own was long dead and it was hard to accept, harder to accept that Edward kept her away from me for over eight hundred years.

I choked back the tears and smiled wearily at him.

"All done, now you are ready to address your people my Prince," my voice was close to wavering but I reeled it in, each word coming out as lively as I could manage. I could sense that he knew something was wrong and I was glad he did not push me for more information.

His burgundy eyes squinted slightly as he eyed me, he frowned momentarily before picking my hands up with his own and kissing my knuckles.

"I won't be long."

"Take your time, the newborns will keep me busy," I countered, waving him out, gently dismissing him.

Before he left, he planted a soft kiss on my lips. I closed my eyes allowing myself to feel him more and when I reopened them, he was gone.

The room felt odd without him, empty, almost isolating in a sense, which was unexpected considering a few days ago I was struggling to come to terms with seeing him, wishing I could rather disappear and never see him again.

I worked fast, pulling on some underwear, nothing too racy, which was hard to find in the mountain of clothes Alice had stocked my wardrobe with. After I found the tamest pair, I settled on some black leggings first as imagined I would be throwing myself around and I needed to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions, tight denim was never suitable for strenuous combat. I had learned that a few years back whilst residing and hunting with the Irish clan who I was very close to, ending up with the splitting of my jeans, underwear on full show. I still found it hard to look Liam in the eye but Maggie and Siobhan found it all too amusing which I admit was easier to laugh at now.

Whilst browsing, my fingers trailed along soft cotton and I pulled out the long sleeved grey shirt with a modest scoop neck. It was casual, just how I liked to dress. I flung it on whilst stepping into some ankle boots and set off out of the tower into the mainstream connection of corridors.

Keeping a quick pace mostly to avoid any questions about the prior days, I made relatively quick time reaching the training room. Just over a dozen young vampires stood waiting; the ancients were all attending the meeting Edward was holding. I was glad to see Bree waiting, her eyes lit up when she saw me, I smiled walking forward.

Everyone bowed, dropping to their knees, head hung low at my presence. This custom made me uncomfortable, I know for Edward he marked it as a sign of respect as did the other royals but I was born a poor modest girl and could never get used to being classed as more important or valuable than another person.

"Please, everyone stand. Whilst I am here there is no need for such formality," I assured them.

Bree was the first to stand, the others were wary but again I assured them that their submissiveness and bowing was incredibly unnecessary.

Once everyone finally stood, I inspected them carefully, there was more men than woman, with seven tall males present which trumped six females. It also meant I would need to collaborate with one of them since I was considering duo training to begin with.

"If everyone would please partner up with someone, I would appreciate it,"

I scanned their faces, eyes landing on Bree.

"Bree, come partner with me," I said, noticing her shy demeanour about finding a partner, physically she looked like the youngest of the lot so I was not surprised her teenage insecurities followed suit into her immortal life. Frozen in puberty was not the ideal situation to live like for eternity but I imagined time would pass and she would learn to cope with it.

"Now I want you to work on sparring to begin with. No kicks, no use of any other body parts but your arms. When fighting a lycan in real circumstances, the quickest way to dispose of them is to pull their heart out. This may seem like an easy task but their reflexes are just as quick as ours, work on misleading your target about where your next punch will land but work on landing in the chest area," I advised.

Everyone seemed pleased with the challenge; I believed it would take a while for someone to succeed reaching their opponents chest considering their main objective was to protect it so it would be an interesting combat for them all. It certainly took me a while to achieve it whilst under Aro's training.

I led the way to a sparsely used corner of the room and Bree followed dutifully, I did this mostly for concentration's sakes since I did not want her to focus on anyone else's achievements, skills or victories other than mine and her own since it could be discouraging.

"It is great to see you again, how did the rest of the training session with Edward and my brothers play out?"

She looked down at her feet, eyes avoiding my gaze and bit her lip, smiling a little.

"Go ahead," I urged on, I kept my voice light and encouraging.

She met my gaze with wary eyes.

"The contrast between your mate and yourself is mystifying…he was incredibly demanding, strict and-"

"-A hard ass. Edward is demanding but he grew up knowing he would be king one day and he strives for perfection. He expects the best and fails to remember sometimes that we all having feelings. As for me, I only expect your best, whatever you are capable of then I am happy. I will not push you too hard…yet," I finished for her, laughing at the end.

That earned a smile from her. Her curly dark locks bounced in a familiar way as she joined in on the laughter, reminding me of Emmett when he was a young boy when he was free to grow his hair as long as he wanted much to the insistence of my father. Although admittedly we were all happy when he finally asked for a haircut as he suited his shorter curls a lot better. My mother was joyous to see her handsome boy's face again, no longer shielded by a curtain of wild unruly curls and she had pinched his cheeks pink for weeks after, enjoying the sight. I shook the resemblance from my mind warding off a sad smile and focused on the task ahead.

Edward was incredibly demanding, he expected perfection in almost every aspect of his life but I could not blame him since he was actually battling himself, he wanted to be a perfect leader, a perfect future king and mistakes could cost him that. I would however need to speak with him about his attitude and expectations of the younger vampires; they had many more limitations in comparison to nobles and ancients and an understanding of this would ease the thoughts of these young vampires and make him a much more approachable leader. This was an invaluable perspective of him to possess and would ease his reign and earn the loyalty of his army and people without fear.

"Now, let's jump straight into it. Aim for my chest with either a punch or pulling gesture, this is the best way to mimic the art of tearing a wolf's heart out."

Bree was quick to move, surprising me as she launched herself across the space between us, before I even finished getting the words out. I side stepped just in time, avoiding her attack. I craned my neck back just slightly to observe her own look of disbelief that she had indeed missed me, from her facial expression, she had not imagined I would evade her.

She resumed the chase, her speed almost unfathomable for a young one, but I shook it off and used the wall to my advantage, kicking myself upwards, twirling backwards over her, landing with a small thud behind her. I moved quickly away from her as she herself spun on her heels, hands reaching for my chest, she was a finger's length away from touching me.

I found myself confused by her superior skill and power, I knew that she was talented, I saw that from her first training session but this was unusually good for such a young one.

"Stop," I commanded, walking towards her.

The fun smile disappeared from her face, and she frowned.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Of course not," I was quick to reassure her.

She looked at me with confusion finding its way across her soft features.

"Bree how old were you when you were turned?" I started my line of questioning with something easy, she looked young, too young for my liking. I doubted her transition into this life came with the permission of the royals and council if she was as young as I thought she was.

"Fourteen, a few months shy of my fifteenth birthday," She answered immediately.

I gasped, she was the youngest vampire physically I had come across in modern time. Even more shocking was the fact that the royals knew of her existence otherwise she would not exist, someone was allowed to turn her so young without any consequence.

"How old are you Bree? I mean you can't be a newborn or a young one, your skills are unlike any other newborns I have seen," I explained my line of questioning.

She quickly sighed and looked up at me, there was not much of a height difference between us, only about an inch or two.

"I am not a newborn or a young one. Isabella, I am just under fifteen years shy of becoming an ancient, I am nine hundred and eighty five years old, counting my human years," She admitted quietly.

The words took me back; I was only fifteen years older than she was. I took a step back.

"Then why do Jasper and Emmett have you training here with all the young ones and newborns, you are far too gifted to be training at such a low level. Ancients should be training with you," I asked.

She shrugged.

"Emmett has always kept an eye on me ever since I arrived here with my mother. After mother's death, he became a bit overprotective and made sure I trained under his watch. He says I help the newborns with my age and power but I blend right in since I look so young, not a lot of young ones or newborns know of my true age and I tend to keep it that way with each new group of newborns that arrive ready to train. I am sorry I kept it from you, I should have told you earlier," she said in an undoubtedly flustered tone.

I was too busy doing the math, adding the pieces together.

I held her hands in my own, holding on for dear life.

"What happened to your mother? What of your father? Why did they let you transform at such a young age?" I asked frantic, practically begging for more answers. I needed her to tell me the scenario inside of my head was something I had made up, something I had imagined.

She was obviously confused with my interest but squeezed my hands reassuringly.

"My mother was killed at the battle of Velinis, I was not in attendance as Emmett had sent me south with some others to disperse any wolves that attempted to join the tribes in battle. My mother was supposed to join us but she insisted she fight in the main battle. My father…I remember little of him in human memories and he was killed soon after our transition into this life, just a few weeks into it, another newborn killed him, mother said he found it difficult to adjust to this life," she began, returning my almost bewildered stare. She struggled when talking about her mother, that much was clear.

"Go on," I whispered, the pieces were coming together and I did not know how to react.

"Emmett turned us, apparently he knew my mother in his human life and wanted to see her again but he quickly realised she was his singer and he ended up almost killing her. He ended up turning father too and me last and he took us here, I knew he felt a great deal of guilt about nearly killing mother and for turning us but I was almost glad he had. I didn't want to live without my mother…it is hard to deal with it to this day without her, I feel alone but Emmett helps me," She choked out, one tear streaming down her face.

My heart sunk at the realisation, this girl who I had taken an instant liking to was my sister. Mother must have conceived the year Emmett and me were turned, snatched from her life and taken to Volterra. My heart warmed that when mother and father lost two of their children, a miracle arrived, they would have had a purpose again and Bree was their miracle child. They could have had a happy life.

Edward was not responsible for turning my mother or father or…my younger sister, he was simply protecting the person I was closest too…Emmett. Jasper too knew and things began to make sense for the lies, the hiding of mother and Bree from me, if I had known they were turned, I could have turned on one of the reasons why I chose to live this life, my brother, my rock and blame as well as hate him for turning them.

"Your mother was Renee, your father Charles?" I asked. I was hoping I was wrong, that I had put this all together in my head with no reason but hopefulness.

She nodded, pulling a silver locket over her head and revealing it to me.

"Back when we were all initially enlisted into the royal army, files were made, handwritten of course all that time ago. However, they made sure to sketch every one of us for our file, after my mother's death, Emmett gave me these, he enlisted a brilliant artist to recreate mother and father's file portraits and put them in this locket. It is my most treasured possession," She added, sad but content with her keepsake.

My knees near buckled as I came face to face with beautifully hand drawn portraits of my parents. Tears threatened to fall; I needed to escape, to confront Emmett, Edward or even Jasper if I came across him. Rosalie must have known too but if Alice knew, it would be an extra dagger in my back and at this rate, there was not much room left in it for any more wounds.

Anger quickly replaced sadness.

"I need to go, please take over the session," I rambled out, taking off in a sprint.

Fiery anger was bubbling throughout my flesh, threatening to consume me. My speed was unprecedented as I took off in the direction of Edward's scent, much more surprising was that with one quick sniff of the air, I realised he was alone with Rose and Emmett. I stopped short in the corridor, dipping back enough into the shadows so my scent would not give away my position and listened to Edward's angry tone and spiteful words.

"You knew of Irina's deceit, you are incredibly lucky I never mentioned this earlier Rosalie, and yet you never told anyone, not even me. Why? Is this the reason for your odd behaviour as of late?" Edward demanded, from a distance I could see him cornering his twin; it was a standoff of goliaths, with Emmett firmly by his mate's side.

Rosalie was equally as feisty as her brother was.

"We hadn't known for long but Irina knew of our own secret and threatened to let Bella know of it, do you think I wanted to risk that? You have no idea how she would react if she knew you were covering for my mistake!" Emmett half whispered, his face was inches from Edwards as he was quick to move in front of Rose.

Edward shook his head exasperated, running his hand through his hair. He looked worried, desperate.

"Don't you think I know that? Isabella needs to know about all of this. Emmett it is time to finally tell her the truth, she is not the little sister you once knew and who needed your protection from everything. I can't risk losing my mate by keeping this secret any longer, I have protected you since you disobeyed me and returned to your family, I told you that you weren't ready or in control of your blood lust and at risk of hurting them but you ignored my ruling!" Edward ranted, pacing the dark corridor they situated.

I held my breath, unsure if I was going to cry, scream or run.

Eventually I stood tall and became the Bella Edward thought I was, no longer the young girl who relied on her brother or anyone now for protection.

I kept my arms crossed tightly against my chest and walked toward them, coming out of my well-distanced hiding place. The looks of utter shock on their faces was something I had not seen before.

"I believe you all have some explaining to do. I just had an interesting conversation with Bree, my younger sister whom I was unaware even existed," I growled out, eyes scanning them all until I zeroed in on one and glared straight ahead at Emmett, heart threatening to break for a second time.

A/N- Forgiveness is on the way, just hang in there, it will be sooner than you think! There was very little response to my last chapter so please share your thoughts about what is happening.