Chapter Twenty One

Carlisle

Jasper's news had come as a bolt out of the blue although I knew Bella had become determined to take her place in our world now she had a reason once more. She was determined to avenge her mother's death and….well, I might be wrong but I didn't think so, she and Jasper were closer than mere friends. Edward sensed as much and I thought it was probably one of the reasons he was being so thoughtless with his words. Jealousy could be highly destructive and now was not the time for it but I had done all I could in the matter.

"Carlisle, I've got a strange message here."

I turned to see Esme holding out her cell phone to me. Darius had warned us the using them would only aid the Romanians in pinpointing our position but as it was our only way of contacting most people he had tried to scramble the signal.

I took the phone from her and read the message on the screen,

"To betray no one I betray them all, may I find forgiveness."

I nodded giving Esme back her phone,

"It's from Carmen I think, she must be free but unable to come to us."

"Why would they free her at all, though?"

"Well, she's no use as a weapon against Eleazar, especially now Stefan has the girls so I would guess that Stefan allowed her to go free hoping she might lead them directly to us."

"So she can't join us and she is cut off from her family? What will she do?"

"Lose her tracker if she can and hide until it's all over. That's all she can do I'm afraid but, at least we know she is safe for now."

It wasn't what Esme wanted to hear I knew but it was the truth and I wouldn't lie to her.

More supporters were still arriving, funnelled to the camp by Emmett, Demetri, and Felix while Esme, Sulpicia and Rosalie gathered together those who arrived and explained our plan then directed them on to Darius and Marcus who were gleaning all the intelligence they could from the newcomers. The others were busy packing up ready to leave as soon as the last of the stragglers arrived, with a cut-off point of no more than one precious hour. Aro and I tried to decide exactly what the Romanians were likely to do.

"I agree with The Major that Stefan and Vladimir themselves are unlikely to enter the swamps, they will send in some men to try and flush us out while they wait like spiders for us to come to them."

"We need to know exactly where they are Aro if they decide to hang back too far then we could get caught out. We need to take the fight to them if we are to have any hope of a quick victory and I'm not sure we could win if this drags on too long, they have the numbers, we do not."

"Carlisle is right Aro. The Major is a master tactician and a leader even I am content to follow."

Felix had joined us,

"There are no more allies coming, not that will get here in time and Darius has just told me that the Romanians have a large force approaching from the north, we are out of time, we must leave now or risk being attacked before we are ready."

Darius and Jasper appeared then, the latter snapping commands as he approached,

"We move now, those left behind, who are too late to join us will split up into small parties in the swamp and try to confuse the Romanian trackers. We are leaving coded messages for them."

Aro studied him, hard faced.

"Have the humans left yet Major?"

"Yes, they left some time ago Aro."

"You took a risk changing Isabella before they left, showing a blatant disregard for the safety of everyone here."

"According to you Aro but then I am in command here at the moment so I make the decisions and give the orders while you follow them. We need Bella's gift as quickly as possible and that was the only way to ensure we stood a chance of having her at our side in time. That's the last decision I shall justify to you, so don't question me again."

My friend wasn't at all happy with Jasper's tone but he knew he needed The Major far more than The Major needed him and understanding this he just nodded curtly.

"Very well, just ensure we are victorious Major, for now, you have the upper hand."

There was a threat implicit in his words but Jasper merely ignored it.

Charlotte

I had insisted on accompanying Bella and Charlie but watching her was unnerving. She appeared asleep, like in a fairytale, yet I knew what was happening to her body. I could still remember the agony of the change after all these years. her heart stuttered and beat first too rapidly and then too slow, her lungs still dragged in fresh air although it was no longer really necessary. Charlie watched her too as we travelled on and I wondered if he thought all he had been told about the transformation was wrong, better he thinks that than fear it as it moved ever closer for him.

I hoped this was her shield at work and not some terrible mistake. Our friend, The Major, had fallen in love with the girl and if this went horribly wrong I knew we would lose him too. How much good she would be when she woke I couldn't imagine but if conscious her shield worked as well as this then we could hope for great things from it and at least no longer have to fear she would confuse friend and enemy, the worst case for a newborn in a battle situation.

We were fortunate to arrive at our destination without encountering any of Stefan's soldiers and I breathed a sigh of relief as I lay Bella on the ground, peaceful as she had been all the way. Peter and one of the Volturi guards disappeared immediately to check the area was secure while another guard, under orders from The Major, began to dig up the supplies Darius and he had hidden here ready to be used if needed so many years ago.

The third watched curiously as Charlie kissed his daughter goodbye and with my help began his own descent into hell. The sound of his torment cut through the stillness like a knife and I wondered if he would be useful or just another foe? If The Major and Peter had the time they could whip him into shape, just as they had done for Maria but time was our enemy too as Stefan and Vladimir crept ever closer to us.

Maria….trust her to work for the Romanians, they were as ruthless as she but she was without her best commander and Nathan was no Major even if he'd had more years to grow in experience. He was far too arrogant to learn from anyone unless Maria had beaten some sense into him since we left.

I wondered how The Major was holding up, so far from his mate and knowing she was undergoing the transformation even if like a kitten sleeping in the warm sunshine. I held her in my arms although I knew The Major would have much rather had her in his. His role was to command our small army and delegating was a part of that.

He might be in pain and missing her but he would never show it to anyone, he and the other commanders, Darius and Felix would be concentrating on getting to us without losing any men or giving away our position.

It had been years since Peter and I had fought in earnest yet I felt comfortable with the idea of battle. All I had been taught by The Major came back to me effortlessly and I was sure Peter would be equally as ready but then my husband was always ready for a fight, always had been, always would be, it was an integral part of his make-up. I did smile though when I remembered that this time the fight put him squarely on the Volturi's side and he had always despised Aro and his brothers. I hoped they were as good at fighting as they were ruling or we would all be dead very shortly and our world in the hands of the two madmen, Stefan and Vladimir.