Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; they are all property of Stephenie Meyer.

Thank you Cullenfest for being the pre-reader for this story and for getting these chapters read/beta'd so quickly.

This chapter was not pre read, so all mistakes in it are mine.

Please forgive any mistakes…J

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Bella's POV

Chapter 25

The next few days were hectic, fearful and pleasurable. We journeyed forward to the next main town. It was a place called Esterbrook. A thriving town with bustling markets and its own Sherriff. We rode there steadily by horseback.

Rose and Alice stayed in the carriage, but I rode with Edward who would not allow me out of his sight until James was behind bars. Edward was angry with himself for assuming we would be safe in the small church, with the kindly Friar, but I was simply happy that everything had turned out alright.

The prisoners were also on horseback, tied to their saddles, and never let out of sight. One of the men constantly on guard as they took shifts whenever we stopped to rest. Emmett was quiet, and Edward informed me as to why. Emmett was concerned that Rose would have to face the King's council as well. She may have been justified in her actions in our eyes, but Sir James was a nobleman if only in title, and her attack on him could possibly cost her very life.

I fretted about this fact endlessly, as she had been trying to protect me. Edward had tried to soothe me by holding me close and promising to do everything in his power to ensure that Rose not only kept her life, but her honor as well. I could only wait to see what the King and his Council would decide.

When we arrive at Esterbrook, Edward, Emmett and Jasper immediately made for the local imprisonment location. There they ensured that Sir James and his men would be held until the Royal Guards came to accompany them back to the Palace at York.

The Sherriff of the prison was a calm man named William Black, who was very awed by Emmett's presence and kept bowing to him. Emmett reminded the man that one greeting was enough, and that bowing was not necessary. Emmett also told the man that if he wished to please him greatly he would see to these particular prisoners with great caution. William ensured us that the men would be held with no chance of escape. It was very obvious that Mr. Black was very dedicated to the Crown.

After we left the captives in the capable hands of the Sherriff and his men, we made our way to the town's most prosperous Inn and took rooms there to wait until the Royal Guards would arrive in a fortnight. The rooms we obtained were spacious and had everything we could have needed. I was just so happy to have Edward to myself…to be truly able to be man and wife without recourse or fear.

Our stay was pleasant and we took in all of the stalls in the market. Edward and Jasper lavished gifts upon Mary-Alice and I. Alice seemed amused, but I was shocked at the wealth our husbands seemed pleased to dispense to buy us small baubles and pretty dresses. It did not escape my notice that Emmett seemed to watch us closely as we picked out things that we admired…I even saw him peruse items as well. I had tried to dissuade Edward from buying things for me, but when I did not select things he selected numerous things instead and so I relented. I was not used to this amount of consideration.

Throughout the days we each took turns staying with Rose. We obtained four rooms, with one being solely for her comfort, but found that Emmett spent more time outside her door than in his own chamber. He was determined to see that she was well protected. The men had arranged their days so we were never unattended, even in town. Their concern made us smile as we sat by Rose's bed side each day and read or played small games to help her pass the time as her body continued to mend.

We had had a doctor to look in on her, but she refused to allow him to examine her to ensure she was healing. She would not let a man come too near her. With each day though, her color grew and her face took on the lively spark I had seen so often when we were younger….this fact led me to hope that despite her trauma, she was healing.

One afternoon I noticed that when we came into the room to visit with her, she was laying on her bed looking at her bedside table. There on her table was a small rounded box, carved in a deep,, purple toned wood, the top had a single rose carved deeply into its surface.

"Rose! That is beautiful…wherever did it come from?" Alice asked excitedly as she attempted to get a closer look at the beautiful carving. The flower looked so real that it almost seemed that if you leaned over to smell it that you would indeed inhale the fragrant aroma of a rose. Alice's words lingered in the air as Rose sat up in her bed, her movements much less painful and more fluid now. Rose reached over and pushed the box away from her.

"It doesn't matter." She replied in a sad voice. It was obvious that she did not wish to discuss the topic, and so I did not press her. I only wished I could make her smile again as she had when we were young.

In the end it took four days for the Royal guards to arrive at Esterbrook. The Sherriff had Emmett sent for the moment they arrived and he and Jasper had gone at once leaving Edward to see to it that we were safe. Edward and I sat together, reading and discussing what we would do once we returned to the home of his birth. He had grand plans to build us a house in hopes of filling it with many children, his words making me blush but filling me with happiness and hope for our bright future.

Rose was sleeping soundly in her bed, her long blonde hair tumbled across the pillow as she slumbered on undisturbed by our presence. Mary-Alice was tidying up as her nervousness made its presence known.

Alice flitted to and fro across the room as if she were a hummingbird, unable to stop and start. She moved from place to place picking up books and small wooden peg games that cluttered the table spaces. While cleaning the table beside Rose's bed Mary-Alice sighed sadly and bent to pull something from under the edge of the bed skirt. She stood with the small wooden box in her hand.

Edward looked over at her curiously when he saw where my gaze had traveled and he saw the box she held in her hand.

"Is that made from purple heart wood…purple heart is very difficult to find…" he said as he stood up to look at what Alice had found. "Wherever did you find such an extraordinary piece? Rose much have appreciated your gift greatly." He said smiling at me.

"It was not a gift from me or Bella." Alice explained. "Rose would not tell us where it came from…but I know she did not have it when we left Welshford…she had nothing." Alice said, shrugging her shoulders as she set it once more on the bedside table where it could be admired should anyone wish to look at it.

"The carving is exquisite. I wish I knew who had done it…I would commission a chest for you, my love." He said with a coy smile. "I suppose I could ask Emmett…her knows how to carve, though I have not seen him pick up a tool in years since he stepped up to his duties as Duke. Perhaps I could convince him." Edward mused as my mind placed this new tidbit of information into place.

We had not been around anyone without the accompaniment of our husbands and Emmett. Rose has always been with many of us, or under Emmett's watchful eyes when we went our separate ways for hours at a time during the night. Edward said that Emmett knew how to carve.

"Is it possible that Emmett gave this to Rose?" I asked, uncertain if I should voice my thought aloud.

"I suppose so?" Edward replied, his tone thoughtful.

"I said it didn't matter!" Rose's voice burst from behind us and we all turned to see her glaring at us. "Why can't you leave well enough alone?" She said with a choking sob, before she turned away from us abruptly.

I watched her with sadness. Why wouldn't she want to tell us if Emmett had given her such a special gift? It was the kind of gift that came from the heart, something special…heartfelt even, I would think that would be something she would enjoy sharing with us.

But instead she looked heartbroken, and it hurt to see her in so much pain…pain? Was she hurting?

"Rose…Are you well? Do you feel pain?" I asked as I moved to her side and sat down beside her, trying to look at her closely to see if I could find the cause of her distress.

"Just leave…I beg of you!" Rose wailed, openly crying now. I could not stand to see her so distressed.

"I won't, Rose. I won't go until I am sure you will be alright?" I said softly, trying to brush her tousled locks away from her face.

"I will never be alright...don't you see that Bella? I will never, ever be alright again! But I will live…and that is what matters…now please have mercy on me and leave…all of you!" She said as she waved her hand in the direction of the door. My heart constricted and my throat welled with pain for her, but I moved to the door with Edward and Alice on my heels.

"I will go, Rose." I told her. "But I won't go far." I said, hoping she heard the promise in my words as we departed her room.

****So it seems the challenge went well….Should we try it again? I will give you a few days and if the reviews come in, telling me what you think I will give you numerous chapters during next week. You can thank my husband for all of these chapters because I only write while he works, and he works evenings while poor me is home alone.******