Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga. No copyright infringement intended.

Author's Note: Okay, so no teaser because instead of writing chapter 26, I've spent the last three days or so reading Master of the Universe. I have impeccable timing because it just wrapped up. Extremely long, but extremely good story!

Okay, to business…thanks as always to my girl AgoodWITCH for her beta work. Also thanks to all of you for your reviews and general awesomeness. Some big reveals this chapter, and in wrapping it up, I realized that we're getting relatively close to the end now. I'm not an outliner, so I can't say how many chapters are left, but it won't be too terribly many. At any rate, I hope you had a great weekend and enjoy the update! As a note of warning, Mr. Wannabe left today to go help out at a church camp, which means I'm on my own this week. This will mean one of two things, either I'll be tearing my hair out and won't get any updates done, or since I'm only taking care of two kids instead of two little ones and one big one, I'll get more accomplished. It's a crapshoot, but I'm hoping for the latter!

Now on to the update :)

Manipulation And Punishment

Nobody with knowledge of the events of Christmas Eve slept soundly that night. Tanya lay curled on the dirty mound of hay, wailing at her turn of fortune. Alice tossed and turned as the baby kicked ardently in her womb as Alice's heart beat swiftly in reaction to the thoughts echoing in her mind while Jasper did his best to calm her by rubbing her back gently and humming in her ear. Carlisle and Esme did not even attempt to rest as they sat in front of the fireplace, sipping brandy and discussing who might be the danger if Tanya was nothing more than the scapegoat. Emmett and Jacob sat up in Emmett's drawing room, drinking to much more excess than the King and Queen as they also tried to work out who would be at fault while Rosalie slept fitfully, her night full of dreams of danger and lurking assassins.

Edward and Bella were resting no better than their loved ones as the curled together in their marriage bed, Bella's body wrapped possessively in Edwards arms as one of his hands drifted over to linger protectively over his unborn offspring resting within her womb. He sighed tremulously as he felt the ever defining visible presence of his wife's delicate condition, wishing he could do more to protect her. Edward's brain flashed quickly from face to face as he tried to sort out who could possibly be the enemy in their midst. Occasionally, Bella would break the image show in his mind, as she would turn to look over her shoulder to pose a question or make a comment. Edward would answer her as best he could before returning to his mental investigation.

The crowing of the cock greeted them all as the sun touched the edge of the earth with gentle wisps of purple, pink, and orange, unappreciated by the stressed Royals hurriedly dressing within the palace walls. The rest of court still rested comfortably in their chambers as the Royals, along with specified guests and advisors amassed in the throne room. Additional seats had been added to the front row of the room on either side of Carlisle and Esme for their children and their spouses, as well as extended family. The Spanish Queen who had been caught quite off guard by the whole affair sat uncomfortably next to Esme as the remainder of the Advisors and guards filled the area beyond, facing the thrones and the small square in the middle of the room before them upon which the witness would soon stand.

Bella blindly reached for Edward's hands as the exhausted weeping girl who looked but a shadow of the proud, spiteful woman who had taunted her until her unceremonious banishment from Whitehall. Tanya appeared dirty and wrinkled in her once find gown now stained with dirt, adorned with slivers of pale hayseed, and broken stalks. The guards led her stoically to the platform, attaching her shackles to the bar that ran at the height of her waist before her on the small platform.

Once she was settled in place, the King lifted his hand to silence the crowd who began to mumble in shock at the site of the well known Lady Denali before addressing the witness.

"Lady Tanya Denali, I do not need to remind you that your cooperation will be the only thing to save your life, although I can tell you at this moment that it will not be the same life you lived before."

Tanya leaned forward to weep again loudly, leaning heavily on the bar before her.

"Your only chance at salvation in any form is to answer all of our questions to the greatest of your ability. You refuse to answer, or mislead us in any way, and you will find yourself locked in the tower before the clock strikes noon and under the executioner's blade by dawn tomorrow. Do you understand what you must do?"

A crackled cry escaped her lips as she nodded slowly. She sniffled twice before the King could continue.

"Please tell us the events of the past few days and your activities here at court that led up to your banishment by the Prince a month hence."

Tanya sighed, lifting her head slightly as she cleared her throat, resisting the cry that threatened to escape again. Her first words were so quiet and garbled that they were impossible to discern.

"Lady Denali, you must speak up and speak clearly or we shall end this charade now and simply send you to the river to be transported to the Tower."

Tanya gasped before lifting her head and pushing more power into her voice, although it was but an echo of what was normal for her in her daily life.

"I came to court with Lady Hale, with the belief that the Prince would come to me when he could get away from his new bride of conscription. I spent my time making connections and working to divine a way to rid Prince Edward of his obligation to his arranged bride. Unfortunately, for my cause, Princess Isabella is a woman of rigid morals whom I could find no crack to exploit, even when I attempted to make her unleash her anger upon me to show her weakness and inappropriateness for her role. It was then that I was forced to look into finding other ways to tarnish her outside of her own doing."

Edward scowled, his voice echoing in the room like a roar. "You mean to plant a lie to defame her good name. An unequivocal act of treason, might I add."

Carlisle reached over to rest his hand atop his son's sending him a look of gentle chastisement. He knew attacking Tanya would not help them derive the information that they needed.

"Please continue," the King said, motioning to Tanya who sucked in an uneven breath.

"It was during that time that I took a ride through the countryside with a few relatives come to court on business of our estate. My father could not come due to an unexpected illness, so my brother and two cousins came. While I was at the stables, returning my mare after our ride where they pressed upon me the importance of gaining stability within the Royal family by finding a way to gain the Prince's love, I recognized the stable boy who took the horse from me from my youth. He had once worked on our grounds, and thus I was intimately aware of his younger sister and his widowed mother. It was then that my plan became solidified."

She paused, looking down at her dirty hands and wringing them anxiously before she continued. "I approaching him before dawn that next morning, the morning after the Prince arrived. I threatened him with his family's eviction and that I would use my power to ensure he lost his place at court, so they would have no way to support themselves or survive. He…he begged me not to do this, saying it was a death sentence for him. I explained that his choice was twofold, either deny me and sentence his whole family to death by starvation and exposure as the winter quickly approached, or sacrifice himself and have his family provided for by my kin. I promised him that they would receive a larger house and would be cared for as a Denali for the rest of their days. It was only after that promise of which I had no power to make that he agreed."

The King spoke up, using her short pause to interrupt her story. "Did anyone else know of this plot besides yourself?"

Tanya frowned, rubbing at a dirty spot on her hand as though she were trying to clean it without the aid of water. "A few, Your Majesty."

"You must name them if you wish to keep your head, Lady."

Tanya's ice blue eyes began to well again as she shifted on the podium, dropping her head to her chest. "I do not think them capable of murder, Your Majesty."

"That was not what I asked, Lady Tanya. I asked who knew of the conspiracy with this young man?"

Tanya sighed again before glancing up through their lashes. "Anyone who knew will be in trouble as well, won't they?"

King Carlisle nodded solemnly. Tanya swallowed deeply before the continued. "Some were forced into silence with additional threats. Please take that into consideration when you mete out punishments."

It was then that the silent Princess Isabella spoke up from her seat. "Lady Kate?"

Tanya turned toward Bella, hearing the softness in her voice and the concern in her question. It was then that she knew that the person she had seen for so long as her enemy might be the only chance to save her favorite, sweetest cousin from a fate not unlike her own.

Tanya nodded as tears of regret rolled down her face. In all her scheming, the only thing she felt badly about was Kate's role and how her compliance was forced.

"I forced her to spy on you, Princess. I held the greatest of all threats one can make on a female in love. The love of her life is not someone of which her father approves, and thus I threatened to expose them and most certainly put her lover to death in the process if she did not assist me. She did not like it at all. When she discovered the plan with Mr. Newton, she grew even more upset. It was only after threats upon her little sister's future as well as that of her lover that she reluctantly kept my confidence, but it was under great duress. The threat of personal ruination in addition to the guilt that if I did not succeed our entire estate was destined to fall apart and all of our livelihoods along with it ended up forcing her hand. It is a great stress for a female to have the weight of their entire family's future resting upon their shoulders. We were not built for such pressure. Please find it in your heart to be gentle with her, she is not of the same mettle as the rest of us."

Bella blinked back tears as she finally began to see the pressures put upon the Denali cousins. She knew what it meant to feel pressure to look and sound a certain way, what the weight of big decisions upon one's shoulders felt, but to know your entire family was counting on you to save them was something Bella could not fathom. Her father had always pushed her away from any responsibilities. He didn't feel that women could handle them, of which Bella had been quite resentful, but to see the antithesis of this attitude made Bella slightly grateful to have grown up as she did.

"I promise to keep that in my own mind, as well as the minds of the others when the time comes to deal with her infraction."

Tanya closed her eyes with a sigh, her shoulders losing the slightest bit of tension. "Thank you, Princess. At this point, even that is more than I can ask."

Bella nodded before King Carlisle asked her to continue with the list. Tanya stood, her body shaking visibly as the explained that all of the men of her family at court at the time had known, listing her younger brother and two elder cousins who had come to court, as well as another relative already working within the walls of Whitehall, Sir James Smith.

Murmurs filled the hall as Edward gasped loudly at the same time as Jasper cursed next to Alice. Bella, Jacob, and the Queen looked around in confusion, as the Royals appeared to grow visibly furious right before their very eyes. Bella did not know who this Sir James Smith was, but it appeared that his involvement was very upsetting for the Royals, but most of all, her husband.

Bella reached a gentle hand over toward Edward who took it without preamble before looking apologetically at Bella. All of this time, he believed that he was keeping her safe, and yet he had put her on more than one occasion directly in the hands of danger. Thankfully, Edward's once trusted friend James never took those opportunities to harm his bride as he stood guard outside of her door on more than one occasion. Edward had been a long time friend of James Smith, never realizing his blood relation to the Duchess of Gloucester that made him dependant on their monies for survival. Suddenly so much more began to make sense.

Edward's mind was in a blur of angry thoughts as King Carlisle stood to step before the witness, anger burning in her eyes. "You have no idea what fires you have been tangling in, child. You have been controlled as a marionette upon the stage of court and have orchestrated such calamity the likes of which I have never seen. For this you should be immediately put to death, but since you have cooperated I will stay my hand. I must ask you one last thing. Did your father know of your plans and did he ever suggest you taking such means to accomplish your goals?"

Tanya fell to her knees, her eyes cast down to the ground as she whispered her reply, sensing the next action that the King would take, essentially making all she had fought to prevent come to fruition even sooner than any had anticipated.

"I didn't hear you, Miss Denali."

Tanya yelped, recognizing what her answer would put into effect, and yet having no choice besides the block. "Yes, Your Majesty. He told me to do whatever was necessary."

King Carlisle stiffened before leaning down so he could look down at the cowering woman before him. "Lady Denali, you are forthwith stripped of your title as is your entire family. Your kin will be banished from your property and forced to work the lands you once oversaw. A new Lord will be named over your estate and with any luck he will be able to pull it out of the ruination that the extravagance of your family over the past several generations has beset a once proud and affluent land."

He turned to walk back to his throne as he thought out his next step. He had two options and it was a battle within him to decide which would be more punishment. He smiled as he turned to settle after reaching his conclusion.

"In addition, Miss Denali, I have decided that the greater punishment for you will not be the ease of death, or the time spent in the dungeon, but instead, I sentence you to return to your family and work alongside them on the land. I will decree at this moment that you and yours will spend the remainder of your lives working the land with your hands and coaxing from it the fruits of your labor, which then the majority of which will be given to provide for your new Lord's table leaving very little for yourselves. You shall now live the life you have besot upon your own tenants, with no chance for advancement and receiving no fruits of increase if the new Lord manages to bring the estate out of its current horrid state. You shall now all live as you have forced others. Your cousin James, however, will not be joining you."

Seconds after his decree was made, a screaming James was pulled into the room by two guards who had departed as soon as his name was uttered. Thankfully, the news of Tanya's presence had not gotten beyond the guards set at her door and those invited to the hearing, and James was not one of the guards summoned to stand at her prison door.

James looked around the room, a horrific snarl engulfing his mouth, making him appear even more animalistic than ever before. When his eyes fell upon Tanya, he lunged at her while screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs. Tanya cowered in the corner of the platform, unable to get any further from the rabid man before her thanks to the shackles. James did not let up until after Emmett stepped forward from his place amongst the crowd, hitting him hard at the junction of his neck and shoulder, causing the man to go temporarily unconscious as he went limp between his captors.

The guards removed Tanya, taking her crumpled, wailing form from the room before moving James to where she had been and shackling him by both hands and legs to the platform. Once he was secured, Emmett stepped back into the room carrying a large bucket of cold water from the well and dumped it over the man's head, forcing him to sputter and cough back to alertness. Once he caught his bearings, he stood, wavering slightly and stared directly at Edward and Bella's linked hands, Bella's knuckles nearly white with how tightly she gripped Edward's palm.

"You know, I remember you coming back from Italy a whiney sad excuse for a man. I helped you get over that, helped make you strong, helped you find companionship with a woman worthy of the crown. Then you go off and come back with that girl again, as weak as you ever were. She will be the end of the crown if you let her, because she makes you weak and pathetic."

Edward stood up, stomping toward James to meet his face with a heavy fist. "On the contrary, old friend, I think she makes me stronger than I ever was. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY threatens my wife and future queen. The woman bearing the future heirs to the English throne I might add."

James rolled his eyes. "Yes, and until she is crowned queen, your children hold no immediate claim to the throne. If you died tomorrow, your children would just end up being a regular noble as the rest of us. Who are you kidding, Edward? You don't have what it takes to be King."

This time it was Bella's turn to appear in his line of sight, taking them both by surprise since their focus had been entirely on one another. "That is where you are wrong, James," she said only loud enough for Edward and James to hear. "Edward his a brilliant man with a skill for diplomacy. He will be a brilliant King when Carlisle abdicates the throne to his son in the near future."

Edward gasped turning to a smirking Bella at his side. "And then, I shall stand proudly by his side as he becomes one of the best Kings in Europe, and support him without fail. I come from a long line of Royalty, and have been told from a very young age that I am nearly the reincarnation of my great, great Grandmother, Queen Isabella. I can assure you, that Edward will quite soon make an amazing King, and our children will one day take the crown when their father's time to lead has ended. Meanwhile, you will be worm food after the executioner severs your head from your body."

James lunged for Bella with his bound hands. Edward quickly moved her behind him to protect her at the same moment that Edward's fist met James's face, while Jacob's rammed into his gut, and Emmett's massive arm locked around his neck squeezing warningly against his windpipe. At the triple attack, James's body went limp. Emmett dropped him to the floor of the platform to step around and check on Bella at the same moment both her brother and Edward turned to check on her condition.

Bella smiled at them sweetly, thanking them for their help. Emmett returned his full attention to the prisoner in anticipation of his awakening as Jacob and Edward escorted the shaken, but unharmed Bella back to her seat. Once everyone was settled once more, King Carlisle stood before the group at hand.

"You have heard the testimony and witnessed the aggression of this witness. You are now to bear witness to my decree. Sir James Smith is forthwith stripped of his title. He is to be taken to the Tower immediately where he will await execution by the gallows, after which his head will be severed by a blade. Let it be known that treason will not be tolerated in any form. In addition, Lord Whitlock, along with Lord Emmett, and Lord Garrett will travel immediately to Gloucester to lay out the terms of their sentence after the papers and completed and sealed. At that time, Lord Emmett will stay behind to watch after the estate while I decide to whom it will be bequeathed. My decree is official and this meeting is now dismissed. I do not wish for any more of the travesties of this past month to taint our celebration of the Lord's birth this day, so please, eat, drink, and be merry!"

The room emptied quickly as the ladies huddled around Bella, checking to be sure she truly was okay, while the men congregated to discuss the details of the coming departure. Once all was settled, the groups moved to the main hall where a large breakfast had already begun. Their entrance was heralded with bugles and cheers as they all settled into their seats at the table of honor. The remainder of the day was spent in joyful celebration as the immediate threat upon the Princess had passed, but James words did not escape any of them. Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Bella all knew that for the safety of the family, the succession of Edward into the throne would be better served to happen sooner rather than too very much later.