Jewel in the Crown
Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use.
Chapter 28: The Plot Thickens
When Chelsea comes to us with the news that young Bella is quite ill, my wife immediately wishes to rush to her side. It is all that we can do to restrain her. I can see that things are at a very delicate negotiating point, so I tell her in no uncertain terms that she is to stay away and let Carlisle Cullen deal with her. In addition to her physical incapacitation, she has decided that she does not want to marry Edward. When he hears this, Caius explodes in anger.
"Aro!" he shouts. "This is absurd. How long are you going to let this nonsense continue?"
"This isn't nonsense," says Sulpicia, to my great surprise, standing up to him. "I am sure that it is a misunderstanding. I know that Bella loves Edward more than anything else on the world. She is sick and we must help them. Aro, please don't listen to him! I thought that you wanted both of them for the guard?"
Normally, Sulpicia does not involve herself in the matters of the guard. However, since she is taking a personal interest in this case, she has found the courage to stand up to my rather belligerent brother. As Caius gets ready to answer her, I put a stop to the argument right away.
"Corin," I say calmly. "Please take Sulpicia back to her rooms. Caius, you, Marcus, and I will discuss this with no more interference from anyone else. Chelsea, please stay behind for a minute. The rest of you get out of here until I tell you to return!"
The rest of the guards scurry away. They are only too happy to miss the confrontation. Both Sulpicia and Caius are furious with me. Once Sulpicia returns to the wives' quarters, I am sure that Athenadora will have a few choice words for me also. Fortunately, she won't have the nerve to say them directly to me. She will just rain them down on Caius later. This is one of the few times that I am grateful for Marcus's apathy.
Just getting my wife out of the room lowers the tenor of the emotional climate significantly.
"Chelsea," I say, and hold out my hand.
A touch of her fingers tells me what I wish to know.
"Carry on," I say. "Carlisle is to have everything that he needs to treat the girl."
"Yes, Master," she replies and beats a hasty retreat.
She better move quickly. She has an important job to do. Her hypothesis about Bella's reluctance to marry and the strength of her mental shield thrills me. But I do need a breakthrough with regard to Edward or all of my efforts will be in vain. I need that girl, and I need for her to be a vampire, if I am going to achieve my ultimate goal.
"I hope that we can be done with this quickly," says Caius. "I want Carlisle to stabilize her condition and then he can turn her. Once she is turned, Edward can marry her or whatever other foolishness that your wife is planning. The girl will be useless for a year or so anyway until she overcomes the newborn madness."
"And if that same madness prevents her from marrying Edward immediately, and if they do not do so before she is changed, would you like to deal with him pining for her all of those months?" I say.
"Please," he replies. "Give them rooms close to the wives and have them spend a good deal of time with Corin. How often will you need to call the boy out here to read the minds of criminals anyway?"
It takes a great deal of effort on my part not to chuckle. I could care less about the minds of criminals. I need Edward by my side to read his mind, not mention, every member of the guard. With Chelsea and Edward in place, I will be in full control of Volterra. He will know if anyone is disloyal and Chelsea will deal with it.
I have always been able to discover who is for or against me without great effort. However, the difficulty has always been figuring out which of the guards may be conspiring together to plot against me. If these things are uncovered too late, fixing them can get very messy.
However, if Edward knows what is happening in the minds around me and warns me, it will be a simple matter for Chelsea to break whatever bonds have been formed between the conspirators, without any great upset to the stability of the guard.
My experience has been such that I have learned to trust no one. My own sister nearly cost me the loyalty of Marcus. And dealing with her then nearly cost him his sanity. Since even Caius is suspect, I wish to keep a close eye on him. If he acts quickly enough on something, I might not see it in time to stop it.
"I have no idea of how often he will be needed." I answer. "But I do not want him incapacitated by worries about her. He is willing to marry her and change her in that order. Sulpicia will ensure that she recovers after the transformation is complete. If necessary, I will keep Carlisle and his mate here for as long as necessary."
"Are you trying to absorb the entire Cullen coven into the Volturi?" he asks angrily.
If only you knew how powerful the Cullen coven actually is, I muse. If Carlisle had ever had a notion to overthrow us, he certainly has the weapons at his disposal to do so. It is only sheer luck that he is a peaceful man who simply wishes to live in obscurity, tending to the medical needs of his humans or whatever he does with them.
"I am not interested in the entire coven, brother," I reply. "Only the most valuable members."
And you do not even know of the most valuable member of all, I think, and suppress a smile.
He growls at me, but I am not in the mood for disagreement right now.
"Caius," I say with a sigh. "I know that you believe that this business is rather tedious, but sometimes you need to move slowly to get what you want. Patience, brother, you need patience when dealing with children."
"Is that what we are dealing with? Children?" he shouts.
"Technically speaking, in human terms anyway," I answer mildly. "They are older than Alec and Jane. You seem to have no trouble tolerating their occasional childish behavior. Of course that may have something to do with the sadistic gifts they possess and their joy in inflicting pain on others."
"Marcus!" Caius says through gritted teeth. "Say something!"
"What else is there to say?" he asks languidly. "No matter what you or I say, Aro will move at his own pace. Go spend a few hours with your wife. That should put you in a better mood."
Caius, rightfully insulted, stomps off in the direction of the wives' quarters. Marcus heaves a sigh of relief.
"His tantrums do get tiresome after three thousand years, brother," he says. "I am assuming that you have a plan for Edward and his young mate."
"Would I have kept them around if I didn't?" I ask.
"Of course not, what was I thinking?" he replies. "I will admit that watching that girl thwart all of your most gifted acquisitions was the most amusing thing that I had seen in two thousand years. Most of them were utterly bewildered. And the best part was that she didn't even know that she was doing it."
There is a knock at the door.
"Enter, please," I call out.
"Master," says Demetri. "Alec and Jane would like a word with you. If it so pleases you."
"Does it please us, Marcus?" I ask him.
"Oh yes, whatever," he says. "If we don't see them now they will only be back later."
"Good point," I agree. "You may escort them in Demetri. And bring Felix as well."
"Yes, Master," he says and turns smartly around before I can the grin on his face. There is no love lost between Demetri, Felix, and the twins.
I look over at Marcus and he rolls his eyes. He is not very impressed with Jane or Alec. He thinks that their gifts are useful to the guard, but he has never thought much of them as people.
That's probably because they were twelve when I turned them and completely uneducated. Over the centuries, I have educated them with book knowledge, but emotionally, they will never be more than twelve. I must agree that it does get tiresome.
They walk in, holding hands, with Felix and Demetri on either side of them. I am not in the mood for listening to their complaints, so I hold out my hand to see what is in their minds. I touch one and then the other. I was right. They are displeased about the situation with Edward Cullen and his human.
"What would you like me to do about it?" I ask.
They look at each other and Alec nods to his sister.
"We are concerned because you are being so lenient with him, Master" says Jane. "Shouldn't he be punished for disobeying the law against telling humans that we exist?"
"At the moment," I reply, thinking to myself how bold they are. "I see no need for punishment. He is willing to change her in order to comply with the law. There is nothing for you to be concerned with."
"But, Master, aren't you concerned because she is immune to all vampire gifts?" Alec asks.
"I see no need for concern," I reply. "If Bella has a gift of her own it will be purely defensive. She won't be able to harm anyone with it. Will that be all?"
The tone of my voice implies that if they are smart then that is all. They once again share a glance.
"Yes, Master, that is all," says Jane.
Taking one another's hands again they exit. As he follows them out, I notice Demetri smirking. I am aware that the older guards are put out by the importance of the twins. However they also know that either child can incapacitate them with a look.
The very nature of such power breeds arrogance in young ones. It is unavoidable. I am not too bothered by it because it essentially means that no faction of the guard will ever coalesce to become powerful enough to try to challenge me.
"Do they never irritate you, brother?" Marcus asks once they have left.
"Very rarely," I reply. "But mostly because I don't have to spend much time with them if I can. Right now their real concern is that Edward may be a more valuable talent to me than they are."
"His is a more versatile gift than theirs," comments Marcus. "I trust that you will keep him close."
I shrug as an answer. Marcus is well aware of what I am about and remains unbothered. He doesn't care much for Caius, but recognizes his value to the coven. Caius is testy right now because there hasn't been any kind of situation to deal with several years. He prefers to be away from Volterra and all the palace intrigue. He likes dealing out his punishments and watching others suffer.
It is a pity that he refuses to be entertained by the little drama playing out among the Cullens. I begin to turn over the possibilities in my mind for my next move. I decide to send a message to Sulpicia to prepare her arrangements for this "wedding" that she envisions. It will keep her out of trouble for a while. I am counting on Carlisle to make this happen. He knows the consequences if he fails and I have to step in.
Author's note: Thanks to the readers who are reviewing! I love your little notes. They keep me writing. Constructive criticism is good too. Jessica314 gave me some very helpful advice in the early chapters. Thanks Jessica! And Geezer Wench is my barometer of the impact of the storyline. Tibi gratias ago! (Okay, I'm a Latin teacher, that's the way I talk sometimes.)
