Chapter Thirty Eight

Carlisle

So, Aro had his way, Esme and I were staying here, and I wondered if he might be willing to trade William for Jasper. He agreed to see me and I went along to his study hoping for the best but when I saw we were to be joined by Sulpicia, Athenadora, and Marcus, I understood there was much more at stake.

"You wished to speak with me Carlisle, please excuse the company but we were in the middle of a council meeting and as it sounded urgent I thought you wouldn't mind."

Refusing to allow myself to become flustered I merely nodded my acquiescence.

"Of course not, I wanted to speak to you about Jasper's upcoming trial."

"Oh, very well, do you have some information for us or were you hoping to save your ex-family member from this trial?"

"As Esme and I are staying in Volterra I wondered if you might be willing to reconsider my offer."

"Ah, let me explain to my colleagues here just what that offer was. Carlisle was wondering if we might consider allowing The Major to leave the Volturi in exchange for a gift, his friend William."

A ripple of interest went around the others and then Sulpicia leaned forward,

"I take it you have some particular reason to offer a friend to us, Carlisle? As I remember, you and William were great friends and you refused to help us acquire his gift in the past."

I had no choice but to explain the whole story and I saw Athenadora and Sulpicia exchange a look of distaste before Aro's wife spoke again.

"I expected better of you Carlisle, you have always held up your morals as a shining example of what we should all be yet you not only asked a friend to secretly meddle with the memories of those you profess to love but now you are quite willing to hand that friend over to his mortal enemies."

"Put like that it does seem less than honorable but in my defense, I am trying to save one of those I loved as family."

She shook her head and Athenadora nodded her agreement with her friend but Marcus looked more interested,

"You can give us William?"

"Yes, I think I can, but in return, I want Jasper released and his actions over the past few months to be forgotten."

"I see."

He turned to Aro,

"What are your thoughts on the matter, brother?"

Aro sat back and sighed heavily,

"Much as I would like to be able to accept Carlisle's offer there is a problem, justice must be seen to be done. We couldn't possibly just release The Major, it would upset his former comrades and send out the wrong signals to those who fight against our laws."

Marcus nodded gravely,

"Yes, I can see your problem, but perhaps I can offer an alternative which might be acceptable to both sides. If we were to make an undertaking that The Major would come to no harm in exchange for certain conditions then maybe we can come to some accommodation, what do you think Carlisle?"

I wanted William to suffer so much I think it blinded me somewhat,

"It would depend on the conditions but I'm interested in hearing more."

Marcus smiled and on his usually somber face, it seemed almost alien.

"I would, of course, have to get the agreement of my council colleagues but I was thinking of something like this, if you could persuade The Major's mate to return to Volterra and give the undertaking to remain here with your beautiful and talented wife for an extended period…...would something like that be acceptable? I mean, you have nothing to return to the United States, for now, William has destroyed your family."

"I'm not sure I can persuade Bella to return, she knows Jasper wanted her to stay away."

"Of course, but you see this puts us in a very difficult position, by keeping The Major here we are theoretically separating mates albeit unacknowledged ones, which is against our own laws yet to allow him to go free would also be breaking our laws. Our hands are tied where yours are not. You understand the girl would be perfectly safe here and there would be no pressure on her to become a vampire herself until she decided it was time. In exchange for her presence here I'm sure we would be only too happy to collect William and as he has acted illegally by breaking up mated couples or should I say agreeing to do so we would have every right to punish him, you could even be involved in the choice of an appropriate punishment."

It was a better deal than I expected, to see William punished for the terrible things he had done to my family was very tempting and Bella would be given time to decide to become a vampire. With his mate here I doubted the Volturi would push The Major's trial very hard.

"I could try for such a deal."

"Good, then if you would excuse us to discuss the matter, we will let you know as soon as we have come to a decision."

I left them and went to find Esme who, as always these days, was in the archives sorting through the crates of artifacts and paintings. When I explained the deal Marcus was proposing she nodded absently,

"It sounds very good to me, William should be punished for what he did to my family but when it comes time to decide exactly how he will be punished I want a say too. Are you going to speak to Jasper about this?"

I was rather surprised by her question, she hadn't mentioned Jasper until now,

"He would only try to dissuade me, he doesn't want Bella back here. He thinks she might have a gift Aro wants to collect."

She looked up more interested by these words,

"Then why don't the Volturi merely grab her? Or why let her go I the first place? It doesn't make sense."

"Perhaps they couldn't force her."

"You think she might be that powerful?"

"Aro does and I think it's in the back of Jasper's mind."

"If you can persuade her to return you should ask Aro for more, a seat on the council perhaps."

"I can't see him agreeing to that my dear, besides its blackmail."

She snorted,

"It's a little late to remember your scruples now Carlisle, you just want to see William suffer as we have. Treachery and betrayal are vampire traits you have tried to avoid for centuries but when it comes down to it you are just as unscrupulous as the next. Ring Bella, get her back here, lie if you must but get her back."

I shook my head, I was less happy with the deal after hearing Esme's take on the situation, could I really hand over a friend and an innocent human for my own ends?

She sighed impatiently,

"Never mind Carlisle, if you don't have the stomach for it leave it to me. I'll get her back here. You nurse your scruples, much good they've done you."

She went back to her work and ignored me until I finally left her and went down to speak to Jasper. I wasn't going to tell him what deal was on the table, I just wanted to put my mind at rest that he was OK.

Jane nodded as I approached his room and the guard swung open his door to allow me inside shutting it again as soon as I was over the threshold. He looked weary and very thirsty, dark circles ringed his eyes and his head dropped but he pulled himself upright when he saw me.

"I didn't expect to see you again Carlisle. Come to browbeat me for Aro?"

"No, I came to see how you were doing. Have you been treated well?"

He nodded,

"I'm still here so I guess the answer to that is yes although Jane has displayed her displeasure a few times. Other than that and keeping me thirsty I'm fine and before you ask me, no, Bella is not my mate."

"You're lying Jasper but that's your prerogative I suppose. The longer you two are parted the harder it will get."

He ignored me staring down at the floor and refused to lift his head or speak to me again as I tried to explain that Bella would be perfectly safe in Volterra and that he should consider Aro's offer rather than go to trial, after all, no one knew what the result of that might be.

Finally, as I finished speaking he lifted his head and fixed me with accusation in his eyes,

"What is Aro offering you to keep the pressure up Carlisle? Did you tell him I worked out why he wants Bella? Did you offer to help if he took William so you could get even? Maybe even offered to put pressure on William to undo what he did?"

I felt ashamed of Jaspers accusation's because they were so close to the mark but I tried to defend myself.

"I never told Aro what you suspected and I doubt if there is anything William could do to mend the breaches in my family Jasper but yes I said I would speak to you in return for Aro agreeing to bring William to Volterra, he deserves that for what he's done."

"You know I never thought I'd hear you talk like this, you were always above such things, so what happened?"

"I discovered I was no better than anyone else when the chips were down, I'm as capable of hatred and spite as the worst of our kind. I discovered I would do just about anything to get revenge, including putting pressure on you although I did get an assurance from the council that Bella would not be harmed or forced to become a vampire until she is ready and let's be honest, once she realizes what you are to her she'll become a vampire anyway."

He looked at me with such detestation that I had to look away then turned his back on me and stayed like that ignoring me until I left.

Sulpicia was waiting with Esme in our suite when I returned eager for news and disappointed when I said I had none.

"Carlisle, you do realize that if you do not persuade Bella to return then your own place here will become less comfortable. I suggest you think of another way to lure her back if The Major is unwilling to cooperate."

Once she had left Esme glared at me,

"How hard did you try Carlisle? You've always been too soft, I want revenge and I intend getting it with or without your help."

"Please Esme, I tried but I can't force Jasper to cooperate, he wants to keep Bella safe and as long as he refuses to name her as his mate there is nothing the Volturi can do, it would be breaking Aro's word and however underhand he can be he would never break his word, Jasper knows that."

"Then cut him out of the loop and tell Bella yourself. If she knows Jasper needs her, that he is being ill-treated and is likely to receive a death penalty she'll come back."

I stared at Esme dumbfounded,

"She has no idea what being mated to a vampire means and he's not being ill-treated, neither will he be sentenced to death, Aro already said as much. He can't condemn a man for protecting his mate."

"But she's not his mate as far as he is willing to admit so there is nothing in law to save him. You and I must think of our own safety, our lives here, if the only way to lure Bella back is with lies then lie, and if you won't then I will. One of us has to show a little backbone here."

I hardly recognized my wife these days, William may have left her memories alone with regard to me but things had still changed. She was no longer the sweet innocent young woman that I had fallen in love with, this Esme was hard and ruthless and I didn't doubt for one second she meant what she said but I couldn't bring myself to take that final step and lie to Bella, not even to get revenge on William and I doubted if it came down to it that Esme could either, words were cheap but actions such as she described could be costly indeed.