Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot of the Twilight Saga are the property of its author. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended, nor will I ever make a dime from this. But Starched Shirt Edward, Jugurtha, the O'Sheas, Sister Claire, Hezekiah, Jenny, Horatio, Grace, Jericho, Skeevy, Violet Gorgon, Eve, Jethro, Molly, Phoenix, FitzCarrion, FitzCorpse, FitzCadaver, FitzSinister, FitzLuck, Young To Me Old Power, and Aaron are mine. So there.

Many thanks to vjgm for being my senior validating beta.

Thanks to Fantasy Mother and LJ Summers and Jackie Jones for beta-ing above and beyond the call of duty.

Many thanks to all for reading!

Shout outs to my muses: DawnStimson, CindyWindy, Fitten, lovelifeX2, Codelina, dellatwi, Lady Dragona, Mizra, PJ Austin, jmolly, prettyflour, favludo, avidreader69, Purple Mad Dragon, superstarrh, Viridis, Cullen Pearl, Nyaris, WTVOC, oxymoronic8, GinnyW, Angelbach, Treya, Forest Sentry Koneji, blue2185, emmettballeermine4evr, Robs_Muse, Cullen Concession, twifam1, nanny_t, pomme_de_terre, elphabacy35, notmyself, sexysadie13, Kaydence, summerc79, MsLessa, dh_director, JaJiTaXx, Mav, Rogue, fanficreader83, pclo, TraceyJ, Rgwnmks, jenejes, anniebme, June, Fleuritup, truefan, and Merrisol.

If you like snark, feel free to follow me on Twitter at Bookishqua


Songs for this section are:

Oh La'mour – Erasure

http://www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=cuRzq-oeiDE&feature=related

At Seventeen – Janis Ian

http://www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=efHOIT1ROk8

Love Will Keep Us Alive – The Eagles

http://www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=jqTLlHkfSC4

Many thanks as well to Mizra, who worked her tail feathers off making family trees in order to help all readers at this point of the story have a visual way of keeping track of who is related to whom. I can't even begin to tell you all how much that means to me. I will include this link in future chapters so people don't have to hunt for it if a question arises.

http://www (dot) mizradesign (dot) com/manips/CC/familyhistories (dot) html

Snarky Summary:

Things you need to know from past chapters that might aid you in understanding this one. When a man has a special love for a women. Kidding. Carlisle told the family of a visit by a Lost Coven vampire named Eve who was ill – almost dying from an illness. He cured her and sent her home with doses for twenty people and directions on how to make more. That was how he first came into contact with the Fake Canadians. And when times became tough (How Bout Dem Apples) and Carlisle asked for help, the Fake Canadians were rather stingy with information. Paula made a vow with Edward that she would never transform Jacob into a wolf seeing as she realized he was not the sharpest tool in the shed. Since she helped castrate her own brother, Edward took her at her word. In the Fine. I Love Bella Swan…chapter Edward had a vision – several actually – but one with his Mother where she showed him Bella, told him that she was the woman he would love, and then like a typical woman, gave him his human memories back at an inconvenient time.

Carlisle told Marcus that a group of disgruntled Romanians claimed to hold hostage one of his sons. Jugurtha offered a history lesson telling of how four of Marcus' sons had been slain at once and their heads sent to him in a basket. He'd also lost three legions. And we saw in a vision how Marcus' pregnant-at-the-time-with-Skeevy wife was attacked and rescued by her brother Aranthur.

Edward and Arria rescued Benedict O'Farrell, the immortal who bit Alice with that whole forgetful talent, and his wife and three adult pig-headed children from Caius' clutches, and Marcus' soldiers were leading them to the suite. Edward, aided by everyone in the Telecles clan with power, put shields around the room so nosy immortals could not hear a word. His family is aghast at his and Bella's condition – particularly their behavior. Did I mention Edward has a headache?

Pfft, not much happened in the last chapter. We just learned about a possible reason why Bella is catatonic, oh, and that she could wake up tomorrow or be that way the rest of her life. No big deal. We also learned a bit more about the relationship between Arria and Bella – Arria cares more about Bella than she lets on, that frigid faker – I mean she gave up battle to jump after her kid that she never speaks to. What other parent from the Telecles clan can say they've made the same sacrifice? Huh? Aside from Marcus who sat for 1,000 years to get his legions of doom back. But still. Bella gained some odd abilities when she wore that bracelet that Edward retrieved with her from the bank – like speed and a wee bit of grace. Marcus fixed that, of course by filching it from her. Maybe. We got to see Victoria, who gave entirely new meaning to the phrase 'crazy-ex-girl….no wife'….no, oh Hell - Crazy-abandoned-legal-oh-no-you-don't-you're-still-my-spouse, go off to the vampire great beyond after Arria bit her head off and gave leftovers to her troops. In the hilarious words of Kaydence, "Also, for the record, Arria deserves a strong talking to by dear old I could kick everyone's ass because I'm full of unparalleled awesomeness and mind fuckery tricks, at best." What she said. Summerc79 wrote, "Arria, the way she goes on you'd think she was born out of Jupiter's thigh. She needs Daddy M (not Boney, huh, though maybe he can turn out to be daddy Cool - somehow...) to steer her back on the right path." What she said, too.

And we found out how Bella, the girl who can barely walk without tripping, and can't swim a single stroke, managed to survive that whole cliff plunging episode. This is the part where I remind you that there is no love triangle between Jacob, Edward and Bella. Bella would happily become a hermaphrodite before dating either clueless jerk right now. Edward and the Cullens got a lesson in the cultural attitudes toward suicide by the immortal community, so the story of Bella's leap will have to be re-framed.

The chapter also stood out by what did not happen. Over 100,000 of the Lost Covens are lurking outside the Volturi crib and have yet to run in there and start swinging their blades. The other ones. Aro and Caius are most definitely aware that they've just had a major power shift and instead of running into Marcus' chamber and trying to negotiate, both are downstairs chilling in the throne room. Okay, fine, Caius has a justifiably irate mate on his hands due to that whole fantasizing about Vivinna and mentally whining that his wife was turned too old, and Aro just found out his daughter Eve lived through the ambush but died recently. So both are bummed. But still. Can't evil overlords snap back from devastating personal trauma? This violates the rules somewhere. The Cullens take advantage of Marcus' high standards in battle planning to rake Arria over the coals. Expect more of that. They haven't even started with her, nor have they hit the part where they tell her that they are 'disappointed' in her performance. Edward learned that Bella had some rated UE – as in Un-Edward approved experiences, like when she discovered the blood-splattered house of Paula Black. Edward also found out that Jacob was turned into a wolf and he is all kinds of unhappy about that. Edward is most displeased, ranting that the world is not exactly overrun with justice. But with a furrowed brow, he vows that he'll soon fix that. *sighs* Men. Morons. With those words, he just tempted Fate to bitch-slap him. As our chapter starts, the Telecles Clan and the Cullens are standing across from one another in a room that is shielded from prying ears and minds. Benedict O'Farrell and his family have been cooling their heels in the hallway. And so we begin.


Chapter Eight – Heart of Darkness – Part Forty Two – Parenting Telecles Style Appears to be a Contact Sport

Marcus steered the conversation back to a topic dear to my heart, "I believe we were discussing Bella's welfare. Arria, how will you use this experience to be a better leader?"

"I failed to delegate to my lieutenants, which put everyone at risk. That was my fault." Those last words seemed dragged from Arria by herds of wild horses.

"Possibly. Your biggest flaw from the little I know is that you failed to communicate effectively with your subordinates." I almost felt sorry for Arria. It's not like she had Marcus' 'I can be in a bazillion minds at once issuing orders' talent. She was only imhuman like me. Then Bella coughed and I fought the blast of rage that wanted to erupt and target Arria. Everyone saw Bella had flecks of blood on her lower face and throat. Mother handed me a wet cloth and I brushed it against her skin tenderly, I think.

Mary Alice pointed her index finger at Bella and me. "I'm sorry. You two are discussing battle strategy? Now? Look at Bella. Arria, she was left in your care. So how do you explain her weight and her heart? This is your idea of parenting? You left her for Victoria to die! Last time I checked we weren't related to the De' Medici family," Mary Alice pressed. Then she paused. "Grandpa Marcus, we aren't related to them are we?"

Marcus cracked an almost smile and said, "No, we most definitely are not."

Arria's face fell at vampire speed seeing his illusory happiness before hers blossomed into a waxen composed mask.

"The De' Medicis were amateurs," Vivinna sniffed, "And the same could be said of you," she stared at Mother and Father. Lovely. She denied being related to the De' Medici's, not because of who they were, but because they failed her lofty standard of intelligence. So to deflect an attack she goes on the offensive. Predictable. And as for that abandoning business. . .

Starched Shirt Edward softly reminded me, "Our immortal family fought for their lives in Alaska, but so, too did Vivinna in Washington from a dispute that we caused."

Mary Alice did not like whatever she saw that was about to emerge from our Mother's mouth. Cutting Mother off, she blurted, "I left Bella a letter. Why did she not receive it?"

"I know of no such letter. Had you given it to me, I would have ensured she had it." Arria studied a dagger she twirled in her hand.

Jasper said, "I believe she speaks the truth."

Scorn dripped from her words, "Thank you ever so much."

"We never would have abandoned her." Esme said, "Did you not reassure her?"

"Why would I do that?" Arria seemed sincerely bemused.

"Because that's what a mother does when her child is afraid, Arria," Mother said, clearly holding on to her patience by determination. Both the Gorgon and Young to Me Old Power acted like they had failed to receive that Motherly Behavior newsflash.

Arria blinked benignantly at the family. "I refused to lie to her, Esme. And I had no idea what kept you, or if you even lived. I did send five teams after you." From Jasper's reckonings, her aid is what permitted them to survive, not that he was going to admit it at the moment.

Rosalie picked up where Mary Alice left off, "I hardly see where you get the moral high ground. After an ordeal like that, you dragged Bella here and forced her to witness a feeding for what reason?"

Piously, Arria replied, "I could not very well leave her alone after she had escaped her guard. This mission has been planned for quite some time. She was safest around me."

Oh, fine, so she dragged her from a suicidal jump and vicious attack by a raving lunatic, to raise her from the dead to attend a mass slaughter of humans and a way-too-high-in-the-instep-immortal revolt. What a fun Mother-Daughter bonding experience! I waited with bated breath to see what she dreamt up for a Christmas gift. Or Bella's birthday! Seeing as she had not done so in eighteen years, I did not see her beginning the practice now. But still. Like a talisman, I touched the pearls in my pocket, and dared hope for the future.

Starched Shirt Edward qualified, "She did leave our dear little bottle cap costly jewelry." True. But the cold embrace of silver and gold on the skin served as a poor substitute for a Mother's love. I should know. I had two excellent examples burning my fingertips in remembrance.

"My dear," Mother said to Arria, "you clearly know nothing about raising a child. Bella said in that vision we saw that she believed she did not matter to us. Clearly, you knew that was not the case."

"No, I did not." Arria raised a brow. "You were in her life for only a few months, and vanished as quickly as you appeared."

Both my sisters reared back like electrified eels at that blast. Oh, that was most definitely not going to be repeated by me, what spewed from Rosalie's fertile mind. I had no idea she even understood such vulgar language. I wasn't even sure what she meant, for the record. Which disturbed me. It wasn't like I could turn and ask Emmett or Jasper at the moment. Both my sisters metaphorically rolled up their sleeves and entered the fray.

"So you stayed away and let the Swans raise her for what reason? Let me see, she was brain-damaged and no longer of any use to you." Mary Alice snapped.

"That's not true," Arria huffed.

"Last time I checked, her ovaries still functioned," my not so angelic-acting sibling noted; and that observation went off like a misfired canon in church. "You were going to keep her human and force her to breed," Rosalie spat that word, "with someone you selected, weren't you? That's why you had her watch the feeding. You needed her to be so repulsed she would want to stay human. That's why you insisted she not be turned until she was eighteen. You were stalling for time."

"I would never have forced her," Arria protested.

Rosalie snarled, "No, if she didn't agree, you would have simply knocked her out and ripped her ovaries from her."

"That is distasteful," Arria spat. What an understatement.

"The truth usually is." Rosalie leaned forward as she spoke sweetly. "So tell me, did you let enemy vampires frolic through the reservation in order to repulse Bella even further?"

Young To Me Old Power, nostrils flaring, shoulders thrown back, sneer fixed firmly in place, appeared like no one in her life had ever talked to her so disrespectfully, which probably was the case. "You do not know whom you are talking to." She actually conveyed impressive menace at that moment. Her stillness, as well as that of the blade in her agile hands, and manner that she could explode into action at any second only contributed to that aura.

"Hmmm, let's see," Rosalie recited in a sing-song voice, "Arria, daughter of Marcus and Vivinna," she pointed to those two, "sister to Cale," her index finger moved like a compass to his form, "half-neice of Aro," she pointed over her shoulder towards the throne room. "I think I have my blood ties correct. And I know exactly who I'm talking to. You just took the gold crown in the heartless category, sweetheart." Rosalie moved her head like a machine gun at the entire Telecles and Fake Canadian clan, "Let me make this clear to all of you. Bella was officially claimed as part of this family while you sat back and did nothing and watched her suffer." She shook a fist at the Sludge Suckers. "So legally, regardless of blood ties, she is now my sister. And there is no way in Hell I will let you harm her."

Arria stipulated, "She is of my line," like that explained and excused everything.

Some women became more beautiful when angry. Rosalie was not one of them. I worried that if my family pushed Arria too hard, she might say something about my questionable past behavior. Like the truth, heavens to Betsy. At some point, I might have to actually open my mouth and defend the woman to save my hide.

Jugurtha said, "She is Marcus' daughter. The Gorgon's, as well. Arria can take care of herself, and she would not appreciate your sentiments that she required defending from us. Watch and wait."

Rosalie's deceptively sweet voice inquired, "So tell me, did you start paying attention to her welfare only after your male heir died?"

We simply gawped at the two verbal combatants like a tennis match between children that had suddenly turned lethal.

Jugurtha breathed in the throes of idolization as he slapped shut my planner and moved the glasses on his nose. He peered academically at the skirmish, "Rosalie takes no prisoners. And she's probably correct. Arria would never put her eggs in one basket."

"Our dear little one possessed a sibling? And Rosalie is taunting the mother over his untimely departure from this realm?" Starched Shirt Edward was aghast.

Jugurtha reminded him, "This is the same mother that forced our dear little one to watch the feeding so she could terrify her into staying human, remember?"

Starched Shirt Edward crossed his arms, "I agree that what Arria did was wrong. Yet, I cannot mock the death of our dear little one's brother. And we have made mistakes, too. Arria does not seem like a person who has seen much of God's love."

That's because she didn't believe in Him. She prayed to the gods instead. I wasn't going to point that out and horrify Starched Shirt Edward by informing him that our mate's mother was a pagan.

Arria actually growled. She said not a word, and merely narrowed her eyes. Marcus held up a palm and she ceased.

We gaped gobsmacked as the silence framed Arria's lengthened inarticulateness, Marcus quietly commanded his daughter, "Answer her."

Bitterly, Arria insisted, "My son was better suited for leadership because he was a strong male. I have no children left but Bella."

How could she throw away one child and cherish the other?

I asked, "Was he a twin to Bella?"

"No. He was born twenty years earlier."

"How? In vitro fertilization wasn't even discovered until 1978," Rosalie scoffed.

"The research supporting it dates back to the 1890's," Father said, "And there was significant progress in 1959. Genevieve O'Shea Swan most definitely could have pioneered the procedure and kept her discovery to herself."

Jugurtha advised, "Can you imagine how awful Bella would have turned out being raised by Arria? As much as I loathe admitting it, Bella was better off away from her as a child. Genevieve, Jericho, and Liam did a better job."

"How did he pass from this world?" Marcus asked what we all burned to know about this mysterious-departed-from-this-Earth heir.

Arria stared at the ground seething, before meeting her parents' impassive faces. "A plague swept through the coven and felled us like leaves in autumn."

"How severe?"

"A third of the coven died. I sent Eve to Carlisle for help so I could attend my son. She fell ill, too. By the time she returned with the cure, he had died."

Vivinna said, "I am sorry to hear of this." Wait. She was acting almost human? Maybe that was a comment on the whole plague hitting the tribe, too business. She seemed the type who would be devastated by that every bit as much.

"He was a good child. I named him Marcus after you," Arria told her Father. She could have been discussing the damage to winter wheat from a recent hailstorm from the emotion she invested into it. She sounded irritated, not devastated. I did give her points for ingratiation with the "I named your dead grandchild after you," plea.

In isolating her coven from modernity, she had condemned her eldest child. And the one child she had carelessly thrown into the caprice of the human world, she had wounded as well.

"Why does Bella not have any other siblings?" Marcus asked mildly.

Starched Shirt Edward blanched, "Why is he asking her such private things in front of all?"

That's easy, because Arria was too frigid even to think about doing another round of IVF. Seriously, couldn't he tell her eggs were inhospitible?

Jugurtha chided, "Giving birth to an heir was a matter to be discussed in public. It was Arria's duty to provide as many as she could." Like the force of an unexpected gale, Young To Me Old Power's alto tones yanked us back into the fray.

"We had planned for that woman to carry more than one child to protect the coven's succession. Bella was the only one who survived. Marcus was a newborn vampire when she was born, and difficult to control. I feared if we brought Bella to the coven, he would kill her out of jealousy." Okay fine, so she was not completely evil. "Genevieve also said that if I hid her in the mortal world she would be stronger. Our seer cast the runes and agreed."

Rosalie said, "I can see you cared for your son. Yet, I will not allow you to let Bella suffer the same fate. So legally, regardless of blood ties, she is my sister. And there is no way in Hell I will let you harm her."

"This is unnecessary. Why would we harm her?" Cale asked in a concerned tone.

"You are the same ones who left her in that cave to die for hours a few years ago, right?"

Mystified, Cale glanced at his older sister. If vampires' heads could explode from sheer wrath, I suspect Arria would have been a goner. Jasper gave her a dose of 'I will not scream-itis,' followed by a round of 'I will not slay-it is,' with a dash of 'I will not launch and detonate like a rocket-it is.'She exhaled as she simmered.

Vivinna said, "Daughter, please explain." We all patiently waited for Arria to speak. I knew I had faults. That I had sinned. But I had never left Bella to die….well I'd never intentionally left her to die in a dark cave alone. It made me grouchy even contemplating it.

"No you took her to a dark cave to die directly," Starched Shirt Edward needled me.

Jugurtha pounded him across the shoulders hard enough to make him yelp, "Pay him no mind, he's still out of sorts."

Jane and Alec picked that moment to re-enter the room. The twins of terror both were satisfied through means I am not going to discuss that Arria's soldiers had not betrayed my bride.

With more than a wee bit of rancor, Arria announced, "Eve arranged and supervised Bella's coming-of-age trial, because I had to travel."

"Her what?" Emmett blurted. "When did you all become Masai warriors?"

"It's tradition in our family that when you are on the cusp of adulthood, you be tested. I left it up to Eve to arrange, and Bella passed the trail." Arria shrugged her shoulders elegantly, "She only broke one bone." That being the leg. Pfft, not a problem. "Humans are frail. It could not be helped. Eve ensured Bella was cared for."

Rosalie's temper frayed, "Eve made Bella lay in the pitch dark of that cold cave in agony for hours without administering any pain killer before she allowed her to be rescued. It defies all logic that Bella did not die from shock while she was impressing the Hell out of you."

Judging by the blank expression Marcus wore, a broken leg in his time was not a serious injury, "Arria, you gave her the same ritual your brothers experienced?"

They broke their limbs? And stuck them in the dark? What kind of wimpy ceremonies did these people follow? It would take all of six seconds for a bone to heal on an immortal, and the cold did not affect us.

"I did."

"And she passed."

"She did."

Marcus declared, "I fail to see the problem in this case. She was physically harmed undergoing a challenging ritual and she healed. What of it?"

"She nearly died." Mary Alice seethed.

Arria blinked and waved her palm as if she was describing an act of munificence, "But she did not. She was even guarded by Eve."

The mental image of Eve sitting on a stoop like a gargoyle watching my mate writhe and cry for six hours disturbed me. No wonder the other coven members had accused her of hating my mate. Bella was the child she wanted to have, that Fate denied her; the child Arria robbed her of having. And her apology to Bella before she died in battle now made sense.

Rosalie asked, "Did any of you attend medical school?" My sister continued staring at the cluster of Fake Canadians. They all shook their heads, "no."

"Why would we bother?" Arria sounded offended.

"I don't know, to help those human breeders you kept around stay in one piece and squirt out breathing progeny on time, who survived puberty so you can mate them to others." Rosalie rejoined. "Perhaps if you had a doctor or two around when your clan fell ill in the first place, your son would still be alive. Carlisle easily cured Eve. If you did not have any medical knowledge what was your backup plan? Venom?"

Arria nodded, "But only as a last resort. Bella was very brave. Eve said that she did not cry once." She sounded like Bella had won an Olympic gold medal.

Emmett inquired, "Did Eve mention if Bella was conscious?" That question seemed to confuse Arria. Emmett explained, "Humans cannot cry if they are unconscious from pain. How much of that time in the cave was she awake?"

"The entire time. She only fainted once." Again, Arria mimed the proud parent. We started at her, revolted.

Irate, Mother's clenched fists shook, "Are you aware of her brain injury?"

Young To Me Old Power's disgruntled ruminations fascinated me. Arria briefly imagined the sight of Renee Swan wailing in the hospital waiting room, "I turned my back for a second when doctor Mrs. Swan called me. This is all her fault. My poor baby!" That disgusting sight morphed into wan Genevieve wearing a stained lab coat perched on the bedside of a heavily bandaged Bella. Lovingly, she stroked the ends of the toddler's hair. Liam hovered on the other side of the bed, channeling the sphinx. Bella's small hand reached out drowsily and grabbed his. She pulled it against her face and said, "We-am." Standing outside the room, Arria's long fingers pressed flat against the glass and shook. Another hand appeared, reached out, and took hers – one belonging to the late Eve, who said in Oscan at vampire pitch, "Cousin, we are supposed to be feeding now. You know we cannot linger or we risk her exposure."

"I want to kill that human… She damaged Bella."

Eve took her by the arm, "I know. I do, as well. But we need her. You can kill her later. For now, we have to follow your plan."

"I do not know that we can any more," Arria grumbled and tilted her head towards the hospital room.

"I wouldn't rule Bella out quite yet, cousin mine." Eve's smile made a coat hanger blush with envy, "Race you home."

Angrily, present tense Arria collected her thoughts and slammed the wall blocking me decisively.

Arria said to Mother, "Of course, I remember."

"Then you willingly planned a ritual so that Bella could fall and risk a concussion?"

Rosalie had reached her thresh hold and all but belched brimstone and fire. "Bella was not wearing the pendant back then when you tested her. With her brain injury, a serious concussion could have killed her. The medical records from that time of your ritual," she snarled the words, "show she suffered a concussion in addition to a broken leg. That means she should have had immediate medical condition. Instead, you let her fall, and you left her with Eve, who hated her, for six hours. Brilliant move, that."

"Arria, you know that turning does not heal old injuries. Bella's balance was damaged further by that fall," Mother remonstrated.

Mary Alice piled on the criticism aimed at the impassive mother-of-the-year, "And considering the danger she was in, Eve left it to a young boy to carry Bella, who weighed more than he did at the time, up the rungs of a ladder, and then up a staircase before summoning aid?"

Marcus barked, "What?"

Arria said, "I did not design the ritual. Eve did. I trusted her."

"Daughter, it appears that you need to spend more time studying the nature of humans in order to better aid Bella," Vivinna commented softly.

From reading the cauldron of churning confusion in the Telecles Fake Canadian ranks, they were starting to turn against Arria. Why would she allow her heir to be damaged?

Arria stared off into the distance, her icy mannerisms frozen back in place. The Gorgon, Marcus, and Skeevy said nothing.

Esme said, "It seems in your efforts to maintain your family traditions, you hurt Bella more out of ignorance than malice. If you want to continue to be involved in Bella's life, then you need to learn about her, and how to treat humans. Marcus, I will not stand for my child to be put through any more of these trials." There was an edge of iron in Mother's voice.

Father stepped to her side, and met Marcus' eyes, and said, "I agree. Our daughter is not strong enough to endure any more."

Marcus nodded and replied, "This would have been the last one, regardless."

Jugurtha chortled, "Oh, score one for the Cullens."

Starched Shirt Edward scratched his head, "I do not understand."

I told him, "By not challenging Mother and Father, Marcus has told Arria she is not fit to parent Bella. And the silence of Vivinna means she agrees as well, considering Bella's state. Cale's lack of participation in her defense only adds to the problem for Arria." Jugurtha waved his arm, "Regardless, it's a moot point, because Bella is of age and not a child. Carlisle can call her his daughter because she is mated. Marcus loses nothing by conceding it. But it also means that the details of the marriage between you and Bella require further negotiation. I suspect the Telecles clan would like to keep her in an arrangement that keeps her independent from you."

Father interrupted Arria's next attempt at self-defense by the simple expedient of holding up one hand and saying, "I remember my Father used to beat me every so often because he insisted it prevented the Devil from taking root in my soul. He was not any different than any other man I knew in our village. Had he lived now, he would have been jailed."

I had no problem with that sentiment. Parents howled even now over whether or not corporal punishment was appropriate with children.

"Those of you with history degrees," Father continued, "know that alliances were made in families for political reasons particularly during times of war. Many cultures have coming of age rituals. You expect the Telecles clan to act like modern parents, yet they do not even understand the concept."

I stared at my sire like he had morphed into the vampire version of Jessica Stanley.

Jugurtha said, "He's offering Arria and her family the opportunity to save face."

Emmett stuck his chin out pugnaciously, "Then I suppose we'll have to teach them. Because I'm not going to sit by and watch them put her through another gauntlet of gyrfalcons to prove she belongs to their oh so holy line."

Marcus said, "Emmett, she had to, or the clan would never accept Bella."

Jasper said, "I am willing to bet that the clan did not even know of Bella's existence at the time, so why would it matter?"

"It is a matter of honor," Marcus answered.

Now my brothers were tag-teaming. "Earlier you mentioned how you don't send a soldier on a mission without training, right?" Emmett asked Marcus.

"Indeed."

"Arria ignored Bella all these years. She allowed her to grow up ignorant of her heritage and culture, except when she had to conveniently make her suffer rituals to prove membership to a group Bella never actually signed up to join. Bella also had no idea she was being tested or to even expect it. And Arria made them physical trials, which also disadvantaged Bella. See where I'm heading?"

Marcus said, "I am sure Arria had a good reason for what she did. And Bella passed them all."

"I had to promise Liam that I would not tell her, yet I had to satisfy the rites of my coven," she explained.

Great, so by agreeing to that batty biologist's wishes, she tormented her child.

Jasper continued Father's face-saving tactic, "Bella has already been through enough, thanks to all of us. It does not matter the intent, we collectively did this to her."

Mary Alice nodded her head in agreement.

Jasper took a step forward and actually rested his hands on his mate's shoulders and stared at Arria. I shook my head wondering at my sanity because Jasper rarely touched Alice in public and only on the hands, and he appeared to be in a staring contest with Arria, who blinked first. Jasper deliberately did not use his gift.

Arria said, "You have no right to dictate….

Emmett erupted, "Lady, is dodging responsibility your idea of exemplary leadership? If so, I want to run a paternity test on you right now." That was rude; albeit accurate. Even Marcus appeared perplexed by the vehemence in Emmett's voice. My brother pointed at Arria, "Where were you when Bella was in the hospital with pneumonia for over a week and nearly died? I don't have any memory of you giving her baths, or holding her hand for hours when she was delirious and crying with nightmares. I don't remember you cleaning her soiled sheets like my Mother and Father did. I did not hear from Edward of you showing up to the hospital to keep the Blacks from trying to kidnap her."

"Had they tried I would have killed them." She stared at Emmett like he was a young recruit arguing with an older soldier. Which he kind-of-sort-of was.

He snorted, "So you neglected to kill them twice over. Cause last time I checked, both of them still had a pulse. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. I've never seen you sit down and eat a meal with her to encourage her to regain her health."

Arria's lip curled, "We can't eat human food. But I provided it for her," as if Emmett was a moron.

Emmett said, "Exactly. Neither can we. But we sat and ate meals with her for weeks to encourage her to gain weight. You lack the imagination to even try to help Bella."

She shrugged, "I had the hospital watched."

Jasper said, "Not unless you were doing it remotely, because we patrolled the area. I never sensed anyone in the region who felt concern about Bella as a mother would if her child were on her deathbed. The emotions I get from you, frankly, are cold."

"We had a seer guarding her. And I did as well. You never detected it. My mind is also closed to you unless I choose to open it. And who gave you the right -"

I cut her off and let Jugurtha write the script I used, "I did as Bella's rightful mate," I left off the, 'I refuse to stand by and allow you to marry her or her ovaries off to some snotty aristocrat,' as it sounded crude. "We have no qualm if you claim her as your blood kin for political advantage. Please be gentler with her feelings. We will be happy to assist you in this so that Bella can adjust to her new life." Well, it was true. I might have improvised that last line. Someone had to see to the emotional welfare of my bride. Someone who cared. That would be me.

I held the engagement ring in my pocket. I'd put that right back on her hand as soon as I could. Although I'd probably have to use some of Emmett's duct tape to get it to fit since superglue was not a viable option. Surely, she'd speak soon.

Bella captured our full attention by whispering, "Gotcha."

See? I knew she'd come out of her fog.

Mary Alice said, "Father, can you lend me your scalpel?"

"Whatever for?"

"So I can slice out Bella's ovaries and remove the need for her devoted mother's attentions. Once she has them, she'll be on her merry little way and never plague her again." I had never heard Mary Alice be so crass. Truth be told, every word she said was the truth. But still. Ew.

Rosalie snorted and brightly chirped, "I'll perform the procedure myself. Let's begin shall we? Edward, please pass me that vial over there." She acted like the perfect Stepfordized Vampire.

Marcus said to Alice, "Child, I believe you have made your point."

Marcus turned to Arria, "He is her mate."

Arria groused, "He left her to die." I stayed still as the poisonous truth washed over me.

I did not feel this was the time to say, "So did you." Instead, I replied, "That is my cross to bear. I accept my part in the responsibility for that, and will do everything in my power to see to her happiness." She narrowed her eyes and all but spit venom at me as I blinked the very image of contrition.

Emmett concluded, "Way to go making her look bad while accepting responsibility. You are coming back to the real world PukeWard."

"Edward clearly did not know, and the mate bond was not strong enough at the time to prevent him," Marcus judged. "We cannot convict him for failing to realize that he had bonded to a human and acting to protect his coven. Now he understands. He is still her mate. He also gave us invaluable intelligence." He left off the, 'that you failed to learn,' part. As well as the, 'and you failed to guard her,' part, too. Notably, Vivinna agreed with him.

Arria clenched her teeth and said nothing in response. Mentally to me she griped, "You and I, Youngling, will converse later about Bella. No matter what my Father sees, we both agree that your mate bond is not fully formed. You are on probation with me. Treat her again like you did on that day, and I will personally gut you. And Father will help." Did she have to say that last part with such relish? Or was that her idea of Fatherly-Daughterly bonding?

Mentally, I responded, "Yes, Madam." Because really, there was nothing left to say. I only had eyes for Bella. The words of Winston Churchill came to mind,

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up."

Bella was such a pure soul. And considering Charlie and Renee had prevaricated to her for over fifteen years every day, when you compared that to the time frame in which I had lied and deceived – she should forgive me. Right? I mean, I did tell her the whole truth in the end, and I took measures to protect her. And I sincerely loved her this time. That had to count for something.

Starched Shirt Edward threw his hands up in the air bringing his palms to rest with a smack against the leather padding of the top of his prayer bench. Then just to show some extra dramatic irony, he cradled his head in his hands, followed by loud chanting in Latin to Saint Jude. Something about opening the eyes of the blind or some such nonsense. He clearly was not in his normal frame of pipsqueak mind because everyone knew Saint Lucy was the patron saint of the blind, by Jove, not Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes. I'd have to have Jugurtha talk to him. Marcus' voice pulled me into the room.

To Father, Marcus asked, "Can Bella be moved?"

"Of course."

"We will have a short delay before we reach America." Excuse me? She was catatonic with an uneven heartbeat and his only human heir, and he wanted to delay her getting the hundreds of tests I was most assuredly going to insist be performed? Was he mad?

Father put a staying hand on my chest and mentally emitted a clipped, "Silence."

"Yes. We will monitor her carefully."

They were interrupted by the arrival of Benedict and his still golden-eyed family as Marcus bade them enter. The Volturi had at least respected the O'Farrell's decision to maintain a heathen diet, which probably explained why they had such large amounts of animal blood ready for me. The O'Farrells entered the suite. Their chastened children, who had resisted being freed, were clearly mortified by their obstinacy in the face of reason. Father held out his hand, "Benedict, I am your cousin Carlisle Cullen. I am so sorry it took us so long to find you. Of course you know Alice. This is my wife Esme, and our other children Edward, Bella, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper. Alec and Jane are our cousins."

Benedict squinted at him, and returned his grip, "You look like your mother Alisoun." To Mary Alice he said, "I cannot even begin to tell you how much joy it brings me to see you safe."

My sister said, "Everything happens for a reason," and then positively beamed in jubilation for a brief moment before schooling her features to a composed mask when her eyes fell upon Bella.

Father stared at Benedict's bare fingers and asked, "Where is your family ring?"

Benedict said, "They destroyed it forty years ago."

Father removed his and handed it to Benedict, "As eldest this is your right to wear. I'll have another one made for myself and your family members."

"But you took her name, the Cullen name," he sounded aghast. The ring showed their Grandmother's crest.

"That does not mean I have any more of a right to it than you. Please accept it with my goodwill."

With a nod to Father, Benedict said to the rest of the room, "This is my wife Mary, my daughter Deidre, and my sons Thomeas and Gavine."

Benedict was shorter than Father and the ring had to be put on his middle finger. Father said, "We'll have it resized when we arrive at our home. You will, of course, be invited to stay with us for as long as you wish. You're family."

The O'Farrell's appeared hesitant. I can only imagine how I would feel after being imprisoned all those years at having freedom. I would want to lose myself in the world.

Marcus greeted Benedict, "I knew about your captivity. And it is a sorry excuse, but I could not risk having you released until I had enough forces to take over. The only thing I could do for you was insist that you be allowed to maintain your diet and see your family regularly. With your talent, you will have to remain protected, or Caius will simply try to take you back."

Carlisle said, "I understand you can make people forget. Can you tell me about it?"

"I can erase an entire life if need be."

"For how long does the gift last?"

"I have no limit that I know of."

Marcus said, "Could his gift be used to help Bella?" He said that so casually when that had been his plan all along the devious bastard.

Father regretfully sighed, "I do not think his gift would work because her mind is impermeable." How I wished she had a normal brain like most other weak humans.

"How much do you need her to forget?" Benedict inquired.

Knowing it would never work, I said, "The last nine months."

Benedict stared at my mate as she lay on the bed. I could not sense any change in the power in the room.

"What happened to her?" Mary O'Farrell asked.

"She witnessed a mass feeding. It frightened her into this state," Rosalie opined.

After staring at her for a few moments, Benedict sighed, "I'm sorry. Her mind is like nothing I have ever found."

That's my Bella.

"We have a roomful of humans that need to forget about three days of their life downstairs," Mary Alice said. "Can you do it?"

"Of course. It might take time."

"Do they have to be awake?"

"It works better if they are not, actually."

Marcus said, "Edward, please use your gift to see if you can aid Benedict from here."

I held out my hand to Benedict and summoned the Quileute powers. And once I started glowing, much to Benedict's alarm, I put my hand on Bella's and concentrated. Marcus showed him the humans sleeping in the throne room.

It took two minutes.

When I emerged from the trance, the entire room stared at Bella and me. Marcus said, "So that's why I was able to destroy that many houses? Ordinarily I would have had to stop at two at a distance like that."

Jugurtha chided, "You realize you just upped her status and value in the immortal world to save those humans. I see why you did it, I merely wanted to point out you now have more complications."

"Duly noted, but I scored a point against the Gorgon and her daughter who wanted them killed for convenience's sake. And maybe saving those lives will help even out the scales after all I've done." Even though it was a drop in the bucket. And did I mention my head felt like it was going to explode?

Starched Shirt Edward seemed to think it mattered. The balancing the scales part, not the exploding cranium issue.

Bella pulled her hand from mine as if she was burned. I decided that was a positive sign that she was becoming rational.

Carmen and Eleazar made arrangements for the dispersion of the still asleep and very confused when they woke up humans by members of a lost coven from France. The elementary school children and the teacher in particular would require delicate handling. I fancied a bus crash with them being rescued after being isolated sounded good.

Starched Shirt Edward said, "The teacher will not be with them."

"Why not?" I asked

"Because you singled her out to be turned."

"I did no such thing."

Jugurtha said, "Actually, you did. It was an excellent move."

"I do not understand."

"You sensed power in her that the slobbering vampires in the room could not detect. She will make an impressive immortal, and because of that alone, now that they have studied her with clear eyes, no one begrudges what you did. From what I can tell, aside from Bella, she's the most powerful human to walk these halls. And Marcus has claimed her in your name as being under his protection. Caius cannot get his claws in her. He's beside himself, actually."

I wanted to regurgitate all that blood on the floor, and it felt like the world started to spin as white lights winked in my peripheral vision. No, it definitely started to spin and I put my head in my hands. When you added it to the pile of mushrooming sins that lay prostrate like a newly enlightened sinner at Bella's feet, it ……I extended my senses and found the Canadian teacher in a soundproof room right as she began screaming as the transition began. I had missed the bites by seconds.

I must not be sick.

I must not be sick.

I must not be sick.

I had to be strong now.

Jugurtha patted my back and said, "I'll schedule in a time for you to explode all sorts of large inanimate objects if you can focus on Bella right now. The Canadian teacher would have died a horrendous death. This way she will live on and not have to rely on human blood."

Father handed me a glass of algae that had a painkiller in it. I threw it back, hoping that it might work a bit. The sludge seemed to slither down my throat and burn at the same time as the drug fought with my system for control. I'd never had this much pain killer at once. And Father had added in a sedative, too.

Jugurtha said, "We are going to be leaving this room. You need to lift her carefully. And if you feel dizzy you need to tell someone."

Marcus snapped his fingers and Felix handed him a cloak. Instead of donning it, he threw it at me followed by the clasp, "Edward, you need a warm coat where we are going." Marcus went into a side chamber and emerged dressed for battle. He had aides pass out vampire blades, unscented ones at that, to us all.

Marcus nodded at Skeevy, who texted something into his phone as did Arria. I extended my limping senses and could tell that the thousands of troops outside had been given leave to enter the fortress. It sounded like Hannibal with a herd or ninety of elephants, as thousands of feet marched through the hallways into the throne room.

Rosalie grabbed my hands as I reached for my mate, "I don't think so. You are drugged right now and could fall." Right.

"If I am not seen carrying her, it will send the wrong message."

Emmett said, "He's right, Rose. I'll walk by his right, you take his left."

We arrived moments later at the throne room surrounded by soldiers like sardines. The room was now filled to capacity. Aro and Caius did their best to remain calm. Whatever Father had put in that drink went to work almost immediately, although it only took the edge off of my physical pain. I appeared to be immune to the sedative.

Marcus' stentorian voice rang out, "Brothers! Glorious news! We are no longer at war with the majority of the lost covens. Only a few refuse to reconcile."

Except he did not address the words to Aro and Caius so much as at the crowd that roared and applauded at him. Marcus waved an arm and the shouting ceased.

Caius said, "Who leads them? When did you negotiate a treaty? You don't speak."

Vivinna said, "I led them in his name, with the assistance of my family." Aro gaped.

Four young men, led by Aranthur Catharnia – Vivinna's brother I'd seen in the vision of the ambush - stepped from the ranks of the legionnaires. They saluted Marcus and Vivinna. One clearly appeared different than the other dark-haired ones. He was taller, heavier, with white blond hair and maroon eyes. He said, "Greetings, Father, Mother, Uncle."

Jugurtha whispered, "Remember the four Telecles sons who died at once and their heads were sent to Marcus in a basket?"

"Gracious, yes."

"That's them."

"Metie," Aro cried to the blond one, "Pesna, Teitu, and Thucer . . ." to the others who all resembled one another to the point telling the difference between them would be a challenge. "But you. I saw. How?" His face erupted in a smile as he stepped forward and put his hand on each and said, "Oh, you have no idea how happy….." He said to Marcus, "Brother, how?"

Marcus said, "It required a thousand years of sacrifice to bring them all back. It was worth every second." He smiled at his sons.

Caius gaped. As did Claudia and Paulina, the Volturi wives. The other ones.

Jugurtha laughed and said, "Oh, Marcus has done more than just engineer a bloodless coup. Caius and Aro are definitely going to be hating life."

I asked him, "How so?"

"Marcus told them he and Vivinna sacrificed a millennium apart suffering each second in return for the gift of some of his dead children and his legions."

"True."

"That means that Claudia and Paulina are probably going to consider asking that Aro and Caius do the same."

No wonder Caius appeared like he was going to be ill.

Marcus said, "I must see to the needs of my family and will be taking a trip, brothers. Caius, we intend to search for your son and restore him to you and Paulina. Good night." He turned to Aro, handed him a sheathed blade, and said, "Aro, we have work to do." Aro kissed his mate's cheek, and dutifully followed him. He brightened at Marcus' words and all but clicked his heels together.

"What about me?" Caius wailed.

Marcus, his arm held out for his wife as they walked, said, "Lead wisely, and make amends to your mate. I expect a formal apology to mine when next we meet, or I'll leave her in a room with you." Marcus said over his shoulder, "I don't think it will turn out the way you initially envisioned, brother dear." Vivinna ignored Caius. I so saw her flexing her left fist, though. Well, that did not go how I expected.

Jugurtha said, "What did you expect?"

"Marcus to snarl something like if Caius ever imagined Vivinna in that way again that he'd kill him."

"He followed the teachings of Sun-Tzu."

"What do you mean?"

"The best battle is one you never have to fight. These aristocrats do not understand feminism like we do. Marcus threatened to let his wife kill Caius in a tone of voice that sounded like she could. Caius been insulted appropriately, and mocked. And had Marcus threatened to kill him, then he would be acknowledging that Caius is a threat. This way he does not, teases his brother, and smacks him hard at the same time. He probably won bonus points from his mate as well. And earned a few back on Caius' behalf because it will decrease the ire of his offended mate. And don't think for a second Caius doesn't realize it."

Two vampires emerged from the back carrying the screaming Canadian schoolteacher. With each cry, a refrain echoed, 'I did that. I did that.' I had visions of Bella doing the same.

On that note, two soldiers crossed the tall spears they held in their hands and the room was filled with humming that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The throne room melted before my eyes and it felt like we were dunked into a vat of ice cold water. From Caius' mind, we simply disappeared.

One second we were in Italy, the next we stood on a hillside in a blizzard in three feet of frozen snow under a cloudy sky that obscured the vanilla moon. Like waves of the sea, the fields of powdery ice were sculpted by the blasts of air into ridges and ripples. A collection of pine trees huddled like humans seeking warmth from one another off to the right. Others surrounded the left side like decorated skeletons. The weight of the snow shawled the branches and made it easy to see through the leaden limbs.

A small empty cottage thatched with feet of snow stood a mile to the North. With a preoccupied manner, Marcus said, "I'll settle you in that empty house over there." He did not have to say the Volturi owned it and used it as a spy headquarters for the region. "Vivinna and I are going to make a quick social call on old friends."

Marcus also did not say he planned on bringing a few thousand of his own on said envisioned fantasy unsocial call. With visions of gore lurking on his mind, he led us through the bitter night oblivious to the negative twenty below zero Fahrenheit temperatures and the knife-edge howling winds to the cottage. The Canadian school teacher harmonized with the blasts. I extended my senses; there were no humans within listening distance. Her screams were deafened by the wind, thank goodness.

Father said, "I take it we are in Romania?"

Marcus nodded, "Only for a short repast. This should not take long." He mentally informed delighted Aro of the Romanian situation.

Giddy with glee, Aro clasped his hands together almost as if in prayer. "Oh brother, it has been so long since we fought side-by-side in battle. How happy you have made me!" There he went with that slaphappy routine again.

A guard opened the door of the house for us and we entered, stamping our feet on the mat by the doorway.

The clumpy snow stubbornly clung to us like determined door-to-door salesman of days gone by. Father said to the vampire holding the teacher, "How long ago was she bitten?"

"About five minutes."

Two legionnaires lay her carefully on the floor on a pile of cloaks no one outside needed to wear. Why put on cloaks when you can look macho without suffering the effects of it?

Jasper attempted to soothe the poor woman with his gift, and if that was her calm during her transition, I did not want to see her agitated. Considering all the emotions Jasper had experienced of late, I worried this might be difficult for him.

Jasper said to the nervous-looking soldiers who had already felt bits of his gift, "I have experience supervising transitions." Oh, right. Silly me. How could I forget that he had murdered, butchered AND turned humans for decades. How thoughtless of me.

Father said, "Good we still have time." He reached into his bag, pulled out two large bottles of purified water and managed to get the woman to drink them without choking to death. I recalled Father's explanation for the water making her transition easier if she was hydrated. He promptly dosed her with enough sedative and pain killer to knock her flat.

We brushed the ice off of Bella's cloak and I took a seat on the floor between the writhing teacher and the fireplace. Since my heart was beating, I had the body heat to warm Bella. Which meant it was totally ethical for me to clutch her to me in the manner that I did, sheltering her inside the cloak supplied by Marcus in place of the soggy one I had loaned Bella earlier. She could have frozen. Seriously. I would have given just about anything to have some of Rosalie's batteries.

Starched Shirt Edward tugged me by the hand and said, "Here, watch. Remember the second morning after you rescued her in the icy parking lot? You were giving her driving lessons."

I arrived at her house two minutes early, thankful my suspicious sister had not minded me studying a few of her car manuals. My singer answered the door with a mystified expression. I had personally watched through his bumbling mind as Chief Swan had inspected the truck's tires and fluids to ensure the truck would be functional prior to heaving his girth into his cruiser and departing for another day of staring at parking tickets and pastries. Nice of him to worry about the car and not his own daughter.

"Good morning."

"Hello, Edward." She seemed focused on watching the ground to make sure she stayed standing on it as we walked to the car. I would have cleared her sidewalk and driveway, but Mary Alice had warned me that the noise of the metal-bladed snow shovel would wake the neighborhood and her father would become territorial over his land. Humans. He could have the land. I only wanted his daughter. For moral purposes, of course. For the rest of her life.

"I see you put the crampons on correctly."

My human stuttered, "The what?" She seemed aghast for a moment.

"Crampons. Ice grippers?" Did she have a memory problem? I needed to get her into the vehicle and turn the heat on as the chill in the air had made her cheeks red. I could not have her falling ill. It could harm her precious scent.

"Oh. Right. Yes." I could not understand why she acted so relieved. They were not difficult to utilize as I had demonstrated for her at school; and she was an intelligent woman. I opened her car door for her and forced myself not to lift her into the car and attach her seat belt for her. Mary Alice had also ruled that out. Too patronizing.

"Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"Do you want to go to school?" Like the fly helpless in the spider's web, I tripped into her eyes, and forgot what I was planning on saying. Jugurtha smacked me into answering.

"Most assuredly," I stammered.

"Then you'll need to get in the car and let me close my door."

Her lips twitched at me for an interminable moment that in human time Starched Shirt Edward pointed out represented nothing more than a microexpression. It was important that she had NOT done anything beyond it, he opined. I wanted her to laugh. Just not at me. To her credit, she remained silent and solemn. I wanted to crawl under the car and let the earth swallow me whole. Starched Shirt Edward said she was a kind soul to overlook our errors.

"Right. Sorry." I shut her door and walked at boring human speed to the passenger side. Which was locked. My singer had to unfasten her seat belt and slide across to lift the manual lock. Her car was warming up and in park. She could have been hurt. I would have to remember to unlock the car door every morning to prevent this from happening. Any reasonable vampire would worry about the safety of his singer.

I shut the passenger side door. She stared at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Bella? I think the vehicle has warmed up properly."

"I agree."

"So the key to backing up in this weather is to be gentle with the accelerator and brakes."

"Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Fasten your seat belt, please."

"Edward," Rosalie had her 'I am professional and around a lunatic,' voice in place. "Here," Rosalie said, "I will lay them against her," As she produced three batteries from her pockets and wired them into place turning them on to help warm Bella. My sister had somehow become not only a vicious debater, but a sensitive almost mind-reader. Who knew she could grow so much in eight months? Now if only she could produce a hospital and laboratory so I could provide my mate with the aid she required, and away from that screaming woman who put my teeth on edge. I had not heard wailing that piteous since Rosalie's transition. Rosalie handed me a bottle of water and we took turns ensuring Bella had her share as well as the twins.

Bella's heartbeat became slower then sped up again in a haphazard rhythm. I prayed Rosalie and Father's diagnosis was correct and that it was not something even worse, as visions of heart surgeries performed on Bella tortured me. She already had enough scars meandering across her small frame.

Father cogitated, "Son, I know this wait is agonizing, and the turning is not helping matters. You have to remember that people from Marcus' time had different ideas about medicine. Bella's not bleeding to death, therefore in his mind, dealing with the threat of the Romanians is also taking care of her."

Imperceptibly, I inclined my head in a nod. I said, "She's catatonic because of the feeding she saw. And now we have one screaming right beside her." I could not tell my Father how much I regretted singling that woman out. I knew from the time of the battle at our house, when I had refused to turn Bella, that he suspected, but evincing guilt now over that particular sin would seal my fate. He might not want me to stay. And I loved my family. So to keep them, I said, "She," nodding at the writing woman, "has great power. I could not bear to see it go to waste." There. That sounded like something he'd want to hear.

Jugurtha counseled, "They care for you. Think of all they risked today for your sake. We will proceed cautiously. And that was inspired about the teacher."

Father said, "We cannot know for certain why Bella is catatonic. Why don't you see if you can construct a barrier around the woman to shield the sound?"

Suddenly the school teacher sat up and wailed loud enough to make a banshee weep with admiration and professional envy. Watching Bella's glassy eyes and how she did not so much as flinch, I could not take it anymore. As Father grabbed the screaming woman's shoulders to lay her down, I summoned the powers. Within my mind, I chanted in Quileute, "I know I have to assume the burden for this. I don't even remember doing something so horrible. Please, my mate has suffered enough for my sins. Please do not let her hear this woman's screams."

I placed a shaky hand on the strange woman's shoe as the ring was created. All the room stared as it surrounded the woman, but not Bella, who lay in my arms. The screaming from the minds of the rest of the room cut off like a switch. And the spirits were offended I had not asked earlier as they said they owed Bella. When I asked for what they refused to answer. Oh, right, meeting Victoria to save the tribe. Jumping to her death to save the tribe. Those little things. They were absolutely right. As far as I was concerned they owed her considerably. We were in perfect accord on that issue. And they agreed that I deserved to hear every scream and said they would assist in that effort.

I heard a voice in my mind saying, "Who is there?" It came from the woman, not the Quileute spirits. No one else in the room had sensed it.

"My name is Edward. I am sorry you are hurting. I wish I could say it will get better. It should pass in three days."

"What? Why?"

"You are becoming immortal. What is your name?"

"Merr . . .isol du Pre." I lost contact with her as she sank into the greedy arms of pain.

Skeevy said in a far too offhand voice, "What was that?"

"Her cries were frightening Bella and affecting her heart. I used my gifts so that no one but I can hear her. Her name, by the way, is Merrisol DuPre. I'm sure once she wakes up she'll be happy to meet you." Jugurtha said I should add that last part. Skeevy stared at her longer than was proper. She had shoulder length auburn hair and for the present bright blue eyes. Freckles, too.

Jugurtha said, "Skeevy is a goner. Poor man."

Reading his impressions, I answered in his mind, "If her jewelry is any indication, she is unmarried." I nodded at her left hand. "Humans these days wear rings, like those on my Mother." I owed him for earlier in that argument with Arria.

Emmett started a fire, while Mary Alice and Mother held the kept-sleeping-by-me twins, as they hovered over the woman and Bella both. Emmett said, "We don't have enough wood for long."

Skeevy waved an arm at a group of soldiers, "Fetch more. My niece and the humans require warmth to survive." They all but tripped over another escaping the room like Olympic sprinters to fetch wood. Others joined and it turned into a vampire running parade of sorts through the raging blizzard.

Three minutes later, smiling like eager puppies, the soldiers returned beaming with a large pine tree they had ripped out, roots and all and had broken into four parts. One poor soul seemed to think he could simply feed the four feet long hunks of ice-coated lumber into the fireplace and all would be well. Except the wood section he held was larger than the hearth. Another didn't realize the dirt from the roots was being scattered on Merrisol as soil glopped onto her forehead. Father cleaned her face and held her hand, and tried to soothe her. He said, "Edward, I need to be able to hear her, too." Right. Sorry. I waved an arm and included him in the circle of pain and regret.

Jasper took a rusty axe from the corner, and waved the men outside. I could hear the axe strike the timber with a thwack as he split the tree into sections. He returned with stacks of wet wood and began building a larger fire. There were books above the fireplace, one was a Bible, the other two were translations of Gone With the Wind and The Mayor of Casterbridge. Jasper picked Gone With the Wind, and started feeding pages of the first chapter into the stacks of wood and kindling. I reminded myself to congratulate him on avoiding sacrilege later. The Mayor of Casterbridge was a superior book.

"What are you doing?" Mary Alice asked her mate. The Mississippi-native clearly was upset and believed that he should have gone with destroying the Hardy, instead.

"You have to have extra things to start a fire when the wood is this wet."

"Oh. She looks cold, Jasper. Her lips are blue. Merrisol's, too. We have to check on the twins."

Rosalie said, "I have enough batteries to keep the both warm if we put them together in a blanket. I can't turn them up too high because they are so fragile it could burn their skin."

Mother decided no child was going to freeze to death on her watch. Esme handed the female child to Carmen, and went into the small nook that passed for a kitchen and began searching the cabinets. She returned with a bottle of olive oil. Jasper used it to make the fire start and we all did our best to avoid retching at the odor that resulted from the burning wood and mashed olives.

"What in the name of the gods is that?" Skeevy winced. He had enough Telecles clan stubbornness to continue breathing even though it was unnecessary.

Mother said, "Humans have used it to cook for generations. It is oil from olives."

And on that note, Skeevy conveniently took his leave of us, remembering something about Romanians he needed to attend to.

Marcus and Aro left the area surrounded by five thousand legionnaires at guard duty, and an ecstatic Aranthur Catharnai, by the ghost of a smile on his face, who had not only recovered his long-grieved nephews, but now had hope his only son still lived. What other family had a reunion by lunging into battle to hack apart another coven? Marcus and Vivinna had barely said two words to one another or their newly-risen-from-the-ashes four sons. Arria hadn't even bothered to walk up to her four brothers and say, "I'm your long lost baby sister, and the last time we saw one another I was drooling. How stupid of you all to die at once. I might have made mistakes but nothing that moronic. Nice to meet you." Instead she gave the Telecles form of a hug by nodding at them. Skeevy did the same. The four men, I must admit, handled vampire blades quite well despite that whole being slaughtered a millennium ago due to stupidity party. I was not quite sure how four of Marcus' sons could be ambushed at once. And I was sure, based on how Marcus had treated Arria earlier, that the second he got them alone, he'd be asking the same question. I'd probably pay money to see that lecture.

Jugurtha snorted, "It is one thing to admit that you erred. It is entirely another when your parents had to suffer for a millennium to pay for those errors."

I sniped at Starched Shirt Edward, "You really should try to convert them to Catholicism. They should already have the ingrained guilt part down." He huffed at me and muttered that I was a heather. Which I totally was.

Family night for the Telecles clan consisted of collectively storming the monastery that had hidden the Walachian coven for centuries. I would rather not think of what I saw that frigid eve that passed for sibling bonding, and definitely wanted to expunge the things I had heard. Marcus sent immortals and mortals alike off to the Great Beyond with an economy and skill that made him the Picasso of warfare. The vampire equivalent of an octopus, Aro delighted in reading every one's life history before they died that he could reach. And that man practically groped the entire coven. Metie, the hulking blonde son of Marcus was acting like a misplaced Viking, and appeared the part as well. That one showed a distasteful amount of glee during battle. And his beatific smile made him appear unhinged. Worse, he liked to sing while swinging his sword. Not that one. Ew. The blade. The unscented vampire blade that he currently wielded to hack apart a screaming teenage immortal girl.

Jasper sulked that he was not along for the ride. The only comfort he had was that Alec and Jane had been left here to guard as well.

Using a flat voice, Jane said, "Back away from the hearth."

I gazed up at her as if she were mad, as the fire agreed with me, with a loud crackle and pop.

Alec studied Bella's unbound tresses and murmured, "The hair always catches fire first."

My eyes widened as I saw the memory of his and Jane's human death at the stake. I knew they would not want that acknowledged out loud as they seemed to have an abundance of pride. To their minds I said as I moved back from the fire, "Thank you for sharing your wisdom for Bella's welfare." That sounded far better than, "Jane you looked far better with longer hair and what a ghastly way to die and I'm not sorry Aro killed the entire town."

From my seat on the stone floor clutching my silent Grandmaster to my chest like a blessed medallion, I waved to Jasper and he cautiously approached. I patted the ground at my right side and waited for him to be seated.

Hezekiah's caution that sharing power with older spirits would only make me stronger had proved true, as I had rallied. At present, my powers were cooperating. I closed my eyes and sent the images of the skirmish to Jasper, who sat like a gourmet chef appreciating another's work. "Marcus is sending these to me." I explained my sudden expansion in range. And it was true. Marcus had been so busy he had not taken the time to include Jasper in his mental feed. It was an oversight I was sure he would soon correct.

Emmett said, "You just became the AM radio of the immortal world." I am not sure what that meant.

"The Romanians are putting up quite a fight." Jasper sounded like a sports announcer, a well-bred one.

Father apparently did not need my help as he had a direct feed as well. He predicted, "This should end shortly. I think this Romanian clan is only three thousand strong."

It took half an hour to storm and destroy their previously impenetrable abode. The thoroughly professionally impressed Jane, Alec, and Jasper were now Marcus' military minions. Marcus personally oversaw that whole execution of wailing enemies business, which took an hour to carry out. He did not wait for them to offer him an explanation, or beg for mercy, or attempt to negotiate, which several attempted to do. He and his men and his wife and children simply killed them all methodically after letting Aro bless them with his touch and pilfer their entire lives' knowledge.

As the last body was ripped asunder, Vivinna asked, "My nephew?" It would have been tacky had they killed the chap by mistake.

Marcus turned his head to listen as he communicated with the minds of his men. "Alive, but in bad shape. His father has found him. Carlisle will need to see Vel. Possibly Rosalie as well."

Marcus said to another soldier, "Gather any intelligence you can. Then burn the entire place to the ground. Find the stragglers and kill them."

Aro gave them a list of those he had determined were missing after rifling through the minds of the not-so-dearly departed.

"Join us in Washington State in America when you finish your task." Suddenly Marcus' voice sounded in my mind, "Edward, can you please dispose of the bodies?"

When did I become the grim garbage reaper to sterilize the abattoir he had birthed?

"As distasteful as it seemed," Jugurtha said, "The faster you do this, the quicker we leave. Besides, you can impress the men making thousands of vanquished enemies vanish. Think of the bold statement that makes. And Marcus' eldest, Miethe, needs a reminder you have power. Watch that opportunistic one like a carpetbagger."

Starched Shirt Edward said through slit eyes, "The Romanians in that building deserve to burn for killing those monks generations ago and desecrating the house of God. I vote, 'yes.'"

Calling upon the Quileute spirits who informed me they were beginning to feel taken for granted until they saw what I intended to ask, they all but pushed me aside and the body parts writhed for a second before bursting into flame and vanishing. As far as they were concerned, that was one giant leap for all of wolfkind. The murmurs went through the ranks about the green demon mated to Marcus' ill granddaughter. I knew nothing about why Marcus' oldest child, Mr. Singing while Swinging Metie Telecles ended up covered with green ash. Nope. Sorry.

From reading the minds around him, Metie was the only survivor of a clan that had been allied with Marcus'. I saw from a legionnaire's mind an image of a child found amongst the rubble, clinging to his dead Mother. He had refused to leave her side for the three days it had taken Marcus to arrive. Marcus had to pull him screaming off of her corpse.

Newly married, he concluded his wife would like a child until they had one of their own. And from all accounts from Aro's mind, Vivinna had doted on him as much as those borne of her flesh.

Starched Shirt Edward said, "The one," he pointed to Metie, "reminds me of Lee Quill. He's not right in the head. And they have not realized it yet."

I was not going to be the bearer of the, "Hey, I realize you spent a thousand years suffering in order to resurrect your sons and troops, but you need to send that one back to the manufacturer for a recall," news. Nope. But I most assuredly planned on watching him like a hawk.

Vivinna handed a slip of paper to the man, "This is where they keep their human line." She didn't need to say, "Kill every last one of them."

Five minutes later, Marcus and his family, accompanied by a gawky sixteen-year-old appearing vampire, entered the house. The young man took one whiff of the children near Bella and lunged for my scentless mate instead, proving Marcus' concern about his mental well-being. Before I could teach him proper manners, Skeevy and the boy's sire caught him.

His father Aranthur Cartharnai said, "Child, in this family, we do not eat our human cousins. Vel this is Bella, Marcus and Vivinna's granddaughter." Good to know they had rules, aside from, Thou shalt slay thine enemies.

Vel tilted his head and drooled venom across his tunic. He whined, "There are small humans. I am hungry. That woman over there stinks of venom." He nodded at Merrisol.

Blithely, I said, "Those are Rosalie and Emmett's children. I do not recommend trying." I left off the, "Or I'll hurt you part."

Rosalie and Emmett glanced at each other for a moment and then stared at the toddlers as if they had seconds ago sprouted from the earth. "Edward, I –"

"Bella saved them for a reason." Besides, I could hardly raise them alongside a mother that would not speak. Given how I hated to converse, they would be mute. Bella and I clearly weren't ready for children. And it would keep Rose mentally occupied for the time being, while I schee---made plans to manage my family's mental hygiene. My own, too. Not to mention that of my mate. But then again. Ye Gads! She actually really was my family.

Jugurtha said, "Clever move, now they owe you for fulfilling Rosalie's dream. If they find out what you did to Bella, they can't be as mean. Bravo. And keep feeding Jasper battle information. He's Marcus' number one groupie."

Skeevy stuffed more of that green substance at his drooling relation, who sulked while trying to chew and whine at the same time. I had ranted at Fate because being turned at seventeen was awkward. Due to our lifestyle we had maintained a sheltered existence, so I was only now seeing large groups of immortals. In all my limited experience, I had never seen one with a severe case of acne vulgaris. Mike Newton would baptize this man, "Melted pizza face." The idea of being eternal pizza face, perhaps my lot was not so miserable after all. At least in that regard. There was no amount of antibiotics or benzoyl peroxide that would help. I made a note to Jugurtha to see that Vel's father had a copy of information on his condition.

I gathered up my still-not-speaking-to-a-soul mate as we exited into the storm.

Father inquired, "Are we returning to Washington?"

Marcus clicked his tongue and said, "Soon. We need to make one stop. Perhaps, two. Those two Romanians you captured delivered their message eight months ago."

"Yes?" Father said. "What of it?"

"That means they have sat in ambush waiting for me all that time. It would be unkind to keep them languishing any longer."

With Jasper attached to me like a barnacle battle junkie, we watched as Marcus' armies slew thousands. His revived legionnaires moved at a rate that ordinary, even older vampires could not match, and I was not sure how that had happened. They did not discriminate. They meted death with equal opportunity. Everyone who came before them perished and most certainly did not go gently into that night. Jasper squirmed in his seat itching to take part and cheering quietly when he saw a particular move or sword swing, thrust, or strike that he liked, and my, he was awfully vocal.

Emmett said "We need some popcorn and it'll be just like home," We nodded.

Then he had to ruin that perception with, "It's like the closest thing to porn Jasper will watch. He looks like a guy at an all night burlesque show." Esme cleared her throat and Emmett blustered, "I'm sorry, but it's true. Look at him." Emmett had spoken in Oscan at vampire pitch so Mother could not scold him for using the word 'porn' around my mate. Not that there was a word in that language, seeing as Emmett had to call it what roughly translated to, 'naked woman for sale for view.' But still.

After sacking a citadel in Transylvania, an interminable hour later, we stood in the Olympic National Park, surrounded by Marcus' entire army. I sniffed the air. I could smell smoke, see a distant fire, and hear the screams. Forks was burning, the reservation, too.


Snarky Summary

The Cullens learn about the Telecles' habit of testing their members – not those members - in order to prove they belong. The nature of Bella's leap is officially changed by the spin doctors for political purposes. Rosalie gets Arria to admit that she had hoped to never use Bella as a leader due to that whole problem of her being a mortal female breeder and all. The philosophy of parenting is pondered. Esme gets in Marcus' face and says no one will be messing with her and Carlisle's daughter again. Go Esme! And Marcus seems to agree. Vivinna, too. A good time was had by all the Telecles clan with they rumbled in Romania. And they just returned to Forks to find it on fire. I mean, they planned on painting the town red, but yeesh.

Stay Tuned for our next episode of As Forks Burns

Closing songs:

Heartache Tonight – The Eagles

http://www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=-KnWazzc18U

Your Wildest Dreams - Moody Blues

http://www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=kmmPFrkuPq0

Smoke gets in your eyes – the Platters

http://www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=57tK6aQS_H0

References:

For more on the De' Medeci family: http://www (dot) historyworld (dot) net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories (dot) asp?historyid=aa24

Emmett wasn't kidding when he asked about the Masai tribe from Africa. I loved studying them in school: http://www (dot) africancraftsmarket (dot) com/Maasai_people (dot) htm

The history of In Vitro Fertilization is more complicated than I initially conceived. Fun, too: http://www (dot) brown (dot) edu/Courses/BI0032/IVF/history (dot) html

Saint Lucy really is the patron saint of the blind: http://www (dot) catholic (dot) org/saints/saint (dot) php?saint_id=75

For more on the history of marriage: http://www (dot) psychologytoday (dot) com/articles/200505/marriage-history

Imagine 37 elephants crossing the alps and coming to knock on your door. Hannibal had a ball with elephants in battle. Seriously:

http://www (dot) boisestate (dot) edu/courses/westciv/Punicwar/07 (dot) shtml

I like to stare at this page from time to time. It is filled with examples of people who failed, but kept trying. Winston Churchill's quotation is on it:

http://www (dot) des (dot) emory (dot) edu/mfp/efficacynotgiveup (dot) html

For more on the social impacts of acne: http://www (dot) skincarephysicians (dot) com/acnenet/socimpct (dot) html

In included a nod to Dylan Thomas' poem with the 'gentle into the night' line: http://www (dot) poets (dot) org/viewmedia (dot) php/prmMID/15377


Bella wakes up next chapter. And Douglas comes back next chapter as well. Promise. If you review, he might be there longer.

This is the best picture of Douglas I've ever seen. Douglas agrees. And despite it being on photobucket, alas I did not take it.

http://i953 (dot) photobucket (dot) com/albums/ae12/booksgalore_bookishqua/Douglasnutstwo (dot) jpg