Bella stood behind Marcus' throne watching the scene before her impassively. She probably wouldn't be needed at all but she had promised Didyme that she would attend this meeting because the queen was worried about her mate's safety. Apparently this coven had vampires with gifts and it set everyone in the throne room on edge as no-one knew what they were. She held back a smile as the five vampires before them tried to pretend they weren't intimidated by the kings or the guards surrounding them.
After letting the silence stretch Aro's booming voice filled the room"Ah, our guests have arrived. At long last. Martin it has been a long time. How was your trip?"
"It was uneventful my lord." Martin the leader of the coven said.
"That is good to hear." Aro's smile turned into a frown when he heard Marcus sigh. "Now, now brother it's rude to not properly greet our guests."
Marcus sighed again. "It's more rude to break the law wouldn't you say?"
Before Aro could reply Caius interrupted. "Let's get on with this. I don't want to be here all day."
"Very well then." Aro's face lost all traces of informality as he glared at Martin. "What is this we hear of you and your coven recklessly creating newborns?"
"We have done no such thing. We have added these two to our coven but no others." Martin motioned to two male members of his coven.
Caius slammed his hand on the arm of his throne."LIES!"
"I see you haven't brought us here to actually hear us out. This was always a death sentence." Martin scowled at the kings.
Aro held out his hand. "If you wish to prove your innocence then you simply have to touch my hand. If what you say is true then you and your coven can leave in peace."
Bella tensed as she watched Martin glance at one of his female coven mates. As he took a step forward with his hand out stretched preparing to touch Aro's hand a sudden wall of purple flames engulfed the Volturi kings and the guards closest to them. Screams and sounds of fighting broke out as the fire raged. No sooner than it began the fire was extinguished. Gasps were heard all around and many vampires stared wide eyed as the kings and their guards stood or sat in their original positions unharmed.
"Impossible!" Martin screamed. His gifted coven mate was now torn to pieces after being subdued by Jane and out of the other three there was only one that wasn't in pieces. It was as he saw a figure in a black robe and skull mask appear from behind Marcus he realized just how badly he screwed up.
Aro looked over at Bella and smiled. "Thank you my dear. Now that that moment of unpleasantness is over I don't think we really need to continue this inquisition."
"NO,NO,NO,NO,NO!"Martin screamed. His plans had all unraveled so quickly. He was going to get an audience with the kings have his coven mate kill them with fire and take out as many of the close guards as he could then have her turn the fire on the rest of the room killing all of the guards leaving him in position to take the throne. Now it was all out of his grasp. "This isn't happening, L'ombra Della Morte isn't real."
"Who are you talking about? There is no one here with that name."Caius smirked when the man looked to where Bella was standing only to find nothing there. Bella didn't actually need to show herself at all to protect the kings but she did it every once in a while during these meetings for Caius. He was a sadistic vampire but as long as he had a healthy outlet for it he kept it in check. So if Bella appearing and disappearing every once in a while helped with Caius' need to fuck with people she was all for it. She had a feeling he knew she did it specifically for him but she would never admit it if asked.
Martin looked around the room not finding the cloaked figure anywhere. He didn't know what was happening at all. He was sure he saw the black robed vampire but they were nowhere to be seen. "I..I..but….they, how, you."
"Yes, yes you are flabbergasted that your ultimate plan didn't come to fruition." Marcus' eyes hardened. "You have tried to kill myself, my brothers and many members of this guard. I would ask how you plead but we all know of your guilt. Now we just have to decide your punishment."
"Felix, Dimitri take them both to the dungeons. I feel like they would enjoy spending some time with Jane before their final punishment." Caius motioned to the pile of body parts. "The rest of you take care of this mess. Then you are free to go until further notice."
Bella made her way out of the throne room without a backwards glance. She wandered through the castle towards the garden invisible to all those around her. There was only one other vampire she knew of who could do this but Afton could never match her skill. He could be caught if someone focused hard enough on him, whereas she could not. She had caught the young man trying to easdrop on her conversations a few times but after she had dismembered him, stuck his head in a box which she buried and then slowly returned his pieces to his mate one at a time he had never tried again. It had been one of her less painful punishments and had served to dissuade many others from trying.
Searching amongst the flowers she found the vampire she was looking for. Didyme was on her hands and knees weeding one of her many gardens. Bella made a noise as not to scare the woman as she revealed herself. "You know, if you wanted you could have many others do this for you. There is no need for you to do all this hard work."
Didyme smiled at Bella as she said the words she always said when she met her in the garden. She was eternally grateful to the girl as Bella had saved her life when rogue vampires had attacked her mate and her in a coup attempt in the 16th century. They weren't the only ones Bella had saved though. Didyme's brother Aro and Caius were also targeted along with their mates. Somehow Bella had found out about the plot and prevented any harm to come to any of them. Bella had never given a reason for why she helped them. The six of them had many discussions trying to figure out her reasoning but the only thing the three rulers and their mates had come up with was that Bella had probably been watching out for them for a long time. Aro had suspected she was one of the reasons they were able to defeat the Romanians. No proof had ever been found but Didyme was inclined to agree.
"How was court? Did that coven give you any problems?" Didyme asked.
"Unfortunately they had a gifted coven mate. One that could wield fire." Seeing Didyme's panicked expression Bella quickly reassured the woman. "No one was hurt. I predicted something would happen and shielded them all from the fire."
Didyme sighed in relief. "Thank you for once again saving my mate. I don't know what we would have done all these years without you."
"Well hopefully you won't have to find out." Bella said her face lighting up in a rare smile.
At seeing that smile Didyme's breath caught in her throat. In the centuries she had know her, Bella only smiled on rare occasions but when she did it transformed her whole persona. It made her look like the young teenager they suspected she was when she was turned. In all her years only one other vampire Didyme had come across could even come close to the beauty of Bella. A vain vampire who lived with an animal drinking coven in America. There was nothing vain about Bella though. The fact that she seemed to lack the knowledge of her effect on people made her so much more alluring. Didyme suspected if Bella actually showed the face underneath the mask she wore,she would be the subject of many more rumors and legends based on her beauty alone. None of those who had met Bella could ever understand her want to be invisible but they all respected it and never spoke of their knowledge of the woman. No matter how many times they were asked.
"What brings you to the gardens?" Didyme asked. "Did you just come to tell me of my mate?"
Bella shook her head. "Of course not. You would have found out from the court gossips quickly of the meeting. I simply came to spent time with one of my favorite people."
"You are such a charmer." Didyme told her.
"I am no charmer. I simply speak the truth." Bella said kneeling down next to Didyme. "Now please explain to me what these plants are and what we are doing to them."
Didyme enjoyed her time with Bella. For someone so feared she had a presence that put you at ease. She and Bella spent the rest of the day in the garden as they talked of plant life and many other random topics late into the evening. Didyme knew if anyone ever heard that Death's Shadow spent her day gardening they would never believe it.