Chapter 33: The kings
A/N: I know some of you have been dying for Paul and Bella to spend some time together especially since they are married now. I promise you they will! A few later chapters will be about their time with Paul's family in France! We are so close to the end! Thank you all for your reviews, your follows, and your overall enjoyment of this story! You guys are amazing!
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Aro pov:
In all his millennia of being so called alive, Aro volturi had never seen such boldness in a young vampire.
Jasper Whitlock was surely a gem. A gem that was hard to come by. A man full of power, loyalty, and an excellent strategist. It was out of his nature to speak out of turn. So, when the young man took a few steps back, Aro became alarmed and so did the guard. Felix and Demetri were at the ready.
"I see and what is it you and your guest are here to discuss?" he asked pointedly. "especially without warning or invitation hmm?"
As soon as jasper and his guest moved their hands, Felix and Demetri moved in to restrain them.
"ah, ah, ah, young Whitlock we would not want to make any false moves, would we?"
To his surprise, his guest began to laugh.
"lord Aro my guest and I mean you and the others no harm. Matter of fact What we have for you might make you laugh or shock you to your core. Now if your guard would let us go, we would be more then happy to show you."
By now, his brothers had sat up, their attention locked on young Whitlock.
With a wave of his hand, Demetri and Felix stepped back but stayed ready to intervene.
Once his guard backed off, the young and yet wise vampire began to unbutton his coat along with his comrade.
And within a blink of an eye, in both of their hands were foxes. One was brown and red while the other was grey and white. At first, there seemed nothing out of the ordinary until Marcus pointed out what was wrong.
"Where are their heartbeats? It's obviously breathing from the movement of its chest, but I hear no sound?"
"Im sorry young jasper I don't understand. Are you trying to convince us to attempt your diet by bringing us these animals?" Aro questioned. He didn't understand what the purpose was. He was itching to grab the boys hand and see his every thought.
"No, my lord. Just watch."
Aro decided to humor him for a little while longer and what he saw next had him speechless. Along with his guard and comrades.
Before their eyes, the foxes began to morph into humans. But it wasn't just any human. Standing before Them all was Isabella swan, wearing a Mermaid V-neck Sleeveless Sweep dress. The bottom of the dress was covered in beautiful diamonds and with immortal eyes, one could see just how expensive it was. But it wasn't just the dress. It was the jewels on the girls neck alongside the ring on her left hand.
"Mio Dio!" Caius shouted as he stood from his throne.
Marcus stood as well, but did not say a word.
"Aro. She is wearing the pink diamond. That Diamond is rare and the most expensive in the world. Only one family in the world has that diamond."
Aro swallowed hard. He could not hear the young girls heartbeat. Nor smell the mouth watering scent of her blood like the last time they met. This particular detail was known through the supernatural world. There was only one family, one clan that had the power to go undetected. How the girl how gotten mixed up with them would be a discovery but for now, Aro volturi would have to humble himself if he wanted to find out.
He quickly turned gave sharp nods to his brothers and the message was received.
All at once, the three kings were on one knee.
"Welcome. Isabella, we the volturi, are quite humbled to have members of the renown Renard family among us. We are at your service."
...
Jasper's mouth fell open as he watched the leaders of the vampire world bow before a simple human girl. Well, now she wasn't quite human. She was bigger then that, but it was still shocking. He knew Paul was important, but this? This was crazy, just who was the Renard family?
The throne room filled with chatter and questions. Shock rushed through the air. The guard could not believe it. There powerful and yet feared kings were bowed before some strange human girl, the audacity!
It was then Jasper felt a rage, jealousy and betrayal like never before. Looking towards the one who was giving off those emotions, his gold eyes met Janes red ones. Her Eyes ablaze with anger. Anger geared towards Bella.
Jasper was ready to defend but Addi beat him to it. The grey fox moving so fast, the vampire eye couldn't keep up.
Before anyone knew it, Addi had his tail wrapped around Janes neck effectively paralyzing her. She could speak but her body was completely frozen.
"let go of me you rabid dog! I will end you!" jane screamed.
"JANE! ENOUGH!" Aro ordered "Felix! Take her away"
As Felix approached, Addi let go of jane and appeared back in peter's arms.
"my apologies, Isabella would you please tell us how you are involved with the Renards? From your ring, I would guess by marriage but one can never assume." Aro said.
Jasper watched as Bella took a deep breath before she spoke.
"Thank you Aro. I have married the Renards current clan head. Paul Renard. He sends his regards and apologies since he could not make it here himself, sending me as his proxy."
Jasper cocked his head at Bella's confidence. He had never seen this side of her.
"No apologies necessary. It is always a pleasure to have a high ranking supernatural family in our mist. It is so rare these days for a supernatural group to act with pleasant decorum. Now before you tell us your story, I believe Mr. Renard, sent you here for a reason?" Aro asked
By now the kings had returned to there thrones, the moment of humility over.
"yes, sir. You see...i ..am the daughter of a werewolf, or child of the moon as you would know them as I-"
Bella didn't get to finish because a roar like no other was heard and before anyone could do anything, Marcus volturi, had his hand wrapped around Bella's neck.
"WEREWOLVES!!" he roared.
Immediately, the throne room was thrown into complete chaous.
The normally stoic and quiet king was now on a rampage.
Marcus, whose eyes were pitch black were so full of rage ,did not care who approached. Everyone was fair game.
Immediately, jasper, Peter and Addi readied themselves to rip the king to shreds but it seemed Bella didn't need saving. With ease, Bella phased into her fox form and eased from Marcus's vice grip. With Bella free, jasper, Aro, peter and a few guards men moved in to restrain the volatile king.
And through the chaous, no one noticed Caius, gently pick up Bella...
"Come, prezioso, let us get you some ice and I will explain every thing. And hopefully after everything is explained you will too."
...
Bella watched in confusion as the once silent and seemingly angry king cooked up a storm in the kitchen.
He had handed her an ice pack for her bruised neck a while ago. To her it could have been worse, she was just glad Paul and Addi gave her a crash course in fox fighting as they called it. The Renard clan had the ability to relax their bones and muscles to slip through almost anything and even though, Marcus had her in a vice grip, Bella had been able to slip through.
"I apologize for Marcus's outburst. We thought the children of the moon were extinct." Caius said breaking the silence. At the moment, he was putting noodles in a pot.
"why was he so angry?" Bella asked as she fiddled with the giant ring on her finger.
Caius sighed.
"My brother had a mate once. She was killed by a child of the moon. From then on he had a mission to destroy them all. But even after that , nothing fulfilled him. The loss of his mate was too great. We tried everything but nothing worked. The only way we have kept him from losing his mind is for one of the guards with a special gift, to keep him content. It's not the best but it stopped him from killing himself. At least for a while it did. I fear what this new revelation may bring. Now Isabella, tell me your story and I will tell you mine."
Bella's eyes filled with tears as she heard lord Marcus's story. She understood too well the loss of a mate and not once but twice. Edward leaving her and crushing her soul and then his death. While she couldn't understand everyrthing , she could empathize.
"oh my. If i had known i would have only requested an audience with yourself and lord Aro. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble."
"nonsense child. Now tell me what you need." Caius insisted.
Bella sighed as she told her tale. A tale of confusion, loss, love and betrayal. If she wanted to her life could have been a possible bestseller.
"My word! How are you still alive?"
Bella shrugged her shoulders bashfully.
"luck? So would the volturi be willing to help us?"
"I dont see why not but it would be wise to confirm with my brother."
Bella nodded and the duo went silent as Caius went back to the now boiling pot on the stove.
"lord Caius, may i ask you a question?"
"you just did." He joked.
"I .. I dont understand. Out of all the brothers i heard you were supposed to be the meaner one and the last time i was here, you weren't exactly kind. I mean i watched the three of you rip a man to shreds. And somehow, I came out of this dungeon alive. Why? The Cullen's broke your most sacred law, the punishment was supposed to be my turning and instead, the cullen's have become your slaves for however long, Why have mercy on me?"
Caius stopped stirring as the kitchen door opened and in strode Aro. His face looking sullen and exhausted. It had to be the first time, Bella did not see a smile on his face.
"yes, brother please tell Mrs. Renard what you saw that very day, she entered our throne room."
Caius stopped stirring what was in the pot as he turned to look her. His eyes held pain, empathy and anger.
"How many times had you been bitten by our kind and not fully turned Isabella? How many times have you felt the pain and fire creep into your veins just to restart again? How many scars did our kind cause you? The moment you walked into our throne room i could see them and today as you allow us to see them all, i know we made the right choice. We dont just turn humans for fun Isabella. It is for everyone's safety and a balance. But seeing you on that day, covered in scars and bites caused by our own and yet still clinging on to your love for one of our kind. It shattered my un beating heart. Never had we come across a human with such sorrow and yet such love. So that is the reason we had mercy on you young one."
Bella was speechless. What was she supposed to say to that?
"By the way, the men and women you saw in the feeding room, where prisoners. Some were rapist, pedophiles' and serial killers. Some of them the worst people you could think of. We have a deal with a few countries around the world, they send us there worst and we take care of them. Of course they cover it up with the media coming up with ridiculous story's but it works out for all of us. We of course, send a few pieces or parts of a body for the government of whatever country to show proof that the criminal is dead. We have a vampire ambassador who posses as a human to avoid detection from noisy government officials. So please do not think we are soul less creatures." Caius said as he presented her with a plate of seafood spaghetti.
"and as regards to the cullen's, I am sorry dear but there is so much you dont know. So many things that have been twisted. However, I will be generous enough to allow the cullen's to explain . Would you and your guest mind staying a night or too? We have already prepared rooms just in case." Aro suggested.
Bella thought for a moment and it was then that the weariness of the past few days hit her.
"yes, that would be awesome. Is lord Marcus ok?"
Aro sighed.
"he will be. He will need a day or two to get his mind together. Please forgive his behavior. It was out of line. Are you hurt?" He asked as he reached out and gingerly touched her neck.
Bella was surprised at such gentleness, the king displayed.
"Dont worry about me. With my new abilities I am sure i will heal fine."
Aro gave her a Kurt nod and directed his attention to Caius.
"Well, brother, it has been centuries since i have seen you in the kitchen. What brought this on?"
Caius gave a rare smile, as he handed Bella a glass of wine.
"i wanted to give our guest a better welcome from before. Now leave me alone. Isabella please direct your human guest to the kitchen if they are hungry. There is plenty for the both of you. When you are ready A guard name afton will show you to your quarters. Your entourage have already been shown there's. I bid thee a farewell for tonight and we shall reconvene in the morning."
Caius then kissed Bella's forehead and walked out the kitchen.
There so different from before. They are acting so humane. So polite and yet caring. Bella thought
"I see the Cullens have filled your head with deception's of who we are." Aro spoke.
Bella blushed at being read so easily.
"no need to be ashamed my dear. There are many fables among our kind about us as rulers and some are necessary to keep our secret. But you... you are the only exception. A beautiful exception. You must understand. We were all confused when you entered our throne room. From reading the Cullen clans thoughts... It sadden us greatly the things you went through and yet the laws that they broke. When we allowed you out of our grasp, we did not expect you to come back. I would have sent a guard to watch over you . My condolences on young Edwards death. We found out not too long ago."
Bella swallowed hard at the mention of Edward. He was still a sore spot in her heart and would be for a while.
After her meal, Aro kindly waved the guard off and escorted her to her quarters himself.
"Good night, mia Bella. I pray you have peaceful dreams"
"Thank you Aro. You as well." She said with a wink.
Aro gave a light chuckle and disappeared.
As soon as Bella entered her room, Jasper, peter and Addi ambushed her.
"Bell! Are you alright! What happened?" Addi practically screeched as he checked her for injuries.
"All of you relax. I am fine. Its been a long day. Jasper peter, why dont you guys go relax. Addi , you and i need to get some sleep and i need a bath."
"we are going to talk about this in the morning Bell. Your bags are on the bed." Jasper grumbled.
Bella gave both men a bug and ushered them out of her room. The only one left was Addi.
"Addi?" She questioned.
"if you expect me to leave you alone in a creepy cold castile full of the undead, you got another thing coming. Im sleeping with you."
Bella was too tired to argue and headed for the bathroom.
What a night it had been and yet...something told her the night had yet to begun.