My Queens: Chapter 1
Summary: Bella takes a trip of a lifetime, but all is not as it seems.
Bella/Athenodora, Didyme, Sulpicia
"It will only be a few minutes. If it looks as though I will be delayed any longer than necessary, I will have someone take you to your hotel." He smiled at her, a smile he more than likely thought was comforting and full of assurance. Except she knew better, she was good at reading people, and every fiber of her being told her she had willfully walked into a trap. After all, his driver was still in the car and could easily drive her to her hotel.
With a sigh, she nodded and followed him. It wasn't as though she could do anything about it now. A ridiculously huge set of doors opened with ease as he approached. The room was packed, but she failed to take in any more than that when Aro Volturi, moved at speeds no human was capable of; not even Usain Bolt moved with such speed.
To everyone's surprise, Bella laughed. "I see." She whispered, taking in the room, especially the Latin inscription on the wall.
"Skillfulness takes time..." Aro started, having noticed her interest.
"Life is short." Bella finished.
"Indeed, Isabella, but we can change that." He offered.
"Of course, you can." She chuckled. "I will admit you giving me something comes as a surprise. You haven't exactly been coy about the fact that you wanted something from me. What it is, I have no idea." She finally looked at the others in the room. The two other men on the throne on either side of the one Aro sat on clearly held the same position as him. She then noticed the two youngest looking in the room; her eyes stayed on them for a while, then back to Aro. "I mean, you could have just asked instead of this song and dance routine. It's not as if I haven't noticed the fact that you don't have a heartbeat. Nor did I miss the fact that, on a thirteen-hour flight, you did not even take a glass of water, nor did you use the bathroom. None of that means anything really, you would not be the first person to refuse food and drink or fail to use the bathroom. No, what caught my eye was the four and a half hours you did not move a muscle or even blink. I also did not miss the lengths you went through to avoid direct sunlight. In truth, I didn't think much of it, after all, xeroderma pigmentosum is a disease, even if it is a rare one. That was until the gentleman in you could not allow me to open the car door myself. I wondered why your driver did not get out of the car to open the door. Until I realized he would expose the fact that you sparkle like diamonds in the sun, as your hand did when you opened the door." Bella finally stopped looking around when her eyes again landed on the youngest pair in the room. "Or was that part of the song and dance," Bella asked with a single raised eyebrow.
Marcus surreptitiously sent a text and sat back. He knew whatever Aro's machinations it was not going to come to fruition.
Caius, who had looked disgusted when the human first walked in, now found himself on the edge of the seat, looking at the human with interest. Her heartbeat had not changed. It had pumped a steady seventy-one beats per minute. He could not smell the stench of fear wafting off her either. He had no idea why Aro had gone through great lengths to lure the human here, but for the first time in his existence, he found a human interesting in no small measure. Whatever Aro's plans, Caius could not see it working. This girl had no fear of them, nor was she going to play Aro's game.
"Bravo, Isabella." He stood and clapped, earning an eye roll for his efforts. "None of what you noticed was intentional, I suppose I forgot myself." He murmured. "I rarely leave the castle, and when I do, I tend to make use of our private plane. That was until you tripped, and I helped right you." He stood and moved slowly toward her, taking her hand. "You see, I have a gift. I can see the life of anyone I touch, except you. In over three thousand years, I have never encountered anyone I could not read. I had to have you." He finally let go of her hand.
"Yes, I suppose I would be fascinated too were I in your position." She muttered flippantly before turning her attention back to the two who had caught her attention earlier. They had enough features in common, outside the obvious that told her they were related.
"Hi, I'm Bella." She walked toward them.
"I'm Jane; this is my twin, Alec." She was right.
"Hi, Jane, Alec." Bella stared at Jane intently and smiled. "What is your gift?"
Jane, much to everyone's surprise, looked ashamed. "I can induce a great deal of pain in the mind." She whispered.
"Ahh, that explains it." Bella placed her hand under Jane's chin and lifted her head gently. "You used your gift on me because he asked, and no other reason." Aro's amusement at the interaction turned to disbelief that Bella had noticed. "After all, you weren't the only one he asked. You have nothing to be sorry for… okay." Bella kissed her forehead, earning a smile from her. "That's more like it."
Aro watched in disbelief as Bella turned her attention to Corin and Chelsea. He had asked both of them to test their gift on Bella.
"What is your gift?" She asked both.
Neither answered for a few seconds. "Mine is making you feel content, and Chelsea can influence the emotional ties between people," Corin answered, feeling none of the shame Jane seemed to be feeling. An emotion she did not think the girl was capable of. The little witch had no problem dropping anyone who crossed her. Yet, there she was damn near crying over a fucking human. She looked over at Chelsea, and both rolled their eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.
Bella actually laughed at the revelation. "And you thought your gift was the most dangerous." She murmured to Jane.
Aro turned his attention to Marcus, who gave his hand without preamble. Aro took the hand greedily and saw it. Isabella Swan had a maternal bond with the twins. "Oh, this is good, very good indeed." Marcus, though, knew better. Aro had failed to pay attention to the more powerful bonds.
"So, what is it that you want?" Bella asked, still standing next to the twins.
"Join us." Aro offered, thinking he had an advantage due to Bella's tie with the twins. A connection Bella had yet to understand.
"No," Bella responded with a nonchalance Aro did not see coming. Marcus had his hand over his mouth, stifling his laughter.
"Isabella, you know about us…" Aro stated.
"And whose fault is that." She bit back.
"Mine, and I'm not disputing that."
"Exactly what are you and what am I joining?" Bella asked, exasperated.
We are vampires, Isabella." Aro uttered dramatically. "This coven is the largest and most powerful in the world. We also happen to govern the vampire world." He added proudly.
"Right," Bella muttered with an eye roll.
"But if you refuse my offer, the only other option is death." His attempt at sounding regretful left a lot to be desired as far as Bella was concerned.
"Then death it is." Aro stared at her at a loss.
"You will choose death over becoming a vampire?" Aro's incredulity was apparent in his tone. "With your gift, you will be a very powerful vampire, and yet you would rather we killed you." He added, desperation leaking into his voice.
"It looks that way, doesn't it," Bella responded.
"How about torture." Aro sneered.
"How about go fuck yourself," Bella replied, enraged.
"Aro." Bella turned to the voice and felt her world tilt just that little bit until her eyes fell on the two other women. Thank fuck she was holding onto the twins, or she'd be flat out on the stone floor. She's had her fair share of beautiful women. But the three who was also staring at her intently beat all by a country mile.
Caius noted the elevated heartbeat and smiled. It appeared the human was affected by something after all.
Marcus took Aro's hand without him having asked. He was desperate for Aro to see it. Aro had only focused on the bond between Bella and the twins and had missed the obvious. The bond Marcus had seen the second the human walked into the room.
"No." Aro bellowed. He turned to the three who had not moved any further into the room.
"She is mine." He growled, but it was weak. "I found her, I schemed to get her here."
"And we thank you, brother, but as Marcus has shown you, she is ours. Your own laws dictate you cannot interfere." Didyme said softly.
"One would think this would make you happy; after all, she is unlikely to walk away now if she ever truly could." Athenodora looked at Bella with a smile as she stood there disinterested in the conversation going on, one she could not hear. The human's entire focus was now on the twins as she spoke softly to them.
"Your scheming infuriated her, and even if she was not ours, she would never be yours in any capacity. She leaves if she wants to." Sulpicia added.
"No, you know our laws." Aro countered.
"Laws you so willfully broke," Caius spoke for the first time. "She will be back; that much is guaranteed. She can no more walk away from her mates than they from her. If this is to be put to the vote, you have lost it." Caius said, sitting back.
"I would like to check in to my room, get some food before it's too late. Who is driving me to my hotel." Bella asked, having had enough of the dog whistle-level conversation. Aro again just stared in disbelief. "You were never going to kill me." She added with a shit-eating grin.
"Demetri will drive you." Bella turned around to the shadow.
"What is your gift?" She asked.
"I track people through the tenors of their minds." He answered.
"And let me take a wild guess, you cannot feel the tenors of my mind." He nodded. "That explains why you have glued yourself to me as though I owe you money, and I'm likely to bolt at any point." He smiled at her ribbing. "Don't worry, I doubt I could open those doors more or less get away from you," Bella added. "Would you two like to show me to my hotel?" She asked the twins, who nodded eagerly.
Bella walked over to the queens and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Isabella Swan, but my friends call me Bella." She blushed deeply.
"Hello, Bella. I'm Didyme, but my friends call me Didi." The dark-haired one Bella suspected was related to Aro introduced. It wasn't that they looked alike in any way, but the way she glared at him said it all. "This is Athenodora and Sulpicia." She added.
"You are not related to him, are you?" Bella jerked her head in Aro's direction.
"He's my older brother," Didyme answered with a giggle.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Bella took her hand in hers and patted it, earning chuckles from the room.
"It's okay, darling. I've had centuries to get used to him." Didyme snarked, earning a glare from her brother.
"I was hoping you ladies would like to join me this weekend for…" Bella stumbled, she had no actual plans in mind.
"Didyme came to her rescue. "We are attending the premiere of Othello tomorrow night in Milan, you could join us."
I would love that." Bella's radiant smile would have floored the three if they were human. In a moment of sheer bravado, Bella kissed all three on the corners of their mouth before bolting with the twins in tow.
"She's going to be the death of us," Athenodora mumbled as Bella left with the twins.
"And I for one, look forward to it." Sulpicia practically moaned as the ladies made their way back to their private chambers. Of course, the kings followed, refusing to be left out of the conversation. Life in Volterra could be deathly dull, and Isabella Swan had finally brought some much-needed excitement.
"Amen," Didyme added, earning a scoff from Marcus and Caius. "Thank you, bother." Didyme planted a kiss on Aro's cheek.
"I'm forever destined to be alone." He muttered dramatically. Before now, the only two mated were Marcus and Caius and to each other.
"Believe me, Aro, was she yours, your actions would have been entirely different. Not so self-serving." Marcus said, "I don't believe that is where your interest lay. Having someone like her in the guard makes us nearly invincible. You wanted a weapon." Marcus knew he had it right.
Aro glared at him. "You knew, and let me…"
"What? Make a fool of yourself." Caius piped up. Aro was never going to live this down, and they all knew it.
"I have always wondered what Aro would do if he found someone powerful he could not manipulate to join the guard." Sulpicia laughed as they walked down the corridor to their wing of the castle. "And now I know, and it is so much more thrilling than I suspected."
"Hell, she did not miss the fact that he desperately wanted her as a part of the coven and used it to her advantage beautifully." Didyme smiled. "Never thought I'd see the day a human of all things would have Aro under their thumb." She added.
"We plan on taking advantage of this, right?" Athenodora asked, ever the strategist.
"For all it's worth." All three laughed. The joy of finding their mate after so long was unsurpassed.
Athenodora was a mystery to almost all that resided in the castle. Didyme and Sulpicia knew her well, her brother, Aro, and Marcus would say the same. She was a closed book, rarely smiled unless in the company of Didyme and Sulpicia. She only seemed to derive joy from the company of Sulpicia and Didyme or when fighting.
Except for today, a rare smile graced her lips as she floated down the corridor to her private chambers. It was a sight that had a guard slamming into a wall as he stared at her. Her beauty was unmatched even with what most considered a permanent scowl. So to see her smiling, well, no one could blame the poor guard. She found herself humming as she entered her chambers. "What are you doing in here?" Her voice held a deadliness that would stiffen any spine.
"I thought…" Athenodora sighed, halting whatever bullshit Corin was about to spew.
"I don't want to know what you thought." She growled. "It does not change the fact that this is my private chamber, and you are not allowed in my private space. Something you are well aware of and has been for centuries." This was the one space she could allow herself to be vulnerable. It contained all her secrets, it was a space where she could be herself, and she did not want it soiled by the likes of Corin.
"Get out." She ordered.
"Now that you've found your mate…"
"There it is." Athenodora chuckled. "And you decided that invading my privacy will help me forget all about the one I've been waiting for for three millennia." She added mockingly.
"I don't see why she should change anything," Corin muttered haughtily.
"Oh, but it changes everything, and you know it. Why else would you incur my wrath by invading my privacy." Athenodora blurred across the room, wrapped her hand around Corin's neck, and threw her off the bed. Corin was now crawling backward to get away from a raging Athenodora, the vampire she loved for so long. Athenodora again grabbed her by the neck and tossed her out the door. Little caring that her former lover had no clothes on.
Athenodora stood in her doorway, looking regal and deadly as ever. "Do not overestimate your importance to me. You were a somewhat delightful amusement for a time… that was all." With that, she shut the door with a flourish.
"Okay, it's lovely, very lovely indeed, but it is not my hotel." Bella looked around the lavish villa.
"I'm afraid Aro canceled your reservation," Alec answered with some amusement.
"He was so sure he would get what he wanted." Bella laughed. "I want to complain, but honestly, this is vastly superior to the hotel, and it's free." She cheered, earning chuckles from Jane and Alec. The driver carried her bags in as though they weighed next to nothing.
"When did he have time to cancel my reservation? I know you are fast, but that's ridiculous." Bella mumbled. The windows were closed, and the furniture was covered in dust sheets. It was clear the villa was not used often, if at all.
"I believe it was on your way to the castle." Bella nodded. Aro had spent time on the phone during the car ride. The information he got from Bella in the guise of conversation had been used to cancel her reservation.
"A cleaning crew will be here shortly," Alec mumbled. Bella ruffled his hair in response, a move he did not appreciate as he quickly righted his tresses.
"Okay, clean is good, but food is far more important." She quipped.
"That will also be taken care of," Alec responded as he used the camera on his phone to make sure his hair was perfect.
"Excellent. You can show me the grounds in the meantime." The grounds were far more extensive than she thought. "This certainly beats a hotel." She mumbled as she looked out.
"You have several acres to play with." Bella whirled around to find the three women who set her heart racing, staring at her. They were dressed casually compared to earlier. Their less than formal attire had Bella working hard to keep her tongue firmly in her closed mouth. Athenodora was dressed in a tight t-shirt and leather trousers, with heels Bella would never try for fear of breaking her neck. The other two were wearing ridiculously short skirts with dress shirts. It had naughty schoolgirl vibes written all over it. At some point, they were wearing that just so she could strip them out of it. "Hello Bella, hope we did not interrupt anything, but…" Jane looked amused at Sulpicia's inability to admit, they did not want to be away from their mate. Then again, she didn't think she and Alec would fair well away from Bella for long periods, so she understood.
"No, the twins were going to show me the grounds," Bella said, her eyes glued to the women. The temptation to get down on her knees and disappear under those skirts was strong. She shook her head and tried to focus. Clearly, she had not hidden her intentions very well as all three were smirking at her knowingly.
Didyme was the shortest of the three, with features that reminded her of Jane Greer in Out of the Past, but with the added beauty being a vampire brought. And Didyme had bigger breasts; she wasn't going to pretend she could not see them.
"We can show you around while the villa is readied for your stay." Athenodora offered. She was the tallest of the three, even taller than Bella herself, not she was considered tall at five foot four inches and change. No amount of words could do justice to her beauty. Frankly, even if you did not know of the existence of vampires, you'd be hard-pressed to see Athenodora as human. Bella suspected she was the vain type and unapologetically so.
"I will like that," Bella replied, her hands shoved deep into her pockets. A habit she had rid herself of long ago. Except in the presence of these women, she was back to that clumsy girl who tripped over air.
Sulpicia, much like Didyme, had dark hair, though not black. She was around the same height as Bella, with a mischievous look in her eyes. Although Didyme had done the most talking so far, Bella suspected Sulpicia was the most talkative. She was just as beautiful as the other two, not that it came as a surprise. "So, Bella, tell us more about yourself." Sulpicia wrapped an arm around Bella's waist, whose hands were still firmly stuffed in her pockets.
"Well, I'm twenty-six years old." Bella's early life was one devoid of any excitement, despite Renee's efforts to inject some drama into their lives. She was socially awkward and made no effort to change.
To Bella's surprise, they listened with rapt attention as she rattled off one boring story after another. "So I moved to Forks…"
"And when did you exactly learn about us because it was not today," Athenodora asked, surprising the other two. Bella, though, smiled in response.