Chapter Thirteen
The bedroom chambers that had been assigned to Bella and Alec were exquisite.
Only the finest silk, and other assortments of fabric were created to make the bed sheets and pillow shams. The four-poster white marble bed frame had pillars with the same purple silk fabric that made up the bedspread of the bed as curtains that were pulled back by golden thread. The bed was sat upon a dais, so the rest of the chamber was sunken. There was immaculate furniture that was in the middle of the bedroom chamber–a delicate silver chandelier was above the furniture while an Italian renaissance rug was underneath the sitting furniture of the room. The antique wooden coffee table that was in the middle of the sitting area of the room held a variety of novels from all over the world upon the surface as well as Asters and Morning Glories, references to Bella's zodiac flowers.
The bathroom was larger than Bella's bedroom back in Forks. The bathroom reminded Bella of those old Greek bath houses with the tub being built into the floor so one would slowly step into the tub by the expensive tiled steps. There was a toilet in a separate little room, along with some nice sinks that must have been made by some high brand furniture company. They held the same kind of Greek aesthetic as the rest of the bathroom.
Outside of the bedroom chamber doors there was a plaque made of pure gold that had been made months prior to Bella's arrival. Marcus had made sure to have it made without the knowledge of his brothers, for it was a tradition for the late queen Didyme to be the one who would have plaques made with names of Volturi Nobles, including the Royal Guard and their mates. So, it would make sense Marcus would have Bella and Alec's names immortalized in the plaque: Isabella and Alec Volturi.
The first two weeks here were strange for Bella, as though she was still moving in her dreamscapes instead of actual time and reality. The kings had not spoken to her yet about her transformation she would have eventually. She would only have some time left as a human, eating the best homemade Italian food she would ever taste, while sitting with royalty. She would sit and listen to the countless tales of the kings (well Aro) and know their pasts.
It was now, on a beautiful morning, as Bella strolled through one of the hallways of the castle, that she was greeted with a woman coming towards her with a brilliant smile upon her red lipstick covered lips. She reminded Bella of the picture of Rosalie Hale.
Her golden hair flared out around her as though her hair was made of liquid gold and her pale skin had more of a pinkish tinge to it than just the bluish tinge that vampires normally had. She wore an Haute Culture dress–the top of the dress went from her neck to her waist, though there were triangle holes on either side of the top of the dress–showing the skin on her sides. The skirt was long, black lace that was a little bit lighter than the top part of the dress while the back of the dress was of the same lace, it was made like a cape.
"Isabella, it is an honor to finally meet you," the vampire stated, as she reached Bella and curtseyed some before, she brought herself upright and straightened. "I am Heidi, I am the tour guide for our family. I must ask you before you are turned, do you intend to be an Animal Drinker, or will you decide to dine with us during our suppers?"
Bella's eyes widened at the way the crimson eyed vampire spoke as though she was talking about normal human buffet items. Bella was a little overwhelmed before she said, "I would like Alec to be the one to cut my meals before I eat them."
Oh god. Why did she just say that? And why was she okay with having that said to begin with? She blinked a few times and almost stumbled off to the side, as it hit her all at once. She wasn't talking about normal food at restaurants that Heidi would pick up. She was talking about people, drinking people and killing people!
"What the…did I just say that? Why would I say that?"
Heidi gave her a small smile.
"It is alright, Isabella. You are starting to become accustomed to the castle. You speak only the truth, for there is no need for there to be lies. Alec will be the one who will kill the humans and you will be the one to drink them. It is common for the most devoted and respectful mates to do this. Whether it is for the man to do it for the woman or the woman to do it for the man. It is just another way to show our love and trust for our mates."
"And what of you, Heidi? What do you and your mate do?" Bella probed, carefully, only for Heidi to give a light laugh at the mentioning of her and her mate.
"I do not know yet, young one. I am mate less, but it's more fun that way. As long as the ones who I seek companionship are not mated, themselves, then it is all the same for me. No need to have mess breakups, just sex. That's the way I like it," Heidi informed her, before she reached her hand out and placed it on Bella's shoulder in a light manner.
Bella didn't know how to respond to that, thankfully they were soon welcomed with Alec coming down the hallway with Demetri behind him. Demetri with his long obsidian mane of hair that fell to his shoulders and Greek warrior-like essence also held a tinge of troubling flirtations. He was immediately looking at Heidi, since he too was someone who hadn't met his mate yet.
Bella blushed as she noted Alec was smiling warmly at her, his crimson irises were glowing with nothing more than contentment. He came up to her and held out his hand for her. She put her hand in his, enough for him to lightly pull her away from where Demetri was flirting with Heidi over by the stained-glass windows that looked out to the city below.
"Are those two always flirting?" Bella couldn't help but ask, earning a soft laugh from Alec before he answered her, "Heidi and Demetri are very good friends. They just so happen to be the kind of people that flirt with anything that has two legs, so they often practice flirting with each other."
"Is there any reason why you are leading me towards the kings' study?" Bella craned her head to the side, peering up at Alec with patience. It was so strange, how they had this sort of connection with each other that most married people wished they had, and they only knew each other for two weeks.
"They wish to speak to us. Father wanted to go ahead and tell me the reasoning behind us going to their study, but Uncle Caius said Father needs to learn some self-restraint with it comes to matters such as this," Alec explained, a light chuckle coming from the brunet when it came to how his uncle and father were with each other.
"Has your uncle and father always been at odd ends with each other?"
"Strong, contrasting personalities. Uncle Caius doesn't have any type of patience for dramatics while Father has the tendency of living for them," Alec confessed, his crimson eyes peering forward. People moved past both him and Bella, which earned tips of heads going down towards Alec from the nobles because of him being one of the Heads of the Royal Guard.
Bella nodded her head, letting the subject drop, partly because she was certain the kings could hear them speaking of them. Another being, they were nearing the main study all three of the kings shared with each other, for matters that pertained to them all and not just one of them singularly.
Reaching the two magnificent antique doors, Alec gave a reassuring smile towards Bella to let her know everything would be fine before he knocked on the study doors. They opened, revealing Aro standing in front of them in his trademark white robe he was always seen in. The study behind him reminded Bella of the 19th century National Library in Paris–with all the white and golden themes. It seemed to be something the kings liked, to have gold and white marble used in the rooms they all shared together. A sign of peace and purity.
"Alec, Isabella, right on time. Come in. We have some important matters to attend to when it comes to Bella staying with us," Aro announced, before he moved out of the way and allowed the dark-haired late teenagers to enter the library/study.
Caius was sitting in one of the nineteenth century drawing chairs that were facing a specific section of books that he must have collected personally. In fact, he had a book in his hands at the moment, his long and thin fingers pushing some of the pages in a blur. He glanced up, his crimson eyes showing nothing specific when they landed on Alec and Bella.
Marcus on the other hand was standing by the windows that overlooked the garden, though he paused and turned around. His gentle, sorrow filled features seemed to light up some more when he saw Bella. Everyone looked at him with intrigue, wondering where this would go. Marcus never was someone who became attached to other people ever since Queen Didyme had died. Yet he looked at Bella and there was this life to him.
"I will start this off by saying we are glad that you have finally joined us, Isabella," Aro spoke, his voice strong and pronounced. That little insane tinge to himself seemed to vanish when it came to important matters such as this. In the throne room he could be as odd as he wanted to but when he was here in his study he knew when to be serious.
"And I am glad to be here," Bella remarked, earning a nod from Aro to let her know that he had acknowledged her. Alec wrapped his arm around her and let her lean against him, as they waited for what he would say next.
"We wanted to wait until you would become settled into the castle, and you have remarkably done so faster than we thought you would. There are matters we need to discuss, such as what to do about the Cullens and when you will become a vampire."
There was this kind of sadness that came across Aro, as though he didn't like having to bring up the Cullens. He was after all friends with Carlisle, he had stayed with them for twenty years, but right before the nineteenth century he had left them. He was like a brother to them, so it must have surprised Aro on how Carlisle was fine with deserting Bella due to her having amnesia.
"I want them to come to see me be transformed into a vampire. From what I could tell in my diary entries, the others were kind to me. It would also be a punishment to them in a way, for them to see me be transformed by someone who is not in their family or even follows the same diet as them," Bella decided, earning a slight nod from Aro before he pulled out some nice papers so he could write the invitation but Bella held her hand out so he could tell she would want to say more.
"I would like for me to be transformed in the throne room, and for there to be a small ball for all your faithful followers to see a new member of the guard being changed. I am certain they will also want to see me due to the fact that I am a shield," Bella added, making a small smirk dance across the corner of Caius's lips at the knowledge Bella wanted the Cullens to feel insulted by the spectator Bella was going to make of the whole transformation process.
And so, it was done, the letter was written and sent off to the Cullens, with Demetri being the one who would end up giving them the letter because of his gift. He had the ability to know where a person was in the world, by following a scent that would lead him to the person. It would happen for every person he would meet, or someone who knew the person, it was a very useful gift.
Bella had explained how she had wanted to have the 'true' diet a vampire had, which in return made Aro clap his hands excitedly behind his desk at the knowledge Bella was not going to push away their dietary preference. She had no need to hunt for animals, she didn't remember the compassion and love the Cullens had, nor did she want to remember those golden eyes. She would make sure she would never have those golden eyes.
Two weeks later, Bella was traveling down one of the multiple corridors of the castle when she heard voices a few corridors to the left, where the throne room was. Knowing that they had finally arrived, Bella smoothed down the nice dress that Heidi had gifted to her and clasped her hands together in front of her before she went towards the throne room.
Bella had barely entered the throne room when she was greeted with the seven vampires that had left her when they learnt they didn't have any ties keeping them attached to Bella. Her eyes landed on Esme and Carlisle first, they held hands and peered at her with worry, paternal worry. Carlisle reminded her of an angel, with his golden hair and his pale skin, while Esme reminded Bella of the perfect housewives of the first few decades of the twentieth century.
Carlisle was dressed in a white button up dress shirt with khaki dress pants and brown dress shoes. Esme was dressed in a white quarter length sleeved dress with a modest neckline along with brown sandals. She had a cross necklace nestled against her collarbones and her wedding ring gleaned from the sunlight that came from the dome above them.
Next to them was Alice and Jasper.
Everything she had seen in the school photos didn't do them any justice. Alice was even tinier in person and dressed as though she had just come off the runway moments before entering the throne room. Jasper was dressed in nicer clothes, but Bella could tell he didn't care for the expensive fabric, though his dark golden eyes (borderline black) peered into Bella's brown eyes as though he was trying to break any confidence that was within her away so she could come back to them–common sense would be restored. His empath ability was dancing along the lines of being unethical.
Rosalie and Emmett.
Rosalie with her perfect blonde goddess essence was exhibiting more of Athena's warlike qualities. She was dressed in a more tight-fitting dress with way too high heels for any normal human girl to be able to wear. Emmett was in dress clothes too, he made sure he was dressed to the nines in order to show respect towards the Volturi.
Lastly, Bella's eyes met Edward's golden ones. Edward stared at her as though she was a hallucination, and she tipped her chin upwards.
"Hello, Edward."
Edward went to move forward only for Alec to stand in front of Bella, he had his arms out in front of him to make sure he was shielding her completely away from the red-haired vampire. Bella gave Alec a grateful smile before she motioned for him to move next to her instead of in front of her. He loosened up some before he nodded his head, knowing he was over millennium old, while Edward wasn't even halfway to two hundred. He was an infant compared to Alec.
"Bella, you aren't supposed to be here. It isn't supposed to be like this!" Edward finally said, flinching some from the scorching looks he received from all the vampires in the room.
He could see the devotion and loyalty in their minds when it came to his ex-girlfriend, she was one of them the moment she had astral projection and the late queen's necklace was gifted to her. She was the long-awaited mate of Alec Volturi. They would kill for her, protect her in the distance for they knew Alec would have it covered from next or in front of Bella.
"Now, now, is that anyway to treat the mate of a Volturi?"
Bella turned her head, noting how Aro came down the marble dais and drifted towards them. He was almost saintlike with his white robes and the white backdrop around him. The stained-glass windows still sent out beautiful hues down upon them, only making him look even more inhuman. He reached Bella and Alec, before he stepped forward and gave a tight-lipped smile.
Edward's jaw clenched as his eyes flickered over to Carlisle before they went back to Aro. He remarked, in a tight voice, "I apologize, my king. I mean no disrespect."
Aro nodded his head before he reached his hand out, "I would like to test that all the same. I will not have ill thoughts about the mating of my son and our Isabella. After all, she was the one who insisted on inviting you to see her transformation. Is that not an honor?"
Aro took Edward's hand when it barely went up, before he eagerly looked into his thoughts and saw everything that Edward thought about the situation. He dropped his hand a moment later, his eyes hardening some, before he took a step back.
"You had no true loyalty to our Isabella. If you did, you would have stayed to watch over her until after she would graduate high school at least. You would make sure the rest of the time she would be in Forks, she would be okay," Caius had been the one who had said this, making all the vampires and the human girl turn to the blond-haired vampire.
"Well said, brother. It's not often that you are so levelheaded," Aro teased, only for Caius to give him a small glare.
Any human would have fallen on their knees and apologized to him, but Aro had known his brother for over a millennium and was a vampire, so of course he would have thought that this was more amusing than anything else. Even Bella had to admit she was just as amused and touched by the way Caius had so easily stood up for her, without any subtle pushing for him to.
Aro turned his attention to Carlisle and Esme. He reached them and gave them small smiles, there was a little bit of disappointment upon those milky red eyes, but it was just there on the surface. Enough for the vegetarian vampires to know he wasn't pleased with them, but he wasn't going to let it dictate the entire time the Cullens would be here in Volterra.
"My dear Carlisle and your beautiful mate, Esme, come with me. I would like to have some time in my study, so that we can catch up with each other and I can learn about the woman who stole your heart," Aro added, making Esme flicker her golden irises towards her children in fear of what would happen if she left them, but Carlisle put his hand onto her shoulder and nodded his head, allowing her to know everything would be fine.
"Of course, it would be lovely to get to know you better," Esme finally said before she left the throne room with Carlisle, Aro left behind them–his saint-essence being anything but saint-like. Saints weren't vampires, much less drink human blood even if they were human.
Once they were gone, Bella turned her attention to the vampires around her. Jasper's lips were tight and pressed together, his eyes dark and calculating. He wasn't going to loosen up at all when he was here, and though Bella didn't really know much about his past she did know he was the one who struggled with the bloodlust more than any of the other members of his coven.
Rosalie and Emmett were next to each other, their arms intertwined. Rosalie kept her features neutral, to not show any emotion towards the place she was in. Emmett tried to keep his features neutral though he kept glancing at Bella as though he was waiting for her memories to come back. She'd tell them she didn't want to stay here anymore, she wanted to come with them.
Edward went to move forward again only for Alice to bring her tiny hand up so that she could stop him from moving forward. His golden irises flickered from Bella to Alice and then to Bella again. They seemed to be communicating wordlessly and it was both odd and intriguing at the same time. Bella didn't remember how they communicated, obviously, so this was more than a common occurrence for her. She was seeing how their powers worked endlessly together in one of many different ways.
"Bella, is it okay if you and I took a walk around the gardens? Alec, of course you will come with us. I will never question or insult your mating bond."
Alice waited patiently, enough for Alec to let his eyes flicker towards Bella, as though waiting to see what his mate's verdict would be instead.
Bella nodded her head a moment later before the young vampire girl walked towards the gardens with the human girl trailing not that far behind her. Alec wasn't too far away from Bella, a constant reminder that Alice might be able to have a conversation with Bella, but he was her mate, and he was entitled to stop their conversation if it seemed as though it was bothering Bella.
It looked like it was about to rain when they entered the garden, before they went to one of the benches. They sat down and Alec went over to the statue fountain of Queen Sulpicia (Aro's wife), before he sat down. HIs vampiric hearing obviously being handy for times like this, even if he were a good bit away from them, he would be able to hear them as though he was sitting right next to him. There was no privacy in the world of vampires it felt like.
"Do you see me regaining my memories?" Bella probed, this being the most important question that she would ever ask her once-upon-a-time surrogate vampire sister. Alice reached her hand out and took in hers, squeezing it softly, but enough to let her know she wouldn't.
"I know how it feels to not have memories," Alice confessed before she told Bella how she had woken from being turned and had no memories of her past. It wasn't until she would learn she had been changed by a vampire in a mental institution that things made a little more sense.
"Thank you, it's hard. Did you always see things happening like this? Me ending up in Volterra with Alec, choosing to be with him instead of becoming a vegetarian vampire like you all?" Bella asked, her voice soft and barely able to be heard. In fact, Bella was certain only vampires would be able to hear her right now.
A warm smile appeared upon Alice's lips, their warm lipstick hue, reminding Bella how she always wrote that Alice made sure she looked her best.
"The moment you lost your memories all I could see were you and Alec. You were happy, content. You would be loved here. They would be your family. I've learnt that it's best not to mourn what could have happened, especially in times such as this."
Bella let her eyes flicker towards Alec, and how her brunet haired vampire was looking down at the water in the fountain. His pale fingers went down and into the water, she was certain he was tracing his fingers against the surface of the water. He loved coming to the fountains in the garden with her, during times that he wasn't on duty or at night when they would have their stroll around the garden before he would bid her goodnight so she could go to bed.
"I'm not angry at you all for leaving. Not anymore at least. You were doing what was right at the time, even if I felt it was wrong. I still want you all here for my transformation. You were family to me once, perhaps in time we can become friends again," Bella breathed as she turned her attention away from Alec and towards Alice.
Alice smiled brightly before she took both of Bella's hands in hers, giving them a gentle squeeze, and for a moment it was almost as though Bella was back at the Cullen house–meeting Alice properly for the first time. She knew Bella would have a good life here, she hoped she would be able to be in as much as she could be, along with the others. Especially Edward.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: next chapter Jane will be coming back from a 'mission' and end up meeting Edward for the first time. What are your thoughts on how it should go down? Should Jane freak out, like be vulnerable only for Bella to be there for her? That's my plan, as far as I know.
as always: Twilight doesn't belong to me
-Emmy