Chapter Seventeen

If someone told Bella Swan before she even moved to Forks, she would not only meet vampires but marry one at nineteen she would have rolled her eyes. She'd asked them what they were drinking, and if they were reading too many Fantasy YA Novels. She never carried that much opinion towards the paranormal world, they were nothing more than fictional.

Of course not even that long after moving to Forks, she had met them, lost her memories because of them, and then found her true love–who also happened to be a vampire.

She was standing here in front of the large, looming cathedral in front of her–dark stone and stunning architecture. There were stained glass windows which depicted biblical scenes. Angels defeating demons, Mother Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms. They were so beautifully crafted and left her breathless from the stunning detail in front of her, she could only imagine how much more of the detail she would see when she would become a vampire after the honeymoon.

She also knew after the ceremony she would go and change into the other wedding dress that had been made for her, so she could show off the hard work that Hillary and the other royal seamstresses did during the reception. She also knew she had never told Alec about the color of her first dress and hadn't told him how she had a white dress now. She wanted to surprise him when she would both go through the cathedral doors to go down the aisle along with going to the throne room where they would have their reception party for all the nobles who wanted to come.

Jane was in front of her, dressed in a long sleeve black sleeve with a small v-neckline and a skirt that bellowed out a few inches away from her feet all around. There were blood red roses that were braided into her hair, the top layer of her hair was braided together where the roses would be intertwined. It was one of the few times that Jane wouldn't be wearing her hair up in a braided bun.

"Are you ready, sister? To become a part of this family in the legal, human way?" Jane probed Bella, in a way that let her know she still was a sister, whether or not she was going to be married to her brother in the end.

"Yes. I am ready."

Jane moved in front of her with her own bouquet of red roses and went through the intricate designed cathedral doors. Bella could barely hear the sound of the organ playing in the cathedral, the vampire that was playing the organ was actually Queen Athendora. She had happily claimed she would do so, even though Queen Sulpicia would be able to play the organ also, she would claim that only those that were of low birth should play music at a wedding.

Bella sat her bouquet of flowers on the side of the fountain (which had been made not that long ago) next to her and pulled her veil over her head, carefully, to drape the fabric over her face. She picked up the bouquet of flowers a moment later, studying them to see if they were in their perfect condition, before she went gliding forward as the doors were beginning to slowly open for her.

The cathedral was elegant and had ceilings that were high up to the heavens, with blue and gold details that could make anyone have their breath caught in their throat. The cathedral benches were plain, made of simple wood, with a space between the two sections of the benches, so half of the back of someone who was sitting was open and not closed by wood. The columns were dark stone and with each separated spot between the tall columns' arches combined the top of the columns together, in blue and white vertical lines.

Bella made sure her attention was focused forward, not on all the elegant vampires that were sitting on the benches with their immaculate makeup and wedding attire. Though her wedding dress was beyond beautiful, she knew if she was marrying someone who was not of the Volturi Royal Guard the majority of these subjects wouldn't have any interests to come. They were here though, their crimson hued irises letting her know they were here to see partly because she was human.

Her heart was racing in her chest. She never imagined her wedding day would be like this. It was one thing to be married off in another country all entirely. It was another for the said wedding to happen in Volterra, Italy.

The groom would be a vampire instead of a normal human guy she would have met in college or right after, and the said vampire was one of the Heads of the Royal Guard for the Volturi. So yeah, her heart was racing more than she ever thought it could.

She went down the long stone aisle to the vampire standing in front of her at the end, facing her, with an exquisite suit. The flower that was pinned to his tuxedo jacket was a white rose. The symbol for the Volturi was a rose, and often there would be white or red roses during special occasions. Red was meant for those who were to be future family, while the white would be for the pure love the two lovers that were to be united in marriage to have.

Reaching Alec, Bella gave a nervous smile as Marcus came forward, his crown upon his head reminding everyone how Bella was a descendant of his blood. There were some murmurs that were going around the inside of the cathedral, as if they were being reminded once again that King Marcus would be in the presence of one of his distant blood descendants.

"We are gathered here today, October 15th, 2006, in the Volterra Cathedral to witness the marital bond between Alec Volturi and Isabella Maire Swan. Alec has been a part of my family for over a millennium and is one of the Heads of the Royal Volturi Guard. He has become a nephew of mine, and now through marriage he will become one…" Marcus reached his hand out and motioned for Alec to come forward. Alec took his hand in his and allowed him to pull him forward.

"On my other side is my distant blood descendant, Isabella Maire Swan. Isabella is more than worthy of marrying Alec. She is Gifted herself, though through training in time you will find out what her gift is. She has more than proved herself to my brothers and me. It does not matter if she had been a vampire already when she had met us, for she is here. That in itself is a blessing," Marcus continued, before he reached his hand out for Bella.

Bella let her eyes flicker towards the vampires that were in front of her. There were so many, though some might not think it was too many, but there were enough that made her realize how close knitted vampires were. They were powerful in groups, they were looking towards her surrogate uncle and other uncles for guidance, and in a way, she would now be a part of helping guide them.

She handed her bouquet of flowers to Jane; the shorter girl took the bouquet without any hesitation. It was obvious she was nervous being here, religion wasn't something that brought good memories to her. Bella was certain the girl only went to the cathedral when she was instructed to do so. Other than that Bella was certain the girl would happily never go into a church or this cathedral ever again. So, this meant the world to her that Jane would be here not only for Alec but also for Bella.

Turning back so she could look at her uncle/father figure for the future in her vampiric world, Bella let her eyes turn towards Alec next. He stood there softly, his handsome features sharp and breathtaking from the candles that were lit on their wrought iron stands. His dark hair framed his pale skin, making him even more delicate in his vampiric beauty. Yet he was able to be harsh and masculine when he needed to be. He was showing that softer side he often reserved for in their chambers, by themselves, right here for the whole Volturi court and followers that decided to attend the wedding.

"Isabella, my dear?"

Bella let her eyes flicker back to Marcus, no one dared to whisper to each other. If they were human Bella was certain they would have been whispering if she had changed her mind. Only they were vampires, and not only could vampires hear everything, but they would have been gossiping about the bride and her Royal Guard groom. They were in the high tier of the vampiric world; they were the personal surrogate children/niece and nephew of the Volturi Kings.

Nodding her head, Bella put her hand into Marcus's, making him smile brightly at how she had gained confidence. He cleared his throat, once again, to make sure everyone would turn their attention away from just Bella to him again. They turned their attention to him effortlessly, this had been the first time in over a millennium they had seen the solemn king show real emotion.

"Alec, my nephew, unveil your bride."

Bella and Alec dropped the hands that were holding onto Marcus's off, before Alec gently pulled the veil up and away from her face. His eyes widened and she swore if he could blush his face would have been flustered at the sight of her in her bridal glory. Tears rose in his tear ducts and the venom tears began to cascade down his cheekbones, creating steam from the venom touching the marble skin.

"Mia bella sposa (my beautiful bride)," Alec whispered, as he almost seemed as though he was choked up from the sight of his mate staring up at him with immaculate makeup that lightly highlighted her features but not too much.

Bella blushed some at the sweet Italian he had said, having always loved whenever he spoke in Italian. He had already been teaching her Italian and she knew he had called her, 'my beautiful bride,' which in the end made her love him even more. If anyone else said that to her she wouldn't care but it was her Alec that had said this, of course it meant the world to her.

"And now we shall commence with the ceremony," Marcus declared, before Bella lost herself in the knowledge she was to be married to Alec before long.

In the beginning, Bella would have hated to have been here without it being in her terms. Now though, in the midst of actually marrying Alec, she couldn't help but feel almost thankful she had slept with Alec. If she hadn't lost herself in him, and they had become one completely then she wouldn't be here with him, getting married before she was a vampire.

It felt even more special to be honest. She could cry freely, and though she didn't have the perfect eyesight that vampires had, she felt as though this would be vividly the same in her second life. They said that the human memories of vampires were blurry and would become blurry enough in the past that unless they continued to think about them, they would eventually disappear.

This was one thing she was determined to always remember. She had already forgotten those first three months of last year. She sure as hell wasn't going to forget this. This was something worth remembering, not anything that had to do with the Cullens. They obviously didn't hold a candle to what was happening right now.

Reciting the vows that Marcus told them to do, they had barely said 'I do' before Alec wrapped his arm around her waist and dipped her downwards before he gave her the deepest kiss she ever had in her life. Her body trembled from the passion that came from him, the heat. If they weren't in the middle of their wedding, she would have already skipped forward to having sex with him.

Of course that would have been bad if they were just in a cathedral. People weren't supposed to ravish each other in cathedrals. This was a holy place and though Bella wasn't a religious person she didn't seem as though she would hop onto the train of defiling the cathedral in a bout of passion. The intertwining of their bodies as they would move together as one…

Focus, Bella. You should be focusing on your wedding right now. Not on your honeymoon where you would certainly make sure to celebrate your martial union.

Once Alec pulled away from her once he pulled her back upright, Bella couldn't help but giggle silly at the way he had held her. He arched one of his eyebrows up before he chuckled some. She went and smacked him lightly against his arm only for Marcus to declare them as 'husband and wife', which in return made Alec wrap his arm around hers and head down the aisle.

It was sunnier outside when they left the cathedral, but it wasn't sunny enough to gain the attention of the humans that were traveling throughout the city.

They merely turned towards them and gave them well wishes, not even knowing they were congratulating a human bride marrying a vampire. Neither human nor vampire cared to think of what the humans would do if they learnt the truth.

Reaching the castle, Alec began to take her to the throne room only for Bella to pull away from him. He went to wrap his arms around her again only for Bella to shake her head.

"Not yet love. I have another surprise for you. You wait here, it won't take long."

Said husband seemed as though he was upset with this, but he was also intrigued. There was a darkness to his eyes a moment later, enough for her to shake her head once more and tell him to keep his mind out of the gutter. They still had a reception to get to.

He went to grab her playfully only for her to give him another look. He pouted before allowing her to leave. She made sure to walk away while swaying her hips, knowing it would only make him want to take her even more. She was more than ready to get to the honeymoon section of the wedding, but that would have to wait. They had a social decorum to abide by.

Hillary was waiting for her in the same fitting room they had used before. She was dressed in a simple formal dress. Nothing that was too eye-catching but had been made by her girlfriend. It brought out her eye color, along with her hair. It was more than obvious that Violetta had made sure to put all her heart and soul into the dress.

Bella went towards the other human woman and waited patiently for her to change out of her first wedding attire only for Violetta to come swiftly into the fitting room.

She moved swiftly through the room, her white, blonde hair was straight and fell down to her waist. She was tall and had medium curves to herself, while her Norwegian beauty was even more beautiful as a vampire. She reminded Bella of one of the Norse Mythology goddesses and she moved as though she was indeed a Norse goddess.

Reaching her own mate, Violetta reached out for one of Hillary's hands and kissed her on the knuckles. Hillary blushed and pulled away from her, while Violetta was giving her sweet nothings in Norwegian before she turned and looked at Bella.

"Congratulations Lady Isabella Volturi. I have heard that you had decided to wear my dear Hillary's dress after all. Come, let me change you into the said dress. It will be faster with me; besides I am certain your new husband will not want to be away from you any longer," Violetta told Bella before she shot a hot look at Hillary.

Bella barely got ready to be changed into her new bridal clothes when she was greeted with the sight of herself in the original clothes that Hillary had made her. She couldn't wait until she would see Alec once again so he could take her in her whole blue bridal glory.

Leaving the fitting room, Bella went down the corridors until she reached Alec once again. He was swiftly pacing back and forth with his hands clasped together behind his back. He looked up when he smelt his wife's blood, only for him to appear in front of her and scooping her up. He swirled her around in a circle before he smiled brightly at his new wife. He pressed his lips against hers and gave her the sweetest kiss she had ever had.

"I know that you are pleased with my other bridal gown, but we have guests to attend to, dear husband. You have enough time to ravish me properly once we are on our honeymoon," Bella reminded him before he sat her down onto the ground once again.

Wrapping their arms together they entered the throne room, to the sound of, "now presenting for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Alec Volturi."

There was polite clapping as they entered the room, finding that some of the women and men both curtseyed and bowed to the highest status court members of the Volturi. Bella smiled brightly, her features becoming even more beautiful at the fact that she had been finally accepted by the proper vampire society. She was married into the Volturi now and after her honeymoon she would become a vampire, which meant she would become even more a part of the Volturi.

Bella and Alec had barely entered when she was welcomed with Athendora appearing in front of her. She wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly before she pulled away from her and took a step away. She studied the girl for a moment before she pulled away from her.

"Oh, you look so beautiful, my niece! I love this color. Your first dress was wonderful, and you looked like a proper bride in white. Still, this blue is stunning, and I am glad you wore it when you are still human. It makes your skin look warmer. Sometimes I wish that I still had a complexion like yours. At least I never have to worry about pimples," Athendora rattled off, enough for Bella to give her another amused smile.

"Thank you, Aunt Athendora. It's time for my husband and I's first dance," Bella remarked, enough for Athendora to nod her head before she moved out of the way.

Caius came forward and wrapped his arm around hers and pulled her out of the way. It was obvious they were going to dance together for the rest of the night. The good side for them as being vampires they never got tired, something that both Bella and Alec were looking forward to.

Bella and Alec went into the middle of the throne room and began to dance to one of the oldest Italian waltzes that were known. She had practiced with Marcus each day before the wedding, in order for her to know the steps. As nice as it was to dance with a distant ancestor of hers, it was another time entirely for her to be able to dance with her husband.

Her husband.

Alec Volturi was her husband.

She had thought that this would happen years from now, but she had been pleased with the fact she was married now. Well not exactly married in general, but she was happy she was married to Alec.

She wouldn't have thought about this if it were anyone else, in fact she would have felt trapped and doomed if she would be married to someone else before she was at least twenty-one, but it was Alec she was talking about. He was her soulmate, her vampire, her husband.

As she danced around the throne room with her husband, Bella closed her eyes and allowed Alec to guide her. She could trust him. She would trust him. She would trust him over anyone else that was in the room. She opened her eyes when the song ended, and she kissed him softly before they pulled away from each other.

Since it was a royal event to a point, none of the other vampires in the room (and Hillary) danced around the room until the next dance came. Violetta grabbed Hillary's hand excitedly before she pulled her towards the middle of the throne room to dance. Sulpicia took Aro's hand in hers before they went to the middle of the throne room to dance together, though Sulpicia gave a heated glare of hatred towards Bella to remind her she hadn't accepted her.

Bella went to sit down at the head table that was in the throne room only for her to widen her eyes and lightly hit Alec on the side of the arm. He turned his attention towards her with confusion before his eyes went towards the sight of Edward going over to Jane, as she was nursing a wine glass of blood in her hands.

Edward bowed gentlemanly to her and reached one of his hands out for her to take. She wearily stared at him before her eyes went towards Bella. Bella nodded her head, as though to nudge her to dance with him at least once. She sighed and sat the wine glass down onto the table that was near her before she put her hand in his.

Edward took her towards the dancing couples, some of them stopping their waltzing when they saw the prodigal son of Carlisle Cullen dancing with one of the Heads of the Royal Volturi Guard. Not just any Head of the Royal Guard. This was Jane Volturi that Edward Cullen was going to dance with. A vampire who drank animal blood was going to dance with one of the most ruthless human drinkers that could also cause pain mentally.

Bella could tell that Alec didn't seem as though he was thrilled with the whole aspect of his twin dancing with Edward Cullen despite the fact that said Cullen was the mate of his twin. There could also be the fact that he had dated Bella and ended up leaving her once he had learnt that she had lost her memories.

"You might as well get used to this, Alec. Eventually they will fall in love with each other, and we'll see them get married," Bella told him, enough for Alec to pick up the wine glass in front of him and gulp down the blood. Bella rolled her eyes but didn't comment on the way he had seemed as though this was the worst thing to happen during their wedding.

They glanced towards Aro and Sulpicia as they came up to the table. Aro reached his hand out towards Alec without even saying anything. Alec reached his hand out and put it in his surrogate father's, enough for Aro to soak in all the thoughts that Alec had during the wedding. He pulled away from him and turned towards Bella.

"It is an honor to have you as my surrogate daughter-in-law, my dear Isabella. I look forward to the transformation happening after your honeymoon. We've decided that you'll be on your honeymoon for three weeks. Then you will come back, and we shall witness you becoming a vampire!" Aro declared, enough for Bella to bow her head down in respect.

"Yes, it is an exciting day we will look forward to. I look forward to greeting you properly as my daughter-in-law," Sulpicia hissed aloud, her eyes darkening at the sight of Bella sitting in front of her in a wedding dress while still human.

The thing was the same thing would have happened if she were already a vampire and slept with Alec before they would become married. So, they would have still been sitting here, only instead of Bella drinking sparkling wine she would be drinking blood like the rest of the people in the room (again other than Hillary).

"Mother," Alec spat at her, with a warning in his tone.

Sulpicia turned on her heel and stalked away, while Aro wished the human bride and vampire groom well for their future marriage. Bella turned towards Alec and took his hand in hers. She squeezed his hand in a light manner, allowing him to know that she was happy, nonetheless.

Nothing could ruin her wedding day, nothing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: next chapter will be their honeymoon.

as always: Twilight doesn't belong to me

-Emmy