Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything associated with the series.
A/N: I don't re-read what I write after I've written it. I just use spell check and then call it done. So there are probably lots of mistakes; I apologize in advance for all of them.
In just a few days, I had fallen into a pattern with the Volturi. I still technically had my own room, but Jane and Heidi were there a lot more often than they weren't. We had watched a lot of movies and I was able to pick books that I had never heard of to read from the library. But a good portion of our time together was spent just walking around the castle grounds, inside and out, talking. I had quickly learned they had a lot to share with me.
They were both very old vampires. They weren't considered ancient vampires, especially when compared to how old the queens were, but they were several centuries old. Listening to them talk about history without leaving out or changing any details was very interesting. The history books hadn't necessarily gotten in all wrong; but the books were written from just the victor's point of view and things were bound to be left out and skewed. I found that I could talk to them all day about the world's history and even about their own. They had no problems sharing anything with me and it was really refreshing.
But it wasn't just Heidi and Jane that I had spent time with; although they were practically always with me. I had also spent more time with the queens. We didn't necessarily do too much together, we just spent time around each other. When I would be reading in the library, one or more of the queens would sometimes wonder in and read with me. They would also sometimes wonder into the dining area and would talk with me while I ate.
From those simple encounters, I felt I had gotten closer to them. Just like with Heidi and Jane, they were more than willing to share information with me. As soon as they learned how much I liked to learn about the real history as it had happened, they quickly shared anything I wanted to know with me.
I even talked with all of the elite guard members. I hadn't talk with them too much, mostly when we just passed each when I was walking some place. But even from those small talks I had with them, I could still tell they were nice people.
I was shocked at how seamlessly I had merged in with the Volturi. They didn't seem to be going out of their way, except for Jane and Heidi, to be around me and talk with me; and yet I still felt included. From talking with the queens and with Heidi and Jane, I was always up to date with what was going on. I knew if there was a vampire visiting and why; I was even told who was going out on a mission or who had just returned. It was so different than what I was used to with vampires; I was actually completely included in their family… or coven.
Even with how close I was starting to become with the Volturi, I was still worried about the Cullen's. I still cared about them and I still wanted to go home with them; even though I knew that wasn't an option. So I wasn't surprised that the evening before the Cullen's were all due to arrive, I was knocking on an office door where both Jane and Heidi had assured me that the queens were.
I had a few questions I wanted to ask the queens before the Cullen's showed up and they had agreed that with what was about to happen tomorrow, it would probably be better that they hunt to help make sure that whatever Edward didn't result in the two women doing something they may get in trouble for. They were apparently expecting Edward to do something stupid that the girls may do something to Edward that the queens, or me for that matter, wouldn't like. Unfortunately, with what happened the last time I saw Edward, I wouldn't put it past him.
I wanted the next time I saw Edward to go as smoothly as possible. I hadn't seen him since they had first let me visit him and I was worried about that. They had made it clear that if Edward didn't behave that I wouldn't be allowed to visit him. That meant Edward had to have done or said something the Volturi didn't like. I wanted to believe that it was just something the Volturi was making up to get to both me and Edward but after spending time with the Volturi, I wasn't so sure. I couldn't help but think that perhaps that Edward really had done something; no matter how much I wanted to believe that he wouldn't.
So I decided to talk with the queens. I hadn't actually asked too much about why I wasn't able to visit Edward again. I hadn't even asked that much about what was going to happen tomorrow when the Cullen's arrived… or even when they would be arriving. Heidi and Jane had done a very good job of keeping me distracted. Although, I wasn't sure it was actually done on purpose; it was just that I was very into the conversation we had and just being there with them. I was really starting to like having them around. But now that I was about to see the Cullen's, I wanted all those answers that I hadn't thought about asking earlier.
"Welcome dear, there's no need to knock on our door." Sulpicia said as she opened the door and gestured for me to go into the room where the other two queens were.
"We heard the girls tell you where we were." Didyme said from her spot on a chair, putting the book she was reading on the lone desk in the room while Athenodora was standing next to a window that over looked a yard.
"Come, you can have my chair dear." Sulpicia said as she moved to walk next to me and lead me to sit in the last available chair in the room that was behind the desk. I was surprised that they didn't have one more chair in here since the queens were usually all in here even though it was clearly only meant for one of them. But vampires didn't actually need chairs; it just showed how accepting they were of themselves and what they were. It was surprisingly refreshing.
"Thank you." I said as I sat down and Sulpicia put away the papers that she had on the desk into a drawer of the desk.
"What can we help you with?" Athenodora asked me.
Unlike when I had first started talking with the queens just a few days ago, Athenodora made me nervous because of how serious she always was. Even after spending time with her, she never really seemed to relax. But that was just how she was. I was completely immune to her nearly always angry and serious look; but I was sure that she meant nothing by it. It was just how she was. Which was why, more often than not, I was getting used to ignoring her nearly harsh stares.
"When are the Cullen's coming in?" I asked, not bothering to skirt around what I really wanted to know. It was getting late and I really wanted the answers.
"They should be in around nine tomorrow morning." Sulpicia answered. I could in her tone that her interest was piqued. But, then again, from what I noticed, she tended to get interested rather quickly in my affairs. Especially since she couldn't read my thoughts. Her mates were still incredibly amused that Sulpicia couldn't learn things the easy way when it came to me.
"What's going to happen when they get here?" I asked and from Didyme and Athenodora's knowing smirks, they knew I was going to ask this. But Sulpicia still looked like she was literally hanging off every word I said; almost like she was trying to predict what I was thinking and what I was going to say but she was failing.
"We will take them to Edward where some of our guard will watch over them while they reunite. After about an hour or so, we will move them to the throne room where we will read their charges. Once in the throne room, we will start discussing and deciding what their punishment will be. That's when you'll be able to say anything for or against them if you want." Sulpicia answered.
"You're going to let me be there for the whole thing?" I skeptically asked. For some reason, even after all I had seen this past week, I was still sure they wouldn't include me in many important things. Whether or not I was involved.
"Of course we are. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what the Cullen's reactions will be." Athenodora said and she actually looked excited. Although, whenever she was planning on hurting someone or fighting with someone, she was always genuinely excited. It was one of the few times she didn't necessarily look so serious… but she still looked scary.
"I'm sure it will be interesting." Didyme said. "That boy still thinks he has a claim where he doesn't." She said, leveling a having stare at me. I knew that with her gift that she knew I was still holding out for Edward. The two of us had been through so much together; how could I not still have feelings for him?
"He's going to be in for a hard lesson." Athenodora said with a smile that was anything but nice. It was actually a little creepy at how much she loved to fight with others.
"Remember you must be nice Dora; Carlisle was a dear friend of ours at one point." Sulpicia said.
"Not for much longer." Athenodora said with a small sneer. "After all he has allowed his coven to do, I say we retract our friendship."
"Let us wait to see what happens until we do that." Didyme said, finally pitching into the conversation. "We don't want to burn any bridges that we do not have to."
"I'm sure if we never see the Cullen's again, we won't mind." Athenodora said with a roll of her eyes.
"But I'm sure our daughter would mind." Didyme said, gesturing towards me with her chin.
I couldn't help but frown at hearing that I may never see the Cullen's again after today. Although, I was sure once I was a vampire, I could if I wanted to. But for some reason, I couldn't help but group myself in with the Volturi; like I was a part of them. Even though I wasn't.
"We'll see what happens tomorrow." Athenodora said, only sparing me a quick glance.
"Does that answer your question Bella?" Sulpicia asked as I cautiously stared at Athenodora, afraid that she was purposefully planning on doing something to upset Edward tomorrow.
"No." I said, finally taking my gaze away from Athenodora. "What exactly is going to happen though?"
The three queens shared a look before Didyme took control on the conversation.
"Once all of us are in the throne room, we will ask the Cullen's, namely Carlisle as he is the coven leader, if he is aware of all the laws he has broken. We will listen to what they have to say and then Sulpicia will read all of their thoughts." Didyme answered and even though I was incredibly nervous to see everyone tomorrow, I felt a bit relieved that I was being given all of this information.
"Whether they want to or not." Sulpicia added with a proud smirk. I've definitely noticed that the two blonde queens really did like to show off their power to anyone they could.
"Once Sulpicia reads their thoughts and learns exactly what part they all had in abandoning you, we will discuss what we will do with the Cullen's." Didyme finished.
"But there is something that has been recently been requested that we will include after we have given out punishments to the Cullen's." Sulpicia added.
"Requested?" I asked. Could someone really request someone else to be punished for breaking a law? Shouldn't that happen automatically?
"Your Heidi and Jane want to challenge Edward for mate's right." Didyme explained, but didn't really clear anything up.
"It's basically just a fancy term to make us feel better about what it really is." Athenodora said. "The girls really just want to kill, or at least severely and permanently hurt the boy since he is still claiming to be your mate. I'm sure if they weren't part of the Volturi, they would just go out and hunt and kill Edward for his foolishness. I'm sure they would have preferred to just go to Edward and kill him instead of having to listen to him whine and complain whenever they are within range. He really is just a child; I feel so sorry that you ever had to spend any amount of time with him."
"They want to kill Edward?" I asked, my clenching at the thought of Edward dying; although, my heart didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.
"Of course." Sulpicia responded like it was a stupid question I had asked. "But before we talk anymore on that subject, why don't you go talk to your girls instead?" She asked me.
"From what we understand, you three do talk a lot." Didyme said. "But you three never really have any 'deep' conversations. You three tend to talk more about historical events and other frivolous things. I think this would be a good conversation for you three to have to become closer."
"Why can't you just tell me since I'm here and we're already talking about tomorrow?" I asked.
For as many conversations I had had with the other two vampires, I knew that Didyme was right. We had delved into each other's past, but not really about each other. Just about what they had seen. In fact, they had both asked questions, personal questions, about my past; but I had never asked anything personal about theirs. It had always seemed to invasive to asked… even though they had asked about mine and I had answered their questions. It was almost like I subconsciously didn't want to know anything too deep about their past, like I didn't want to know in case it made me closer to them.
"Because it would be better if the girls told you." Sulpicia answered. "They are the ones that asked after-all."
"Those girls would tell you anything you ask." Didyme said. "Go and ask them." She practically commanded, assuming that I didn't have any other questions for them. Which she was right about, but I was still annoyed that she would make that assumption and push me off to other people.
"If you have any other questions that are not related to your mates about tomorrow's events, we can answer them during your breakfast tomorrow." Sulpicia assured as she all but pulled me from her seat and started to lead me towards the door where I knew Heidi and Jane were waiting for. I just wished I knew how much of the conversation they had heard.
"Goodnight little one." Didyme cheerfully said as the door was opened and I was passed from Sulpicia to Heidi's waiting arms.
"Goodnight dear. We'll see you tomorrow." Sulpicia said before closing the door.
"Are you worrying about tomorrow?" Heidi asked as she looped her arm around mine and started to walk us towards my room; a room that their belongings over the past week had been mixed in with mine that had been bought for me.
"Just a little." I had briefly thought about lying and saying that I wasn't worried and then just mull over everything that the queens had told me, but Jane always had a way of knowing when I wasn't being truthful. Well, both Jane and Heidi did, but Jane was very apt at calling me out on it.
"We will make sure nothing bad happens to you." Jane assured and even though I wasn't worried about any vampire attacking me, just hearing that Jane was watching over me, filled me with a sense of calm that I hadn't known was missing about tomorrow.
"Did the queen's answer all your questions?" Heidi asked as we continued walking towards my room. Even though I had been in the castle for a week, I still couldn't find my way around the place. It was a really large place and I never really stayed to just one general area; I was always walking around in different areas of the castle that were deemed safe far enough away from visiting vampires that the girls didn't particularly trust to have enough strength to not try and attack me.
"Almost." I admitted as I struggled how to ask them. It was weird. Normally I had no problems talking with them; even though the only things we really talked about were either about them or just trivial things about me. This felt so much different. "There was one that they said you could answer."
I didn't elaborate, even when I saw Jane look at me from the corner of my eye with her eyebrow raised as a silent question. For some reason, talking to them made me nervous. It was unnerving to have them paying so much attention to everything I said; it was something I wasn't used to. It made me nervous that what I was going to say, especially if it was something revealing about myself, they were going to harshly judge me for it. I didn't want them to think any less of me.
"We will gladly answer any questions you have for us." Heidi said with a wide smile. "No matter how evasive it is, like wanting to know the first time we had sex with each other, we have no problem telling you."
"Heidi." Jane hissed in warning as my face went bright red. "You know that isn't what she wants to ask."
"But it would be such a fun conversation." The taller woman said with a pout. "Not to say our normal conversations aren't fun; but anything with you and sex in it is always the best in my book." Heidi said as she moved her hand from being looped with mine to being around my shoulders and pulling me into her.
"We've talked about this Heidi." Jane said, aggravation clear in her voice. I knew exactly what she was talking about. I had actually been included in several of these conversations. Heidi was a very sexual vampire and Jane wanted her to curve her advances so as to not scare me away. Heidi always claimed she was being careful… that always made me worried about what Heidi would be like if she wasn't holding back. "You are not allowed to scare her away by trying to have sex with her ten times a day."
"But it would be so nice to have sex at least that many times a day." Heidi said with a sigh that sounded like she was imagining doing just what she said.
"Calm down Heidi." Jane warned and it made me appreciate Jane just a little bit more.
Heidi was very easy to get along with because she was so outgoing and so playful. But Jane wasn't and I found it was harder to get used to her being around so much. But the more I did, I realized that Jane was the perfect complement for Heidi. Those two women were practically two extremes of the spectrum and I could help but think that I was the perfect middle of the two.
"Oh relax Jane. Bella hasn't even tried to run away." Heidi said before she paused just before we got to our, I mean my door, allowing Jane to open it for us. "Actually, that does sound bad." Heidi said as we continued to walk into my room. "You know that I don't mean anything by it, right Bella? I'm more than okay with taking things at your pace. Jane is more than happy to allow me take out my sexual frustrations with her."
"Right." I said, not sure what else I could say in response to that. Heidi was her own creature and sometimes there was no response to her. It was kind of amusing.
I walked over to the couch to sit on it while I gathered my thoughts about the one thing that I had left to talk about before I struggled to fall asleep. Jane and Heidi moved to sit next to me no sooner than I had sat down in the middle. I hadn't even thought about sitting at one of the ends so that I would only have to sit next to one of them; I preferred sitting next to them both when I could.
"What's on your mind?" Heidi asked when I didn't speak up right away.
"It has to do with tomorrow, doesn't it?" Jane asked.
"The queens told me that you were going to challenge Edward?" I asked as I looked towards Jane. Even though I knew that Heidi was just as capable of answering me, Jane seemed more apt to want to fight than Heidi, so I wanted the answer from her.
"Of course we are." Jane answered like I was a stupid question and if I hadn't known Jane like I did, I probably would have felt insulted.
"I'm personally looking forward to it." Heidi added.
"Vampires are extremely territorial creatures." Jane continued talking, thankfully explaining what I wanted her to. "If we weren't in this coven, if we were just nomads, we would have already killed Edward for all the threats he's made against our mating claim. But because the Volturi are cultured vampires that follow and enforce laws and rules, we are trying to be civil about this. But be forewarned that Edward is walking a very thin line and he doesn't seem to realize it."
"Does he really make you that mad?" I asked, a bit skeptical about words upsetting someone so much that they would want to kill someone. Especially if the person getting upset had the power to make the other person leave the country and not come back.
"Do you not remember being told about vampires being very territorial?" Jane asked with a skeptical tone.
"Edward trying to say that you are his, when clearly he isn't, is like giving a starving dog a bone and then trying to take it away five seconds later. The dog is going to attack you, just like we're going to attack Edward. We're just trying to be civil about it." Heidi said.
"You must remember that we are vampires and vampires are very instinctual creatures. Edward is a threat that we can and will deal with. To leave him alone to let him keep thinking that he has a chance to have any type of relationship with you is just insulting to both Heidi and myself. Even though we are somewhat sure that he will not physically hurt, we are aware of your feelings and that he could very well hurt you emotionally. The more he drags on his ridiculous thoughts of you two, the more he's going to hurt you in the long run. We don't want you to have any sort of pain if we can avoid it. And we can. Just as soon as we talk with Edward."
I nearly wanted to coo at the look of determination Jane had on her face. I thought it was cute; although I could see how other people may be put off by it and may even be threatened by it. But just seeing Jane at that moment, with that look directed towards an enemy that I really didn't exist, was kind of cute. I had expected Heidi to talk so much about her feelings and just talking so much in general as Jane wasn't really a talker. But seeing Jane talk so much was nice.
"You want to protect me from being emotionally hurt?" I asked her with a confused look. "You do realize that that's impossible, right?" I asked with a small smile, touched that they would even try to do that.
"It's not impossible." Jane petulantly said with something that was nearly a frown. "Just difficult. Which makes it all the more worth it when we succeed."
"We know it's impossible to protect you from everything; but we're going to sure as hell try." Heidi said making me smile. "You'll be the same way when you're a vampire; especially when you're a newborn. Your emotions will be so strong and so out of control, it will be very interesting. Babysitting you as a newborn to make sure you don't go out on a massacre will be intensely fun. Especially because of all the sex we'll get to have." Heidi finished with a huge grin.
"You were warned that we were protective. That's just what we're doing with making sure Edward leaves you alone." Jane added.
"As crazy as I think that sounds, it's kind of nice." I said with an embarrassed smile, my cheeks slightly warmed.
"The part about having sex all the time?" Heidi asked with a hopeful look, earning a warning hiss from Jane.
"Is that really all you think about?" I asked, my earlier emotions of feeling close to these women fading because of her comment.
"No." Heidi quickly defended. "It just takes up most of my thoughts. But that's okay because vampires are able to think of a lot of different things at once."
"Some vampires are also more sexual than others, just like humans. Heidi just so happens to like sex more than most. You'll be just like her when you're a newborn; more than likely even worse." Jane explained. "But does that answer your question?" Jane asked me before Heidi could respond to her.
"Will you both try to avoid hurting him?" That was the last question I had.
It was hard to deny that I was getting closer to the Volturi, to the queens and especially to these two women. But it was also hard to deny that I still had feelings for Edward. I had fallen so fast and hard for him that even after he had left me, I still wanted to be with him. I was pretty sure I did at least.
The two women looked at each for a moment and I was sure they were having a quick conversation that was too fast and quiet for me to be able to hear it.
"We can't really promise that we won't hurt him." Heidi nervously said. "If he does something that requires us to retaliate, then we will. We won't hold back."
"But we will try to hold back until he does something. We will do our best to only retaliate and to not attack." Jane assured me.
"I guess that's the best that I can ask for." I said, knowing that what they said was true about vampires really living off of their instincts. It wasn't like I could ask them to completely ignore their instincts; that just wouldn't be fair for me to ask them to do that.
"We'll do our best to make you happy, we promise." Heidi said.
They continued to talk about the following day for a little; just affirming what the queens had said was going to happen was in fact what they were expecting to happen. They told me that they were going to wake me up earlier enough to eat and to ask any other questions I might have and then they would escort me to the throne room for the meeting. Jane said that the queens may ask me to behave a certain way since they would want me to act like the Volturi princess and not just a random person who was visiting with them.
Because I was so nervous about what was going to be happening the following day, I had nervously asked the girls to stay with me. Normally they would just wait in another room, right next to mine, while I slept. But knowing that they were right there with me helped me to relax at least enough to fall asleep. Hopefully I wouldn't be too tired tomorrow because just like everyone had predicted, I was sure that something was going to happen tomorrow that would take a huge toll on me.
A/N: Since it's been a while since I've really worked on this story, and for that I really do apologize, I may have gotten some things wrong with the story line, like reiterating things that I didn't need to or just flat our changing some things. If I did that I'm very sorry. I did look over the previous chapters to try and avoid that from happening… but I'm pretty sure it probably did. So, sorry about any and all inconsistencies.