Author's Note: Nothing do I own.
This is the last chapter in part two, and just to be nice this one will be in EPoV. I am considering plans for two more stories to follow this one: Ambrosia Awakenings and Ayden's Dawning. Let me know if you would be interested in something like that.
Cheers! Read and enjoy.
Freesia Juliet
Part Two: The Queen
Chapter Sixteen: Ebony
(Edward's Point of View)
"Bella," she said, her voice heavily accented, "trouble is coming!"
"Who are you?" I asked, standing up from Bella's side.
She sighed, mildly exasperated, "I'm Helene, Vincent's wife."
"Good," I said, relieved. "What kind of trouble?"
"Jane-and-Felix kind of trouble," said Alice with surprise. "This is the first I've seen it, though!"
"Sorry," whispered Bella, grabbing my arm tightly, "I've been blocking you. And I guess their future and my future was intertwined, so… you wouldn't have been able to see this," assured Bella with a tight frown.
I kissed the back of her head. "Since you understand the best what's going on… what do you want us to do?" I asked, surprised that those words were coming out of my mouth. I had so wanted to protect her from all of this.
"Helene," she began, "how long can Colette hold off Jane?"
The auburn haired woman shrugged. "I'm not sure. They've never gone as you say 'head to head' in a fight before."
"How can Colette hold off Jane?" asked Rosalie before I could get the words out of my mouth.
Carlisle had the answer. "Jane and Colette are sisters. Their powers mirror each other. While Jane causes pain, Colette causes relief." His eyes were dark with worry.
"Story later," barked Bella, a look passing between her and Helene. "We can't be sure which one of the sisters is stronger, so we better play it safe and get out of here while we still can."
Emmett struck the table with frustration. "But Bella! There are only two of them and there are twelve of us."
My Bella was surprisingly calm in the face of my brother's temper-tantrum. "Do you really want a pitched battle in the middle of the city, Emmett? No, we must draw them, and any other Guard they may have brought with them, away from the city." He fell sullenly silent, and Jasper placed a calming arm around his shoulder.
"Where will we go?" asked Esme.
"To Genevieve," said Bella, Helene, and Carlisle in unison.
"Who's Genevieve?" I had to ask.
"She's Marcus's mother," said Bella with a wry grin, "but she's on our side. Her castle in Switzerland will be the perfect place to take such a large crowd of us safely."
"Do you know how to get there?" asked Carlisle. "I was never invited to Genevieve's Geneva sanctuary."
Bella was about to shake her head 'no' when two more of our kind joined us in the room. The man had 'ghosted' the woman straight through the door. "Henri and Colette," acknowledged Bella with an expectant smile.
The man had sandy blonde hair and caramel eyes. The woman, with her petite stature and shorter hair, could have passed for Jane, except her eyes were light. Truly, she was Jane's sister. The fine lines around her eyes suggested she was several years older than Jane, though.
"I know how to get to the Alistair Castle," offered Colette. Her voice did not have the expected French accent that all of the other Rensards carried. "My brother and sister will not be here for another two hours, by Helene's visions. We can be long gone for Geneva by then."
"You can see the future like I can?" asked Alice to Helene.
Helene shook her head with a wane smile. "No, dear, I am not nearly as powerful as you are, Alice. I can see reactions to past actions, like ripples on a pond. I knew as soon as Michelangelo sent you here, Volturi would follow. But I could not tell that it would be Jane and Felix until Aro grew frustrated. Every action yields a reaction in my world."
My mind recorded, Michelangelo?
"A useful skill," commented Jasper.
"Agreed," said Henri, his 'r's spiraling in the unique French way.
"Are you in favor, Bella?" asked Helene politely. It was strange. I had never thought of my Bella as anything but a sweet, quiet, beautiful creature. But here she was, giving orders and receiving advice from some of the most powerful vampires in Europe, and she did it without a second thought. They even deferred to her wishes! Perhaps being a Volturi Queen had as much effect on her mind as it did on her body.
"Absolutely," said Bella, stone somber. "Will we need anything?"
"I've anticipated this," said Colette carefully, "and I've packed the necessary emergency things in the two SUVs that we have parked outside."
I was surprised. Sport utility vehicles were frowned upon in most places in Europe, especially in France, for their waste of fuel and their emissions into the already clogged atmosphere. In fact, they were only forgiven in Germany.
I hadn't been to Switzerland in many years, but I still had my doubts about how well received these two big, blacked out SUVs would receive in the beautiful mountain country. It was like riding around in a giant insult.
As I admired the luster ebony finish on the machine, I wondered if they had to have these BMWs shipped straight from Berlin. I wanted one.
"Stop it Edward," chuckled Bella as we climbed up the step into the comfy, spacious cabin. "You can think about buying one later, when we're back in the States."
My second surprise. "How did you know?"
Her eyes were mysterious and playful. "It's written clear across your face, silly. Even I, master of the opaque, could pick that one out." I shrugged.
We had been on the road for about four hours. Colette, Alice, Bella, Henri, and I were in one SUV. Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle were in the other. Alice confirmed that Helene and Vincent had bravely held off Jane and Felix, who had made their departure when they realized that we were already gone.
My only hope was that we would be secure in Alistair Castle before the Volturi caught up to us again. Alistair Castle- that was something Carlisle had never mentioned to me, in all my years as his son and companion. Perhaps it meant something. Perhaps it didn't.
Colette drowsed softly on Henri's shoulder. Bella was sound asleep on mine. It was so strange to me, that vampire queens could sleep. I envied them in a way; they faced their nightmares in their dreams, while the rest of us had to live them.
I asked Henri in a low voice, "How did Colette come to be with you?"
The sandy haired Frenchman smiled lovingly and stroked his wife's hair. "We both were blessed in our own way. You see, Colette's real name is Cora DeBrak. She, Felix, and Jane were young English nobles under the ward of my neighbor, a duke in the King's court."
"Which king?" I asked.
"He was the great-grandson of the first real French king… you know, the first one after Gaul became France… shoot, can't remember the name. Anyway, the Volturi came to pay their respects to the local lords, and they sniffed out Colette and Jane. Both had potential to be queens."
"But Jane?"
"But Jane wasn't one," Henri explained. "Colette was, though, and Jane and Felix were kept on to insure she would stay."
"How did she escape?" I asked.
"The same way Bella did. Signore Michelangelo helped her get away back to my care, because I was the closest vampire noble strong enough to stand against the trio. But Jane and Felix would not return with her."
"You ended up marrying her?"
"Yes, for convenience at first. But by the time Vincent and Helene joined us, however, we were permanently attached to each other."
There was one more question that plagued me. "Did she ever… I mean, did you ever…?"
"Have children?" responded Henri knowingly.
But just before he could give me an answer, Bella awoke. Or at least, what might have been taken for consciousness.
She screamed terribly, in a voice which shook me to the core, and began thrashing violently in my arms.
Colette was instantly alert, hovering over her with anxiously. Bella opened her eyes. They were jet black. "Oh my God," moaned Colette, "the chances of this happening were one in a million."
The Queen, fin.