Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, or Breaking Dawn. These books, characters, and associated materials are the property of Stephenie Meyer, and they are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

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Chapter 2

Esme's POV

Carlisle's face and manner was nothing short of debonair. He had a classic look, like an old time movie star. Sometimes I found myself wondering how a boring, mid-western housewife like me wound up with a man like him. Even now, with his face creased in worry and concentration, he was nothing short of rakish. We all watched him now, waiting for his response, as he leaned against the fire place, one hand slowly rubbing back and forth across his forehead.

One thing was for certain- Carlisle was a calm, patient, and rational man. Any other individual would not have been able to exude such a collected confidence after hearing that their beloved cousins would soon become associated with a deadly political overthrow. As Alice had been telling the whole family, well everyone except Edward that is, about her vision, my stomach clenched in fear. I felt my throat tighten and my limbs tingle numbly, I was terrified for my children. If the Volturi found out about this secret meeting, what would happen to the Denali clan? What if we were implicated too, simply on account of our friendship with the Denali clan?

But I mustn't think like that. Tanya's coven had probably only just received their invitation, or maybe they still had a few weeks left to receive it, you couldn't always be certain of timing with Alice's visions. In any case, they had not yet made a decision to even meet with this "Golden Coven" and their leader, Vixen. We still had a chance to change their future.

"It's been a long time since we had a good fight, Carlisle." Emmet stated with a chuckle.

He was clearly trying to lighten everyone's mood. I couldn't blame him as I looked around. Alice was still standing in the middle of the room, her head hanging down. She hadn't moved an inch after she had finished speaking. I sincerely hoped that she didn't feel guilty. Her visions were never her fault, if anything her messages helped guide us to have better lives, no matter how much they may worry us from time to time. Rosalie was stone still, watching Carlisle like a hawk. She didn't even appear to be breathing, not that she needed to, but even for us, it was usually a normal function. Jasper sat alone in the loveseat, his eyes had a glazed look as he stared at the wall. His face was set and I could only imagine that he was thinking of strategies protect our family, most especially Alice.

Carlisle finally broke the silence. "Eleazar has always been opposed to the Volturi but I never knew that he would act against them. When he left Aro's guard, he left on good terms."

Jasper nodded his head as if he had been thinking the same thing. Carlisle continued speaking.

"Many vampire covens have tried to eliminate the Volturi and all of them have been killed to the last man. I can't imagine that this new coven would be any different. It would take another political group hundreds of years to gain the numbers and infrastructure needed. Not to mention dealing with all of the specialized gifts that Aro has collected over the years."

"That's what I can't figure out." Jasper spoke up from the sofa, breaking his gaze away from the wall and leaning forward toward Carlisle, his hands folded together in front of his legs. "Why would Eleazar of all people, agree to meet with a coven that plans to move against the Volturi? He knows what an impossible task it would be to cause the collapse of their empire. Why would he agree to put Carmen and the rest of his family in danger like this?"

Alice was the first to answer. "Because he believes it is the right thing to do." She finally looked up, her gaze wandered slowly around the room, pausing briefly on each of our faces.

"I can't believe I even have to explain this!" Alice exclaimed her mouth hanging slightly open in surprise.

"We try to everyday to do the right thing and even though it is the harder choice, we overcome our urges to protect the innocent! Hasn't it ever bothered any of you that we work so hard to make what we believe to be the correct moral choice but we are governed by a force of evil that treats human beings as chattel? It is easy for our happy family to ignore and forget that they still exist but the simple fact is: if any of us were the step out of line, the Volturi wouldn't hesitate to tare one of our family members limb from limb and burn them without any semblance of a fair trial." Alice looked angry and hurt. She was breathing heavily by the end of her speech, possibly looking ready to break down or sob.

It made me wonder how often she had worried about the Volturi coming for one of us. Had she seen visions in the past? Why was she so concerned about the Volturi killing one of our family members? Carlisle and Aro used to be good friends, so it seemed a stretch to imagine that Aro would harm any member of our family, no matter the fact that his beliefs were so different from ours. I couldn't pretend that these differences in belief didn't bother me though. Like Alice, I had often wondered if something shouldn't be done about others of our kind who prey upon innocents. Not that I ever considered revolting against the Volturi. My ideas usually revolved around vegetarian propaganda. Even making more of an effort to meet other carnivorous vampires could eventually lead to our lifestyle rubbing off on others.

But rising against the Volturi? Had their rule been truly this oppressive and corrupt? It was true that Carlisle had worked hard to give me the best second life imaginable ever since I was changed. Did his efforts include keeping the Volturi at bay?

"Carlisle, I understand why Tanya has a certain, uh, distaste for Aro, but why is Eleazar so against them?" Rosalie's eyes were still trained on Carlisle. She must have been thinking along the same lines that I was. Her face looked pensive. "I just don't understand how they could have made so many enemies. Eleazar has had other friends in his past that fed on humans that he speaks fondly of. It must be more than their choice in diet that has turned him against them."

Carlisle sighed, finally turning away from the fireplace to lean his back against the bricks and face his family. "Aro and I may be on good terms, our relationship is what some may consider a loose friendship but it was never an easy friendship. Aro is a complicated and difficult man. He is guided by his fears and insecurities. He collects these "pets" as people call them, his guard of special abilities, in questionable ways. He often changes dozens of promising people at a time to see if they will develop any powers. He then kills those who are useless to him, citing that it would draw too much attention to have so many newborns in one area. If he meets a vampire who has special abilities that he desires, he often uses any means necessary to acquire that person's loyalty. Some of these methods are…unsavory at best."

"He doesn't sound complicated at all, he sounds like a dick." Emmet growled from his seat next to Rosalie. Rosalie nodded in approval and I had to agree with them both. I couldn't imagine Aro trying to coerce one of my children into joining his guard. What if he decided that he wanted Alice, Jasper, or Edward? What lengths would Aro go to in order to take them away from our family?

"The Volturi are not known for their niceties, Emmet, you are correct. But I have never acted against them because I often assumed that they saved many more lives than they killed." Carlisle stated.

"How so?" Rosalie sounded doubtful.

"Because they prevented many vampire wars from being started that would have resulted in thousands of human casualties. They didn't prevent all vampire wars of course." He nodded toward Jasper, "But they prevented most of them. They have also set laws in place to prevent the immortal children. As sad as it is that Sasha was killed with no second chance, the immortal children could not be allowed to live. It would have been better of course, had the Volturi allowed Sasha to return to the Denali clan for a second chance at life but I am sure in their eyes they thought they acted best by discouraging others from harboring immortal children as Sasha did." Carlisle paused for a moment, he looked troubled and sorrowful. I wanted to walk over and comfort him, but I knew I needed to wait until later. My children needed his guidance for now. It was a few moments before he spoke again. "I have always liked the idea of having a form of government for our kind to prevent any individual or clan from getting out of control, but I cannot say that I am overly fond of the Volturi or their methods. I am however fond of Aro, but I cannot deny that his soul has been corrupted and twisted by his darkest fears. I must admit the man I've always cared for isn't Aro as he is, but the man he could have been."

"What are you saying, Carlisle?" Jasper looked up at Carlisle, his hands gripping the seat cushion, his eyes filled with curiosity, fear, and excitement.

Even though I was terrified of what the future might bring, terrified of how this new development might affect my family, Carlisle's demeanor, even in troubling situations like these, was always so secure, so calm, that he almost made me feel calm simply by being near him. It was times like these that I wondered if he didn't have some sort of calming ability akin to Jaspers. The truth was that I trusted him fully. I knew that no matter what, he would always find the simplest, most rational and moral solution to any problem that would ever arise. So I remained silent and waited for Carlisle's response.

"This will take some careful consideration of course, but maybe Kate is right. Maybe we can't just sit idly by any longer while the Volturi continue to manipulate innocent humans and vampires for their own selfish needs. Perhaps the time has finally come for us to stand up for what we believe in and protect others." He turned to face Jasper, "What I am saying, Jasper, is that I think we should find a way to solicit our own invitation to meet with Vixen and her golden clan."

I gasped.