Chapter 22 reminder:
Dora, a hybrid Bella fought to save from execution, is injured in a suicide attempt. Bella calls Carlisle for advice. He tells her the best way to treat hybrid injuries, and then calls back later so they can talk. They both apologize and admit they still want to work out their relationship. Dora and Bella have a heart to heart talk.
Rosalie and Garret got married, and Colette is working to heal Eleazar. Aro steps away from Bella and seems to stop pursuing her. Alice and Bella go hunting, so Alice can see Jasper and begin working on their marriage.
Chapter 23
Phone Calls
As I run off into the woods, I can't help but think about him. I'm just imagining how it feels to be in his arms, when I'm struck that it's not Edward I'm missing, but Carlisle.
I hunt, and after I've fed, I have time on my hands. I imagine Alice and Jasper are either making love, or working out their problems, and either way they don't need me interrupting them. I explore the woods until I find a clearing, and I relax against a fallen log to stare up at the starry sky.
I remember our meadow, and the first time I ever really touched Edward. The memory is no longer too painful. I smile as I sift through each of those precious but dim human moments with the man I thought I'd never lose. I loved him so fiercely, even before I realized who and what he really was beneath his beauty. I've existed for thirty-one years, and for over ten of those years I loved him with all that was in me. A third of my life is wrapped up in him.
Most of my best memories are after my change, when time could no longer dim them. Every anniversary, every holiday, and every birthday, was a chance to celebrate. I went from hating the fuss made over these events, to truly anticipating what he had in store for us. Our first anniversary was simply a trip to a luxurious Seattle hotel for forty eight hours of time alone. He knew I wouldn't want to be too far from our daughter, but I cherished the time to reconnect with him beyond being parents.
We had an amazing life together. Looking back, I'm so glad I was able to let my little human worries go. I stopped worrying about the expense of gifts, and the idea that the Cullen's were lavish spenders. I wore the designer clothes with little complaint, and I drove the expensive cars and quit lamenting my truck.
We took Nessie on a spur of the moment trip to Disneyland when the weather forecast a week of overcast and rainy weather. The memories of our family vacations are precious to me, and there was so little opportunity for them, before she was grown.
I spend hours just looking at my memories of him. Our first real fight after I was turned, when we argued for days. I wanted to travel cross country to see my mom, and give her a chance to meet her granddaughter. He thought the trip was too dangerous, and he didn't think it was a good idea for Mom to be confronted with an impossibly fast growing child who looked enough like me I could never deny she was mine. In the end, I told him I was going, either with or without him.
The trip had been a success. There was a moment when we had to walk through the sun to get to our rental car, but I'd worn a large hat and sunglasses, and Edward hid behind our daughter as he carried her. It didn't take Mom long – about two minutes – to realize Renesmee was my daughter. Unlike Dad, she asked lots of questions, and drew many of her own conclusions. Nobody said the word vampire, but Renee went right up to that line in the sand and faced it fearlessly. She didn't say a word, but hugged us each and accepted us without any further questions.
Phil was a bit more reserved. But Nessie soon had him wrapped around her little finger. It was clear she wasn't a normal child, but she was a child, and with no fangs or fear of the sun, he had no reservations about her. In fact she was probably the only preschool girl who could give a minor league player a challenge on the baseball field. She learned to pitch at a speed that challenged his skill. We had to talk him out of taking her to a practice and winning a lot of money from his teammates by betting she could strike them out.
After our week dodging the Florida sun, we were back home. Edward apologized for being against the trip, and it was then we began planning our world travels. I smile at the memories. Aro may have held onto Edward's thoughts, but I have the best of him in my own mind. It doesn't cause me agony to think about my husband. I know he'll always be a part of me, and no one can take those memories away from me.
I know I have Carlisle to thank for my new outlook. I can remember my past without feeling all the pain, because I now know I have a future. I have a future with him. It shouldn't surprise me that the two men in my life are so similar they could have been brothers. Some of the very things I loved about Edward, existed in Carlisle first. We have so much history together, and I know he's seen me at my best and my worst. It stuns me that he wants me the way I want him. And I do want him!
I'm in love. It's the same breathless, tingly feeling I remember, but it's different too. He's different. Edward had a quiet depth about him, but Carlisle has a complexity that keeps me guessing. He's not afraid to admit when he's wrong, or that he's made a mistake. He can laugh at himself, and he's kind almost to a fault. He's got courtly manners and old fashioned ideas, but he's not afraid to try new things or face the future.
He also has a passionate side I never would have expected. Edward always kept everything inside, but for the expression in his eyes. But Carlisle is verbal, and physical, and I can't help but feel he's barely containing a storm just below his calm exterior. He has such iron control and I long to see him lose control with me.
My mind turns to the other passionate man who has tried to claim me. Aro. I still can't believe I kissed him, and not just once. I feel like so many of my walls and reservations are gone, and maybe he took advantage of that. But I'd let him, in fact I'd welcomed it. But passion isn't enough. I can see that clearly now. It's so easy to become overwhelmed with life in Volterra. It's like a microcosm of drama with all the supernatural people living there practically under one roof. Even without Chelsea, it's easy to get mired in the life and happenings there.
If not for Carlisle, I could see myself living there with Aro and his children. Even after only a few days I feel like Volterra has a hold on me. There is just so much need, and it's pulling at me like a magnet. If I'm honest, that's likely the reason I was attracted to Aro. He needs me – or at least my shield. I let myself think about it for a moment. I have no doubt Aro would marry me. And I have no doubt the sex would be passionate and satisfying. I would love the chance to help him raise his children, and help them put their lives back together.
I think about the life I'd have with him. He would be faithful, and Alice would eventually leave and he would probably learn to love me as he said. But I don't know if I could love him. And I fear I would never trust him fully. I can't imagine letting him inside my shield to read my every thought. Trust like that is critical to me.
And even if I could trust him, there's one deal breaking detail that he would never change: He's a murderer. As much as he likes to dismiss our lifestyle as being abnormal, I could never accept his. In fact the longer I stay in Volterra, the more I see evidence that many of the surviving older vampires are those who still drink human blood. I know some are using the hybrids, but there are those who are out there hunting humans. They're killing humans. Their victims could be my mom or my dad, or some of my friends. I could never get used to being with Aro, and knowing that the mouth I kissed is the same mouth that drank the life from someone. Even now it sickens me.
It's a perfect illustration of the difference between Carlisle and Aro. By definition, Aro always puts his own life above all others, while Carlisle does not. Aro takes lives, and Carlisle saves them. I may have felt an attraction to Aro, but I love Carlisle.
If I'm honest with myself, there's always been a part of me that's attracted to a man's darker nature. It's what allowed me to be with Edward, even knowing he was dangerous to me. It's what made Jacob so attractive to me, and it's what made me throw caution to the wind when it came to my own safety. I may be attracted to Aro's deep, dark, passion, but I could never get over his self-centered arrogance. I could never condone his killing.
I smile as I think about Carlisle. For all of his religious upbringing, he's surprisingly sexy. I never allowed myself to think about him like that, but now it's all I can think about. I long to feel him next to me, and I can't wait to tell him I love him. I imagine making love with him, and I don't feel like I'm betraying Edward at the thought.
My phone vibrates, and I answer it. "Where are you?" I can hear the panic in Dora's voice, and I feel suddenly ashamed. I told her I wasn't leaving Volterra, and I did.
"Dora, are you okay? What's wrong Sweetheart?"
"They made Sabrina go back to her secure room, and they won't let me see her!"
"Who did?" I can't understand what's going on.
"The Guard." Then it hits me; they're likely using her to get to Alice and me.
"Honey, I need to go, but I'll be there as soon as I can, don't worry." I turn off the phone and take off running back the way I came. The car is still at the farmhouse, but it's dark inside. As much as I hate interrupting, I tap on the bedroom window and tell them their hiding place may have been found. I hear Jasper's thanks, and I leave them.
I run back to Volterra, covering the miles with vampire speed. I leap over the wall, and race to the complex. I skip the main entry, and enter through the window in Dora's apartment. I'm still in my black outfit when I make it to her room at the clinic.
She's curled into a ball in the narrow bed, but she turns when she hears me. She sits up as I take my seat beside her, and she wraps me in her arms and clings to me. I feel her tears against my face, and I try to sooth her.
"I thought you left me – everyone leaves me!" I feel her tiny body shaking with her sobs.
"Shh, I'm here. I didn't leave you, I just needed to hunt." She pulls away and looks at me.
"I'm sorry... they said you weren't coming back. They said you didn't want me around." She is a mass of insecurities under matted blond hair, looking out through big blue eyes. Her I.V. has been removed, and she seems to have recovered. I peek at the wound under her bandage, and it's nothing more than three angry red stripes.
"Come on, I'm getting you out of here." I find her clothes, but the shirt isn't fit to wear. Her pants are somewhat bloody, but they're not soaked in it. She's wearing the hospital gown wrapped tightly around her, with her own pants and shoes, when I tell the attendant I'm taking her home. I don't wait for him to tell me she's not been released yet. As far as I'm concerned, she was released when they let the Guard use her to get to me, in hopes of finding Jasper.
I wrap my arm around her waist as I lead her back to my apartment. She's a little weak and she leans against me. I tuck her into the bed, and offer her the blood I've brought with us. I'm thinking about a shower, when I realize I've still got the bloody mess to clean up. As Dora sleeps, I clean and sanitize the bathroom. As I dump another bucket of bloody water, I can't help but think that it was a terrible waste. But it's so much better than her life being wasted.
I check on her before I get into the shower. I laugh to myself as I remember how I used to do that when Nessie was little, just to make sure she really was taking a nap. Dora really is behaving as if she's my daughter.
I feel a lot better as soon as I'm clean and changed. I search Nahuel's place until I find his copy of the Volterra law, both the old and the new. I'm sitting in a chair, reading through the old text, in the quiet of the predawn hours. I feel my phone vibrate. I'm thinking it could be Alice, but I'm surprised when I see it's Carlisle. I set aside the book of laws and duck into the bathroom and answer it.
His voice is so seductive it brings a smile to my face. "I miss you, beautiful."
"I miss you too, sexy." I feel deliciously naughty as I say the words. I try to keep my voice down.
"Minx!"
"More animal references? I definitely need to show you I'm all woman." I tease.
"I think you're thinking of Manx, which is a cat, and you're definitely no cat! You're the saucy little thing who's driving me crazy!" I can hear the frustration in his voice.
"I hope so. That's what you're doing to me." I hold the phone close to my ear to savor his words.
"I'll be back soon. I can't wait to see you."
"I want you now." I tuck a towel under the door and sit on the floor with my back against it. I feel like we're having a forbidden conversation. I'm surprised how just his words and the sound of his voice get to me. I really do want him.
He groans into the phone. "I want you too – desperately." I sigh at the gravelly sound of his voice.
"I could tell you what I want to do to you, but your phone would melt." I laugh softly at the direction the conversation seems to head.
"I'm willing to risk it." I smile at his response. I can't believe he wants to play this game.
"If you were here with me, I'd wrap my arms and legs around you and cover your sweet face in kisses."
His voice plays havoc with me. "Mmm... I'd have my arms and hands full of you. I'd kiss you, and taste that sweet little tongue. I love the way you kiss."
"I'd run my fingers through your hair – I love how soft it feels. I like when it falls on your forehead and makes you look so boyish and enticing."
"I feel like a boy when I'm with you. I can't stop thinking about you, Bella. I want so much to be right there with you."
"If you were, I'd unbutton your shirt, and feel your strong chest under my hands. I want to kiss, lick, and taste your skin" I close my eyes and imagine just that.
"Bella, this isn't fair the way you get to me! You can make me lose control even over the phone."
"I like that I can affect you that way. I wish you would lose control with me."
"Be careful what you wish."
"I don't want to be careful. I want all of you, Carlisle – even that wild, unbridled side of you."
"What makes you think I have a wild side?" I can hear the playfulness in his voice.
"I can feel it in you. I want to feel it in me" I hear him groan.
"Bella, you are making me sorry I ever left. If you want to see my wild side, just keep teasing me. Girl you're going to be in so much trouble when I see you!" I stifle my giggles.
"What are you doing right now, Carlisle?" I envision him sitting at his desk, going over patient records. But then again, I feel like I've got his undivided attention.
"I'm sitting in my room, thinking of you, and imagining what I'll do to you when I see you again. I'm coming back as soon as I can, and I'm going to make you sorry you ever teased me."
"I'm not teasing" I murmur into the phone.
"Neither am I. I want to undress you, and just gaze at your body. I want to kiss and touch every inch of you. I want to squeeze your beautiful curves, and I want to open you up to my mouth. I want to lick you until you scream, and then I want to possess you. I want to fill you up until you're overflowing. I want to watch you writhe in pleasure and I want to drive you absolutely insane with desire. And I want to go there with you, again and again."
His words have stolen my voice, and I feel such delicious shivers pass through my body. His passionate declarations have left me breathless, and I ache for him. I feel physically excited by the images he's placed in my head. I want to answer him with similar descriptions, but I already feel so tense and unfulfilled, I'm afraid of adding to it.
"Take me, I'm yours" The words are exactly how I feel.
"I'm coming for you." I chuckle softly at his word choices.
"There are two different ways I could take that"
"I know." His voice is so sinfully delicious.
"Either way sounds good to me," I breathe
"All for you, and only you." I sigh at his lovely words. I want so much to tell him I love him, but it's not the right time.
"Are you alright?" His concern reaches through the phone.
"Just missing you terribly."
"How is your newest charge?"
"She's sleeping in the next room, if I haven't made too much noise and woken her up. I'm hiding in the bathroom, if you couldn't tell by the echo. She's going to be fine, physically."
"She's not still at the clinic?" I don't know how to explain all that's happened.
"They tried to use her to get to me. Alice and I went hunting and they suspected she was going to meet Jasper. I think they tried to use the phone to triangulate our position."
"Is Dora safe?"
"Of course. She's almost fully healed thanks to you. But Alice hasn't returned."
"She'll be back when she's finished hunting. Don't worry, she knows how to take care of herself." There's so much in that statement he doesn't say. I doubt anyone's listening to our phone conversation, but there's no sense in taking a risk.
"I feel better when you're near. You're like the eye of the storm, and I feel calm and safe when I'm with you."
He laughs softly. "First you tell me I've got a wild side, then you call me the calm eye of the storm. It sounds like you think I'm two different people, or one schizophrenic."
"No. You're just very complex. I like that about you."
"Well, I will be there as soon as I can, but whether calm or wild is yet to be seen. Until then, I want you to know I'm confident you can manage whatever comes your way. You're a strong woman, Bella; it's one of the things I like about you."
"I still don't see it. I feel out of my depth so often."
"I don't have time to list all of your strengths. But you can put your daughter at the top of the list. Then add our success in the war. Truly without you, all of us would have fallen. Who knows where humanity would be if that happened. Bella, you are the one who stood against all the evil Joham represented."
"I don't even like to think about what could have happened. What did happen was bad enough."
I hear his sigh through the phone. "We're getting past all this. We're not going to live in the shadow of the war forever. We've already been through the worst, and you're strong enough to handle whatever they throw at you in Volterra. I have confidence in you."
"You are so encouraging... you make me feel like I could move mountains." I laugh softly. "I wish I could move Italy closer to you."
"I'll see you soon. Call me if you need anything, okay?"
"I need you."
"You have me. I'll talk to you again soon." We say our goodbyes, though neither of us wants to hang up.
When I leave the bathroom, Dora's awake. She looks at me and smiles shyly. "It sounds like you were talking to your lover on the phone."
My smile answers hers "We're not lovers yet, but he's very special to me."
"Is he someone I might know?" She sits up in the bed, watching me.
"Yes. It's Doctor Carlisle." Her smile fades into confusion.
"But he is your husband's father! That is disgusting!"
I sit on the edge of the bed, and she backs away from me. "Edward was born of two human parents. Carlisle changed him into a vampire to save him from certain death. Carlisle was Edward's sire, but not his father. They often took on the roles of father and son, so they could live among humans easier. But they were more like brothers or friends, and there was no biology involved." I look at her as she takes in my explanation.
"We were both married before the war. We've both lost our spouses, and we both grieved deeply – in fact we still do. I never would have looked at him as more than a friend if that had not happened. But we've made a choice to move past our old roles and we've discovered that we can be together as a couple. I loved his wife, and he loved my husband, and we're not trying to replace or dishonor them. We've decided to step away from the past and the pain of loss, and allow for something good in our lives. And it's not disgusting – it's wonderful." I can't help but smile.
"I'm sorry. I just don't know how you redefine those roles. I couldn't think of my mother as a sister, even if she wasn't my mother."
"That's because she raised you. You do know she wasn't your biological mother, right?" She's so fragile, I approach the subject cautiously.
"She was my mother." Her eyes narrow.
"She raised you, and did everything a mother should, but she didn't give birth to you."
"I don't care about the woman who gave me up!"
"Dora, you weren't given up. Your biological mother died giving birth to you. I thought you knew!" Her eyes fill with tears at my revelation. I climb into bed and pull her to me as she cries. "Honey, human women can't survive giving birth to hybrids, unless they're changed. It's not your fault, and you need to know you weren't abandoned at birth."
"She told me my mother gave me to her!" She clings to me in her sadness.
"She probably wanted to spare you the truth. She probably thought it was kinder for you to believe she lived. All the hybrids Joham created killed their mothers – some were even forced to cannibalize them. Many remember it, and it scarred them in ways you were spared. But Yanna died giving you life."
"Yanna?" She turns wide blue eyes up at me.
"That was your birth mother's name.
"It's my name too. My name is Yanna on my birth record, but I've always been called Dora." She wipes her tears. "Why would she want to have a hybrid baby if it would kill her?"
I pull her tight against me and kiss the top of her head. "Yanna was a captive. She was taken for the specific purpose of creating Volterra's first hybrid – you." I feel her surprised gasp.
"How do you know so much?"
"I did some research to try to find out about your birth family. Yanna was a Swedish university student who came to Italy to study art. She was kidnapped and... " I'm trying to find a better word to use.
"Raped," she supplies grimly. "My father raped her."
"Most likely." I agree. "She became friends with your mother during her captivity and pregnancy. She knew she wasn't going to live through your birth, and she told your mother she should raise you."
"So she did give me to her, but how did she know she wasn't going to live?"
I look her in the eyes. "I remember when I was pregnant with Ness. She grew so fast inside me, my body couldn't take the stress. I drank blood to feed her, and I couldn't do much more than lie back and wait for the next complication. She drained everything from me, and long before she was born, I looked as if I would die. She broke my bones with her kicks, and every growth spurt caused me pain." The girl looks horrified at my story.
"My family begged me to end the pregnancy – which would end her. But I refused. I knew the baby would probably kill me, but I loved her so much I was willing to trade my life for hers." I look at Dora and smile. "Even before she was born, we had a bond. I dreamed of her, and I could just feel that she loved me. Part of that connection was her talent, but there was more to it than supernatural magic. I would have done anything to protect her and give her life."
"How did you come through it?"
"My baby girl demanded to be born, and she broke my body trying to get out. My husband had to tear open my uterus with his teeth to get to her. There was so much blood, and my body was so broken, I died. He injected his venom into my heart to save me, and I was changed moments after her birth."
"Why didn't they save my... Yanna."
"Your mother tried to save her, but she didn't have enough control."
"Why not Papa?" I shake my head sadly, and she answers her own question. "He didn't want to save her. He raped her and murdered her!" She looks outraged.
"Honey... they're vampires. Caius likely didn't consider her much more than food. He didn't appreciate the value of having a mother, because it's been so long since he had one himself. And his wife wanted you – desperately. One of the worst things about being a vampire, is we can't have children. I'm sure Yanna wanted Athenodora to raise you, because she was the only one who could protect you from Caius."
"I wish she could have protected me from Joham."
Her soft words make me hold her tighter. "I wish someone could have protected us all from Joham." I hold her and smooth her hair soothingly.
"I think I'm beginning to understand how you chose to redefine the roles you and Carlisle played. In some ways, I feel like you're my mother now." Her words are so small and timid.
"That's a far cry from wanting to kill me." I laugh softly. "You're a grown woman, Sweetheart, but I'm here if you need me."
"I think I need you." She cuddles against me. "You're the first one who's told me the truth." I hold her for a while longer, then I get up to make her drink more of the blood that's healing her.
"Do you feel well enough to take a shower? I'm sure you'll feel better once you're cleaned up." She runs her hand over her matted hair.
"I think I can manage a shower." She gathers her things before she heads into the bathroom. I sit and read a bit more of the old, archaic law book
She's dressed when she comes out, and I help her brush through the tangles of her long, blond hair. It seems funny how easily I fall into the role of her caretaker. Once the tangles are out of her hair, I work at french braiding it, as I used to do Nessie's hair.
She looks in the mirror at it when it's finished. "I like it." She smiles at me.
"You should get it cut. It's really pretty, but it would look better if it was cut to frame your face. You could still leave it long, but pulled back like this it makes your face look too stern." I remember all of Alice's advice on what to do with my own hair. "I know someone who could help you with it."
She runs a braid through her fingers. "Papa liked it long." She looks troubled. "I know what he did to my birth mother was horrible, but he was good to me. He was very devoted to Mama and me... until Joham came." Her wide blue eyes meet mine. "Is it wrong that I loved him?"
I wrap her in my arms. "Loving someone is never wrong. How are you feeling?"
"I'm much better now." She looks at the book I was reading. "Why would you read Papa's laws?"
"I'm trying to figure out different ways to fix some of the problems going on here."
"You mean like Captain Jasper being hunted for attacking Uncle Aro's daughter, Arianna?" I stare at her. I wasn't aware that it was so widely known. She smiles "I hear many things. People forget I'm in the room, and they talk. They will find him, you know. The guard already knows where he's been hiding. As soon as Aro makes the right offer, they'll give him up."
"How do you know all this?"
"They talk. Yesterday I worked out with them, and they were laughing about how Aro had been bested by the captain. But Aro knows how the game is played, and he has yet to make a good offer for the information. They're waiting to see if they'll attack each other, or if Captain Jasper will be arrested." She sits on the bed. "Aro will look for the most advantageous way to regain some of his lost power. He'll likely want someone loyal to him in charge of the Guard. Carlisle wants to make sure the Guard doesn't come under the command of any one council member. On the other hand, Aro and my father have always been in charge of the Guard in the past."
"You know an awful lot about what goes on around here."
"Papa expected me to know all about Volterra politics. As Joham's mistress, I knew all the dirty little secrets. And of course I know the law."
I sit down beside her. "So, how do I legally release you from being bonded to me?" She's quiet for a long moment. She stares at her hands, and I see a tear drip into her lap.
"Oh come on, I'm not going to reject you or send you away!" I tip her chin up and smile at her. "I just want you to be free. I don't want you to be my property. You probably know the law much better than I do."
She wipes her eyes and smiles in embarrassment. "I'm free as soon as you declare me dead." I stare at her in horror.
"I'm not going to kill you!"
She laughs. "I don't necessarily have to be dead. You just have to declare that Dora of Volterra is dead." She smiles mischievously. "Everything I own will belong to you, and essentially I will become a non-person." She seems eager to share this plan with me.
"Why would you want that?"
"If Dora of Volterra dies, Yannadora Cullen can live and be free!" I stare at her in stunned amazement. It's so simple, it's brilliant. I stare in silence a little too long, and watch as her smile slides from her face. "You don't want this..."
I've never seen anyone with such a low opinion of herself, except maybe Isabella Swan. I hug her tight and enthusiastically proclaim, welcome to the family, Yannadora Cullen!"
She's still excitedly going over the legal process for being declared dead, when there's a knock at the door.
I've barely opened it when Alice bursts in. "Thank god you're okay!" Her eyes are enormous as she takes my hands. "I'm surprised you haven't heard the commotion even up here. The whole Guard has been called out to hunt for Jasper! Bella, that section of woods where we hunted is being torn apart, and they think they've found his trail!"
She bursts out laughing, and we both turn to face the tiny blond. "No offense Counselor Alice, but they're idiots! Captain Jasper has trained them well to fight newborn armies, and actual wars. But they're hopeless at tracking. If Felix and Demetri were still alive, Jasper would have been found hours after he left. There's no one who can touch him now. I promise you, they'd be better off looking in the place they least suspect him, than to follow his lead. He's more likely to be under your bed than at the end of their trail. They should have taken him when they knew where to find him."
"I see you've recovered." Alice crosses her arms and looks at her with open skepticism. "How do I know you didn't put them on our trail?"
She shakes her head vigorously and looks at me with alarmed blue eyes. "I wouldn't do that! I like Captain Jasper, and I would never do something that would hurt you..."
"Alice, Dora has found a solution to my bondage problem. She's better versed in the law than I am, for sure. Dora is going to be declared dead, and Yannadora is going to be free."
"Declared dead?" She looks at me in surprise. "That's just stupid enough it might work!"
Dora tips her chin up. "It will work! It's in the law, and the law is all that matters in this case."
"Careful, you're sounding like Caius' daughter," Alice warned with a grin.
"I know the law! Papa used every opportunity to teach me. For every law, there's a loophole, he used to tell me."
"And just what kind of loophole can save Jasper from Aro's anger?" Alice sounds indignant.
"I thought you'd never ask." She smiles impishly, and goes to the ancient book of laws and flips to the front. "The new charter is based on the ancient laws. You've made a lot of changes, but there are a lot of ancient laws. It's written that in cases where there's merit, we are permitted to revert back to the ancient laws. But the ancient laws didn't arise from the dust fully formed. They were based on medieval laws and codes of chivalry." She scans several pages from the front cover, then smiles and taps the spot.
"Here it is. Just like your charter, it was written in the beginning that any issue could revert back to the more common laws of the land, already in practice." She smiles as we look at the page. It reminds me of an older version of the grandfather clause in the new charter. "Papa wrote these laws, but he didn't write them overnight. This book took a hundred years to write, and while it was being written, altered, and updated, they were forced to rely on the law of the land." Her grin is so wide, she's almost laughing.
Alice and I look at each other, confused, before she explains. "Don't you see? There are several ways to deal with problems arising from conflicts between those in power. But when Papa wrote the law, there were only three in power, and they didn't have many conflicts. So his laws weren't written until much later. Before there was ever a death penalty for attacking someone within the walls of the city, there was the code of chivalry."
She looks between us as if we should understand her, but we're both drawing a blank. "You could look to the old rules of a public judgment venue. That might work, but you'd have to get it to pass by a fifty-one percent margin, and then Jasper has to not only survive the fight, but gain the most sympathizers from the gallery. That's not going to happen if the Guard makes a deal with Aro. It's risky, and you should save it as a last resort."
She smiles at us. But truly your best option is for Jasper to simply challenge Aro to a duel."
"Why would he do that?" Alice demands.
"A duel doesn't have to be to the death. It's simply a way to assure your grievance has been addressed. In fact it's better if it's not to the death, as they are and were technically illegal. But here we're dealing with common laws and practices, rather than sanctioned legal redress. If Jasper were to challenge Aro to a duel, due to the dishonor done him through his dalliance with his wife..." She looks embarrassed for a moment. "...then Aro would have to accept, regardless of the written law."
Alice sounds even more alarmed than before. "What does Jasper gain from fighting Aro? Aro could kill him! That's what we've been trying to avoid all along."
"Aro and Jasper would have to choose weapons." She smiles brightly. "We have found ways to make weapons that can hurt vampires, but they don't kill vampires. Aro and Jasper will be taking a chance on getting seriously wounded, but they'll heal. And once the duel is over, it would be crazy for Aro to demand Jasper's death. If he loses it looks petty and he'll lose credibility, and if he wins, it looks like he's trying to cover up his indiscretion, and again he loses credibility. Aro needs his reputation intact, if he's going to reclaim his power in Volterra.
I stare at the tiny blond, then look at Alice, who's equally dumbstruck. I squeeze her shoulders with a grin "And that's why I'm keeping her."
"No kidding... that's brilliantly simple."
"One tiny problem though..." We both look at her. "He has to make his challenge face to face, in a very public setting. Which means he's vulnerable to capture."
Alice looks unconcerned. "I think we can manage that part. I want to look over the laws and make sure it's going to work."
"It will." She sounds so self assured where the law is concerned.
"Why are you being so helpful?" Alice looks at her with suspicion. We're Cullen's, and I'm sure you've heard nothing but bad things about us for most of your life."
Her face reflects all the sadness of her losses. "I loved my papa, but he was often wrong." She faces Alice eye to eye. "You, Captian Jasper, and Doctor Carlisle have been here for two years trying to help us. Now that I am no longer plotting my revenge..." She sheepishly glances my way. "...I can see how much you care. Volterra without the Cullen's would be a far worse place."
She seems wise beyond her years in her assessment of the situation. "Uncle Aro is afraid of change. He wants things to go back the way they used to be, and he doesn't understand that they're changed forever. He wants his power back. He knows if he attacks Captain Jasper, the Cullen's will likely leave. The council is still too new and fragile, and it will collapse without you and Doctor Carlisle. Aro wants to avenge his daughter's dishonor, but I know he's angry with the wrong man. I know what Joham did to her, because he did the same to me first."
I hold her tight as the memories shadow her face. "You don't have to say anything..."
"No. It needs to be said." She looks at both of us. "My father sent me to be with a monster. He raped me in hopes of making me pregnant. When I didn't conceive, he used me any way he saw fit. I always hoped he would just set me aside. He liked my power, and he used to tell me we were alike. After two years, he realized I wasn't going to conceive, so he tried to change me." She pulls the collar of her shirt down to expose the scar. "He drained me til I was nearly dead, then left me alone to die. For a week I suffered the burning." I hold her as she cries.
"It took a week for my body to reject the venom, and I was still nearly dead from blood loss. I managed to leave and find my mother, and she nursed me back to health. When Joham came for me again, even my father tried to resist him... but it was no use. I went with him, because he suggested my father should kill my mother. I know Papa would have done his bidding if I stayed."
The poor girl seems wrung out, and I lead her to the chair so she can sit. She continues her story, looking up at us with watery blue eyes. "It wasn't long after my return, when he brought Arianna into our bed. Even as young as she was, she was beautiful, and he needed her beauty because I was no longer enticing enough." She bursts into a fit of sobbing, and I kneel to wrap my arms around her.
"Arianna resisted. Joham didn't want to use his power on her, so he made me use mine. I knew what he was capable of if I refused. I did the most horrible thing I could ever do... with my power, I made her do the things he wanted. She was just a child, and I forced her!" She totally breaks down. I lift her and place her back in bed, but she doesn't let me go. I lie beside her and cradle her like a baby as the sobs wrack her small body. I glance at Alice, and she's completely horrified.
"I'm so sorry... so very very sorry." Her voice sounds so small. I don't think she has the strength to go on, but the story keeps pouring out of her, like poison squeezed from an infected wound. "He used us both for his pleasure. But he thinks of himself first and foremost as a scientist.
"He tried several times to change Arianna into a vampire. He's the one who marked her with his bite. He drank from her several times. He injected his venom into her heart." I feel a cold chill at that, wondering if he somehow found out how Edward had changed me. "He made her drink his venomous blood, and he even tried to starve her, thinking that the vampire in her would emerge. He tortured her, and everything he did to her, he did to me first."
Alice sits in the chair beside the bed. She looks her in the eyes as she speaks. "It's not your fault. We've all done things to survive we're not proud of, but he's the one to blame. He's the one who did those things, not you. Just because he didn't use his power on you doesn't mean you weren't just as controlled. He probably got some perverse thrill in knowing he could control you in other ways. It's not your fault!"
She looks at Alice and reveals a truth I'd never guessed. "He knew we couldn't use our powers if we were controlled. He controlled everyone at first, but then he gained leverage against them if he wanted to use their supernatural abilities. It took me a while to realize that Arianna and I were both kept, to insure our fathers did as they were told. He needed Papa to unite everyone, and Aro because of his mind reading, and because Volterra is his. They thought we were safe and being cared for. Instead we were being tortured."
The solace I'd felt in knowing Joham never got to use my daughter in such a way has been ripped away from me. I care about this girl. I hurt for her, and I'm horrified over what's been done to her. I know I would fight for her like a mother bear. Carlisle's words come back to me, and I feel that she is my daughter, though not by birth – by choice. I wonder if he felt the same way about Edward when he changed him. I can suddenly understand the longing to take him away from his pain, loss and suffering.
"It's okay baby, I'm here." I whisper my words into her ear. "He can't hurt you anymore... I won't let anyone hurt you again. It's over now honey, you're safe." I kiss her cheek and hold her tight.
A/N: I know everyone misses Carlisle. Have patience, he returns soon.
I'm only one chapter ahead now, and we're heading into the crazy holiday season. I'll try to keep the Thursday update schedule, but I can't promise. Thanks to everyone who's reading, and especially those of you who review.