Chapter Thirteen: Courtyard

Timeline: Midway through the year of 1950

A/N: This chapter has been the hardest to write so far. I hope you like it. I also hope I don't incur bad luck by posting it on a Friday.

EPOV

I barely recognized her when next we met. Now eighteen months old, Bella had the look of a five year old and eyes that seemed older than even those of my siblings.

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Sulpicia's POV

In the heart of Volterra castle is a small paved courtyard. It had been closed up since the invention of the aeroplane, the last thing we needed was some idiot thinking it was safe to go out there during the day and be caught sparkling by the humans. Only recently had the door been unbricked and a guard placed constantly upon the door. Now, there had been a porch put up covering a quarter of the courtyard. Now, the pave stones were covered in chalk and a few small pot plants were placed in a corner. Now, the courtyard belonged to my treasure.

I watched her happily from the shadows as she drew with her chalk. Every stone on the floor and walls had been covered with images. The floor showed a myriad of images, faces, swirls of colour, a dream scape. The walls on the other hand, were like a carefully planned landscape with trees and mountains and an ocean in the distance. Every time it rained, the colours would be washed away and my treasure would replace them. She was gifted, my darling.

Always by her feet hopped Cottontail. She bent laughing to pick up her pet and I curled my lip with distaste at the rabbit. I merely tolerated it for the smile it brought to my daughter's face and longed for the day its life would naturally come to an end. Not only was it a constant distraction, but also a reminder of them.

I had not been happy the day they came back, with two new additions no less! My angel had gone running to them, hugging those she knew and thanking Edward shyly for her rabbit. The small one named Alice had practically jumped on my treasure! That was certainly one friendship which didn't need to develop. And all the while Chelsea stood by and watched, smirking at Edward. The boy in question just glared back at her as if trying to figure out the reason for her look, ridiculous since he was a mind reader. I removed my treasure from their presence as soon as I was able. I would make sure they spent as little time with her as possible during this latest visit.

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EPOV

I paced the room our family had been given as I waited for the Volturi to feed. It was agreed that only Alice and I would go – if more than two of us were there at once, an equal number of the guard had to be present also and we wanted privacy. Bella was perceptive, there was no way we could keep secrets from her without blatantly refusing to answer, without significantly wounding our friendship. We would tell her and we couldn't afford to have Aro's minions overhear. Even so, I had a bad feeling that this wasn't going to go so well and my siblings weren't exactly helping.

Rose and Jasper weren't happy. Aro had taken one look at Jasper's scar riddled body and forbidden him from going anywhere near Bella. It seemed he shared the same view as his wife on at least one member of the Cullen family. Jasper hadn't liked letting Alice out of his sight when she'd gone with the rest of us to greet Bella. He was even less happy about the idea of her in the tower with only me for protection. Alice simply brushed off his concerns. She wanted to meet Bella and nothing, least of all her husband, was going to stop her. Rosalie, on the other hand, was just plain jealous.

After what seemed to be an age, Chelsea came to escort us to the tower. She took us as far as Bella's door before she retreated, leaving two others of the guard on the stairs behind us. I opened the door, but nodded to Alice to take the lead. 'Ladies first,'

I'd hoped that by letting Alice go ahead of me it would push the focus onto her. Alice was desperate to be friends, but Bella was insufferably shy and when Alice had 'attacked' her the previous day she'd become even more scared. I needn't have bothered. The moment I walked in the door, I was tackled by an adorable vampire hybrid who didn't look like she was going to stop hugging me any time soon. I decided to give it one more go and bent down to whisper in Bella's ear 'Why don't you introduce Cottontail to Alice?'

This, apparently, was the correct method. Distracted by the need to attend the needs of her pet, she forgot to be scared of Alice. Within just a few short minutes, both of them were side by side petting the rabbit as if they had known each other all their lives. I began to hope that this visit would go well after all, these thoughts were crushed when Bella looked up at me once more.

'How long will you be staying for?'

I glanced at Alice, this was a question I'd hoped she wouldn't ask. I sighed and squeezed her shoulder gently. 'Not long I'm afraid. A week at most'

Her face fell and my insides revolted against causing such an innocent child pain. Here she was a prisoner just as much as a daughter, and I could tell that there was little to make her smile. I looked toward the ceiling, wondering how to explain.

Let me tell her.I shook my head, but she insisted.

Its my fault, I should be the one to explain. I didn't like Alice taking the blame. It wasn't her fault. Aro and his cold heart were to blame for this. Still, if it made my sister feel better, who was I to say no?

Alice sighed and scratched cottontail behind the ears. A few moments later, she turned on the bed so that she was facing Bella, petting cottontail all the while.

'Bella?' she began, her words barely a whisper. The girl looked up and Alice continued 'You know how your father likes to...hire vampires with special talents?'

Bella nodded, understanding completely. 'He can be very persuasive, can't he?' her mouth was twisted into a grimace which gave her words a deeper meaning.

'Exactly' Alice agreed 'Well...I have a special talent. One that we think he would do almost anything to get'

'Like Edward?' That caught my attention.

'What do you mean like me?'

Bella looked at me as if I were mad 'Oh come on. You have to see how hard he's been trying to get you! He's asked you practically a hundred times, and every time your family visits he has Chelsea working away at the bonds you share with them, trying to get you to stay. If you'd been in any other coven you'd have joined years ago. Padre probably would have gone to even greater lengths if it weren't for the fact that he needs Carlisle's full cooperation.' She said all of this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but her words about Chelsea were complete news to me – I hadn't even noticed – and something else she'd said...

'If I'd been part of any other coven?'

Bella grinned 'Carlisle's always saying that your diet of animal blood makes it possible for you to form stronger family ties.'

I tried not to ponder too heavily on Bella's observations just then. Later I would give them my full attention, but right now there were more important concerns. I nodded to Alice, indicating that she should continue.

'Sort of like Edward, although we're worried that he might be willing to go to even greater lengths to get me. We think it might be safer if he just doesn't find out, which means we can't risk him to reading any of our thoughts. The longer we stay here the greater the risk.'

Bella nodded, but her eyes were wide and her mouth was open slightly. I'd noticed her heart rate increase slightly and she found it difficult to speak now. 'Your not like Jane or Alec are you?' she wondered warily.

Alice smiled and shook her head 'No, nothing like Jane or Alec.'

This seemed to cheer Bella up considerably. 'Don't worry, your secret is safe with me'

We didn't argue with that. It was safer with her than anyone else.

Bella turned her attention back to me. 'And please be careful'

'Careful?'

She nodded ferverantly 'Everyone always assumes that Jane is Padre's most dangerous weapon, but she isn't. Its Chelsea, Edward, you have to believe me. Chelsea is the one you have to worry about. Please, please, be careful'

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On the day of our departure Jasper was finally allowed in the same room as Bella while we said our goodbyes. Even so, he kept his distance. Sulpicia's murderous gaze

never left him for a moment and his talent warned him that her tolerance was dangerously low. He stood casually at the very back of the hall and tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

I rolled my eyes at Sulpicia's bigoted suspicion. Aro had already ensured that Jasper posed no threat to their daughter. I had been shocked by the move myself, instead of her usual position next to Aro, Renata was hovering protectively over Bella.

As the child in question hugged us all good bye, Aro asked another of the questions we'd been dreading. 'When will you return?'

As he spoke, I looked over to the demon twins who were currently flanking him, covering for Renata. Each was waring a smug expression which made my skin crawl, but in light of my recent warning, it was Chelsea who bothered me most. Chelsea, who never took her eyes of my face during the whole encounter. I began to wonder what tied Chelsea to Aro.

Carlisle warned Aro that we were currently experiencing family difficulties and would not be able to return for at least another year. I prayed the entire time that he would not think to check the true reason for our unavailability.