Chapter 5

Carlisle was thankful for the silent ride home; it gave him time to process the last two and a half days. Many of his original questions had been answered. However, those answers only served to spiral into more questions and that is before Bella was thrown into the mix. What exactly should he tell his family? Bel – no he thought she is now Isabelle. Isabelle and Gabriel had both stressed that his family was probably being watched by someone else, so how much could he safely explain outside of Hamilton Castle? He knew he only had this car ride to figure it out, he would be bombarded with questions the second he walked through the door. So, he welcomed the silence and used it wisely.

As the car pulled up in front of the house he could hear his family inside, anxiously waiting for his return and details of his meeting. He thanked the two men and they reminded him that everyone was to return in two weeks time, that piece of information did nothing but increase the anxiety of those inside. Before he could reach the door it was opened by Alice and he was pulled into the house. Immediately he was surrounded with everyone trying to ask questions at the same time, Carlisle used this time to hand each a copy of the note he had written in the car. It read:

We are being watched by friend and foe; some things can not be explained fully at this time. Respect that and I will tell you as much as I can.

As they read the brief note Carlisle had them move around the dining room table so he could tell them of his meeting. Once everyone was seated he began, "I will explain what has happened the last few days. I do not have all of the answers, some questions they refused to answer until we all return to the castle in two weeks. Please, let me finish before you start asking your questions." He looked at each member of his family and they nodded their agreement.

With their agreement Carlisle began his tale. "When we left here we drove north all night into the Scottish Highlands to Hamilton Castle. It reminded me of London when I was human only older, there is a standing complete stone dance, the castle, a village and even a protection wall surrounding everything. It feels as if you are walking into a medieval reenactment, only this is very real. I was immediately taken into an office to meet the Overseer. He is Laird Gabriel Hamilton and I have met him before in Volterra. He looked very familiar and when I couldn't remember, he told me where we had met and that they obscure people's memories of them to protect their privacy." At that he turned to Edward and raised an eyebrow in question. "I see", Edward answered, "that is why most of the trip is cloudy in your mind?" Carlisle just nodded and continued.

"Gabriel explained that our family had been marked and when the charges were brought forward Aro and the Volturi asked that the Guardians be the ones to investigate the matter. The Keeper was detained in Russia dealing with a druid problem, so they asked me to stay until she could return and talk to me. I was given a room, called home and then explored the castle. I ended up in the portrait hall and made some curious observations. Most of the Laird's have ice blue eyes, just like the current one, they only have sons and judging by the dates the clan gets a new laird about every 150 years. I went to the keep to look at the most current portrait; it is of the Laird, Lady and their ten sons." Looking directly at Edward, Carlisle clearly thought, Lady Hamilton is Bella.

Edward jumped up and started yelling, "NO! NO! NO! That just is not possible Carlisle. You said they were ancient, she is 23 and human. I don't know what you are trying to pull but it is not her." The rest of the family was looking between Edward and Carlisle asking who they were talking about. Carlisle stood and sternly told Edward, "Sit down and I will explain as much as I can!" Looking at the rest of his family he continued, "The Keeper, Lady Isabelle Hamilton is Bella Swan." With that statement hell broke loose in the Cullen house.

Carlisle let them rant for two minutes; he recognized the shock his statement caused and the anger that needed to be released. He also knew that the anger toward Edward was only going to increase after he repeated what Gabriel had told him on their walk. Even knowing what would happen he could not keep the truth from his family, too much is at stake. "Sit down and listen" Carlisle said quietly and the sadness in his voice is what got through to them. "After seeing the painting I asked for a meeting with Gabriel. We took a walk outside in the sun. He was right when he said his people were not easily shocked, they knew what I was and the children loved the "rainbow" I was able to carry with me as the sun hit my skin. It was an uncomfortable walk for me even before we started talking. Gabriel is 3,500 years old and is a hybrid of Lycan and Berserker." Carlisle heard the gasps from his family but refused to look up at them, at this point he just wanted to get the story out.

"Isabelle is 3,000 years old, they have been mated for 2,975 years and married for 2,005. He said it took awhile to convince her to marry him. They have 10 sons between the ages of 500 – 1,500 who look to be between 25-30 including the two escorts I had, Leif ( with green eyes) and Soren (with blue eyes). I asked what their sons and Isabelle were and was told to ask her. I explained how I knew Bella as a human, our history with her, our leaving and her history with Edward. He said Edward was the one who left with regret and that Bella was never going to have a normal human life. He spoke this with authority, as if it was common knowledge and something we should have known. Then he said Edward was cruel when he last spoke with Bella, told her he didn't love her or want her for an eternity. Is that true Edward?" Carlisle asked. With that Edward reached his limit and ran out of the house.

Emmett and Jasper stood to go after him, "Let him go" Carlisle said, "there is more and I do not think he can handle it. Gabriel mentioned that Isabelle does not remember us clearly and something she calls 'the missing years'. I asked how she could not remember, they are mates, her and Edward. He became upset and said NO they are not. Edward may consider Bella his mate but Isabelle knows she is Gabriel's mate and that I would understand when I saw them together. When they walked in together the next morning to meet with me I did understand. The love they share when they look at each other and more so when they touch each other, I have never in my almost 400 years seen anything like it – never. Isabelle glows with her love for him, she is his mate and wife and we need to make sure Edward understands that before we return in two weeks. We have more to talk about, but we need to help Edward deal with this first and we definitely need him here when we discuss the meeting I had about the charges. Emmett, Jasper give him two hours then go bring him back, he can not hide from this, none of us can." With that Carlisle went to his study and left his family alone so each could process their thoughts.

Edward had not run off though, he didn't want to see his family, the look in their eyes when they realized what he had told Bella when he left. But, he had to hear the rest of what Carlisle was saying, he was only a mile away in the trees. None of this made sense to him, it just could not be Bella. The Keeper's age, kids, the number of years married and a love great than theirs? NO! Carlisle was mistaken, she may look like Bella but she most definitely was not, she couldn't be, could she? What would he do if everything Carlisle said was true? When his two hours were up Edward returned on his own, he didn't want his brothers dragging him back. They would enjoy it too much. Edward went back to the table and called out to the house, "I'm ready."

After everyone was seated Carlisle passed around a note he had written in his study for them to read. It explained what he couldn't say out loud: how the Keeper personally marked each of them, Emmett's mark disappearing a year ago and that it alerted the Guardians a problem was coming, the watchers, the odd way the charges were brought, the possibility of much larger problems, the potential for clan wars, the things they were all to look for and the things Edward, Alice and Jasper should take special note of and write down. He stressed that none of these things were to be discussed until they returned to Hamilton Castle.

"All I have left to tell you about is the meeting with Gabriel and Isabelle. You read the charges from the letter so I won't go over those, however, they both feel that if we are found guilty the penalty will be the destruction of all of us. We are allowed to gather our own evidence and they will look into it and take it under consideration. They also recommended that we visit the Volturi as that is where the most accurate records and histories are stored. When we return to Hamilton Castle we will be interrogated. They did say it would not be pleasant and it would last 3 to 4 days but I have no idea what they will do to us or how long the investigation will last. Be prepared for anything. That is everything." Carlisle stated as he finished his tale. He suggested that everyone take the rest of the night to think about what needed to be done and the best way to assign tasks. They would meet again at 8am in the dining room, compare notes and then assign the tasks to be completed in the next two weeks. "Edward", Carlisle called out, "you need to be prepared to discuss Isabelle and how you will and will not behave at the castle. They will not tolerate you upsetting her. Technically this is the reason you left her, so she could move on, be prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions. Even if they did not turn out how you had hoped."

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters.