Cullen's Hound
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Ch. 15: False Confidence
AroPOV
The last five years had been stressful. First, I had to send Felix to deal with that meddlesome human, Charlie Swan. Then some of the Guard caught a filthy Nomad when he tried to secret a baby out of Italy and we learned that our forgotten science experiment was not as much of a failure as originally thought. Although my spies never found evidence to my suspicions, I believed one or more vampires were hiding other children like the one liberated from the Nomad's clutches.
My list of the usual suspects for such a traitorous action was small, the few surviving Romanians and Carlisle Cullen. While the former were the obvious choice, the latter had been a thorn in my side from the first moment he walked into Volterra. I have waited for centuries for the "Good Doctor" move against me but he has never discovered the truth about his past or himself for that matter, so I let him be in the hope that he would either surrender his precious morals or be destroyed by another vampire. Felix had still been in the general area dealing with the aftermath of killing Swan when he learned Carlisle had adopted the mortal's crippled daughter.
At first, I believed it merely a coincidence but after a year of reviewing the data from the experiment I noticed one of the women that received the fertility treatments had been named Renee Swan. Further research had revealed that she had been the wife of Charlie Swan. That was when I realized that Carlisle had not only learned of our plan, but he was hiding the resultant offspring from us. Cullen had fled with his Coven from their home in the Olympic Peninsula. However, I was unable to send Demitri after them because of some fool tried to create Newborn Armies in Russia, Canada and Germany.
It had taken the better part of six months to not just eliminate the threat that the armies posed but to track down the insane fool responsible for them. As soon as the wretch was nothing more than a pile of ashes, I sent out Demitri and half of the Guard to bring in the Cullen's. Unfortunately that proved to be problematic because the Coven had adopted the Nomadic lifestyle. It was not until they had broken up into smaller groups that we were able to capture them but not without casualties. Somehow a member of the Coven had found a way to breed guard dogs capable of harming vampires. Although, they were just as shocked to learn that as we had been; I will have Afton begin to breed them as soon as we unlock the secret behind them.
Felix and his contingent returned with the last two members of Carlisle's Coven an hour ago. I touched his hand to see how the operation had gone and was shocked to learn that the one named Rosalie had mated with the crippled Swan girl, who was now a vampire. I agreed to let my servant have his fun but I was going to use it to destroy the threat the Coven posed then force the survivors to serve me. The majority of the prisoners had already been brought to the throne room and I almost laughed at their rebellious stares. Once Felix dragged the cripple in, the fun would start.
We had not been waiting long when the doors to the Throne Room burst open and the last players in our drama arrived. Carlisle watched with a worried expression as Felix stopped in the center of the room with the useless vampire then released her. The one I now knew as Rosalie looked absolutely livid. The time had come to shatter their spirits and bend them to my will.
"Carlisle Cullen, my old friend, it pains me to charge you and your Coven…I am sorry…Family with treason for interfering with the affairs of the Volturi. In addition, you allowed a worthless cripple to become Immortal. First we shall deal with that lapse in judgment, and then we shall discuss how you might redeem yourselves to avoid the death penalty," I intone cheerily and much to their annoyance.
"STOP," my brother, Marcus, yelled and caused everyone to not only jump but stare at him in shock.
MPOV
All eyes were on me and I had to resist the urge to laugh at their startled expressions. Centuries of careful plotting from the shadows were about to come to fruition. Revenge was so near that I tasted its bitter sweetness on tongue. I struggled to keep my usual mask of bored indifference in place as I stood up from my throne. My eyes remained locked on Aro for a full minute before they swept over the crowd. Being the fool of a showman he was, the poisonous viper followed my gaze and failed to see Renata step back far enough that he was no longer covered by her shield.
"As the Volturi Prince, Carlisle has the right to have his chosen Champion defend his honor against the charge laid against him," I said with authority.
"HE IS NO VOTURI PRINCE," Caius screamed as he rose from his throne while Aro looked horror struck and the others gaped in astonishment.
"After the destruction of my beloved, Didyme, I left Volterra for a time. Did you never wonder where I went? I fled to London and wallowed in my misery in the sewers of that place. It had been my hope that I would find my death there so that I could join my mate. Instead, I found a reason to live. The Anglican faith intrigued me and I eventually found myself attending services at a small parish led by a superstitious fool and self-proclaimed Witch Hunter.
"As I said, he was a fool but his son was another matter. Unlike his father, the young man had a quick wit, a curious nature of the world and was highly intelligent. Even without Eleazar's power, I knew he had a latent gift. When the father became too old to carry out his mission, he forced the son to take up his mantle. Again, the son out shined his father in this endeavor. On a night I knew the he would be out on patrol, I allowed him to see leave my hiding place.
"Carlisle's men were too far away and his compassionate nature would not allow him to endanger their lives so he followed me then attacked. The poor child had never faced a real vampire before and, therefore, had not realized that the effort was wasted. I had not hunted properly in weeks and ended up savaging his neck but I only drank a few mouthfuls before I stopped. The other hunters started to close in so I dropped my chosen progeny and led the fools on a merry chase.
"I returned in time to observe Carlisle bury himself in a pile of rotted potatoes. For the next three days, I watched over his change and was impressed that he never cried out once. Before I could approach him when he came out of the Change, he caught the scent of a nearby human but refused to hunt. Instead of giving into the Beast inside of him, he fled the city. I had to leave him behind because Chelsea had found me and brought me back to Volterra.
"Imagine my joy and happiness when one day he managed to find his way to us. Aro had known that I sired a Newborn while I was away and suspected Carlisle was him but never confirmed it because I was able to obscure that particular memory whenever he touched me. My joy increased when I stumbled upon Eleazar on his way to meet with Aro and he explained that my Child had the gift of being a Beacon. A gift that drew other vampires, and humans, to him like moths to a flame then allowed them to be influenced by his convictions.
"But I am rambling, forgive me Caius. The immediate answer to your accusation is that Carlisle, by nature of being my Child, is in fact Prince of the Volturi," I explained smugly.
Without taking time for the wealth of information I let slip to be fully registered in his mind, my get stepped forward and used the opportunity I created to his advantage.
"I, Carlisle Cullen, Child of Marcus and Prince of the Volturi, under the eyes of Almighty God and these witnesses declare Isabella Marie Swan Cullen to be my Champion. By Wager of Battle, she shall defend the honour and innocence of our family against our accuser," he proclaimed loudly, his British accent more pronounced than normal, then stepped back to the rest of his family were held.
"You are a fool, Carlisle. I choose Felix to fight and when that thing is destroyed you and your precious family shall join it," Aro hissed then spun to face me.
"I shall deal with you later," he finished.
Everyone watched as Felix began to circle his confused and helpless opponent. My brothers and the rest of the Guard were focused on what was sure to be a massacre. Renata was able to slip away undetected.