Whew! Long chapter, hope everyone's happy with it. Don't worry, for those of you who like action-- the good stuff's coming, trust me. ;) And when it does, it will be most definitely here. Thanks for the reviews, everybody!

21. Consultation

"I had no idea," said Siobhan, shaking her head. "She never said anything of the sort to us."

"She--how does she know you, Carlisle?" asked Liam, still stunned, although we'd been talking for over an hour.

I sighed, putting a hand over my face. "I really don't know, either. I can't remember meeting any french vampires, at least not in this century."

Rosalie was beside me on the rough wooden bench that served as guest seating in Siobhan's tiny house. Her mouth was turned down in a doubtful frown, her thin eyebrows drawn together. She was not as accepting as I of the fact that Siobhan's coven hadn't realized how much they were asking of me.

"What does she look like?" I queried, turning to the nomad hunched against the far wall.

Blaise, the woman's mate, seemed to be extremely amiable for a nomad, without the usual wild unrest about most traveling vampires. Blaise's deep red eyes were careful, measuring, remarkably cool and rational for someone in his position. To the untrained observer, it would appear as if the vampire was not at all out of place in the group gathered around the table. Now he pushed off the wall and stared straight at me. "Adelaide has unmistakable features; if you've seen her once, you would not forget her. In one respect, she is like your--" he stumbled over the word "daughter. She is very beautiful."

Rosalie and I had found it rather amusing that Blaise had taken us for each other's mate, mostly because the thought was so ludicrous. I smiled at the nomad, a picture of the woman already forming in my mind. "So she's blonde?"

"No, no, she's dark-haired. What I meant was that she is quite well-made, like your Rosalie."

Well-made-- that was a term I hadn't heard in years. "Is she tall?"

"Rather, around five foot eight, I think." He shrugged. "Her height matters not. It's her facial features you would not forget. She has entrancing eyes, and very high cheekbones." As he spoke his eyes took on a more vivid expression, a signal I'd registered in human and immortal alike.

I felt a stab of pity for the nomad: he was obviously in love, in love with this woman who would not be permitted to continue on with her existence. For a moment I wondered what I would do if Esme had committed such an unforgivable crime against our kind. I realized I would stay with her, no matter the cost.

"I honestly cannot recall meeting a woman of that description," I said, bringing myself back to business. "And I don't remember you, Blaise. How long have you been with her?"

"I met her only thirty years ago. She's only five years older than that."

"A thirty-five year-old vampire? I certainly don't know her, then." I hadn't been to France for four decades, except for the odd flight to Paris. "And how old are you, Blaise?" Maybe I would recognize him if I knew his age.

"I'm around five hundred, I lost count."

Impressed, I raised my eyebrows. Blaise was two hundred years older than me.

Rosalie coughed. "Even if you don't know the woman, Carlisle, what we need to worry about is how we're going to navigate through this incident."

"You're right. I thought perhaps if I was remotely aquainted with her, it would make more sense, but..." I didn't know what to think.

"At any rate, she knows you," concluded Siobhan. "So how are you going to handle this? Do you have any plans of attack?"

"Attack?" I repeated, alarmed.

"Yes, Carlisle," Siobhan raised her eyes skyward, "attack. This problem is beyond peaceful resolution now."

Blaise scooted his feet around uncomfortably, clearing his throat. "If you're going to assault Adelaide, leave me out of it, will you? I only wanted to exterminate the creature."

"Wait, we haven't decided on attacking her yet," I put in quickly, and Siobhan made an exasperated noise. "If what she's demanding is me, then--"

"Then what?" snapped Rosalie. "We've discussed this before, Carlisle, and you know we're not going to let you go on some suicide run!"

Blaise glanced at Rose, startled by her tone. Most coven leaders kept their followers in fear of punishment if they showed any signs of defiance, so I was sure he was shocked at Rose's bold attitude towards me.

I took a breath. "Rose, if we can avoid more slaughter, that is the course we'll take."

"Oh, yes? Well, I think the Irish coven has a say in this kind of tactical plan, don't you?" She turned a deaf ear to me and addressed Siobhan. "What do you think about this? You've probably given it more thought than us."

"Don't be angry, Rose," said Liam, as a subtle command rather than a sentiment, "but I think Carlisle's on the right track. The woman has destroyed too many of us for a regular fight to carry any plausibility. It would be foolish to try and take her physically."

"How else can we do it?"

"There's clearly something she's driving at," contemplated Siobhan. "She has some purpose in mind, but--the problem is finding the purpose."

"And how is she going to know when Carlisle's here, if we don't bring him to her?" pointed out Maggie.

"We can't do that," argued Liam. "That would be killing him."

"We wouldn't let her take him, but then we could know what she's after."

"From what I've heard, you couldn't stop her from taking Carlisle," scowled Rose. "She's taken on whole covens, hasn't she?"

"The most she has killed is five at once," said Siobhan. "With us, you, and Carlisle, that would make five."

"Hold on." Blaise raised his head. "How many of you are fighters?"

We all looked at him, perplexed. We were vampires, weren't we? Vampires were fighters; that was their natural skill, to hunt and strategize, to kill. "I mean, which of you likes to fight?" the nomad specified. "Do any of you want to kill Adelaide?"

That ruled me out of his inquiry. I couldn't speak for the others, though, not even Rosalie. I remembered the time she had suggested that we silence Bella permanently about our secrets, in all calmness and sincerity. Rose wasn't a heartless person, but she would do what she thought needed to be done.

The five of us shared curious glances, measuring one another. Maggie smiled at me, already knowing I would prefer a solution other than violence. I looked to Siobhan for the reply to Blaise's question. "None of us," said Siobhan, slowly. "None of us like to fight."

"That doesn't mean we aren't good at it, though," put in Liam, grinning.

Shaking his head, Blaise leaned back against the wall. "You can't expect to win out over Adelaide if none of you has a passion for combat, because Adelaide does enjoy a fight. If there's five pacifists against one fighter, the odds will not be in your favor."

"We wouldn't hesitate," promised Rosalie, echoing my previous thought about her. "We know what needs to be done."

"And you think that's murdering her," responded Blaise, with only the slightest tremor in his voice.

"Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves?" I asked. "Our first issue is how is this woman, Adelaide, going to know her demand has been fulfilled?"

"Well, it hasn't, yet," said Liam. "She can't know you're here, Carlisle. So unless we're willing to risk an actual meeting--"

"Why don't one of you tell her he's here?" Rose drummed her fingers sharply on the table. "Why not Blaise? He's her mate, after all."

"Not any more," snarled Blaise, trying to hide his hurt at his statement. "I'll have nothing to do with her."

"Excuse me for saying so, but I don't believe that's very fair," returned Rose frostily. "She was your mate till recently, so I think you should be the one to negotiate with her. She'll listen to you, won't she?"

"I see your implication," said Blaise. "You think if anyone should take a risk, it should be me. I accept that, Miss, but it will do no good. Adelaide listens to nothing but her own will."

"That doesn't sound much different than most nomads," snipped Rose.

"Perhaps not," said Blaise, grinding his teeth. "But keep in mind, Miss Rosalie, that I am saving you time and lives."

Rose turned back to Maggie. "You've proved Blaise is with us? How do we know he's not just putting on a show?"

I stared at them both, trying to comprehend what Rose was about.

"He's being awfully honest with us," said Maggie, with a sympathetic glance at the nomad.

"Too honest, maybe? What will he get out of turning his mate in?"

Blaise hissed. "What a question!"

"Rose," I muttered, "careful." Why she was treading such dangerous water, I couldn't understand. Rose didn't have any inkling of this nomad's abilities, and until she did, she needed to be more cautious. Of course, getting Rosalie to be cautious was as effective as teaching first-year medical students how to perform a heart transplant.

"I'm only asking, Carlisle. He doesn't have to answer. I'm just asking if you have anything to gain from this, Blaise."

"How could I gain anything from my only companion's death, I ask you?" Blaise's posture turned very stiff and straight. "What would I receive if I turned in my mate to the Volturi? A death sentence for myself, possibly, or a century in their service?"

"I take it you have no love for the Volturi?" I asked, to draw his attention away from my daughter, who was closer to him than I.

"None whatsoever. They say they are just, but I know better."

"Oh?" Liam leaned forward, his dark eyes interested.

"They function as a deterrent for criminals," said Blaise, his eyes darting from one face to the other, "and that is well enough, I suppose. It keeps some of us subdued. But they're not the saints they're made out to be." I almost snorted. Aro, a saint? "They burned my creator, actually," continued Blaise in frigid tones. "Burned him to ashes, because he dared to refuse their request for his newborn."

"The newborn being you?" He was calmer. I had to keep him talking, although his story was a little hard to match with the Volturi to which I had been witness.

"Yes. They wanted me for my 'powers', or so they said. What power it was, I don't know, but they were willing to kill my maker for it."

Here was a fascinating character: a five-hundred year-old vampire, a nomad, who didn't know what his special ability was. How often did a vampire with so much experience not realize, or use, his gift? "Surely you've utilized your ability some time in your life?"

"Perhaps," shrugged Blaise, "if I did, it was unconsciously. To be frank, I think the Volturi used me as an excuse to kill Jean."

"Why would you hand your mate over to them, if you're not too fond of them?" Rose was pressing on mercilessly.

"Because, if I didn't turn her in, someone else would, and then we'd both be condemned. Even if I don't care for the Volturi, they remain the dominant power in Europe."

I could see Blaise's perspective, somewhat. It seemed that above all, he was practical, and chose what he believed to be the wisest course of action. We differed on points of logic and morality, perhaps, but I could tell this nomad could be reached through an appeal to common sense.

"Give the man some space, Rose," urged Siobhan. "We already said he's clean."

Rose opened her mouth, still fixated on Blaise, but I beat her to it. "Let's decide what to do about Blaise's mate, rather than Blaise, shall we?"

"I say we arrange to have her meet Carlisle," said Maggie. I must say, I wasn't very enthused with that idea, but it did sound like the way it would have to be.

"I say we take our chances with an ambush," stated Siobhan, folding her hands. Siobhan had an edge to her argument; she has the leader of the Irish coven.

"I say we let Blaise announce Carlisle's arrival to his mate," Rose said.

"I second that proposition," added Liam.

They all waited on me.

What was I supposed to do? I didn't particularly want to go meet an insane, homicidal vampire, but I also wanted her and her creation stopped. If I didn't agree to see her, how would this matter clear up? I couldn't abide the thought of trying to overwhelm her with numbers, like Maggie proposed. What if one, or more, of us was killed? For what? For me? Violence did have its advantages, but its consequences couldn't always be recififed.

"I think we should let Blaise go to his mate," I began. Rose's eyes lit up. "And I think then, after he has given her the news, We should attempt some sort of meeting." Now Rose was glaring at me.

I could see Siobhan's lightning-fast mind calculating this new development. "Good compromise, Carlisle," she finally consented, nodding at me. "If we send Blaise first, he can tell us the state of affairs up in Adelaide's hiding place, and then we can send Carlisle in if the atmosphere's good."

"Thanks for the suggestion, Carlisle," said Rose, through her teeth.

"Blaise, do you agree to these terms?" queried Siobhan of the nomad.

Studying each of us at the table, the vampire flicked his eyes from Siobhan's face to mine, then back again. "Yes," he said. "I agree. I'll do it."