Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is the creator of these intriguing characters. She and the filmmakers have made a fascinating and beautiful trilogy. I wish to borrow her background and add a plot twist of my own.

Chapter 19 – Beginnings and ends

Athenodora's POV

I must admit seeing Caius so animated had made me even more curious about his mate than I already was. I was finally free of my prison and was extremely giddy as I walked hand in hand with Caius. He then slowly opened the door of the library and I got my first glimpse of the newborn.

She was sitting in a chair reading and didn't look up though I am sure she heard us come in. I took a second to observer her; she was stunning and although her dress code was not my style I could see that she had a lovely figure to match her face. After a couple minutes Caius walked towards this woman, blocking my vision. As I moved to the side to watch their interaction, I saw Caius tilt her chin upwards pulling her out of her chair as he said "My beautiful mate I am very sure you heard us enter. Are you deliberately trying to be rude?"

"No my love" she answered, the sarcasm dripping off each word "I was so caught up in my reading that I didn't notice"

I felt the tension grow so decided that it was time to introduce myself saying "Dear Caius, you said she was lovely but you didn't do her beauty justice."

She looked at me, wary of my presence when Caius said "Dear Isabella this is my former wife and very good friend Athenodora"

She politely nodded her head towards me and I asked "May I enquire as to what you are reading?"

She turned the book around so I could see and then asked "May I enquire how you are taking to the new arrangement? After all, I seemed to have taken your partner away from you".

Caius was furious and was about to strike when I stopped his hand saying "Why shouldn't she ask me, at least she has the courage to do so. Others just look at me with bogus pity. No, I think your Isabella is very refreshing"

I then turned to her and said "I am actually very grateful that this has happened. I love Caius and am devoted to him but our love has weathered many years and now it is one of brother and sister and not of lovers. I have been locked up in the tower for too long. This was done to protect me from the dangers that Volturi wives seem to attract. But now that I am free, I can finally enjoy the world outside of the tower"

I saw her suspicion change into fear and instinctively knew what she was thinking "Oh, do not worry, you have a power and that will allow you to stay with Caius"

I then saw the look she gave Caius and realized that her aggression was chiefly aimed at him so I spoke up "Caius may I talk to Isabella alone?" I then turned towards Isabella saying "Would you mind?"

She just shrugged her shoulders.

Caius hesitated and I added "Just for a little while, I won't hurt her I just want to get to know her. After all we will all be living in the west wing together and I think it would be better for all involved if we understand each other."

Caius nodded but he was still wary to leave me, then after of minute of indecision he left.

I looked at Isabella and sat in the seat close to the fireplace and with a friendly smile on my face gestured her to join me.

She sat across from me her head held high, silently letting me know that she had her pride and would not be taken for a fool. I had just seen the outburst of Caius and judging on the fiery glances she gave him I think that she had seen too much of that side of him. The fool never knew when it was in his best interest to show compassion.

"Isabella, you asked me how I felt about my new situation and I wish to ask you the same" she was totally taken off guard by the question but soon I saw her mask return and she answered "I have no say in this situation"

"Isabella, the last time I saw you, you were with the Cullen boy do you still love him?" she was becoming uncomfortable and her mask hardened "As I said I have no say in the situation so I do not let my mind wander on silly questions"

Knowing I wouldn't get any further with my questioning I said. "I heard you come from the New World. I was born in the old country they now call Greece in about 1500 BC." Well that got her attention.

"My god" she said, "what was it like back then?"

"There was a lot of poverty and injustice and at that time it was the survival of the fittest or strongest. In that time wars, bloodshed and cruelty were a daily pastime. I wandered the old country for 200 years before I met Caius and he was a feared warrior in that time."

Her eyes widened as she asked "Is he that old?"

"Oh yes! But now that I have told you my past can you tell me yours? For example can you tell me of your time? What you normally do, things like that?" For a fraction of a second I saw a ghost of a smile cross her face.

"I used to live with my mom she is a bit of a dreamer and I used to take care of everything; often she would say that she played the daughter and me the mom. She used to say I was born old because I was never flighty like her. When she remarried I felt that she had a right to her privacy so I went to live with my dad. He is a lot like me and we get along great or should I say got along great until I came here" and with the last bit information her voice turned into a whisper.

"What did you do to earn a living?" I asked

She looked a bit confused and the said "Oh, I went to school; nowadays children go to school until they are about 18 years old but I did have a part time job after school hours at a sport shop in the area where I lived. It wasn't much of a job but I had always hoped to go to college with Ed….." then all of a sudden she fell silent and just looked at her hands.

I then said "In my time children had to work to help out their family and when we were 15 we were given to the man who could pay for a wife. My parents saw my blossoming beauty and were determined to marry me to a wealthy man. You see at that time beauty could be a curse, either you were stolen from your parents or sold into slavery (although my parents didn't see it that way). They sold me to an old man who was the only one who was wealthy enough to buy me".

"As most young women I had fallen in love with a tradesman but because of my beauty, my parents would not allow me to choose my own mate. A couple of days before my marriage I was stolen from my parents' home by a vampire and he took me away with him. After about four years he changed me." As I talked I had saw her fascination grow and she became so involved with my story that, for a moment, her sadness disappeared.

Carlisle's POV

We had just arrived at home when we were visited by Sam and Jacob of the Quileute tribe. The others were all relaxing in the living room and Esme and I had been discussing the future with Riley and Bree.

As the two men stepped in I asked Riley and Bree to join the others and was very glad that they both seemed repelled by the wolf odor the Quileute men gave off. When Riley and Bree had left the room I offered our guests a bier, which I had stocked up on in anticipation of their visit. I told them that we had eliminated the newborns and Victoria and we had planned to call our lawmakers so that they could be told. Sam looked at me and asked "Won't they need proof?"

I looked back and said "No problem, we have Victoria's head" they were both taken aback by my words but then Jacob smiled and said "She had it coming. Oh, by the way, do you have a bathroom?"

I pointed the direction and he left while I continued my discussion with Sam.

Jacob's POV

As I was looking for the bathroom in the leaches house and after I was done and walking back towards the kitchen I heard a discussion further down the hall and one name was mentioned that I just couldn't miss "Bella".

I knew I was eavesdropping but what the hell; 'in for a penny, in for a pound' so I carefully and quietly walked towards the talkers and as soon as I could follow the discussion without any problem I stopped and listened.

Edwards voice "Damn it Rose haven't you done enough, thanks to you she is trapped in Italy".

Roses voice "But you must understand I never wanted that; I know I couldn't stand her but I would never wish that on anyone".

Edwards voice "Wish it or not; she's there and Caius has claimed her"

Rose's voice "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Edwards voice "We tried everything, dad even went down there but Caius won't budge. Now leave me alone!"

Knowing she would soon be coming out of the door I tried to find somewhere to hide but wasn't fast enough. Rose got a hold of my t-shirt collar and said "Look what I found snooping around; our neighborhood wolf" while taking me into the room where Edward was.

"How much have you heard?" Edward asked

I stuck my chin up and said "More than enough; what happened to Bella?"

Edward sighed and said "I wanted to spare you the pain"

"Don't give me that crap; Where is Bella" I repeated

"She's dead" Edward answered

"I've heard that before let's try it again; where the hell is Bella?" I shouted

Then the hard mask disappeared and I saw all the raw pain in his eyes as he told me "She is the mate to one of our vampire kings"

I didn't know what to say; I just stood there with my mouth open.