Chapter Ninety Five
Bella
Rose stepped forward but I put my arm out to forestall her,
"Aro, may I ask who your informant is? These are serious charges to make and I feel we should at least know who is slandering us.",
He looked at me, then at Rose, before answering,
"It would be difficult if I were to answer that although I accept what you say Bella. I think I need to talk to Caius again before we take the matter any further. Would you mind waiting here for a short while?"
I nodded knowing I couldn't refuse and shooting a warning look to the others not to talk when he'd gone, other ears would be listening in. Rose moved close to me panic in her eyes but I shook my head and she nodded.
Aro
Marcus accompanied me and Caius waited outside, pacing back and forth angrily.
"What was that Aro? Rose was about to speak and Bella stopped her. What do you mean by allowing Bella to dictate to us, the Volturi?"
"Caius, brother, this was always going to be awkward. I did warn you when you insisted on their coming here that should they ask to confront their accuser things might get difficult. It appears to me that they are speaking the truth about the Werewolves. After all the Major would hardly risk being shown as a liar."
"Are you saying that she was wrong about everything? Even the wolves and Carlisle's work?"
"Well it will be difficult to prove either. What do you want me to do Caius? Call Bella and her friends liars without being able to prove the charge? Can you conjure up a Werewolf who will greet her personally? Do you have papers of Carlisle's work that are not the random symbols that Esme provided us with? In short can you prove any of the charges?"
Caius growled,
"She's lying"
"Then prove it brother. Prove it, or face the wrath of her mate and the others."
Marcus stepped forward at this point,
"Caius I fear we may have been misled. We know she was a very disturbed individual and I did warn you that the bonds between these comrades is extremely strong. It appears our action in sending for them was foolhardy. We need to be very careful with our accusations as Aro says. We have no proof."
"Then take Rosalie Hales hand and read her thoughts Aro. Is that not proof enough?"
"I can invite the girl to share her thoughts but I will not insist. I don't want trouble with the Whitlock coven, They may be useful to us in the future".
"Then find out the truth so we can force them to help us in the future."
"Force them? And you think Bella will allow that? Caius please stop and think before you speak. I will not make an enemy of Bella Whitlock, as an ally she would be valuable, as an enemy deadly."
Caius was livid but he could see the truth in my words. I too felt that while Werewolves might not be involved, some creature may well. But we had no news of strange creatures in the area they came from and without a shred of evidence I wouldn't act. The fact that we had accepted their word on the charges and allowed them to leave would put us in a better light with her, and that I did want."
"Marcus, what do you think?"
"Leave them alone. I would rather not have them as enemies. Caius you have a fixation about Werewolves. If you want them so badly then send out a party to find and destroy them but not at the expense of antagonizing Bella and her friends."
Bella
We stood in a group waiting for the brothers to reappear. Jasper was the most relaxed of us all, but then he always was in frightening situations. I held his arm and tried to feed off his calmness, at the same time watching him and then Peter. The consummate professionals their eyes were darting around the room. Not looking for a quick way out, more taking in every possible avenue of escape and what weapons were available if it came to a fight. Their years as soldiers for Maria showed in everything they did. Charlotte too was checking things out but she was watching the rest of us, absorbing our emotions and quite obviously looking for a weak link, someone who would need help if it came down to a fight. When the doors opened again all eyes snapped forward including mine. I looked at Caius face for a clue as to their decision. His was black as thunder and I knew he'd been outvoted, we were safe.
"Bella we have discussed the matter and decided there has been an error in judgement on the part of our informant. I apologise to you for any inconvenience you have incurred and offer the use of our personal plane for your journey home."
"Thank you Aro, Apologies accepted but we have return flights booked. I hope this is the last time we will be summoned here, however politely."
He didn't like that much but couldn't really say anything so he just smiled and nodded.
"Thank you all for visiting"
Marcus bowed, looking at us in turn, before turning his back and walking slowly out of sight. Caius nodded curtly before sweeping from the room still visibly upset. Aro accompanied us to the door,
"I do hope you won't think ill of us but we do have a duty to keep everything in our world as smooth as possible. Goodbye Bella, Major."
He turned and walked back as we made our way down the corridor to the entrance but were waylaid before we got there by Marcus, who held out a hand,
"Could I have a moment of your time Bella, Major Whitlock."
"Of course Marcus"
We moved into an alcove,
"I thought you might like to know that Caius will be sending a party to search for Werewolves around Forks."
"Why are you telling us this Marcus? I thought we'd established that we didn't know any werewolves"
"Of course but I thought it might be useful for you to be aware of his intentions in any case."
He bowed again and walked back the way he'd come.
"What was that?"
"I think Marcus knows more about us than he's willing to admit. It was a warning we shouldn't take lightly. You may need to speak to Sam. Give him a heads up." Jasper remarked.
The flight back was happily uneventful and we left the others at the airport, they would be going home while Jazz and I flew on to Seattle to see Sam and the Quileute elders about Marcus warning. All we could do was warn the Tribal Elders but as the vampires had now left Forks there may no longer be any wolves to worry. Once that was done we intended returning to our home and family, the Whitlock Coven, now probably the biggest and certainly the most formidable of them all.