"You might consider joining us," Garrett offered gravely. "If you think the Volturi will let you live to tell this tale, you are mistaken. We may all be destroyed - but then again, maybe not. Perhaps the Volturi have finally met their match. I promise you this, though: if we fall, so do you."
Chapter 83: To Those About to Die
Some of the red-cloaked faces tried to hide their smirks as Garrett stepped back into line. Others looked simply stunned. Aro too looked shocked for a moment, but as usual he smoothed it over and smoothly improvised a comeback.
"A fine speech, my revolutionary friend."
"Revolutionary?" Garrett growled. "Who am I revolting against, might I ask? Are you my king? Do you wish me to call you master, too,like your sycophantic guard?"
"Peace, Garrett," Aro said, though his gentle tone was a little strained. "I meant only to refer to your time of birth. Still a patriot, I see."
Garrett glared back in silence. Aro ignored him, instead turning to his own witnesses, in the hopes of quelling or undoing the doubt or fear Garrett's words may have provoked.
"What do you think of all this?" he asked them. "I can assure you, the child is not what we feared. Do we take the risk and let the child live? Do we put our world in jeopardy to preserve their family intact? Or does earnest Garrett have the right of it? Will you join them in a fight against our sudden quest for domination?"
"Those are our only choices?" Makenna asked, narrowing her eyes at Aro. "Agree with you, or fight against you?"
"Of course not, most charming Makenna," Aro replied, with a horrified face straight out of a classic opera. "You may go in peace, of course, as Amun did, even if you disagree with the council's decision."
Aro's subtle threat - as Amun did - was not lost on Makenna. She glanced up at Charles for an answer, and he gave a small nod.
"We did not come here for a fight," she said to Aro. "We came here to witness. And our witness is that this condemned family is innocent. Everything that Garrett claimed is the truth."
"Ah," Aro said sadly. "I'm sorry you see us in that way. But such is the nature of our work."
"It is not what I see, but what I feel," Charles explained hesitantly. "Garrett said they have ways of knowing lies. I too know when I am hearing the truth and when I am not." Waiting for Aro's reaction, Charles shifted closer to his mate. He had never been as confident as his short, dark-haired companion. Thinking about this made me feel wistful all of a sudden; they reminded me so much of Alice and Jasper.
"Do not fear us, friend Charles," Aro soothed. "No doubt the patriot truly believes what he says." Aro chuckled lightly as if to make a joke of Garrett's speech. Charles glared at him.
"That is our witness," Makenna said, wisely cutting off whatever her mate was thinking of saying. "We're leaving now."
She and Charles backed away, only turning their backs on us once they had reached the safety of the thicker forest. Four more red cloaks disappeared after them. Apparently unfazed by his dwindling numbers, and the remaining disquiet amongst the witnesses, Aro left them to their thoughts, pacing back to address his guard.
"We are outnumbered, dearest ones. We can expect no outside help. Should we leave this question undecided to save ourselves?"
"No, master," they replied in an eerie unison.
"Is the protection of our world worth perhaps the loss of some of our number?"
"Yes. We are not afraid."
Aro smiled and turned to counsel with his fellow elders. Behind us, the wolves' heartbeats sped up a little. The stench of their breath, which I had become accustomed to over the last few months, suddenly felt overwhelming again, but I dared not stop breathing, because I could smell my family. Most of them, at least.
"You remember what I told you?" Bella whispered behind me.
"I love you," Renesmee choked.
"I love you too," Bella promised. "More than my own life."
Jacob whined uneasily, and Bella addressed him next, in an even softer whisper.
"Wait until they're totally distracted, then run with her," she instructed. "Get as far away from this place as you possibly can. When you've gone as far as you can on foot, she has what you need to get you in the air."
"This is what you kept from me?" Edward whispered bleakly.
"From Aro," Bella breathed.
"Alice?"
Alice. Trust that wonderfully bright, energetic girl to come up with a way to save Renesmee, against all odds. I dared not touch the crucifix that rested against my chest, but I gave my thanks, with all the sincerity I could muster, that Alice and Jasper were safe. If Bella and Edward were sending Nessie away, they were going to die.
"There is no hope then?" I whispered.
"There is absolutely hope," Bella replied quietly. "I only know my own fate."
In silence, Esme cut through the crowd and took my hand in hers. She was so close now that with a little concentration, all I could smell was cinnamon and roses, and bizarrely, I felt warm. Safe, I could even say, because she looked up at me with her perfect caramel-coloured eyes and I knew that she felt the same way I did. She was prepared to go as far as I was. So we did not discuss it. Instead, she smiled at me.
"We have a granddaughter, Carlisle," she whispered.
"Get ready," Bella warned in a low voice. "It's starting."
.o.o.o.
Esme:
The waiting was the worst part. After such rash provocation of the Denali sisters, I expected the clearing to erupt in battle as soon as the Volturi realised their façade no longer served a purpose. Instead, Edward and Bella narrated an apparently intense battle going on between those with mental talents. Suddenly, Edward gasped.
"Carlisle! Are you all right?"
I jumped, horrified that I had not noticed any change in him. But as Carlisle responded in the affirmative, I realised had been none.
"Incredible," Edward murmured, fascinated.
Jane glared furiously at Bella, her teeth gritted. She was the one who had tortured Bree; she was the one Bella was resisting this very moment. Bella grinned at Jane's obvious frustration, and Jane screeched with rage. The one next to her - her brother Alec, I assumed - tucked Jane under his arm and turned his attention to us.
A strange black mist rolled forth, unaffected by Ben's elemental manipulations. Behind it, Jane smiled in dark anticipation. Beside me, I could hear Carlisle breathing. I heard his breath catch as the mist rolled on, and he squeezed my hand stiffly, with terror. All of a sudden, the mist appeared to hit a dead end. It stretched sideways and upwards, but did not progress forward.
"Well done Bella!" Ben praised in a hushed voice.
"I'm going to have to concentrate," Bella whispered, staring straight ahead, her eyes burning with the effort of focus. "When it comes to hand to hand, it's going to be harder to keep the shield around the right people."
"I'll keep them off you," Edward vowed.
"No, you have to get to Demetri," Bella objected. "Zafrina will keep them away from me."
"No one will touch this young one," Zafrina's thickly accent voice assured Edward.
"I'd go after Jane and Alec myself, but I can do more good here," Bella decided.
"Jane's mine," Kate hissed vengefully. "She needs a taste of her own medicine."
"And Alec owes me many lives, but I will settle for his," Vladimir put in. "He's mine."
"I just want Caius," Tanya said, her tone hauntingly even. Part of me was glad she would have her revenge for the beloved sister taken away from their family today. Had I been able to find the heart, I might even have smiled for her. But I was unable to escape the knowledge that everyone who had been in this clearing today would be dead by the end of it.
"Before we vote, let me remind you; whatever the council's decision, there need be no violence here." Aro reinforced his words with a softened glance at Carlisle. They were old friends, and Carlisle's fingers twitched as the rare flash of sincerity – or at least what appeared to be so – encouraged memories of their friendship to resurface. But his expression did not change. He had been betrayed, in the deepest of ways, and I doubted whether Aro would ever claim back his place in Carlisle's heart. It seemed Aro had noticed Carlisle's imperviousness as well, moving quickly, if reluctantly, onto the vote.