Chapter Eighty Two

Aro

I had explained the situation to Marcus and my decision to act before we heard from our dear brother.

"We will take a large contingent of the guard and along with the Cullens and The Major's friends I think that should be more than enough to win this little war. Just think of the look on Caius' face when he finds himself with only the Romanians and their newborns to stand with him. Especially when he finds out his fake Major is not only the real deal but ready to stand with us."

"I think you will find a number of those who the Major has trained may quite possibly swap sides along with him Aro. He inspires loyalty, its one of the things Maria valued so highly about him. Talking of Maria I understand The Major's friends have been in contact with her and she is bringing the remains of her army with her. When this is over we should reward her for her loyalty."

I laughed,

"Maria had her own reasons for choosing our side over Caius I'm sure but I suppose you are right. We'll offer her exactly what Caius did."

"Will you be expecting me to join you in this little enterprise or would you have me stay here to hold the fort as it were?"

I smiled,

"Well which would you prefer Marcus?"

He shrugged wearily,

"Just as you wish, it makes no difference to me brother."

"Then I think we should show a united front to these rebels."

"Who would you leave in charge here?"

"Oh I think Sulpicia is more than capable, along with Chelsea and Corin."

"And what of Athena?"

"Yes, she is rather a problem, one I think we must address before we leave. But what to do with her."

"Use Chelsea to keep her loyal, you know it works."

I looked at him expecting to see some emotion in his face at the barb but he looked as tired and careworn as ever and I wondered if in fact he any longer cared that he too was bound to me by Chelsea's gift."

"I think we should certainly speak with her, see if she has any idea what her husband is doing."

"I doubt it, he rarely visits and then they only speak of the mundane."

I raised an eyebrow,

"Really? And how would you know that Marcus?"

"Because I visit her often, we talk of the old days when life was more simple, when we were happier. We built this ivory tower and now we are all trapped within it Aro, one way or another."

"Well as you two are such friends I'll leave it to you to speak to her. Check she really is ignorant of her husband's plans. If she is, then I think your idea an excellent one, if not then I think she must go. There are enough traitors outside Volterra, we do not need more living within our very walls."

"Very well, I should perhaps go now, while you prepare your own strategy."

"Oh I thought I might wait, you can show me the battleground in this so called Death Valley."

I hated electronics, computers, anything like that, they seemed so unnatural to me and I relied on Marcus and Felix to keep me up to date with things using the computers in the archives. I would speak quietly to those I intended taking with me and arrange for those who could not be trusted and were therefore being left behind to be watched by the loyal few I planned on leaving with my dear wife.

When Marcus returned he shook his head at my quizzical gaze.

"She knows nothing, In fact she asked me when she could expect her husband back. In fact she seems to be under the impression he is off on some errand for you Aro. I think he would have kept such dangerous plans very much to himself. He told me once that women talk too much and are not to be trusted."

"Well if you are sure. I have spoken to Sulpicia and she is ready to take the reins of power for a while, although I didn't tell her why, just that you and I had business to attend to. So, lets get ready for our adventure shall we?"

Darius

I had told the others first that Aro and his guard would be with us soon and that hardly raised an eyebrow but then I went on to say that the rest of the Cullens were on their way and would be with us in a couple of days.

"What? They taking the scenic fucking route?"

I braced myself for the storm I knew was coming as I uttered my next words.

"They can't fly, they're bringing Bella with them."

There was an expectant hush as everyone waited for Peter to explode but instead he just looked at Edward.

"You know Cullen, not only has your diet softened your fucking brain, its catching."

Then he got up and walked out. That had gone far better than I expected and I shot Charlotte a questioning look but she just shrugged, Peter was a law unto himself but I was sure we would hear more eventually.

"So tell me why exactly are they bringing Bella? In fact why are they coming at all? I mean no offense Edward but they aren't exactly renowned for their fighting abilities."

"True Charlotte but Aro has made it plain he wants them standing with him and its my guess he's banking on that to give his actions more credibility. A lot in the vampire world hold Carlisle Cullen in esteem. They might think he's a bit of a wacko but they also think he's an honorable man. There is also the interesting tidbit that Bella has a gift that could work to our advantage. It seems the shield she used to stop Edward reading her mind as a human is much more than that now she's a vampire."

"A shield? I've only ever heard of one other and that's Renata."

"Exactly Char, if Bella is as strong as Carlisle seems to think then she could prevent too many deaths and any on our side is too many as far as I am concerned."

Charlotte

After hearing this I decided I should go and find Peter knowing he would be brooding and found him sitting in a rock watching the setting sun, a huge orange orb sinking slowly behind the rugged mountains. I perched beside him and kissed his cheek then waited for him to speak.

"You know Char, sometimes I wonder if I live in the same world as the rest of you. I sure don't see things the same fucking way."

"Peter, you left before Darius could explain about Bella. She's a shield and that could be very useful to us."

He turned to look at me, his eyebrows creased in puzzlement.

"She's The Majors mate Char, and a newborn. Who can guarantee that she'll be able to control this shield? She's unstable and don't you think when she catches sight of him that everything else will fly out the fucking window? How are we gonna face him if anything happens to her? He left her in our care, to keep her out of danger not drag her right in the fucking middle."

"I'm sure we'll be able to watch over her Peter and Carlisle thinks she has things under control."

He stood up grunting in derision,

"Oh well, if the great and wise Dr. Cullen says it then it must be true. Please accept my apologies for concerning myself with something I quite obviously know fuck all about in comparison to him."

He stomped off into the desert and I let him go knowing he would take his frustration out on an inanimate rock or two before returning much calmer. I did understand his concerns and I wouldn't know what to say if anything happened to Bella but it wasn't our decision, all we could do was to watch and try to act if it looked like she was getting herself into trouble.