Previously:
"It seemed, however, that we had reached the end of Edward's patience. "Isabella, bring my daughter back to me this instant. I chose you; I molded you. You belong to me!" he roared across the field. At this, most of our witnesses took a step away from him, however the family did not. A telling detail."
I turned a cold eye to Edward. "We will come back to you Edward. It's not your turn." He tried to move toward me, and I flashed my shield out to stop him. The bewildered look on his face was satisfying.
Returning my gaze to Aro, I held my hand out to him. "Please allow me to show you the truth of the matter. Renesmee can show you from her perspective as well if you'd like." As he reached for my hand, I carefully peeled my shield away from it, ready to lay my life bare to save my daughter's life. Demetri stood straighter beside me. I hope he had not acted in a way that would get him in trouble.
Aro released my hand and held his out for Renesmee. I nodded to her, and she instead pressed her hand to his cheek, showing him her memories of her short childhood so far. "Ah yes, I see. Brothers, young Isabella speaks the truth. The child was born of the false love between herself and Edward. It seems, however, there may be more at work here than we thought. Marcus, would you join me?"
Marcus raised a brow, but slowly walked over to join our small group. He pressed his palm to Aro's, allowing him to see the bonds of everyone around us.
"Do you see what I see, Master Aro?" I asked lowly. Something was being hidden, I could feel it.
"I do. Chelsea may be able to fix some of it, but I'm not sure what damage it will do. If we could pinpoint the cause, your shield may help; however, it would be difficult to do without more information." At this, I removed my mental shield from our group of witnesses. I needed to know who it was before I could proceed.
"Do you have a way to hold them in place while we figure it out? My physical shield is too new, I'm unsure how to hold them without leaving myself vulnerable." I shuddered at the thought of allowing some of the formidable gifts behind me to have access to my body and mind.
We spoke quickly and quietly, hoping to keep the conversation as private as possible. I could see Caius beginning to lose his composure on the other side of the field. Grazing Aro's hand, I showed him, hoping he could rectify the situation before it escalated. He turned toward his allies and guards and held his hands up in peace. "There is much to learn here, my friends! Allow us to council, we of course need to ensure we are all safe and at peace once more." At that, he waved Marcus with him. "Dear Isabella, please remain here with your darling daughter and your mate as a sign of good faith." Several hisses could be heard from my former side of the field, and I saw Aro's eyes narrow slightly at what he saw.
Marcus and Aro returned to their side with Renata, calling Caius and a couple of guards to confer with them. Caius looked further enraged, but his face seemed to change slowly as Marcus' lips moved.
Felix turned to Demetri and me. "Hello again, Bella." He grinned cockily.
I smiled wryly at the mountainous vampire. "Hey, Felix."
Felix chuckled. "You look good. Immortality suits you."
"Thanks so much."
"You're welcome. It's too bad . . ." He let his comment trail off as Demetri growled at him, sending a message I was not aware of in that moment.
"I'm rather pleased with how things have changed, truth be told." I shrugged nonchalantly, pulling a small laugh from both tall guards.
Renesmee pressed her hand to my face, questioning if it was still possible. "Yes, my love, I think it may be." She nodded, her small shoulders sagging in what I could only assume was relief.
During our small exchange, a signal must have been sent. A fog was spreading across the field, low to the ground and hard to see. As the first of my former family noticed and expressed her alarm, I wrapped only my physical shield behind them like a scoop. It seems I was able to manipulate it after all. One by one they froze, eyes going blank. I turned toward the Masters and waited for the conference to end. I had no idea where we would go from here.