"It seems the queens have sent an apology." Bella said as she finished reading the letter Rosalie and Angela had brought to Charlie's house. Bella hadn't expected the vampires to reach out so soon. If she had then she would have started planning what needed to be done. Instead she had used the time since arriving at Charlie's house with him and Beatrice eating and catching up on the modern world.
"How would you like to respond your majesty?" Charlie asked as he took the offered letter and read it over. "It seems they wish to offer you a gift to make up for Carlisle's transgressions."
"Yes, but what would we actually need from the vampires?" Bella knew they would have to make some sort of treaty but didn't know what the vampires could offer her to smooth over being insulted in such a way.
"You could always ask for their castle in Italy." Beatrice said. She still couldn't believe that she had been spending time with the dragon queen she had been told stories of since her youth. The only thing that saddened her about the situation was that her mother and grandmother hadn't lived to experience this with her.
Bella smiled. "That would be a good start but if I am to build a strong hold I wouldn't want something designed with vampires in mind."
"Understandable." Charlie remembered how spacious Bella's castle had been. It had plenty of room for her to be in her two bipedal forms and had enough land around it for her to transform into her dragon comfortably. "It wouldn't work for you anyway as I am told they have built a town around the castle itself."
"It's actually a highly visited tourist attraction." Rosalie told them. Even with Bella's personal invitation to visit, Rosalie had been unsure of what kind of reception she would receive from the dragon and her guard. She had thought that Bella had just invited her to visit because she was Angela's mate. Rosalie had been proven wrong as Bella treated her like an old friend.
"That's vampires for you." Bella scoffed. "I bet they are so lazy they feed off the tourists as well."
"They do. There is a vampire named Heidi that has a gift that when used on you it would convince you to do anything. She could make you kill your own mother and feel happy that you did it. She is known as a fisher because she rounds up groups of tourist for the castle inhabitants to feed on." Rosalie had only met Heidi once and that was enough for her.
"I can see now why I was sealed away to help with this threat. The vampires have gotten too comfortable and would probably be wiped out completely if they were left on their own during the war." Bella knew that she would have a challenge ahead of her but now it seemed she would have to train the vampires. "How well do you know these queens?"
"There are six altogether. The three that are here are in charge of both the North and South American continents. Their counterparts in Italy control all the countries across the ocean. They originally controlled everything and I'm not sure exactly how it came about but they appointed Tanya, Irina and Kate of the Denali coven to reign with them." Rosalie didn't feel like she was going against her queens by giving information to Bella. If she had to choose a side in this conflict she would side with the dragon queen as that was where her mate's biological family was aligned. Although vampires had a bond with their sire it wasn't as strong as the mate bond. That meant that Rosalie would stand by her mate above all others.
"I see." Bella wanted to deal with all the queens not just half of the royals. "Do you think they are actually offering a hand of peace or is this just a trick?"
Rosalie shook her head at the thought. "This is no trick. As a matter of fact my sire was assaulted after he told them what he did. There was no way they were faking how angry they were about him challenging you. The only thing that made them angrier was when they found out the Romanians were the threat you had been sealed away to help beat."
"I trust your judgement." Bella thought Rosalie was a good judge of character. If Bella actually rebuilt her court she would offer Rosalie a position as a royal adviser.
"Thank you Bella." Rosalie was extremely honored the ancient dragon chose to trust her opinion. In her vampire family she was largely overlooked because she didn't have a gift and her mate didn't either. It was nice to be appreciated for just being herself.
"So what are we going to do my queen?" Charlie asked. He wanted to get started on contacting allies. Not only would they be needed he was also excited to see his old friends.
"I think we should send a letter back to queens offering a tentative forgiveness. I won't accept their apology until I have interacted with them and can see for myself if they truly mean it. While we are waiting for them to reach out again I want you Charles to contact the guard and what ever hidden shifters you can." Bella needed to know what numbers she had on her side.
"I'll get right on that." Charlie pulled out his phone and started sending messages.
"What would like me to do Bella?" Beatrice wanted to be a part of the action. She had a feeling that this war would be talked about for many millennia to come and just like Melinda she wanted to be remembered as a someone who stood beside the dragon queen.
"I know your people will be hesitant to get involved in this conflict as they have taken great pains to make people forget they existed. I want you to reach out and ask if they want to join. I don't want them ordered or ask them and if they say no move on to the next. Make sure they know if they decline to help it will not be held against them in the future." Bella didn't want anyone on her side who didn't want to be that's why she was asking people to join not forcing them even though she could easily make them do whatever she wanted.
"I can do that." Beatrice was impressed that Bella wasn't using her power to make people join a cause they wanted no part in. It was just another example of the kindness her ancestor wrote about in her diaries about her time spent with the dragon queen.
"Bella I was wondering If you would teach me about magic?" Angela didn't think this was the right time to ask but wanted to put the idea in Bella's head incase she had time later.
"Angela." Beatrice hissed.
"It alright Beatrice." Bella assured the old woman. "I would gladly teach you about magic Angela. However I think you would do better to study on your own."
"Do you have books that could help?" Angela asked.
"Not with me but…" Bella held up the amulet Beatrice gave her. "With this key I can access what was saved from my castle before I left."
"That's a key?" Angela was glad she now knew what it was for. "Where is the place it unlocks?"
"That is a secret. What I can tell you is the only way to access it is by flying there." Bella had sealed her belongings in a cave in a mountain with magic then gave the amulet that opened it to Melinda to hand down to her offspring for protection.
"Do you mean you are going to go there in your dragon form?" Rosalie would love to see what Bella looked like as a dragon.
"Yes that is the best way to get there." Bella would have to go there soon because she needed to get some things to make her stay with Charles more comfortable.
"Can we go with you?" Angela asked earning a slap on the back of the head from her grandmother. "What did I say?"
"You never ask to ride on a dragon. It's not only disrespectful but dragons find it degrading having people ride on their backs." Beatrice would need to have a long talk with her granddaughter about proper behavior for interacting with dragons especially the queen.
"Once again it's alright Beatrice. To answer your question I was going to offer you or your grandmother the opportunity to go because Melinda had me seal away most of her research materials and writings for safe keeping. She figured once I was freed that her family would need the proper guidance and it wouldn't be wise to trust that they would be safe from those who would wish to have the knowledge for themselves." Bella told them.
Beatrice was taken aback. Nowhere in the writings passed down to her was mention of Melinda leaving belongings with the queen. She had known the amulet was key but had assumed it was just for something for Bella."My queen are you sure you wish for us to go."
"The information there is your birthright. It belongs to you. I simply kept it safe until the day you could claim it." Bella wasn't going to keep Melinda's things from members of her bloodline.
"But to ride on your dragon would be too much to ask." Beatrice was excited by the prospect but didn't want to make Bella uncomfortable.
"Nonsense I am going to bring Charles along as well. Rosalie is invited also." Bella didn't want to force Rosalie to stay behind while her mate went off into an unknown situation.
"I will gladly come along." Rosalie was more than willing to ride on a dragon to go to a secret hiding spot where the ancient being kept her things from thousands of years ago. She would never forgive herself if she missed out on such an amazing adventure.
"Then it's settle. We will go to my keep after we have made our calls and you deliver our response to the queens." Bella was happy thing were working out. Even the issue with the vampires was being resolved. She knew there were many troubling times ahead but she felt optimistic that she could rally enough people on her side to at least give the Romanians a fight.
