"We are entering the throne room where I am going to lead you to stand in front of the three kings."Jane explained to Isabella. When Jane had been sent on a mission to take care of an out of control newborn she thought it would be a regular job. She was very wrong. Never before had Jane heard of a blind vampire. If that wasn't surprising enough the girl was gifted with the ability to block Jane and her brother Alec's gifts as well. Luckily the twins were able to calm Isabella down enough to have a conversation. After learning about how Isabella came to be in that situation Jane's heart went out to the newborn. Isabella had been left to fend for herself with no help or guidance from anyone. With her lack of sight the poor girl was completely helpless and if there was one thing Jane understood it was what if felt to be helpless. It was something she fought hard everyday to prevent from happening to her again and after meeting Isabella it was something Jane promised she would never let Isabella feel again either.
"Alright."Isabella held on to Jane's arm until she was stopped. Once she felt Jane try to pull away Isabella held on tighter.
"I need to stand to the side but I will still be in the room."Jane told her.
Aro watched the scene before him in great interest. It was very unusual for Jane to be kind to anyone even her brother but here she was going out of her way to comfort the newborn she returned with. The newborn being unusual as well. He had never come across a blind vampire before. Nor had heard any rumors of one. It made him wonder what the girl's sire was thinking when they turned her. Not that he could ask them as they had abandoned their creation before the newborn woke up. He wasn't complaining though. Based on Jane's message the girl had a gift. A very valuable one if she could block Jane and Alec's gifts. She would make a perfect addition to the guard.
"Welcome to Voltaire Isabella. My name is Aro. I am one of the Volturi kings."Aro greeted.
"Nice to meet you your majesty."Isabella replied.
"I'm sure you are.."Before Aro could speak further the doors to the throne room flew open and Queen Athenodora rushed into the room grabbing Isabella in her arms, backing her towards the wall growling at everyone in the room. Aro held up a hand to stop the guards from reacting."Athenodora what is the meaning of this?"
Marcus took a moment to examine the pair."The queen has a familiar bond with the girl."
"A familiar bond."Aro was very surprised to hear that. Familiar bonds were very rare.
Caius stood from his throne and approached Athenodora slowly with his hands up. In reply Athenodora crunched in front of Isabella and growled louder."My love there no need for aggression. If the girl is truly your bond child then she is mine as well."
"The girl is not yours!"Athenodora wasn't going to let anyone claim her child.
"Chelsea take care of it."Aro ordered his guard. She would be able to bond the child to Caius.
Chelsea concentrated on the newborn frowning in confusing when nothing happened."My king she is blocking me somehow."
"What do you mean she is blocking you?"Aro asked.
"My gift appears to have no effect on her."Chelsea told her.
"Amazing."Aro tried to think of all the possibilities that such a gift could be used for.
"Whatever the girl is doing has broken the bond between Caius and Athenodora."Marcus no longer saw the connection between the pair.
"She is protecting Athenodora as well?"Aro looked to Chelsea who nodded. Noticing that Athenodora was getting more agitated the closer Caius was getting to her Aro decided to interfere."Caius leave the queen and the newborn alone."
"I will not leave my mate and my daughter alone. Tell Chelsea to try harder."Caius wasn't going to let this new prize slip from his fingers.
"It's no use your majesty. The bond is broken and a new one can not be formed."Chelsea flinched back when Caius growled at her.
"Caius leave them alone. You are only going to make them act out and that will not end well for anyone."Aro did not want to have to end the queen. Especially since he could use the queen to keep the newborn in line.
Caius took a step towards Athenodora but was stopped by Aro grabbing his arm."Let go of me."
"You need to step back and look at the bigger picture."Aro told him.
"What does my mate defying me have to do with the bigger picture?"Caius glared at Athenodora who snarled back at him. He tried to go after her but Aro held tight not letting him move.
"The girl is obviously gifted. She would be a very valuable member of the guard. As our usual methods to secure her loyalty will not work we will need help to keep her content. The bond with Athenodora can do that."Aro explained.
Caius knew what Aro was saying was true he just didn't want to lose Athenodora. She was one of his greatest conquests. She fought him every step of the way until Chelsea had used her gift on her. It was the best revenge he could have gotten on a woman who hated him with as much passion as the queen did."I want Chelsea to train her gift more. Athenodora is mine and I won't lose her."
"There is nothing to be done about it now. Now we need to settle Athenodora and have the newborn evaluated by Eleazar."Aro wasn't looking forward to the many arguments he predicted having with Caius about this in the future. The man was stubborn and couldn't see past his own personal vendettas to look at the bigger picture.
"But don't think I will put up with this continued disrespect. Athenodora needs to be punished for her attitude."Caius wasn't going to allow anyone to growl at him.
"There will be no punishments handed out. The queen was simply acting on her instincts as a newly bonded vampire."Aro knew that they would have to treat Athenodora with a lot more respect if they wanted to get the newborn to comply. Knowing that the girl's gift can be used on others the only way to get her to protect the kings is to make her trust them. That wouldn't happen if they treated her bond mate badly.
"No one can act that way towards me and get away with it!"Caius broke free of Aro and lunged for the queen but before he made it close to the woman he was flung back by an invisible barrier and slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the room.
Aro watched the scene with wide eyes. Looking from the girl who had her head down not seeming to pay attention to the room to Caius who was missing an arm, a foot and was covered in cracks Aro wasn't sure what had happened. It seemed the girl could do more than just block mental gifts. "Isabella did you do that?"
"Do what?"Isabella knew what Aro was asking her but the plan was for her to play the part of sheltered newborn who wasn't exposed to other vampires until she came across Jane and didn't know how to use her gift. In reality Isabella had mastered her gift. It was something that Colette, Tanya and her all decided was necessary before going to the castle.
"Did you block Caius from attacking Athenodora?"Aro was sure it was the girl as the queen didn't have a gift.
"Who is Athenodora?"Isabella asked.
Athenodora reached her hand back and laid it on Isabella's arm."I'm Athenodora, your bond mother."
"What's a bond mother?"Isabella asked.
"Vampires can form bonds with others. One of those bonds is a familiar bond. It means that once I caught your scent in the castle I felt that you were a child that I gave birth to. I'm not sure how it will work with your lack of sight. That is if you can't see at all."Athenodora wasn't sure how bonds worked without sight being involved.
"That's why I felt safe when you grabbed me. Usually when people touch me I panic but with you I was comfortable right away."Isabella had felt the same way when she had woken up and caught Colette's scent.
"Exactly young one. My scent caused the bond to fall into place. That means you will always see me as your mother and I will always see you as my daughter for the rest of eternity."Athenodora was beyond happy to have found her child. She had always felt like something was missing from her life but as soon as she smelt Isabella's scent that feeling went away.
"One of you collect Caius, his pieces, bring him to a feeding room, reattach everything and bring him someone to feed off of. Then one of you collect Eleazar. Tell him to come quickly."Aro ordered the guards.
"Yes your majesty."Four of the guards began gathering Caius' pieces.
"Now that is out of the way we have many things to discuss."Aro was happy that Caius wasn't in the room any longer. After being injured by the newborn he was going to be extremely angry and demand punishment. Something Aro doubted could happen after seeing the girl protect Athenodora."One of those things being that you will now have to live at the castle. It isn't safe with your disability to let you free to roam because something like what happened to get you on our radar could happen again."
"I understand your majesty."Isabella easily agreed. It was part of the plan.
"Good."Aro was happy that Isabella wasn't fighting him on that. Hopefully she wouldn't fight him on the other things he planned for the girl. Before he could continue speaking the throne room doors opened and a dark haired vampire entered the room."Ahh Eleazar so good of you to join us."
"I figured you needed my gift if you asked for me to come so soon."Eleazar said.
"Yes, we have come across a very interesting newborn. She has the ability to not only block Jane and Alec's gifts but she physically blocked Athenodora from being attacked by creating some type of barrier in front of her."Aro explained.
"That is intriguing."Eleazar had never heard of such a gift before.
"Athenodora would you be so kind to introduce Isabella to Eleazar."Aro asked.
"Of course. Isabella the man who is speaking is named Eleazar. He has the ability to see gifts in other vampires. Eleazar this is my daughter Isabella."When Eleazar held out his hand for Isabella to take Athenodora explained."Isabella I'm going to take your hand and put it in Eleazar's. It helps him detect gifts."
"Alright."Isabella let Athenodora guide her hand to the other vampires.
Seeing Eleazar's confusion Athenodora explained."Isabella is blind."
"Really."Eleazar had never heard of a blind vampire before."That would explain why her eyes didn't change."
"That's what I thought as well."Aro had figured since Isabella's eyes didn't work they weren't effected by the change.
"This won't hurt you."Eleazar took the hand in his own and closed his eyes. He pushed his gift outwards testing Isabella's. Opening his eyes he looked the girl over in surprise."You my dear are an extraordinary individual."
"What did you find?"Aro was almost vibrating with the amount of excitement hearing Eleazar's statement gave him.
"Isabella is a shield. Not only a mental shield but a physical one as well. Extremely powerful one at that. I suspect the only reason my gift worked on her at all is because she is untrained."Eleazar told him.
"A shield of course."Aro knew with Isabella in the guard the kings would be unstoppable."She protected Athenodora both mentally and physically do you think she can protect others that are not bonded to her as well?"
Eleazar looked the girl over."I have no doubt that with practice that she could guard up to a mile physically and as many people that fit in that big of an area mentally. I think if she could see she would likely be able to pick and choose who she protects but because she can't it is an all or nothing situation. However if she spent enough time with someone it is likely that her gift will bond to them and protect them automatically as well."
"Amazing."Aro hated the fact that the girl couldn't see. She would be of better use if she could control her shield but Eleazar did say that her shield could bond to others. That meant that he and the other two kings would have to be extra kind to the girl to get in her good graces. That wouldn't be a problem for him and Marcus but Caius would have issues with it."Who do you think we should have train the girl?"
"You don't have any guards that have a similar gift but I think the one who would work best would be Jane. She has the ability to control the intensity and distance of her gift so she would be the best to spend time with Isabella."Eleazar said.
"Jane you will be in charge of Isabella's training."Aro didn't see a problem with his most loyal guard being Isabella's mentor. It would just make Isabella more loyal to the kings with her influence.
"Yes your majesty."Jane didn't mind helping the newborn. She had hoped Isabella would stay at the castle so that Jane could help her navigate the world better. That and if Isabella was under Jane's protection no one would mess with Isabella.
"Athenodora as I know you will no longer be staying with Caius I want you to pick out some rooms for yourself and Isabella. That way the pair of you will have your own wing so you can live together."Aro wouldn't have normally given a guard member such accommodations but not only was Athenodora a queen Isabella was now his most valuable guard member. WIth her by his side no one would ever be able to challenge him. He didn't need to worry about any other covens with gifted members trying to overthrow them. If Jane could train the girl Eleazar said that she could form a physical shield that spread over a mile. That was more than enough room to block the entire guard and defeat any army against them.
"I will enlist Didyme and Sulpicia's help to get that done."Athenodora was already running through a list of things that she would need to do to get their rooms ready for Isabella. She wished she had some experience with blind people.
"You do that. Everyone else is dismissed."Aro told the guard. Not waiting for a reply he made his way out of the door heading towards the royal wings his mind swirling with thoughts. When Jane had sent word that the newborn they were after was actually not acting out of an uncontrolled blood lust but was in fact blind and had been abandoned by her sire he wasn't sure what to think. Then finding out Isabella was immune to Jane and Alec's gift perked his interest. He actually didn't think the girl would be of much use and only allowed them to bring her to the castle because he was curious. After finding out how talented the girl was he was very happy he let his curiosity keep Isabella alive. The girl was going to be the kings' way to rule without fear of being killed. The only problem Aro could see in the future was Caius. The man was not going to let the fact that Athenodora got away from him taking with her a very powerful bond child go easily. Aro sighed. Sometimes he wished he could rule by himself. Not that he wanted to it would just be nice not to have to deal with his brother's tantrums.