"Your majesties the throne room is set up for you."A vampire wearing a nice suit told Tanya, Rosalie and Isabella when they entered the castle with the rest of the group that traveled with them from Forks except for Anne, Irina and Victoria. Rosalie wished she had the chance to go with her sisters to meet Anne's mate but they had to many things that needed their attention first. Addressing their new subjects and some of their allies being the most important. Rosalie was excited to finally have the chance to be involved in all the work Isabella was doing. Even though Isabella had both Rosalie and Tanya completing tasks Rosalie always felt she wasn't really doing much to help her beloved. Now that everything was out in the open she would be able to an active participant in how the vampire world was going to be run and it wouldn't all just fall on Isabella's shoulders.
"Thank you Thomas. Are the representatives from the Russian and Japanese royal families here?"Isabella asked.
"Yes they are."Thomas confirmed.
"Give us a half an hour to take care of some things then bring them into the throne room. In the mean time I want you to have the assistants for Kate, Eleazar and Carmen meet us there immediately."Isabella told him.
"Yes, my queen."Thomas bowed and took off to complete his tasks.
"Who was that?"Kate asked.
"That was Thomas my personal assistant."The kings had assigned Thomas to Isabella when she first came to the castle and the pair had become very close over the centuries they spent together."Each of you will be given your own as well. They will be able to assist you in getting acclimated to not only the castle but your roles as well."
"We all appreciate that thank you."Eleazar was happy that he would have someone to ask questions about the many things he knew that were going to come up while living in the castle and starting his job in the archives.
"How come we haven't seen anyone wearing robes?"Carmen had seen numerous vampires that were obviously guards all dressed in black suits.
"For two reasons. The first being we didn't want any reminder of the old kings' reign and the second was that the guards hated wearing them. I asked what they wanted to wear instead and the majority picked out black suits."Isabella explained.
"I wouldn't want to wear a robe either."Kate was happy that the uniform for guards had changed. As she was a member of it she would have hated them. Plus everyone looked a lot more badass in black suits than they did in robes.
"Your team will get top wear whatever you want because you will going undercover most of the time."It made Tanya happy to be able to give Kate the opportunity to do something that she would love doing. Her sister deserved to be rewarded for putting up with everything Tanya and Isabella put them through. Hell everyone in her family did.
"We will be going undercover?"Kate had thought that were just going to be acting as a hit squad not doing any spying.
"You and your team are going to be sent on many different kinds of missions. Some will include you infiltrating different groups of people who wish to overthrow us to get information on the inner workings of each cell of enemies."Isabella told her.
"Sweet!"Kate was even more excited to get started on training with her team.
"Thank you."Rosalie said to the two guards standing outside the throne room who opened the doors for them. As soon as they entered the three dozen vampires in the room all went to one knee.
"You may rise."Tanya was pleased with the gesture. Isabella had promised that they wouldn't have any problems with the vampires left in the castle but Tanya was still going to keep her guard up.
"Your majesties welcome home."Heidi greeted the group.
"Heidi is your mate alright?"Isabella asked.
"She is still in shock with all that's happened but is happy to be free."Heidi's mate had been abducted and taken prisoner to be used as leverage to make Heidi obey the kings' orders. When Isabella had approached her and explained the plan Heidi was completely on board and as soon as they got the signal had fought along side Isabella's other allies to clear the castle of all those loyal to the kings.
"We will make this quick so you can be with her."Isabella knew that Heidi wanted to spend time with her mate and wanted her friend to able to as soon as possible.
"I would appreciate that my queen."Heidi was anxious being away from her mate but wanted to know what was going to happen before she took the time to relax.
"Four steps."Rosalie said as she led Isabella up the stars to the three thrones. She stopped in front of the one Caius had used. The trio had already discussed where each of them would sit and it was decided that Tanya be the one who sat in the middle and take charge of meetings. Rosalie didn't mind because she wasn't used to speaking to others and didn't feel comfortable being the center of attention. That didn't mean that she wasn't going to speak out if she felt the need to however."You can sit."
Isabella reached behind her to feel her seat before sitting down."Thank you love."
"I know all of you would like to go about your days so we will make this short."Tanya addressed the room once Rosalie and herself took their seats."First let me personally thank all of you for your hard work over the centuries to bring us all to this point. None of this could have happened without all of the people in this room right now."
"It was our honor your majesty."Santiago said the rest of the room filled with murmurs of agreement.
"I would like to introduce you all to my sister Kate. Kate is going to be in charge of the black ops team Isabella put together to deal with less than ideal missions. Kate would you like to say anything?"Tanya asked Kate.
Kate tried to think of what would be appropriate."Only that I am excited and ready to get started and I promise that I will give it my all and that you can always count on me to have your backs."
"Perfect. Antonia would you please introduce yourself to Kate and help her with anything she needs?"Tanya knew Kate wanted to get started right away. That's why she dealt with Kate first.
Antonia bowed."Of course your majesty."
"Kate, Antonia is your new personal assistant. She will introduce you to your team and get you anything you need."Tanya was positive Kate would work well with Antonia. Isabella told her that the vampire was a former guard member who didn't like to hurt people but still wanted to help. Her being Kate assistant would give Antonia the opportunity to be involved in a peaceful way.
"Thank you."Kate said.
"I know you are excited to get started so you can are dismissed."Tanya told her.
"I'll catch up with you guys later."Even though Kate wanted to meet her team she still had things she wanted to talk to Tanya, Rosalie and Isabella about.
"We will be in meetings for the next few hours but you can interrupt if it's an emergency."Tanya didn't think Kate would come to them if it wasn't important.
"I won't bother you."Kate didn't want to get mixed up in any of the political nonsense that the new queens were going to be involved in.
"Eleazar, this is Fredrick."Tanya pointed to a smartly dressed vampire standing near the front of the room. Isabella had told her who each vampire was and what they looked like so Tanya could easily identify them."He has been assigned to be your personal assistant."
"It's nice to meet you Fredrick."Eleazar held out his hand.
Fredrick took it in his own."You as well sir."
"Please call me Eleazar."Eleazar didn't feel comfortable with someone who was going to work so closely with him being formal.
"As you wish."Fredrick replied.
"I have given Fredrick the location of all the secure archives in the castle and the keys and passcodes for each room. Including the ones hidden in the kings' secret rooms. You can start on those for now and I meet up with you later to discuss the ones that located outside the castle."It had taken Isabella centuries to find out everything about the secret archives and their security. Most of the information coming from he many discussions the kings had in front of her as they never really paid her any attention when she was in the room unless they needed her gift.
"They have locations outside the castle?"Eleazar hadn't known that. He hadn't even heard rumors of them.
"There are many. All of which you will be tasked with visiting. That will be in the future however. You need to get an overview of everything that is in the castle first before you move on to those locations."Isabella told him.
"I understand."Eleazar was saddened he wouldn't be able to see what the kings thought was important enough that they couldn't keep in the castle but understood that he needed to get some kind of inventory of everything on the grounds. He figured the secret rooms Isabella mentioned would be enough to hold him over until then.
"We know it would probably go faster if you had help but for now we want you to be the only one to look through things. The kings were known to be secretive and we want to know what they were hiding before we decide what to do with the information you find."Tanya knew that if the kings had hid things then it might not be something that the vampire public should know..
"We expect you to check in once a day to give a report on your findings. Even if what you find I mundane."Isabella told him.
"But we don't expect you to spend every minute of everyday on this. Take all the time you need and make sure you don't neglect the family or your mate while doing this."Rosalie knew that Eleazar was going to have to be ordered to take breaks because the man was known to get lost in his research.
"I'll make sure that he doesn't forget the rest of the world."Carmen wouldn't let Eleazar neglect her or the rest of the family.
"I have no doubt."Tanya knew that Carmen wouldn't let Eleazar get away with not spending time with her and the rest of the family.
"Fredrick will help you with everything you need. If he can't then you can bring the request to us and we will try to accommodate you."Isabella told him.
"Thank you."Eleazar bowed in respect.
"As for you Carmen I would like you to meet Kelly. She has a degree from a culinary institute in France and has trained under numerous Michelin star chefs. As you can tell she is human. It is up to her if she wants to tell you her story. That being said she will have two guards with her at all times for safety reasons. Kelly will be an official consultant for the castle's kitchen."Kelly had been one of the kings many human servants that had been assigned to Isabella. The woman hadn't known about vampires when she accepted the job and when she found out she was given the choice to either become a slave or die. Kelly chose to be a slave. Kelly didn't want to be a vampire and knowing this Isabella offered Kelly her freedom once the kings were dead. Kelly asked for a job in the castle instead with the promise of being able to see her family anytime she wanted.
"I'm excited to work with you."Kelly said.
"I am excited to work with you as well."Carmen was very curious why a human was living at the castle. She would have expected that the woman would have been turned or killed. Hopefully Kelly would be nice enough to explain it to her.
"Roma will be your personal assistant and will be helping you set up appointments with the architect and crews you'll need to set up the new kitchen and anything else you may need."Tanya told her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you."Roma held out her hand for Carmen to shake.
Carmen took it in her own."Thank you for your help."
"I look forward to getting started."Roma said.
"Myself as well."Carmen couldn't wait to get going on planning the kitchen and new menu.
"Now that that's taken care of why don't you all go and get aquatinted."Tanya suggested.
"We will do that."Eleazar happily followed Fredrick out of the room with Carmen, Roma and Kelly following behind them.
"We are going to meet with the Russian and Japanese royal ambassadors. All those not assigned for immediate guard duty are dismissed for now. We are going to be working on exactly what duties everyone will have over the next few days so nobody is going to be sent anywhere for at least two weeks. Take those weeks to relax and settle in to your new accommodations. If you are one of the ones that needs to travel to meet up with your mate let Heidi know. We just want to make sure we keep track of everyone incase there is some kind of attack. You all have permission to travel in groups if it makes you feel safer."Isabella didn't want to lose anyone in a random act of revenge.
"I'll be in my new quarters if anyone needs to seek me out."Heidi and the rest of the new queens' guards were given the option of new living spaces. Heidi had already picked out three rooms for her and her mate to stay in that would need to be remodeled. Heidi appreciated that Isabella was nice enough to think of the guards comfort because the former kings had them living four to eight people to a room. Even the mated couples. Heidi was expecting a large addition was going to be added to the castle to accommodate the various changes that were going to be needed just for the guards alone. Then there was the other people who lived in the castle who also given the option of having singular rooms.
"Thank you for your help Heidi and please let us know if there is anything we could do for you and Greta."Isabella told her.
"I will your majesty."Heidi bowed.
"That goes for the rest of you as well. If you need anything please come to us. Especially if it's something to do with you reuniting with your mates."Rosalie wouldn't turn anyone away if they truly needed help. She and her mates had agreed that they would have an open door policy. Not like the former kings who paid little attention to their subject's need.
"Thank you your majesties."Santiago bowed along with the rest of vampires in the room before taking his leave.
Waiting until everyone but the few guards that were assigned to guard them left Rosalie turned her attention to her mates."What exactly are we going to be talking about with the Russian and the Japanese ambassadors?"
"Even though they don't expect any gratitude or payment for their help I had Jane take the Volturi necklaces off of the three kings' bodies before they were burnt and I plan to give one to both the Russians and Japanese today and the African ambassador that is coming next week to bring Kate's mate with her for the trade."Isabella told her.
"Those are good gifts to give."Tanya thought the necklaces were a nice gesture to give their allies. Other than their crowns the necklaces were just as symbolic to the former kings.
"I agree."Rosalie was of the same thought as Tanya the necklaces would be a good gift to give their allies.
"I'll be glad when this is dealt with. Then we will finally have some time to ourselves."Isabella wanted a chance to compete their mate bond.
"That is something to look forward to."Tanya said.
"Luckily I have my own room we can use until the castle is remodeled."Isabella's mother had made sure that Isabella had her own space to include a bed when she remodeled the castle to add their wing to prepare for when Isabella finally got to the castle with her mates.
"I can't wait until we can design and finish remodeling our wing."Rosalie and Tanya had been planning on what they wanted their space to be like for decades. Isabella had said she didn't really care as long as they had room for a tv and sound system for her to listen to music, podcasts and audio books on. That and comfortable furniture. All those things that Rosalie had been wanting anyway.
"Our rooms are first priority."Isabella said.
A guard entered the room stopping further conversation."Your majesties the ambassadors are here as you requested."
"Send them in."Tanya told them. Sitting up straight in her seat Tanya made sure to project the appearance of a person of authority. She had been practicing this for centuries so that she would be ready to step into her role of queen. Looking over to Rosalie she was pleased to see her love was mimicking her actions. It was no surprise that Isabella was in the same position. The blind vampire was the epitome of royalty making everyone in the room aware that she was someone to be respected. It made Tanya wonder how the kings had overlooked Isabella all those centuries. Then again they were incredibly full of themselves and wouldn't have thought anyone would dare to go against them. It's what made killing them and turning their subjects to their side easy. Tanya shook away the thoughts. She needed to pay attention because this was their first official act as the new rulers of the European and North and South American territories. Tanya didn't want to embarrass herself or her mates. That being something Tanya would never do.