"I'm excited to meet Anne's mate."Rosalie said. She was sitting on the couch in the former kings' formal sitting room with Isabella sitting next to her and Tanya on her other side of Isabella. It was the only room that had enough furniture for everyone to sit on so that's why the new queens chose it. Not that it mattered to vampires if they had a place to sit it was just they wanted to make the meeting an informal one. Even if Anne's mate was a princess. Rosalie had heard stories about her over the years and had always wondered what she would be like in person. From the sound of it Rosalie predicted that she was going to give Anne a run for her money. That being a good thing in Rosalie's opinion as she felt her sister was a little too reserved and needed someone to push her out of her comfort zone.
"I just hope that she is good to Anne."Tanya knew from what Isabella had told her that the pair would get along just fine but as Anne's sire and older sister Tanya had an obligation to make sure.
"Haru's name means joy and from the many things I have seen regarding her I have no doubt that is going to bring a lot of joy to Anne's life."Isabella wasn't worried about Anne and Haru's relationship. The couple were a very good match and Isabella knew they would be very happy together.
"I bet that Anne is now grateful you pushed her to learn Japanese."Rosalie said.
"I think all of the family is going to be happy that I pushed for them to learn the many languages I made them learn. Well everyone but Kate."Tanya had pushed her family to learn different languages so that they would be able to fulfill their roles as royals better. The only one who didn't put in the effort was Kate because she was of the thought that the more you learned the more responsibilities you were given.
"I think Kate is going to be kicking herself for not putting in the effort to learn to write properly and learn the languages very soon. Both skills that will help her with her new job."Rosalie had a feeling Kate was going to have many regrets about not learning the many things Tanya wanted them to.
"Her mate is going to tutor her and get her ready to be the team leader."Isabella told them.
"Kate better hope that her mate is a patient woman because if not they are going to be fighting a lot."Rosalie could only imagine the headache Kate's mate was going to have trying to teach Kate anything.
"I have no doubt that Fola will keep Kate in line."The only thing that Isabella was worried about with Kate and her mate's relationship was all the repairs to the castle they were going to be making do to the pair."Though I think we should make Kate pay for all of the destruction the two cause."
Tanya winced thinking about the stories Isabella told her about."I doubt that will make them be more careful."
"If anything it will make them try and outdo themselves trying to make it cost more every time they wreck something."Rosalie could easily see Kate trying to beat her record for repair costs."That and it wouldn't really hurt Kate as she gets her money from us so we would be paying ourselves."
"We will have to come up with something."Tanya wasn't going to let Kate run wild. She was a princess that meant that she needed to follow a certain standard. Hearing a knock on the door Tanya along with Rosalie stood."Come in."
"Your majesties I present Anne, Victoria, Irina and Princess Haru Yoshinago of Japan."A female guard member announced once they entered the room.
Rosalie watched with interest as her sisters and the Princess walked into the room. The princess was on the short side with a very delicate looking body. She had soft features and skin that looked to be made of porcelain. Her red eyes stood out brightly abasing her pale skin and jet black hair that hung down to the middle of her back. Rosalie thought she was rather beautiful. Especially with the bright smile she gave Anne when she looked at her mate."Nice to meet you princess. I'm Rosalie."
"Please call me Haru."Haru didn't want to stand on formalities. Even if her parents would be appalled with the fact that she didn't insist on using titles.
"Haru it is then. I am a Tanya and this is my and Rosalie's mate Isabella."Tanya was surprised when Haru immediately rushed to Isabella and gave her a hug.
"Thank you so much for saving me."Haru would be forever grateful that Isabella was able to send the information to her parents to stop the kidnap attempt that would have led to her death.
"No one deserved to go thought what they planned for you."Isabella would have saved an enemy from the horrors that Haru would have experienced at the hands of the kidnappers.
Haru pulled out of the hug."Regardless not only I but my parents will be forever in your debt."
"There is no debt and even if there were your family has repaid it by helping us secure our thrones."Isabella told her.
"We will have to agree to disagree on this."Haru didn't think that the debt was repaid and knew that her parents didn't either.
"I want to thank you as well Isabella. Not only did you keep my mate safe but you saved myself and Victoria. If weren't for you I don't even want to imagine what our lives would have turned at to be like. So thank you."Anne had been told everything that Isabella had done to prevent she and her sister from a horrible life by Haru and Anne couldn't believe how everything would have turned out if Isabella hadn't sent Tanya to their village all those centuries ago. It made not only Anne realize but Victoria and Irina as well how much Isabella had protected them all these years. It also made them trust the vampire more as Isabella put herself at a great risk to keep them safe.
"Yeah you saved me from not only a horrible human life but you stopped me from losing my sister, a false mate bond and certain madness that led to my death without ever meeting Irina."Victoria would never be able to thank Isabella enough for all she did for her and her family.
"Now that I know the full story I also have to thank you. You not only united me with my mate but you made sure that I didn't scare her away and you kept not only her and Anne safe but the rest of the family as well. You didn't even really know us but you stepped up and I can never do enough to show you have grateful I am."Irina wouldn't ever be able to properly show her gratitude for all Isabella had done. She was proud to call Isabella a member of her family and knew with her help her sisters were going to be exceptional queens.
"You don't need to thank me. It was the right thing to do and even if it wasn't you are my mates' sisters. I would do anything for them and that means I would do anything for you."Isabella had overthrown the kings to make the world a safer place for her family. Interfering on a personal level for each of them was nothing.
Rosalie gave Isabella a kiss on the cheek."And we would do anything for you as well sweetheart."
"Why don't all of have a seat and we can get to talk about your plans for the future."Tanya suggested. She held on to Isabella's arm and guided her to sit down.
Irina took a seat in a chair with Victoria sitting on the arm of it."I think that we have been holding off planning the future until we were able to speak to the three of you."
"I'm somewhat at a loss as well. I know what will happen at home but not what will happen here."Haru knew exactly what would happen in Japan but what would go on in Italy hadn't been discussed yet.
"For you and Anne your time spend away from Japan will be yours to do with it as you like. I don't know what freedom you get from your duties at home but here you won't have to involved in any royal business unless you want to. You will also not be made to stay at the castle. If you and Anne wish to travel during your time away from Japan then we will provide your own contingent of guards to join the ones you already have to protect you."Tanya and her mates had already decided that although they were going to give their family royal titles they weren't going to make them have royal duties.
"Really we don't have to stay at the castle?"Haru was very surprised to hear that as her parents only let her leave their home on the rare occasion and usually confined her to their castle.
"Of course not. We would never force anyone to stay at the castle. All of you will have freedom to go anywhere you want and do anything you want. I would just ask that you check in so that we can keep track of you for safety reasons."Tanya and her mates were big believers in free will.
"And we would ask you to come and visit us so that we can see you because we will miss you of course."Rosalie added.
"We would miss you as well."Anne wouldn't be able to got to long without seeing her family. Luckily some of them would be able to travel with her and her mate if they decided to go on trips.
"Speaking of traveling. Do you have anything you want us to leave to take care of?"Victoria asked.
Tanya shook her head."We have so much going on with trying to find out everything the kings were involved in and trying to organize the castle that we haven't had a chance to set up diplomatic missions outside of the castle. For now everyone will have to travel here and if any do then you and Irina are more than welcome to meet them."
"Have you found out anything interesting?"Irina was excited to step in her role so that she could help out her sisters. They were new in their roles and would need to make sure that they had a presence amongst others and Irina and Victoria were going to be a big part of showing that presence.
"Other than billions of dollars in hidden money and some blackmail materials nothing that we weren't expecting."Rosalie and her mates had searched Marcus and Caius' office after Aro's and hadn't found anything that extreme. The other two kings had been stealing money just like Aro was and both had blackmail materials. They still needed to search the hard drives they found in all three of their safes but other than that all they found were property deeds and files on different businesses they owned. Plus dossiers on some high profile individuals.
"Who were they hiding the money from?"Victoria was very unsurprised to hear that the kings were hiding money. It was almost expected for them to be involved in morally questionable activities.
"Each other."Isabella told her.
"Wait they were hiding money from each other? Does that mean Marcus and Aro had been hiding money that neither of them knew about as well?"Anne asked.
"Oddly enough it seemed that Marcus was actually stealing from a few of Aro's private accounts."Rosalie had thought if anyone would have stole from the other it would be Aro stealing from Marcus not the other way around.
"Marcus was stealing from Aro? His own mate?"Haru could never imagine stealing from her mate. Even before she met Anne she was completely devoted to her and would never have done anything to hurt her. Even financially.
"They had a rather strange relationship. I personally believe that because they were so against homosexual relationships that the love they had for each other turned them bitter and made them hate their mate for making them feel the way they felt. They avoided each other if they weren't attending to their duties and when they were in private they would bicker and fight."Isabella had thought that Aro and Marcus hated each other more than they loved each other at the time of their death.
"I don't think they were always like that. I mean we found those matching rings in both Marcus' and Aro's private safes. They must of been happy at some point."Rosalie didn't think they would have exchanged rings if they didn't want to be together.
"The hatred grew throughout the centuries. As they didn't pay attention to me when I was in the room with them I was a witness to how their relationship progressed and I think that if they haven't been killed by us one of them would have killed the other eventually."Isabella had noticed the tension and anger the pair had when just exchanging greetings with each other. Them getting into a fight to the death was the only conclusion she could see their relationship could come to.
"That just shows how evil they really were."Irina would beg for death if she even accidentally hurt Victoria emotionally let alone physically. She would never be able to do either on purpose.
"I've heard stories of mates fighting but I never heard of even rumors of one being able to kill the other."Haru said.
"Did you ever meet the kings?"Anne asked her mate.
Haru shook her head."My parents didn't trust them at all. The were convinced that they would one day kidnap me to use me as leverage to get them to give them control of Japan so they never let me visit any territories ruled by the three of them."
"As that was their standard method of getting people to comply they had a reason to be concerned."Rosalie could easily see the former kings capturing the Japanese princess to force her parents to hand over their kingdom.
"How many people have you had to free?"Victoria was curious of how many people had been held hostage by the former kings.
"Hundreds around the world and we are still haven't gotten all them yet."Tanya wished that they had been able to free everyone but they hadn't gotten every location of the hostages. Isabella had found most of them but she had been pushing her gift as far as she could without getting caught ever since she was turned and didn't have time to focus just on that with everything else going on. She was planning on dedicating some time to it but she hadn't had a chance yet.
"Hundreds?!"Irina couldn't wrap her head around the kings kidnapping so many people.
"And we still don't know how many are left because not everyone has come forward yet to tell us of their loved ones being taken."That was one of the first orders of business Rosalie and her mates had done when they had taken over. They had sent messages out with their many allies that they wanted anyone who had someone taken by the kings to come to them so that they could help locate them. That way Isabella would have someone to focus her visions on.
"We all will help you in any way we can to find them."Anne offered earning murmurs of agreement from her mate and her sisters.
"We will let you know."Tanya had a feeling that they might need that help and was happy that her sisters were willing to give it."Until then we have a few things we would like you all to do while we are waiting for things to calm down enough that it will be safe for the four of you to travel."
"What would that be?"Victoria was somewhat sad that they couldn't go on any trips now that she was given permission to do so after begging Tanya to let her for so long but understood that the vampire world was in a state of upheaval and needed to settle before she and Irina could take a vacation.
"First you need to pick out a space for your wings of the castle. Then I will have the architect that we hired to help us with the remodel speak to you. The family's rooms are first priority so she will be focusing on us before the rest of the castle."Tanya didn't feel bad having their rooms taken care of first because not only did she and her mates not have a place to stay in the castle but neither did her family. Something that was needed as Tanya, Rosalie and Isabella still hadn't completed their mate bond and even though Anne and Haru sported bite marks on their necks they were still a newly mated couple and would want some privacy to physically explore the bond.
"I'm very excited to get to help design where I live."Haru was just given rooms at the castle in Japan. Her mother had modified them to add secret passages for her to escape if needed but other than Haru putting up some decorations the rooms weren't really her style.
"Me too."Irina was excited as well because based on the layout of the castle its would be like she and Victoria were getting their own apartment. She and her mate had talked about going off on their own a few times over the years but neither wanted to leave the family. Having their own wing would give them the independence they craved while still living with everyone.
"We are as well."Rosalie couldn't wait until their rooms were done. She didn't feel comfortable having sex in Isabella's current room because it wasn't soundproofed and even thought Isabella's shield could block anyone from listening Rosalie didn't want to chance it. She was actually thinking about setting them up temporarily in the kings' old quarters but she hadn't brought it up yet because there was more things to take care. Maybe she would speak to Isabella's assistant about ordering a brand new bed. One big enough for the three of them to play on.
Isabella knew exactly what Rosalie was thinking."Thomas will pick out the perfect one."
"I'll ask him then."Rosalie was pleased that her plan would work out.
"Ask him what?"Tanya asked.
"I'll tell you later."Rosalie was too shy to talk about her sex life in front of other people. Not that the rest of the family held back from talking about theirs. Well Anne hadn't had one but she was more than willing to speak about everyone else's and Rosalie had no doubt she would be learning all about Anne and Haru's bedroom activities.
"Alright."Tanya was curious but wouldn't push Rosalie if she didn't want to talk about it. Over the years she had learned that Rosalie was a very private person and if she didn't want to talk about it it meant that she wasn't comfortable speaking about whatever it was in front of other people."Anyway how about we give you guys a tour of the castle and introduce you to the people we assigned to be your personal assistants."
"We would like that."Anne wanted to see what her new home was like before she and her mate picked out where they wanted their rooms.
"It will also give us a chance to speak to your personal guard details."Tanya wanted to tell them the plan for when the mated pairs were in the castle as they wouldn't need the full contingents while staying there.
"The ones who have been guarding us are very nice and extremely respectful."Irina had been impressed with the way the guards had handled themselves. She had actually worried that they wouldn't think to kindly of her and her family because they were nobodies but she was wrong. If anything they went above and beyond to make sure everyone was safe.
"That's good to hear."Tanya said as she stood from the couch and grabbed Isabella's arm to lead her out of the room. Rosalie took the other arm and the three of them together made their way to the door walking sideways to fit with the other four members of the family following behind them. Tanya was pleased to see the guards stationed through out the hallway all very alert to their surroundings. Isabella had promised that she picked the best ones to keep the family safe and from what Tanya has seen so far they were. Not that Tanya doubted Isabella's commitment to keeping the family safe. The blind vampire's whole life had revolved around doing just that and Tanya didn't think she would be stopping herself from continuing to do so in the future. Actually Tanya knew for a fact she would. Tanya just hoped that she and Rosalie could help Isabella relax and enjoy life a little now that they were together and Isabella didn't have to do everything alone anymore. Their love had done enough to save the world now it was time for her and Rosalie to step up and take some of the load. The extra responsibility was something Tanya didn't mind taking on because she always felt bad that she couldn't do more to help Isabella and now that she got her chance she wasn't going to let Isabella down.