Aurora Borealis

by Star-Of-Radiance

Bella's 'perfect slice of forever' slowly unravels, piece by piece. Months after the confrontation during Breaking Dawn, all the devastating consequences of crimes, both forgotten and overlooked, reveal themselves, and the criminal trials and sentencing of Edward Cullen and the Volturi unfold- along with its equally devastating aftermath. Think carefully before you choose to act...

53. Buried Secrets

"Secrets have a way of making themselves felt, even before you know there's a secret."

Jean Ferris

"Labonair?" Seth blurted. Leah stood silently beside him, dark eyes wide and stunned. "Isn't that the name of the family who-" he choked.

Everybody's heads snapped towards Gabrielle's direction along with Vivian, Gabriel and James, the Luna and two Alphas of the Vermont and Appalachians packs.

The trio had been asked to join this meeting in what used to be the Cullen house.

Of course, Jacob was still upstairs. He hadn't moved since he'd woken up and learned what had happened. But he wasn't going to be disturbed thanks to Gabrielle's enchantments ensuring that their words would not be carried through. Besides, Leah and the council- although they despised keeping him locked up, especially his father- needed to be certain that Jacob would not go after Renesmee or Bella, for whatever reason, regardless.

Gabrielle sighed, wincing as James the Alpha explained the story of the Labonair family in their world. Tiffany Call's eyes practically popped out as he explained who the Labonairs were in the Wolf and overall supernatural world. But slowly, all the blood drained from her face until she turned ghostly as he explained what had happened to them- and their baby.

Gabriel nodded. James turned back towards Embry. "And this is why you must keep this a secret." he said sternly. "The fewer people who know, the better."

Embry blinked and recoiled. His mother did the same. James turned his gaze towards every person in the room. "This isn't a joke. They murdered the Labonairs," he warned "not even sparing their infant daughter. Andréa Labonair would have been sixteen if she lived long enough. Instead, they murdered her while she was still a baby," he warned darkly "just because someone got too greedy and they didn't approve of her parents opening peace talks with the vampires. They went as far as framing the vampires for the Labonairs' murders to continue the ongoing war. That's how much in danger you're in."

Tiffany's face was grey and ashen. Embry struggled to speak. "But... they got punished, right?" Seth said, pleadingly. Casting his gaze towards Gabrielle, he continued, "That's what you said: the conspirators along with the entire pack were punished for letting it happen, and the guy who murdered the Labonairs was killed."

"Doesn't matter," Gabriel stated grimly. "Now that the Crescent Pack is weakened, the Labonairs are out and the Kenners are in disgrace as well as cursed, other Wolf packs have started to move in. Some are of the same species, others are different, but most of them have taken over what used to be Crescent pack territory. You're Wolf royalty, Embry." He stated sternly. "Like it or not, believe it or not, your descendants have a claim to the Labonair family wealth, land and power."

Gabrielle nodded, looking at Embry. "You may not possess the active and dominant Alpha gene," she warned "but you are more than likely a carrier. And someday, perhaps your descendants will be Alphas."

"And we don't know what the current stance of the vampire coven and the witches in New Orleans have if some members of the family emerged and made themselves known." Vivian pointed darkly. "They may have not wanted the Labonair family taken out, and being framed for their murders while just beginning peace talks and having Dumas and the Kenners in charge certainly didn't benefit them in any way, yet they still likely gained more than they lost after the Crescent Pack was weakened and essentially taken out by that curse. The other Wolves refusing to support the Crescents after what they did or allowed to do, also helped."

"Meaning that the vampire coven and the witches in New Orleans along with the Wolf packs there who have started to move in, or just their Alphas and their most loyal supporters, and the enemies of the Labonair family like the Kenners are more than likely to hunt and take you out if they so much as hear a whisper that another Labonair lives up north." James stated. "Them wanting what the Labonairs and the Crescents used to have and you being Wolf royalty makes your very existence- and the existence of any potential descendants you can still have in the future- a very real threat to their respective claim and ambitions. You might not be an Alpha, Embry, but you can produce another Alpha."

Embry shook his head, feeling dizzy. "But I'm... I'm not... My parents aren't marri-"

"Doesn't matter," Vivian stated grimly, echoing her husband's words. "Alpha dynasties don't work that way; our world doesn't have the same inheritance laws as humans. You are Wolf royalty, Embry. Regardless if your mother and her family are humans, or whether your parents were married or in a committed relationship, you are a Labonair. Even if you don't carry the name. That makes you a very serious and real threat to the Alphas and the packs who want to gain the power, land and money the Labonairs used to have."

"Which is why it's best if this information is kept a strictly guarded secret." Gabrielle warned. He looked straight at Embry and his mother.

"No one must know that you are a Labonair."

"She's right." James stated grimly. He and Gabriel exchanged dark looks. Gabrielle eyed both Embry and his mother with sympathy. They had absolutely no idea of what they had gotten into. "You're Wolf royalty, Embry. And as far as we know, you are the last surviving member of the Labonair family. That makes your very existence, and those of your children, grandchildren and all the descendants that you may have, a threat to all the rival factions and the enemies that the Labonairs had."

"Yeah, rising to and accumulating that much wealth, land and power is bound to make more than a few enemies," Vivian agreed "and once the Labonairs, particularly Andrew and Victoria, the Alpha and Luna, and their baby daughter Andréa were taken out, every scavenger came to feast on the carcasses. And they're more than willing to fight over it, like jackals." She scoffed. "Not real Wolves."

"Even any mate you may have, once and after you have imprinted, or even a single one-night stand or casual fling may be in danger if this means they have a chance of continuing the Labonair bloodline," Gabrielle said softly.

Seth looked sick. Embry's russet skin had grown as pale, almost like milk, and he clutched the tabletop in an attempt to keep himself from falling even though he was sitting down. He was also trembling. Tiffany was shaking wildly, realising just how much danger her son was in.

Billy, Sue and Old Quil were staring at the Calls. Billy looked aghast and upset. Sue was horrified and Old Quil was grim and silent.

Embry's head lowered. His hands covered his face. "So what do I do?" He asked, pleadingly. His head shot back up as he looked at everyone in the room.

"What if I contact those guys?" He asked desperately. "Tell them I don't mean harm or anything-" Vivian and Gabriel looked at each other. James was grim. Embry continued desperately. "I don't want any money- they can have whatever they want!"

James shook his head, as did Gabriel. "It won't matter," he said quietly "they'll still see you as a threat." His eyes softened in sympathy as he looked at Embry and his mother. "I'm sorry. But if you so much as try to contact them, you'll instead send them all the way after you and your mother here- and anyone who stands in their way."

Embry shot to his feet. "What if I-" he swallowed and wet his lips. His mouth felt dry. "What if I leave this place- if they try to find and harm anyone-"

"Embry!" Tiffany barked. "You are not going anywhere, you understand?"

She felt sick, and was trembling wildly, but her son's declaration and impending recklessness brought Tiffany back to her senses.

Billy wheeled himself forwards. "She's right." He said sternly. "Embry, no one knows you're a member of that family outside of this room. And we'll keep it that way."

Embry opened his mouth to object, but Billy cut him off. "No one in Sam's pack knows. And your pack only has a handful of members right now. We might not be able to stop the rest of them from finding out, especially if more phase and join your pack, but the Alpha-" his eyes went to Leah "-or in this case, the Luna, can command them to keep silent."

"That's true." Leah straightened and stepped forwards. "No one has to know. And you and your mother stand a better chance at keeping safe and staying hidden in La Push."

Gabrielle's brow was furrowing, in the meantime.

"But the fact that he is a Labonair means that he carries the Alpha gene," she murmured "and it stands a reasonable chance at awakening in at least one of his descendants someday. I don't know how you intend to cover that up," she warned "especially now that you've not only been exposed to the other Wolf species, you've grown so numerous you've split into two packs and are rapidly evolving in every single way. Soon, I suspect future generations will begin to phase much earlier than the age that your generation did." She nodded to the Quileute Wolves. "And even before they do, as infants like the Wolf-babies in the playpen that I saw who interacted with the Alpha-child, they could react to the presence of one of Embry's descendants if they are born Alphas. It's a sure sign, especially once they all phase, the others will start gravitating around the Alpha or Luna child, protecting them, even taking suggestions from them as if they were Alpha orders. That's the sure sign of a born-Alpha, or at least one who was born to a species who have evolved far enough." she amended.

"Eventually at some point, people are going to find out."

Slowly, everyone looked at one another.

Embry swallowed. His mom was still shaking like a leaf.

"It might help if we know exactly who Embry's father was and how closely related he was to the nearest Alpha in the Labonair family." Gabrielle suggested. "That way we might be able to predict when and in which generation the Alpha gene can fully awaken again."

Embry took a shuddering breath. Everyone looked at Tiffany.

Tiffany's brow creased in worry. Her hands worked themselves making invisible knots.

Gabrielle looked pointedly at James, Gabriel and Vivian. "You know the members of the family better than I do," she pointed. "Which of them could possibly have been Embry's father?

James exhaled deeply. Gabriel looked troubled.

"I don't think it's Andrew," the latter murmured "that's the Alpha. He was happily married to Victoria for quite some time before having Andréa. I know he had brothers and cousins... it wasn't a small family, but it wasn't a large one either."

"It could be Cyrus, Andrew's brother," James suggested. "Or Craig."

"Or Louis or Calvin," Gabriel responded.

Tiffany frowned. "I don't think that's his name." From the brief period of time that Embry's father's true name had been displayed before he'd snatched that apparently significant piece of paper away, Tiffany found that while his surname looked, and sounded, French his first name was definitely not.

"I think he was like us," she said slowly, hesitantly "indigenous. I couldn't pronounce or get a good look at his name because it wasn't Quileute or Makah or any other name from a language I recongised, but I saw his surname. It was definitely Labonair." She sighed, exhaustedly. "Him using a pseudonym apparently meant he was on the run from something. I assumed he was some sort of criminal. That's why I never looked for him after I'd found out."

James frowned. "Well how did you meet him? And how did you know his surname was Labonair if he was using a pseudonym?"

Tiffany sighed again. Her shoulders slumped. Her face was a mask of misery. Gabrielle understood full well: she had stepped into a world of fantasy and legend but also horrors and nightmare, especially for any parent.

"I was young," she confessed, after while "and like I said, I didn't have a happy home life. My parents..." she faltered, but forced herself to continue. Her face bore complete and utter shame. "My parents constantly argued, but they were also hardly at home. I don't mean they were working," she said quickly, seeing the look on her son's face. Tiffany scoffed. "If they'd been working I might've respected them more for trying to put food on the table for the whole family's sake. But no, they were out drinking, doing drugs..." she sighed "Hanging around with other folks. Sometimes, they even did it at our back yard. My parents would fight with each other; they both constantly cheated but were equally paranoid about the other cheating. My father was violent. He would beat my mother up. My mother wasn't so great either; she was obsessed with keeping him- or later on, after he left- and he did leave, eventually, we never saw him again- she was obsessed with keeping whatever boyfriend she had at the current moment satisfied and happy and not leave, so he could stay with her. My brother and I were a second thought or an afterthought in her head. We were never one of her priorities.

"Growing up, we only had my grandma to rely on," Tiffany confessed. "She was the only one who could make the whole crowd of druggies and alcoholics, gangsters and all, scatter whenever she appeared and even my mother was afraid when she saw her. I would run to my grandmother's house or she would come and take us to her place. But then, one day she had a stroke and that was it. We were alone in the world. We tried to survive on our own, but it soon became unbearable. Our mother... I think her heart was in the right place, and she knew what she was doing was wrong. She was ashamed of herself, always said we deserved better than her, but she never did anything. At one point, my brother said something, stood up to my mother and her boyfriend, and he beat him with a belt. Afterwards, he said he wasn't staying any longer. I... tried to reason with him." She sighed again. Tears filled her eyes.

"But he left anyway. Afterwards, I saw no reason to stay either. We all knew we couldn't stay. So I ran. I was old enough; close to eighteen. I saved up whatever money, and I paid my mother and her asshole boyfriend back by stealing some of theirs." She laughed harshly. "I hitchhiked but mostly I walked interstate. I didn't trust anybody; my parents taught me that." She noted grimly.

"I got work, in a bar in a small town in Idaho, near the border of Montana." She confessed. "And one night, he walked in. We hit things off. He seemed so... nice. Wasn't a sleazebag or anything. Stood up for me to some drunken alcoholics, and that was it. We hit things off.

"He told me his name was Benjamin Woods, or just Ben. We started hanging out after I had my shift. Then..." she sighed. "It happened. But one morning, I saw his backpack, just lying around. I didn't understand why he would put it like he'd crammed it inside a closet. It was clearly full of stuff. That's when I saw several things. Forged IDs, birth certificates and drivers' licenses, all of them with a different name but the same photo: his photo. I knew he was lying about his identity. But I also saw a handwritten note. It looked like something personal, from a family member. Someone named Andrew." She sighed wearily, rubbing her eyes as she looked at the Alphas and Luna of Vermont and the Appalachians. "I guess it was the same guy as the Alpha, huh?"

James frowned thoughtfully and exchanged dark glances with Gabriel. "Go on," Vivian urged her gently.

"I couldn't pronounce his first name on the letter, and I think it was addressed to him, he wasn't a courier or anything. His name wasn't Makah or Quileute, but it was clearly indigenous. The surname was Labonair. The guy who wrote the letter, Andrew, said he couldn't keep running forever, and he wanted him to come home. Said it was over now, the conflict. They were starting peace talks. He and his wife were trying for a baby, and this time it looked like it might work. He could come home to Louisiana; he wanted his family back together. A few idiots were still trying to continue the conflict, but everyone was getting tired of all the fighting." She winced. "I thought he was part of a gang or a mafia. That would explain why he had a pseudonym and lied about who he was."

Gabriel's eyes were wide with realisation, and so were James'. Vivian's eyes betrayed her shock. They all looked grim. Now, everyone understood.

"But..." Embry managed. He stared back and forth between his mother and the Alphas. "What did you do? When you found the letter-"

Tiffany looked ashamed. "I confronted him." She confessed. "Even though I'd passed my eighteenth birthday at that point I'd ran away before I was of age. Yet I was still upset at being lied to and potentially dragged into a mob or gang war of some kind. Besides, I was sick of trusting people only to have my hopes dashed, always hoping that someday my parents would realise the kind of people they were and try to do better with me and my brother. I didn't want that anymore. He pleaded, but I left." She bowed her head. "I'm not sure I can forgive myself for that. I didn't even try to hear him out."

Vivian shook her head. "If you'd been betrayed so many times, that was understandable; anyone would've done the same. Besides, wouldn't you have freaked out and rejected him anyway if he'd showed you who or what he was?" She asked gently. "Back when you were young and you'd never seen the supernatural before, let alone had a son who was a part of it? I know my ex-boyfriend did. We were sixteen, just a little younger than you were when I'd revealed myself and he freaked and flat-out rejected me. He even set out to kill me at one point." Leah started a little, while Gabriel's eyes on his otherwise friendly face darkened.

She sighed. "Took me some time to come to terms with what he did, and while I still don't condone many of his actions- well, the attempt to kill me was somewhat justified: some crazy bitch went around killing random humans and trying to pin the blame on me because she held a grudge, and Aiden thought it was me. But even before all that, he went around spreading rumours and lies about me, saying I was too clingy and that's why he dumped me and shacked up with Kelly, this Goth girl." Vivian shook her head. "That was inexcusable and cowardly. But him being afraid and struggling to adjust to the reality of the world he'd lived in..." She sighed. "I suppose I can't blame him too much in the end."

"I know I could," Gabriel muttered. His wife waved a hand. "Off-topic. So, when you left, you never saw him again?"

Tiffany shook her head regretfully. "Never. I stayed away, refused to answer his calls. Then when I learned I was pregnant, I knew I couldn't rely on him and my baby and I wouldn't be safe with him, wherever he was. Strangely enough, the pregnancy gave me some sort of strength. I went back home, but my mother..." She sighed again. "I did know she wouldn't want another burden like me or my brother who also never came home, especially since I wasn't married and gave up my chance to be with a man, so I didn't ask her for help. But the rest of my surviving family saw me as useless, selfish and irresponsible; another lost cause like her. They didn't want to help me." She grimaced. "So I made arrangements to move to La Push, the place where my grandmother had spent her summers and which she told me about. I kept silent on the identity of Embry's father... until today."

She looked down at her lap. "Are they really all dead?" She asked, almost pleadingly.

Gabriel and Vivian looked at each other. James looked sympathetic but grim. "It's more than likely," he stated softly "Richard Xavier Dumas and his fellow insurgents made certain of that. Not that we will know, now. The curse keeps the remaining members of the Crescent pack in their Wolf forms unless it's the full moon, the opposite of Lycanthropy, meant to mock them. And even when they're back to their human forms, regardless of whether you are a Wolf, a vampire or a witch, your life would be forfeit if you are so much as seen hanging anywhere near the remaining members of that pack. Any Crescent Wolf is killed on sight whenever they're spotted by the others, and if a vampire or a witch decides to kill them, the rest of our kind couldn't care less." He frowned.

"Even the innocent?" Sue's voice cracked. "The children..."

"There weren't a lot of children at that point," James said painfully. "With the exception of Jackson Kenner, Dumas' grandson."

"The baby who his grandfather wanted to become Alpha," Leah remembered. James nodded.

"And Andréa," Gabriel pointed. "In times of war, Wolves take special measures to keep future generations safe. Even if it means we have to send them away, and they grow and end up joining other packs and marrying into them, even if they're from entirely different species. So towards the end, the pair were the only two children kept with their parents in New Orleans, and only because they had been born recently and Jackson's grandfather, that dickhead Dumas, not only hoped that his grandson would be named the future Alpha, he planned to use Jackson to gain power once the Labonairs were safely out and the vampires were framed for their murder and violating the truce."

"So there could be other members of the Labonair family that are still alive?" Gabrielle asked, suddenly. "Like children who were spared or escaped?"

Gabriel and James looked at one another. "If they had, none of them have ever stepped up," James admitted hesitantly. "It could be for the same reasons we're asking you to stay silent on your paternity: for safety. Regardless of whether they're Wolves, vampires, or witches, people were jealous of the Labonair family's fortune, power and status. And Dumas wasn't the only opportunist out there. It's probably best no one- if there are any survivors- ever came forwards."

Gabriel was frowning, however. "I remember something, though." He said slowly. "I heard a rumour that the members of the ruling family of the Crescent pack had a birthmark on their right shoulder: it's shaped like a crescent moon."

Everyone turned to Embry. He blinked. "I..." but Tiffany's eyes went wide. "Mom- what-"

"It would be small, only large enough if you're a born Alpha or Luna." James explained slowly. Embry's eyes went wide and his mother gasped.

Slowly, he turned around and peeled off his shirt.

There. It was barely noticeable but to inhuman or partially-human beings with supernatural senses, but it was definitely there. A small slightly darkened patch of skin where his shoulder met his neck, shaped almost like a fish hook: and in the middle of it, a lighter patch shaped like a crescent moon.

"Well, that certainly confirms everything." Gabrielle said grimly.

"You are a Labonair."

For a moment, no one spoke.

Seth shared an uneasy look with Quil and Leah. Sue pursed her lips, her brow furrowed.

Tiffany was shaking. She had to sit down and Sue came behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. Billy looked worried and Old Quil saddened.

Gabrielle spoke again. "There are at least three species of Loup-Garou that I can identify as being a part of your genetic makeup. While a part of your DNA, undoubtedly inherited from your maternal great-grandmother-" she nodded briefly in Tiffany's direction "-is the gene that is carried by the Quileute Wolves who are Taha Aki's descendants, there are at least two others. One of them is from your species." She nodded to James. "The other is unidentified, but I can only estimate that this comes from the Crescent Pack and its ruling family, because that part carries the Alpha gene."

She fixed her gaze onto Embry. "It's undeniable. The Alpha gene is in your DNA. It might be dormant, but eventually it could wake. Not inside you, but within your descendants."

No one spoke. Tiffany was still trembling like a leaf.

Embry took a shaky breath. "How far to go?"

Gabrielle shook her head. "Three to four generations at least, quite possibly five, but you might not be alive when that happens." She said quietly. "If it's any consolation. We just have to make sure they're ready when the time finally comes."

Embry let out a bitter laugh. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

Gabrielle sighed. "The Alpha gene hasn't awoken in its dominant form within you. It's more likely that while it reacted to the presence of other Wolf species' strains within you, it isn't dominant. That means we still have time." She looked at Embry pointedly. "And I can promise on my magic not to tell anyone about this willingly, and to take steps to make sure that no one finds out without or against my consent either." She looked to the two Alphas and the Luna of the Vermont Pack.

"We can swear as your allies to keep our silence and never speak about this matter," James said quietly. Both Gabriel and Vivian nodded beside him. "Not even our staff and closest companions will know. Or our families."

Leah's brow furrowed. "How does that work? Aren't you guys telepathically linked?" Then a thought occurred to her. "Or is it just us?"

Both James and Gabriel frowned thoughtfully. "It's more complicated than that," James admitted. "For example, I do have a mind-link with my pack members, not just in our Wolf forms but I could- if I wanted- contact any of them telepathically right now, so long as we aren't more than fifty miles away from each other, give or take."

The Quileutes' eyes widened. As did Tiffany's. Leah realised they hadn't yet told her that the pack-members were telepathically linked to each other.

"I can send them my thoughts and such, but I don't have to," James further explained. "I'm not communicating with or telepathically linked them to them constantly, non-stop, and they only hear or see what I want to send to them. Same goes for them. No one's breaching anyone's privacy or seeing and hearing things that they shouldn't. And even if they do- there are slip-ups even with humans who're just talking- I can simply order them not to repeat this to anyone in any way or capacity." He nodded firmly.

"It's not going to be a problem for us," Gabriel was frowning but for an entirely different reason. "We're not as... communicative with each other as you can say. "We don't exactly speak to each other or send thoughts and memories telepathically, but for some strange reason, our species are able to understand each other as well as if we're talking in our human forms."

"We can't exactly explain it," Vivian admitted "the movements of our ears and whiskers; the way our eyes flash, widen or narrow, and move; the way we curl our lips... it's all a part of our language, and to us when we're in our Wolf forms or even in our human ones, it's as eloquent as if we're speaking verbally. But we don't communicate telepathically with anyone." She assured them.

Billy's eyes were wide, same as Sue, Old Quil, Leah, Seth, Quil and Embry. Even Tiffany looked impressed, if only a slight bit confused.

Gabrielle, meanwhile, was furrowing her brow. "There are still some things I don't understand," she said quietly "while I have no doubt that you're all from the same kind, especially since you not only are unable to reproduce by infecting others but use the Pull to find your best chances of mating with someone-" the Quileutes winced "-no matter the differences in how you all feel the Pull." She looked to the Quileutes, in particular, their Council of Elders.

"You said your ancestor was Taha Aki and he lived merely centuries ago as opposed to the more obscure and distant beginnings of all the others," Gabrielle said slowly "no matter the variations in regional and ancestral stories, not to mention folklore. But that doesn't make sense if you're from the same kind as all the others, and everything else seems to prove it: imprinting, the telepathic connection... and you say that Taha Aki was the first to phase only centuries ago. When was he even born?"

Billy frowned thoughtfully. "Around the thirteenth century." The two Alphas looked at each other.

"And his parents..." Gabrielle trailed off meaningfully. Billy and Old Quil shook their heads.

"No one phased before him." Old Quil was the one who spoke. "Even though some of our stories claim that the first Quileutes were initially Wolves who transformed into humans."

Gabrielle's eyes widened, as did Vivian's. "What?"

"All species and packs, no matter where they're from, have the same or similar origins in the stories," Gabriel explained "while others do claim that our origins may be more inclined to the scientific rather than the mythical, saying that our ancestors were some form of early canine that absorbed protean matter from a meteorite, there are many more who believe and have always believed that our ancestors were a group of early human hunter-gatherers who were granted a gift by the Moon goddess to become as we were. It's not the same but..."

"They mirror each other." Vivian breathed.

Gabrielle nodded. "Yes. So whatever the truth about the origins of all Loup-Garoux, it's more than likely that you are all the same kind, simply having evolved." She nodded to Gabriel and Vivian. "Your species came into fruition when the pack from France that also fled New Orleans came into contact with a pack from a different species from Germany who also fled Pennsylvania, and they decided to stick together and form one pack."

Gabriel and Vivian nodded. "I'm starting to think that Taha Aki... well," she looked uneasily at the Quileutes. "I don't mean to dispute your word and the accounts of your ancestors, but is it possible that Taha Aki phased after something inside of him remembered his origins? If you have different origin stories and accounts, but they all feature your ancestors being Wolves, then perhaps his genes may have re-emerged or something and that was what triggered his ability to phase. Was it possible that the ability was simply dormant within him, waiting for the right time to emerge?"

The council all looked at each other.

"The stories say that Taha Aki was a spirit warrior before he entered the body of a wolf and asked to share it," Billy said slowly

"But oral history is not only as likely to change as a game of Chinese Whispers," Leah insisted "and it's also possible that later generations may have exaggerated or misunderstood the original words. After all, languages change, right? We're speaking English now, but the Quileute that Taha Aki would've spoken to his children- even that changed after a while. He was born during the thirteenth century and lived for two more. Who's to say that his descendants and the rest of the tribe understood every single thing he was saying, or they adapted. Maybe even the ones who retold the story after he was gone didn't completely understand everything he'd said."

Billy was frowning. "It's possible." he confessed. "Though I hate to admit..."

"Astral-Projection isn't a common trait in Wolves," Gabrielle confessed "and I don't see a logical reason as to why any carriers of the latent gene should have it either. But is it possible..." Her eyes widened.

"What?" Vivian asked.

"In the Wizarding World," Gabrielle said slowly, her eyes fixed on the Quileutes while also seeming thoughtful, "the tribes separated from each other, long before the event known as the Trail of Tears." The Council of Elders and Tiffany- who was still confused- all winced, as did Leah, Quil, Seth and Embry. Even James, Gabriel and Vivian who had heard about the event. "Wizards and witches in Europe, Asia and Africa were all aware of them and the existence of the Americas, same as the tribes here, long before Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors were even born. When the International Statute of Magical Secrecy was announced, there were those who may have been reluctant to leave their friends and family behind, but ultimately saw the reasoning behind the separation of both the magical and non-magical worlds. Entire tribes, ethnic and cultural groups, and even nations split in half; the entire human world was divided between the magical and non-magical. It was as if time seemed to have stopped or regressed in some cases- or progressed. Some countries like Transylvania, Alaska and Hawaii were never absorbed by larger nations; others such as Ireland suddenly became independent despite their country already having been under the control of the non-magical rulers of another like England; Scotland and Wales were all officially a part of Britain, in the meanwhile, which puts them under the jurisdiction of the British Ministry of Magic unlike Ireland. But Poland was never absorbed by Germany, Austria or Russia; and Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, despite having relatively small non-magical populations in each, not only possess reasonably large magical enclaves but have a significant amount of influence in the magical world...

"In South America, there were Indigenous Mayan, Aztec, Incan and other Mesoamerican peoples who separated themselves from their non-magical brethren and formed their own hidden civilisations and communities," she stated dryly "so despite dropping human sacrifice and superstition, they were never colonised and their cities, languages, culture and way of life still stands. If they hadn't dropped human sacrifice and all that, they would have received no help from the rest of the worldwide magical community and been left at the mercy of the European conquistadors and colonisers, but while they discarded some cultural traits and adopted others from foreign influences, they are still the same and they remain largely unchanged. Here in North America, indigenous or First Nations peoples split in half around the same time. That's why in the non-magical world some tribes like the Pocomtuc no longer exists, having mostly died out or were absorbed into much larger tribes, whereas in the magical world the Pocoumtuc tribe still exists and their territory, jurisdiction, laws and language, despite having adapted and been influenced by outsiders such as the Europeans to some extent, are legally recognised by MACUSA, same as all the others. Adsila whom you've met, her father and great-grandfather were each titled sâchim and were the head of their government in Rhode Island during certain times. Her father's family were among the first pupils who accepted the invitation to study at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which was founded by an Irish witch and her non-magical English-born husband.

"Unlike MACUSA, I know the federal United States government in Washington D.C, or at least previous administrations, didn't exactly treat you or your ancestors as equals," Gabrielle said dryly. "But the concept of racism is rather alien in magical society. Speciesm- oh yes. Prejudice against part-humans, like myself, or non-humans and even those who have non-magical human blood. But darker skin, different languages... well most witches and wizards have never even heard of such a thing as racism. At least one dark-skinned girl that I've met was surprised and when someone explained, she was stunned and thought that this meant that people who looked like her were not considered welcome by every non-magical in their world."

Privately, Leah and many others in the room thought that those witches and wizards were a very lucky bunch. But before she could comment, Gabrielle continued, "But my point is, I'm quite surprised that there was never a Quileute tribe listed in MACUSA's archives. Nor did any of the other tribes, like Adsila's family both Cherokee and Narragansett, ever mention there having been one within the magical world. I mean, Astral-Projection isn't a common power among witches and wizards, but it's possible and there have been a few rare cases. On the other hand, I've never heard of it in Wolves." She cast a glance towards James, Gabriel and Vivian.

"So how did that happen?" She asked quietly. "How is it that some stories claim that Taha Aki was the first one to phase into a Wolf and back into his human form, and others that the first Quileutes were Wolves who were changed into humans? How is it that you are so obviously similar to other Loup-Garou species and are clearly different species of the same kind but some of your ancestors were able to possess other magical abilities? Yet none of you were ever mentioned in the oral and written accounts of the other magical tribes, the European witches and wizards who came alongside the non-magical settlers, nor was MACUSA aware of your existence until recently?"

"MACUSA wasn't aware of our existence- the existence of the whole of our kind until recently," Vivian pointed "and only after you ensured that we would be treated as independent entities and equals."

Gabrielle nodded tightly. "Yes. Having read about the history of countless indigenous peoples, and growing up and having family who were not human and were treated terribly made me wary of alerting MACUSA until I was certain. You didn't know what it was like back even not-so-far back as the nineties. Maybe Britain's Ministry of Magic was unusually corrupt by the standards of the rest of the magical world at that time, or maybe it was just due to the remaining supporters of Voldemort and their ideology, but while I knew that wizard-kind would bump into yours sooner or later, I had to first make certain that you would not suffer what your ancestors did at the hands of the United States government and previous administrations. It made me sick. But if your ancestors were capable of Astral-Projection, then someone from the outside world should've known."

Slowly, Sue shook her head. "I don't think so," she admitted "Apart from possibly the Makah tribe during Taha Aki's time."

"W- what?" Tiffany breathed. "But they never said-" Sue was shaking her head.

"They agreed to keep silent." she explained. "As part of the agreement. The Hohs and the Makahs were uneasy and suspicious at the Quileutes' supernatural abilities. They even grew frightened. So they made treaties with Taha Aki and his people to live in peace with our ancestors and kept as far away from them as possible. They wouldn't have told the white settlers or the federal government."

"By the time there was a federal government, the Hohs and the Makahs who did remember that the Quileutes could turn into Wolves and separate their spirits from their bodies had long since passed," Billy pointed. "Later generations would have discarded those stories as being myth and legend, even if their ancestors passed it down to them." He looked at Tiffany.

She shook her head. "I never heard anything."

Billy looked back at his fellow elders and shrugged. Gabrielle frowned thoughtfully. "I'll have to check whether the Makahs and the Hohs were mentioned and ever included any witches and wizards," she said thoughtfully. "But something is up. I'm not sure what it is. There's too many gaping holes in all of this. Yet at the same time, there's too many interconnecting dots going going around the place. Too many times have we put two and two together to make four. Yet while the Quileute Wolves' isolation from even the rest of their kind and the International Statute of Secrecy having forced us to withdraw from the non-magical world and even other species of witches and wizards- yes, there are other species of mages out there- and that may be a reason why our paths have never crossed until recently, there are still too many unanswered questions."

"That may be a reason," Vivian pointed. "If your species of mage hadn't came into contact with the others of your kind until recently, those who don't have as many members enough to form their own separate societies, countries-within-countries so to speak, and they remained in the human- I mean, non-magical world, that's a good reason why not only our paths have never crossed, but why you've never met other witches and wizards until you went to Louisiana."

Gabrielle grimaced. "Yes. But that still doesn't answer our initial questions about the Quileutes' Astral-Projection abilities and what they actually were if they were witches or wizards of any species, or whether Taha Aki was the very first to phase or simply the first in a long time. If your kind had emerged during or before the planet's plate-tectonics had shifted into the landmasses we have today, it is possible that the explanation as to how they came to be Wolves is because the hunter-gatherers who suddenly developed the ability to turn into Wolves or the former canines who absorbed protean matter and turned human arrived alongside with the first humans on the landmass which would become North America." She looked at Vivian.

"For the longest period of time, you assumed that Wolf-kind and human-kind can't reproduce and have offspring together." Gabrielle pointed. "But while your species are unable, the rest..." She looked pointedly at Tiffany, the human mother of Embry "are a different matter. But while that may explain how and why Wolves ended up in the Quileutes' gene pool, it does not explain my earlier question about Astral-Projection and what the rest of the Quileutes are. Because the only Wolves today are the descendants of Taha Aki. Yet he was the leader of the Spirit Warriors, and they weren't all necessarily members of his own family."

Billy and Old Quil slowly shook their heads and stared at each other astonished. Sue's eyes went wide.

Gabrielle nodded grimly. "Too many unanswered questions." She confirmed flatly. "And in this day and age, even long-buried secrets have a tendency to come to light. The real question is whether or not someone benevolent, like yourselves, would uncover the secrets first... or will it be someone else? Someone with nefarious intentions?"

That was rather unnerving.

"Wait, didn't you say that Embry's father said that the letter sent to him was by Andrew?" Vivian said suddenly, remembering. "And he called him his cousin?"

Tiffany stared, wide-eyed at Vivian. "Yeah. Yeah, he did. He said it was from his cousin Andrew."

"Andrew only had one brother, Cyrus." James reminded. "Craig and Louis were his cousins. Calvin was like a second cousin or something. But he had more."

Leah blinked. "You knew the family?" James' face darkened.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. I met them back when my grandfather was still alive and the acting Alpha of the pack. We sought an alliance with the Crescents, so we went to New Orleans. Of course, it didn't go anywhere, considering the Labonairs were killed not long after and the rest of the pack got cursed. I remember Andrew and Victoria introducing their baby daughter." James' face grew saddened. "Andréa. She was just a newborn. What happened to her was beyond horrible. But I also remember that while we were making introductions, just before we started to discuss business, Andrew did mention he had a cousin who was away, but he returned a day or two after while we were still there. I also remember that at least a few members of his family were indigenous. A few uncles and aunts. Andrew himself wasn't just French or European in origin, he was one-quarter Cherokee."

Gabrielle was frowning. "If there ever were Cherokee who were Wolves, then MACUSA would've known about it, surely. The Cherokee and the other magical tribes are counted among the founders of Magical America. Even though MACUSA stands for the Magical Congress of the United States of America, that name came from a seer of the Cherokee tribe who made some kind of prophecy. In reality, MACUSA was founded roughly a century before the No-Maj colonists declared their independence from Great Britain. But the Cherokee- or at least members of that tribe- among many others played a vital role in its formation, same as the wizards and witches who fled for the purpose of hiding from the non-magical witch-hunters in Europe. Although they are a largely autonomous tribe- they have the same kind of federal power as a state governor and his administrator in No-Maj America. But it is possible that they would have known about the existence of other magical beings, as they were famously incredibly tight-lipped when questioned about their Nunnehi allies and the Thunderers who once inhabited the area and were rumoured to have had contact with the tribe."

"So your friend Adsila won't or can't help us?" Leah asked, remembering how she overheard the conversation between Adsila and Gabrielle; and how uneasy Adsila seemed when she learned that the magic Gabrielle used to reverse or properly sever the connection between the imprint-couples were faerie not witch.

"I'm sure she could and she would be willing to help you, though only if you promise not to let the tribe's secrets leak, but she could only do so to an extent," Gabrielle said dryly. "The magical Cherokee broke apart from their non-magical brethren a long time ago. They may have said goodbye to not just the No-Majs but other magical beings too. Even in the non-magical United States, the Cherokee is one of the largest tribes, if not the largest. The wizards and witches understood that to survive in an ever-changing world, they would need to stick together, regardless of any ethnic, national, cultural and even gender differences. The only prejudice bigots could consequently be able to afford to even have was towards those of a non-magical background." And women, although even that had always been rare among bigots.

Gabrielle addressed, James, frowning. "Did Andrew tell you the name of his cousins? Which ones were Native?"

James frowned. "I don't remember all of them. There were many Cherokee or other tribal names that I couldn't pronounce. I remember there was someone called Atsadi. And Waya. Atsadi's brother who came back was called Awenasa-" he halted when Tiffany froze.

"Is that it?" James asked hesitantly.

Tiffany's breath hitched. "It started with a capital A... and before he snatched the letter I saw it was next to a w and an e..."

Embry's own breath hitched. He inhaled sharply. Almost unknowingly he clutched at the table beside him.

"What do you remember about him?" James hesitated.

"I remember he was..." But then Gabrielle straightened and shook her head.

"There's a way to confirm things," she said "you might not be able to do a mind-link with me or Tiffany, but with your permission, I could use Legilimency to view those memories and then show it to her." She looked at Tiffany. "And you can confirm whether or not it's the same person."

Tiffany looked at James. Hesitantly, James nodded. "If you're sure."

Gabrielle stood and breathed deeply, but kept her eyes trained on the Alpha. "Just look into my eyes. It should be brief. It was late 1991, wasn't it?"

James nodded. "Yeah. They were still having conflict with the vampires and wanted an alliance, but we weren't sure."

"Okay then." Gabrielle then stared deep into James' eyes, pointed her wand at him and murmured, "Legilimens."

For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Gabrielle broke eye contact. James blinked and all seemed back to normal.

"And now I have to show those memories telepathically to you," Gabrielle informed Tiffany who seemed hesitant. "Are you ready?" Tiffany nervously nodded, but appeared determined. "I'm ready."

Gabrielle then opened her mind and allowed the images to pour through.

After a while Tiffany's eyes widened. She gasped, clutching the side of the table and nearly leaned forwards, overwhelmed and overcome with shock at seeing the face of the man who had fathered her son. The man whom she would have had a future at some point. "That's it! That's him!"

"Awenasa Labonair." Gabrielle murmured, confirming to the others as she withdrew from Tiffany's mind. She turned to face the others, fixing her gaze sadly at Embry. "That's who your father was: Awenasa Labonair."

Embry reeled. He clutched at the table weakly. Gabrielle watched as he, overwhelmed, absorbed this in shock. Throughout his entire life, he'd gone from feelings of sadness and resentment towards his absent father; to fear, unease and suspicion that he might be the asshole Joshua Uley. Now, right after he'd braced himself for confirmation of that news, his entire world got turned upside down- again- with the news that his father was not Joshua Uley after all. It was somebody else. It was Awenasa Labonair. A name of a real-life person who seemed a far better man than Joshua Uley and had not been absent solely because he was fooling around with his mother or a criminal, but because of the terrible misunderstanding between the two of them and because he was tragically betrayed and murdered.

"If you're ready, I can show you the image of him," Gabrielle said quietly, softly as she watched Embry. "But only when you are."

Embry felt himself nod. He swallowed tightly. His hands trembled. Now he knew.

It was a strange thing, knowing after so long... who his father was and who he'd come from.

But it brought out other insecurities and unease.

"This means I'm not a Quileute Wolf, am I?" He mumbled. "I'm Cherokee and Makah- I'm what? One-eighth Quileute through my great-grandmother's side-"

Billy, meanwhile was frowning. And so was Old Quil.

It was Old Quil who spoke. "Listen, Embry." He said roughly. He drew himself closer. "You might be one-eighth Quileute in blood, but you've tirelessly patrolled and defended our tribe and its people. You've protected and backed your brothers and sister who are and will always be Quileute, and you've fought with and shed blood alongside them in battle. You've risked and put yourself in danger in the defence of this tribe, its land and the humans who lived in the surrounding areas. If that doesn't make you a true Quileute, I don't know what is. So don't you go about doubting yourself in that. Got it?"

"He's right." Sue stated flatly. Billy nodded alongside him. "This is your home now, Embry. Regardless of where your parents came from, you are a Quileute."

"And besides, the Cherokee are a matrilineal society." Gabrielle pointed. "Clan and tribe membership is traditionally inherited through the mother, not the father. I don't know whether the Makah or Quileutes follow the same structure, but it's irrelevant. You are a Quileute Embry. Besides, you've inherited the Wolf gene from your great-grandmother as much as your patrilineal lineage. I've checked." She nodded. "It seems fate has a way of bringing you to the people whom you are meant to be a part of. Technically, scientifically speaking, with your inclusion into this tribe and its Wolf population, the gene pool is expanding and further evolving. This is a good thing for the Quileute Wolves. A blessing since this has become your home and these are your people."

Embry was silent for a moment. "I'd still like to know how he died." He said quietly. "If that's okay?"

Gabriel and Vivian looked towards James. Gabrielle did the same.

James sighed. "I can only tell you what I've heard and what my pack have heard. Richard Xavier Dumas and the rest of his conspirators planned to eliminate the entire Labonair family. Awenasa and Andrew's other cousins, the pack's bodyguards, Beta and Gamma were either confronted by, surrounded and killed when they tried to defend their Alpha, or they were picked off and murdered in treachery when they least expected it. I think Awenasa might have been in the first group, those that tried to defend Andrew, Victoria and Baby Andréa. The two cousins seemed close. Dumas would have wanted to immediately get rid of him to eliminate any possible threats." Silence ensued his words.

"He's dead?" Tiffany's voice asked quietly, breaking the silence. "He's really dead?" James winced and nodded.

Tiffany Call was a woman long-since hardened by the bitterness and traumatic experiences of her youth and childhood. But she'd hoped once that she found someone that she could be and have a family and a future with. That someone was her son's father.

And now he was dead. And despite everything she had gone through, everything that she'd learned and hardened herself against, it seemed that a small part of her may have still hoped that. Now she knew it would never be.

Embry was going through similar feelings. Once he'd learned that the deadbeat Joshua Uley was not his father and that his father had been a better man, while he may not have had much hope, there was still something. In fact, before he even learned the family name of his father, Embry had been in shock. But now he knew his father had been a better man, had cared for his mother even... and now it had been confirmed that he was dead, betrayed and murdered for loyally defending his Alpha and family, and for being born into royalty.

Embry didn't know what to think.

"I'm sorry." James said quietly. "But rest assured, his murderers were punished and killed by their own pack- and those who let this treachery stand and did nothing were also punished." Vivian nodded firmly.

Embry let out a breath. "I guess... I guess I'm glad he wasn't such a bad guy. It's just... I hoped... Or at least, I might've been in shock, but when I learned it wasn't Joshua... I still hoped..." He trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Vivian said softly. Gabriel's eyes softened and he nodded.

"If it makes a difference, just know that for the brief period of time that I knew Awenasa and his family, they were good people, no matter what anyone says." James stated. "They put the greater good and overall well-fare of their pack and everyone else above their own personal wants and needs... They would be proud of the man you've become."

Tiffany swallowed and, eyes wet, nodded her thanks. "Thank you," Embry said quietly.

---

"Some secrets are buried so deep, that the only way to find the truth is to discover the depths of the darkness yourself."

Jescie Hall

"So if you could believe it," Klaus was saying, elaborating wildly and gesticulating while his companion sniggered wildly "there I was seeing this- this idiot sapped of his immortal strength, enter his neighbour's house in the form of a bat." Both burst into another round of snickers. "Then the neighbour's girlfriend comes in, sees the bat, brandishes the broom and whacks him against the glass of the window with all her strength." His friend roared with laughter. "And then he falls to the floor while she whacks her broom on him repeatedly with all her might, each blow harder than the last. He ends up being taken by Staten Island Animal Control-" his companion doubled over howling and Klaus himself barely managed to continue speaking through his sniggers "-in a stainless steel cage-" they started choking with laughter again "-which he can't break himself out of because he was cursed to be robbed of his immortal strength. So he sits there, knees up, hunched over, hollering and cursing in vain to try to get someone to unlock the cage."

The two of them doubled again, roaring with laughter. "Then his companion tries to rescue him by infiltrating the animal shelter by turning himself into a dog and getting captured, only to forget he was also cursed to be robbed of his strength and consequently got locked in a cage himself." The two of them sniggered wildly.

They were still laughing when the council approached.

Eleazar wondered what to call their new government. Obviously, they weren't the Volturi, Romanians or Egyptians since their rule would- hopefully- be more democratic and spanned more than one nation. He also wondered what to call their species or the others'. They couldn't just keep referring to each other and themselves as 'us' 'or 'this person's species'.

But for now, they had other matters to attend to.

Eleazar gestured to the others to wait while the pair stopped joking and laughing. The two vampires were both Scandinavian in appearance. The first, the one who had been telling the story, stood at five-foot-eleven, while the other was six-foot-five. Both had blond hair and blue eyes, although the first male's eyes were more electrical in shade and his short hair, which ended in slight curls, was dirty blond although in certain lights it seemed platinum. The other's eyes were sky-blue and he had sandy hair. Both vampires straightened as they saw them approach.

"Yes?" The first one asked.

Eleazar summoned a smile. "We are searching for Radu, the regent of this coven?" He asked patiently. "Would you be so kind as to direct us to his whereabouts?"

The two looked at one another.

"Radu will be out and about, by now, going about his daily duties while also trying to arrange and organise things before he can take a well-deserved and much-needed break." the first remarked. "I suppose I could inform him when next I see him, but don't expect him to be back any time soon. Who is asking?" He asked.

"The, er, new government of the most recently inducted species within the Confederation." Eleazar explained. The vampire blinked. "No name yet?"

His taller companion scoffed. "It's not like we have a name ourselves, Klaus. Speaking of which, we really should work on that." He stated, wincing. "Can't keep calling ourselves or each other this guy's species or that."

"Hm," Klaus murmured thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Very well, then." He turned back to Eleazar and the rest of the council who were behind him "What purpose do you have in seeking him out?"

Eleazar suppressed a sigh. "We... wish to request an audience with the Vampire Queen."

That got them raised eyebrows.

"Whatever for?" Klaus asked, seemingly baffled. "We have some unanswered questions," Eleazar replied stiffly.

"Ah, yes, the burdens of immortality." Klaus lamented. Eleazar wondered if he was being sarcastic for the sake of good humour or whether he was mocking him. "No matter how long one lives for, we will always have questions that need answering. Luckily for you, the Lady is present. Now that the Lord Markus is reigning, she is now out and about." He shrugged carelessly. "Luckily for you, otherwise you'd have to wait two hundred years." There was a darkness hidden behind the casual humour of his tone.

Eleazar blinked and tilted his head. "Why would anyone have to wait two hundred years just to speak with her?" Siobhan asked next to him.

"You don't know?" Klaus asked dryly. "Because of us." He gestured to himself and his companion and to the council in front including Eleazar.

"Part of the deal," his friend said darkly, lowering his voice. "to keep Viktor pacified."

Eleazar frowned. Yes, he and his family had heard that she had been imprisoned every time her husband was under the earth for two centuries because of Viktor, and there was something else in their words that alerted him that Viktor was not so popular towards the other vampire species. Klaus had referred to Markus as the Lord Markus and the Vampire Queen as 'the Lady'. Strange as it was that Lady Laima was never referred to nor addressed with anything other than a title, formal or informal, or an epithet conveying reverence, which Eleazar supposed would make sense except that not even her husband, the first vampire and the one who transformed her, was always spoken of in such a way. The only time Eleazar and the others had ever heard of Lady Laima's given name being spoken by itself without the title of 'Lady' was during her daughter Ruxandra's wedding, when they addressed the bride by her name and those of her parents. But apart from that, the vampires' way of speaking about Viktor suggested that he was not only dangerous and threatening, but that his crowd of fanatical followers, mostly if not completely, came from the one species.

The second vampire was still speaking. "It was either the rest of us not of the same species, would get exterminated or be brought under his total and direct rule and those of the High Elders," he shrugged "the Lady couldn't risk that. But she had become too... unnerving, so to speak. Too influential. Too powerful, and yet she was supposed to contend herself with only being a consort. Markus' consort. There was no other way to keep Viktor pacified."

Tanya blinked. "So that's why we haven't seen her until the trial?"

Klaus scoffed. "Actually, she wasn't even there in person during the trial." To the astonishment and disbelief of the audience, Klaus explained, "Astral-Projection: the ability to separate one's consciousness from their body and to appear and reappear in other places."

Tanya took a step back. Siobhan's eyes nearly fell out of her head. Maggie's jaw dropped. The Amazon sisters stared. Charles and Mackenna also stared in disbelief, as did Benjamin. Amun looked sceptical.

"But... surely this cannot be true?" He questioned. "She touched the candle flame-"

"Aye, she did." Klaus shrugged. "She could have either done it from the tower of her imprisonment or she could have briefly appeared and touched the candle there, but that could be breaking the rules... who knows?" He shrugged.

"Either way, Lady Laima cannot appear and leave her tower in person until the times comes for Markus' Awakening, which has only recently transpired." Klaus said, and his voice, previously a mocking or sarcastic drawl, became more grave and sombre. "For our own sakes." He said, more quietly. His friend nodded grimly beside him.

Eleazar's eyes were wide. And then he blinked. What did he mean by that? For all their sakes? He remembered

"But my apologies, where are my manners?" Klaus said pleasantly. "I am Niklaus Mikaelson, more commonly known as Klaus and this is-"

"Eric," his companion said abruptly. "Eric Northman. So you're the new government for your species?"

Eleazar sighed. "Yes. We are. For now at least." Amun looked as if he wanted to argue with that. "I can't direct you to where Radu is," Eric said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "But I can tell you where the Vampire Queen's at. Just don't expect a small crowd. Apart from the Death Dealer bodyguards, ladies-in-waiting, council-members, diplomats and other people vying for her attention and petitioning her with their own requests, you'll have to contend with the others."

Eleazar frowned. That did not sound promising. He looked at the others.

"It's worth a try." Tanya urged. "Even if we don't get a private audience, at least we could get an appointment for one on a different date." Amun curtly nodded.

"Very well." Eleazar turned back to the two males. "We would still like to see her, if you will." He urged.

Eric nodded. "Come with me."

The vampire Eric Northman led Eleazar and the other members of their recently-formed governing body or council down to the subterranean city.

Lady Laima was there and so was her husband. They were in one of the strange gardens or parks with magical underground plants, most of them bioluminescent. A stream meandered itself before feeding an artificial channel which, in turn, fed a fountain. The stream, but not the channel or the fountain, were filled with those horrible pale blind fish and eels with razor-sharp teeth that some vampires like to amuse themselves with by feeding them bloody strips of raw meat.

And just as Eric had said, there were ladies-in-waiting flanking the Vampire Queen at a short distance in case their mistress required anything, Death Dealer bodyguards surrounding and patrolling the perimeter both in their humanoid and animal forms watching for any potential threat, and a large crowd of people vying and clamouring for their attention.

Eleazar suppressed a sigh. He would prefer to get this over and done with as soon as possible, and he had no doubt that the others wanted the same.

Radu stood at a respectful distance. He turned, eyebrows raised slightly as they approached.

"Has something happened?" He inquired after nodding politely.

Silently, the council shook their heads. "We just have some questions that require answering," Eleazar admitted.

"We understand this is a very busy time," Carlisle winced apologetically.

Radu cocked an eyebrow. "You presume correctly. Every time a High Elder wakes, he or she has to not only resume the duties they have left and those of the other two, they have to deal with issues and the fall-out of decisions that a previous-reigning High Elder makes while they are hibernating." He grimaced.

"We won't disturb the Lord Markus," Carlisle assured quickly. "We just need an audience with-" he inclined his head, wincing slightly.

"My mother." Radu finished flatly, not bothering with the pretence that he was merely a vampire who merely rose to high ranks instead of being the progenitors' son. No point now.

His eyes scanned the crowd briefly. Gabrielle was not there. A resounding bitterness and terrible disappointment welled inside of him, but also relief. He knew and his mother and Gabrielle had both made it clear: they would not be able to stay together for much longer.

But at least, for now, he could delay the inevitable. And pretend that it did not have to come to pass.

How ironic, Radu suppressed a bitter smirk. How hypocritical, in fact. He had criticised Edward Cullen for his delusions, yet he was no better. The question was whether he could master himself in time to not let it get the better of him before it was too late.

Which embittered him to the fact that Gabrielle should be here at least, before they were forced to part forever and he would miss her for the coming centuries, if not millennia.

Unable to help himself, Radu's mouth twisted as he turned back towards his parents' direction. "Wait here." He instructed them.

He strode off towards his mother's direction. Some of her ladies parted to make way as he approached. Radu barely acknowledged them; he knew that while some of them were certainly loyal, others only took on the job for its benefits- or to get close to Radu himself. It was well-known within social circles that Radu, the pure-born son of the first vampires and grandson of Alexander Corvinus the Immortal, was unmarried and available. His lip curled.

His mother was standing by the rose bushes. They were eerie, those blue roses, Radu thought. He heard some call it a Winter Rose, claiming it was suited for a cooler climate just before the hard frost set in, and for some reason both Gabrielle and his mother smiled when he said those words, but Gabrielle had loved those roses, he thought wistfully. She had been beyond amazed and delighted when she first saw them.

How sad it was, he would never have the chance to present more to her throughout the durations of their immortality.

Before Radu could succumb to bitterness and self-absorbed misery his mother turned her head to his direction and raised an eyebrow. He leaned in and whispered into his mother's ear. She nodded briefly, but her eyes were far away.

"Tell them I shall be with them once we have completed." She explained. Radu nodded and went away.

He repeated to them what the Vampire Queen had told him.

Meanwhile some of the ladies-in-waiting, the opportunistic ones, had plucked some of the roses and were twisting it into garlands or directly into strands of their hair, or twirling it suggestively as they smiled when he faced towards their direction.

An unquestionable and unspoken sadness descended upon him along with the bitterness and anger. Of all the people he could have fallen for... why did it have to be a faerie as well as a witch, one of the Samodivi? And why did they always have to have Viktor's shadow hanging over them perpetually like an incoming cloud of doom? The man was buried in a tomb for the Elders' sakes, and he wouldn't be un-buried until the next century!

And why do those flirtatious idiots have to be and look so stupid? Why couldn't they be more coherent, honest and less conniving?

Radu knew full well that to be cunning and conniving was to survive in this world, the World of Night. Yet he was also aware of not only how wily but shallow and naïve those fools were. It was a good thing he had no attraction for any of them, he thought, grim. They would never survive Viktor or his followers.

Meanwhile, Tanya was eyeing the handsome vampire prince. So were some of the others, including members of Tanya's own family who noted her interest and observed how they interacted. Radu didn't even spare her a glance on her own, but he seemed grim at best when he noted the various females who flirted with him.

Somehow, Eleazar didn't think that Radu would ever show interest in Tanya.

"There's a private room where you can wait and speak in private once she is done." Radu was saying. He nodded to Eric. "Thank you, Eric." The group repeated his thanks. Eric nodded and left. Eleazar didn't see he was starting to look rather interestedly in Tanya's direction.

A while after they were ushered into that spare room, when the Vampire Queen had finished she told her most trusted ladies-in-waiting to stand by the door and cast spells to prevent any eavesdroppers or spies. The least-trustworthy ones had to be sent away. She was under no illusions: some of them were Viktor's spies or at least the spies of his followers.

Some also answered to Amelia, she mused. Always watching, always on guard, never trusting to drop even for a single moment. She'd done all that she could to prove that she was of no threat to the other two High Elders. In fact, some spies have even turned coat.

The Lady gazed at the crowd in front of her. She knew what they were going to ask before they even did.

"I did know." She said quietly. "I knew that you existed, but for the longest period of time, my Sight was clouded."

Eleazar tilted his head. "The High Elder Viktor?" He questioned. "He was the one responsible for clouding your Sight?"

The Lady's eyes darkened.

Other vampires would have considered it an extreme disrespect, even on her behalf, but the Lady brushed it aside. "Yes. Although I should probably elaborate."

She waved a graceful hand and some chairs flew forwards. Stunned but reacting quickly, they slowly sat. The Lady inhaled deeply, pausing to think.

"This is a long and complicated story. But I shall try to condense yet explain everything the best I can," she said slowly.

"When my husband and I became vampires, and all found that any harm or pain that befell either of us would immediately inflict not merely the other, but all other vampires. Our personal creations and fledglings, but also those created by them, and so forth. This made Viktor uneasy. He was right to be paranoid, after all. My husband's brother was on the loose."

"William." Eleazar remembered. Lady Laima inclined her head. "Just so. Viktor and Amelia feared that the depth of Markus' love for his twin brother would rob him of his judgment when it concerned stopping and keeping William and his creations from harming others, and they feared that my love for Markus would do the same. We would then have been blinded towards the danger that William possessed to the world at large. While werewolves and their later descendants, the Lycans, and all other werewolf species not of the Loup-Garoux may infect humans and turn them into their own, for vampires werewolves posed a greater threat: not only could they not restrain and conceal themselves, a single drop of the werewolf of Lycan virus was lethal for a vampire. We may not have known the truth about bacteria and viruses, but we did know that no person, human or vampire, could survive the bite of more than one immortal, especially if they came from different species. Yet Markus' conscience towards the world at large and his love for his brother prompted him to go with the other Elders and the Death Dealers and search for his brother. Besides, he had always been a warrior, born and bred. Now, he was the strongest and most powerful of the vampires. Yet he was at risk. And with him, the rest of our kind."

The Lady sighed heavily. "Seeing this as confirmation that his judgment and reasoning were indeed clouded, it was then that Viktor and Amelia schemed to take matters into their own hands and usurp control of the entire Death Dealer army away from Markus, but I was prepared. They did not yet fully grasp the enormity and extent of my power, or else they would have been more wary. But Markus and I got there first, along with the warriors whose loyalty we had ascertained was towards Markus, not Viktor or Amelia. We captured William. Although we could not prevent his imprisonment, since the only other alternative was death, we could- to an extent- negotiate the terms of his imprisonment."

Her brow furrowed. Eleazar and the others could see she was fighting a wince. It was understandable; Eleazar could not imagine being forced to arrange for the imprisonment of one's own brother or the brother of one's beloved spouse. But the only other alternatives would have been to have William killed for no true fault of his own or to allow him to run rampant destroying and slaughtering countless innocents.

"After we captured William, Amelia was relieved and reassured of our trust and desire for cooperation- somewhat. But Viktor was not pacified. His greed and lust for power and domination was unsurpassed." The Lady warned. "So therefore, he sought opportunities, seeking to seize whatever excuse he could find to imprison us both since he couldn't kill us- or simply to reduce our powers. I could only pacify him so far when I agreed to be nothing more than Markus' consort on an official capacity and acted in that manner. Even then he was still suspicious." She warned.

"Then Lucian was born. His mother, a peasant woman from Transylvania, was already pregnant when she was bitten and consequently transformed. As a result, Lucian was born in his human form but the virus affected him. Every full moon, he would turn into something just like them. Yet unlike later Lycanthropes, he was able to keep his mind whilst transformed- to an extent. If the hunger was too ferocious..." the Lady sighed.

"Viktor, upon seeing the impressive feats of strength yet immense control which Lucian was capable of, decided to take advantage of Lucian's condition for his own benefit. The virus, as you can say, had mutated within Lucian." Lady Laima nodded towards Carlisle. "And while William was captured and safely imprisoned, his creations and those of theirs ran wild throughout the continent. Unlike Lucian, they could not be controlled."

Eleazar straightened with shock. "Lucian... was able to keep his mind in his wolf form?" He exchanged shocked glances with Tanya and a disbelieving Amun.

"Indeed, most unusual," the lady said grimly. "And the same goes for his creations, the second species of Lycanthrope werewolves. Not something their kind have been known for, including the breed known as the Children of the Moon with whom you are familiar with.

"In the days before we each learned to find ways to withstand sunlight, Viktor sought protection during the daylight hours. His idea was to purchase both serfs from surrounding lands and slaves imported from Africa." Disgust dripped from the Lady's voice. "And Lucian would be deprived of food and water long enough for his control to be gradually decreased although he would be given enough to ensure he did not kill and consume the unfortunate victims. Of course, not every one of them survived the transformation process, upon contact with the virus. Same as with our species. Some died an agonising death." She looked utterly filled with regret. "But those that were bitten were made to become the 'Daylight Guardians' or, more accurately-" her lovely face took on a grim smile "-guard dogs."

Eleazar remembered Aro's interest in the Loup-Garou pack that had been present in Forks and felt sickened. The similarities between Aro- along with Caius- and Viktor were just too much. He caught Tanya's eye and both mutually, silently agreed that no such thing would occur under their watch and they would fight whomsoever suggested such a thing.

"Of course, I protested. Those who were not so cowed against Viktor did. Alas, Viktor was the sole reigning High Elder of that century since Markus and Amelia had by then taken their sleep. I had long-since pitied Lucian. Markus' guilt towards him came from the fact that his own brother had been responsible for Lucian's existence as both a caged animal and a slave. But the most I could do while Markus was beneath the earth was to ensure that his treatment along with those of the other slaves were not so brutal. Unfortunately, it didn't work. They may call me the Vampire Queen and the Lady Progenitor, but even those epithets directed towards other persons are dangerous in the eyes of those who seek and love power. As I had, in an attempt to keep the peace and pacify the other High Elders, particularly Viktor, given up any chances of becoming a true queen or another High Elder, my political power was limited, but my magic was not. And they knew it."

A grim unease descended upon her audience.

"There were many ways to be rid of those who supported Markus and I- and those who supported Amelia, since Viktor feared she too would make an attempt to usurp him- once they were on the ruling council." Lady Laima conceded. "We could only protect so many, even though outside of the council there were countless loyalists. Viktor was a High Elder but Markus and I were the progenitors of our kind. So we remained locked in a standstill for countless centuries until Lucian broke free and started the revolt of the Lycans. The Vampire-Lycan War had begun, and it was a war which would spill onto all species who had yet to emerge." The Lady paused thoughtfully.

"It was during this time that Elijah, Klaus and the rest of their siblings were born. Their mother was a powerful sorceress, but not as powerful as that of her older sister, since she required her aid in order to conceive." Her lips twisted bitterly. "Although not once did she consider that she was unsuited for the role of mother. I will spare you many of the details, but when their sister Freya went missing and supposedly died, and later when their brother Henrik was killed, Esther- who being a sorceress had dealings with our kind- was persuaded by her husband Mikael to turn their offspring immortal. She managed to obtain entry into one of our citadels as a means of payment for a powerful piece of magic done by one of our kind." The Lady's face contorted into a grimace, which surprisingly emphasised her loveliness as much as any smile. "You can imagine that fool did not survive the confrontation with Viktor that came afterwards."

At this, the entire audience grimaced, including Eleazar. Yes, he could imagine.

"Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't my blood she managed to steal but strands of my hair." The Lady scoffed. "I suppose knowing the specifics about DNA and how it was as present within my hair as much as in blood, it would have been the only logical conclusion and far easier to obtain than to get close enough to injure me. But that was consequently used in a ritual and she turned all her remaining offspring, including Niklaus and his brother Elijah-" Eleazar and the Cullens' eyes widened as he realised the judge who presided at Edward and the Volturi's trials, Elijah, had been the brother of the vampire they had seen earlier "-into another breed of vampires.

"They may have only ever wished to protect their offspring in the beginning, but the way they treated their children, particularly Niklaus whom Mikael had a distaste for..." The Lady shook her head. "I've seen many a poor and even terrible parent. But how many of those parents forced them to endure the curse of not merely eternal life but eternal night, and then to use magic to bind and torture them? Eventually, Elijah, the third child and second son in the entire brood, had had enough. He gathered up his younger siblings and they fled. Their parents chased them across Europe, so they never dared to stop for too long, always seeking to hide themselves whenever they could, for fear their parents would find them. Eventually, I managed to find them but it came at a price.

"This was right after the beginning of the war. I knew then that the curse- or virus- had changed, mutated as you may say it these days. Just as William's curse had changed within Lucian, ours had done the same to these siblings- and their parents." Lady Laima warned grimly.

Eleazar felt a chill in the air. "Their parents were immortal as well?"

The Lady inclined her head. "They were. Now they are dead by my hand, and their mother's sister too."

They blinked.

"Once that problem was solved, Viktor realised he could use them to fight against Lucian and his Lycans." Lady Laima sighed. "Lucian is also dead. Also by my hand. Although I fought against his imprisonment and slavery, the cruel mistreatments against not merely him but his kind, I felt I had little choice. Lucian had by then fallen in love with Sonja."

Eleazar's eyes seemingly popped out of his skull. He was sure Tanya's was no better. "Sonja? Viktor's daughter?" She choked.

"The very same." The Lady murmured sombrely. "If Viktor had not enslaved them, had not used Lucian to bite and infect others so he could enslave them as well, then none of this would have happened. I warned Viktor, but at the same time I did not reveal to him that if Lucian were allowed to live and grow then he and Sonja would have fallen in love regardless. I admit, I did not wish to reveal to Viktor this truth, least he change his mind about not slaying Lucian as a babe, and never allow the poor boy a chance to grow." Eleazar and Carlisle grimaced. "I discouraged it as best as I could, but when my husband's turn came to go under the earth, as the Lady Ilona had done and Thomas, Amelia's consort, later did, I stepped back from politics and could not interfere. Viktor and Amelia, in their mistrust of us, had made certain of that. And during that time, that was precisely what had happened. And I could do nothing without endangering both their lives."

She paused. "I cared for Lucian just as I cared for Sonja- far too deeply." She softly admitted. "Sonja was the child I had delivered into this world, one of the first pure-borns. I ensured not only the survival of her mother, but that of the child's as well during her birth. I took her under my wing, nurtured and helped to raise her, and watch her grow, play and learn. Comforted her when she was saddened, helped her when she stumbled or fell, healed her when she was injured..." she sighed. "I did the same for Lucian as well.

"Even though he was not a vampire, Lucian had been born a Lycan and into slavery through no fault of his own. Markus felt tremendous guilt over what he perceived to be his inability to rein and capture his brother quickly enough to stop him. Amelia may have felt pity for him, but she did not dare go against Viktor nor arouse the anger and fearful wrath of her loyal warriors, many of whom had suffered and lost loved ones as well as comrades against William's creations. Yet I cared for the boy. I clothed him, taught him to read, trained him to hunt and how to comport himself in public. The others viewed him as nothing more than an animal or a slave. Or both. They both hated and feared him." Her eyes were full of sadness and then they softened. "But to me he was just a boy."

"You loved him," Eleazar said softly.

The Lady gave a harsh and bitter laugh, yet one that was still strangely quite melodious. "I loved too many times. And I've lost too many times. And the worst part is that I can See into the future. I can See into countless alternative futures. But they do not always listen. What does this mean? How can one survive or endure being forced to choose when confronted with the knowledge that you must let go or even put an end to one child in order to save the rest of them? When one causes not mere strife, but so much death and suffering? Even those with whom Viktor has clouded my sight against... did you not believe that I felt myself to be a failure as a mother, even as a mere genetic ancestress, knowing of their crimes and the undeniable proof of their guilt? Do you believe I take pleasure in granting the sentences of both the Volturi and Edward?" She shook her head bitterly, saddened.

Eleazar was stunned, as were Carlisle, Esme, Tanya and the others. So this was why the other species respect and revere her so much. Not simply because she and her husband were the progenitors of the entire vampire race and all its offshoot species.

Beside and behind him, Tanya and the others had clearly come to the same conclusion; including Carlisle and Esme. Lady Laima very clearly thought of all vampires as her own children, Carlisle was thinking. Hence her methods of punishing both Bella and Edward, and the reprimand she gave to Alice which was, despite its devastating effect, a gentle rebuke and showed concern and even sadness for all of them, as if she did not take pleasure in their sentences but chose to put the overall good of the entirety of vampire-kind over a few individuals. That might also be why she looked like she was grieving when the Volturi's execution was about to be carried out; in a way, that did make sense for Carlisle: if every vampire, no matter how far and how much they had evolved, still stemmed from and carried a portion of her DNA within themselves, she was the genetic mother of all vampire-kind.

It might also explain why vampires possessed two more pairs of chromosomes compared with humans. Although there were still many more unsolved mysteries.

The Vampire Queen nodded gravely. "They say that animal mothers, such as wolves and bears, lionesses and tigresses all love their offspring. But if they see that one, called the runt, has little chance of surviving to adulthood or of thriving and surviving when they grow to maturity, or if it poses a threat to the rest of the litter what do you think they will do?" She asked quietly. Her dark, sad and haunting eyes made them all involuntarily shiver. "What will a mother do... to save the rest of her brood? Even if the danger also comes from one of her own? What will a mother do... to save the runt, who is still her child, from the threat that it poses against its own self?"

For a moment, no one spoke or moved. Carlisle had been alive to hear and read about Charles Darwin and every paleontologist of note who defined the concept of modern day evolutionary and animal sciences. He had watched enough Discovery and Animal Planet documentaries in the digital age. He had even seen a few animals that would later become extinct, and he had observed his prey at a distance: herds of elk, mountain lions and bears. He knew how nature worked; how unforgiving it could be. Sometimes, an animal mother had no choice.

And humans too. Else there would not be contraceptives and, if that failed, abortions. Or else adoptions and fostering, the way he and Esme claimed they had done, but many a foster home had been both miserable or abusive, or both; same as with adoptive parents. In his time as a doctor, Carlisle had witnessed pregnant mothers consider and sometimes even agree to abortions when they discovered that their unborn child were likely to have defects, or if they themselves were not suited for and could not give them the life and loving home that they deserved and felt that all children needed and did not trust the US social services or any prospective foster family. Although he was glad that Bella had not agreed and even took measures to prevent that from happening to her, he knew that these women also had a point. No mother deserved to see their children suffer and struggle every single day of their lives. No mother deserved to go to her grave worrying and fearing for her child's future and their chances of surviving and being happy without her. And while Carlisle could not only respect but was always extremely glad to see that some children emerge to rise above their traumatic and tragic backgrounds and even triumph in spite of their physical and mental handicaps, the truth was that these cases were not typical of every child. And no child deserved to suffer because they were terminally ill or handicapped without a cure, or because of abuse and neglect from those who were supposed to love and protect them the most. Instantly, his thoughts flew to his granddaughter, Renesmee.

And suddenly, Carlisle understood Lady Laima. And he knew he could not resent her for choosing to punish Edward and Bella in such a way.

The Vampire Queen's face was drawn with hidden grief and pain beyond imagining. Her eyes were haunted and full of sadness beyond mortal comprehension. "When Viktor discovered the affair, his rage was beyond understanding. He had hoped that Sonja would wed our son, Radu. Especially since not only I but others suspected that Amelia's son would marry our daughter, as has only recently occurred, thus binding the next generation of pure-born heirs to all three High Elders. The knowledge that his cherished pure-born daughter, his treasured heir was not only defiant but had consorted with a Lycan, whom he considered an animal as well as a slave, far beneath even the mere mortals was too much to bear. Especially when he later learned that Sonja had become pregnant with Lucian's child."

Everyone gasped. "But-" Carlisle spluttered. "How can this be? When we met with Gabrielle Delacour, she said that- that it was impossible."

"And it is." Lady Laima said gravely. "Were it not for me. Before I was turned, in a vain attempt to turn me immortal, my husband had secretly fed me doses of his own blood. It was the Corvinus Strain, which Markus and William had both inherited from their father and lay within their blood, that caused both to change into a vampire and a werewolf, when they were bitten. If it had been anyone else, a mere human mortal, the rabies virus, as we now know it as, would have assuredly killed them. Instead..."

Carlisle inhaled sharply. "I see. And you say you delivered Sonja?" The Vampire Queen closed her eyes.

"Yes. Both Sonja and her mother Ilona would have never survived the birth were it not for me. I ensured Sonja's survival, just as I stayed Viktor's hand when he was about to aim the fatal blow towards first his wolfen mother and her newborn babe. Lucian survived, as did his mother. Just as Sonja and her mother had. Because of me."

She sighed heavily. She looked as if she carried an unbearably heavy weight upon her shoulders. Her eyes were still closed. When she opened them they were haunted and full of countless sorrows that no mortal would be able to comprehend.

"And I ensured Sonja's survival by making certain that she drank some of my blood." Lady Laima spoke, her voice soft and low, filled with regret. "Which had fused with the Corvinus strain from Markus and his father. Markus had also ingested some of my blood when he bit and transformed me. Even though I Saw that their lives would be tragically cut short or else they would wish it had been cut short, in any path they took, I nonetheless thought I could save and spare them of that, regardless." She sighed sadly. "How arrogant I was."

Shame and regret mingled with the existing grief and pain on her face. "Thus were they able to conceive a hybrid child. Not one, in fact, but two." Carlisle heard someone hitch in a breath. "But those children had no future; no good ones at least. Even if we could keep the babes from Viktor's wrath and ensure their survival, the futures all laid out before them would be filled with more tragedy and pain than could be understood, or else the children's lives would be cut short. Vampires, werewolves, mages, mundane mortals... all would have shunned and feared and hated these children. Even if the children had survived, even if they could grow to afford or steal some small means of happiness, it would always be violently ripped from them, and they would wish for death before finally finding and succumbing to its means."

She fell silent for a long while. "I killed them." She said quietly.

"I was responsible for Lucian's death along with Sonja's and their unborn children."

Her voice felt as loud as thunder. If Carlisle's heart could still beat, he was certain it would have thudded. "Not directly, but while I spared them the most agonising of endings and neither my hand, my magic nor those loyal to me did the deed, I ensured that there was no way to save either of them, or their children." Shame filled her gaze as much as grief and guilt.

"It was not yet time. Perhaps hybrids could be born and live safely someday without being hated for no fault of their own, but I saved Sonja and Lucian as infants all those centuries ago, despite knowing that what lay ahead would be far worse than allowing them both to die when they were still small and had yet suffered. I was arrogant in thinking I could give them a better life against all odds. I had even planned to set Lucian free or to allow him and the other slaves to escape, using my magic." Remorse filled her gaze. "Instead I saved the boy and ensured that he could live... allowing him to be used by Viktor to bite human slaves and serfs... and when I treated and cared for him like he was just an ordinary child instead of a slave or a beast, I planted in his head ideas of freedom. And while that may have been a good thing, during the escape, not every Lycan slave managed to break free and some had to be left behind and Lucian promised to return for them. And then Sonja- who had been responsible for giving Lucian the key- was captured by Viktor."

The Lady closed her eyes. A crimson tear streaked down her face from one eye, and then another. She did not sob or wail, but her grief was profound nevertheless.

"I tried. Oh, I begged. I warned Viktor. I was not a prisoner then, but Viktor was infuriated. He knew I had the Sight and that Sonja and Lucian's affair would not have gone unnoticed by me, even if I did not aid them in any way. While we argued, Lucian broke into the castle. He freed Sonja, but Viktor had already sprung a trap. He captured them both, and although Lucian was surrounded, Sonja who had confronted her father, begged him to spare Lucian's life for the sake of his unborn grandchildren."

She looked pained.

Throughout this entire story, no one breathed- not that they needed to. But they could only imagine it. "If Sonja thought to appeal to Viktor's compassionate side and his love for her, it was a tragic miscalculation." Lady Laima looked strained. "I have no doubt that Viktor loved Sonja and Ilona more than anything in the world, but he had built his entire power and spent his immortality exterminating werewolves and enslaving Lycanthropes- and executing or brutally punishing those who escaped the castle kennels- or both. Like many others, especially of that day and age, he feared a creature who would possess the combined strengths of vampires and Lycanthropes, who could not be controlled or contained. He had seen the destruction of William's rampage across the continent. The countless dead over the span of many a century. He hated and feared Lycanthropes in the same manner, although that was certainly no excuse as to enslave and create more. He was afraid of this child. Although I begged and reasoned that I did not yet See the children's futures and this meant that they had little chance of surviving outside the womb, as many vampire pure-borns were themselves stillborn or miscarried, that they may not be a threat unless we gave them cause to be afraid of us, Viktor was too infuriated. He could do nothing to me or my children- who themselves were innocent and had no knowledge of everything that had happened- merely suspicions- without risking the wrath of Markus. Nor could he harm me without risking the entirety of the vampire race. But he kept me strictly guarded and far out of the way in order to avoid a scandal. Sonja was sentenced to death, but I... ensured her and Lucian's escape."

She sighed. "And what happened then? What happened when I ensured that Lucian would not be scourged and flayed alive personally by Viktor, and that Sonja would be spared of the same end that Aro, Caius and the most guilty of their guards had suffered?" Carlisle felt a chill as he realised that the pregnant Sonja and her unborn babies would have been sentenced to death in the same way that the Volturi had suffered- under the orders of her own father. "But when they escaped, Lucian unleashed the signal. Under the light of the full moon, the escaped Lycan slaves attacked the castle, joined by their werewolf brethren. We were forced to evacuate. I was one of the first to leave as I was forced to go with the slumbering Amelia and my husband, still in their sarcophagi. I did what I could to save many of the others, including Coloman and Orsova, even Luka who had been Sonja's lady-in-waiting-" she nodded to Tanya whose eyes went massive "-directing them to safety by hidden passageways that had been the result of one of the increasingly rare times Viktor had listened to my reasoning to their use and had them built not by Lycan slaves but by vampires. Yet still so many were killed. Innocent along with the guilty. While the slave overseers' deaths were undisputedly understandable, there were those who did not deserve to die, merely being unfortunate enough to be a vampire and to be present in the Lycans' path while they were rampaging through the castle. Pure-born children among them, too young to understand why they were being brutally torn to pieces."

Many flinched like they had been electrocuted. Esme, Maggie and Mackenna gasped. The Amazon sisters' eyes narrowed. Benjamin and Siobhan looked sick.

"The next conflict between Lycanthrope werewolves and vampires had begun. One of the agreements of the Chain was that during such terrible crises such as these, the reigning High Elder would awaken the other two, but Viktor put off awakening Markus and Amelia until it was almost too late. It was during this time that I was watched very carefully and never allowed out of sight, in part because of my safety, and those of our kind, and in part because I was not trusted. Viktor still did not trust me, but he was no fool unless it was to arrogance. He knew that my Sight was far superior to his and that he needed me and my followers, and he knew better than to anger them or Markus. It was then that I came across the Mikaelson siblings, fleeing from their monstrous parents. I directed them to sanctuary, warned Viktor to expect some 'important guests' whom I will explain about once they had arrived, and dealt with their parents, and later their maternal aunt, before they could catch and harm them. I introduced the children to Viktor and the members of the court."

Lady Laima sighed. "The Mikaelson siblings were among the first to mutate, and they were certainly the first and the beginning of their species, but there would be others. I feared that Viktor would insist upon their extermination as much as he wished he had- in his own words, 'crushed Lucian under his heel the moment he was born'." Esme's lovely face showed disgust. "So I was very careful. I chose my words carefully. However, this meant that the Mikaelsons would be enlisted as Death Dealers, sent to fight the Lycans for our survival, since they had no other place to turn to and, at that point, I had not yet found and dealt with their parents, as I had not found them until recently due to their mother's magic. And this meant that Viktor could use them and he developed the idea of creating more strains and breeds of vampires." Lady Laima sighed.

Carlisle fought a grimace. Clearly, someone hadn't learned.

"Sonja joined the Lycans. Even though she was pregnant, she was still mobile. Viktor wanted me to find her- just as he sought a way to capture Lucian, but I feared that he would wish me to kill or at least, bring them to court so he could deal with them. Sonja would have been executed along with her unborn child. Lucian would have suffered a worse fate."

She sighed. "I despised Viktor." She stated bluntly. "And although I am willing to point out and recognise his good points and qualities, I despise him still." Carlisle, Eleazar and everyone else thought that was perfectly understandable. "And I would have given my own life without a single moment's doubt or hesitation to save the two of them and their children. But at what cost? What had I done by already saving them more times than could be imagined? What had I- even indirectly- caused? So many were dying; once one begins to hate, they cannot stop and the Lycans were no exception." Unwittingly, Carlisle remembered Victoria and agreed. "They did not stop to differentiate innocent from guilty anymore than many a vampire did. Some Lycans, yes, but not many. The same goes for vampires."

She heaved a deep and heavy sigh. "The numbers dead... too many to count. And the pure-born children were targeted just as werewolf and Lycan pups were as well. I begged Viktor to awaken Markus and Amelia, but he refused until I had found a way to get to Lucian and Sonja. I resisted... until another attack left two more children and an expectant mother dead. I knew then that I was to blame. I had no doubt that Lucian and Sonja did not authorise the murders of the children, in fact, they were repulsed and horrified, but they organised the Lycan forces and attacks and these were the fortunes of war. Without Lucian... he was an effective leader. And Sonja had been leading the Death Dealers, so she was not only an experienced warrior, but she knew how they worked. Furthermore, she knew where the entrances and defences to our hidden covens were. And so I knew that this was my fault. In saving both Lucian and Sonja- two innocent babes and later, two innocent lovers- I had caused this. And I would have caused more had I allowed not only they but their unborn offspring to live."

Shame and grief filled her again. More crimson tears leaked from her closed eyes.

"I have borne this burden for many an age." She whispered. "And I can do nothing to alleviate it. Only to prevent worse things to come at the cost of my own guilt. Once I had Seen their unborn offspring's potential futures laid bare before my eyes, I knew I could not ignore what I had learned. Saving the lives of a few individuals, no matter how much I loved and cared for them, was no longer an option. Viktor was right in a way: I had caused enough death. So I sought both Lucian and Sonja. I betrayed them as surely as Sonja's father betrayed her and just as Sonja herself betrayed her kind and those who trusted her. While I did not deal the fatal blows, I made sure that neither survived- nor their offspring."

A sigh escaped her lips and that sounded like the last breath of a dying human. "Sonja and Lucian did not mean to cause harm upon the innocent." She whispered. "But cause it they did. And cause it I had. And if it had been allowed to continue, far worse would have come though people still suffered."

Carlisle remembered how sympathetic yet firm and unyielding Lady Laima had been when handing out Bella and Edward's punishments. It struck him then: she knew. The Vampire Queen knew that Edward and Bella's marriage would end and that Bella would never look at her husband the same way again; even if she forgave him, she would certainly never see him without feeling regret as well as remorse. She knew what Edward had planned; and she knew how Bella would react to knowing what he had planned to do and what kind of life she and Renesmee would have had, along with her parents, Jacob and everyone else had she not chosen Edward.

But Edward was a threat. He had attempted to expose his entire species as well as himself for his own selfish purposes and because he could not deal with his personal mistakes. Worse still, if she had allowed the crime to go unpunished, a terrible curse or a supernaturally violent war between vampires and wizard-kind would not have been the only problems they would have had to deal with: it was the matter of whether anyone else would look at Edward's example and decide to do the same. So, if he could not be killed, then she had to punish him in the worst way possible; enough for anyone to wish for death.

Death itself would have turned him into a glorified martyr to the eyes of many romantics, including the heartbroken Bella. She would never have been as disillusioned with him if he had gone out for the sake of and in a blaze of love and glory. She may have been filled with regret but Bella would have seen this as another injustice done by a group of people similar to the Volturi. The judge Walter Bernhard had done an excellent job at destroying Edward's reputation and credibility in the eyes of so many, including former friends and allies- and Lady Laima had allowed it to happen so as to ensure that no one would ever follow the example of Edward Cullen. For the sake of the greater good, Lady Laima had to choose between two evils.

The Vampire Queen caught his eye. "I learned my lesson a long time ago. So you see Carlisle and Esme," she said softly "it would have been much worse to everyone if I hadn't punished Edward and Bella the way I had."

---

Sorry for the late update, I'm overseas in New Zealand now.

To Mavsynchroid: Thank you and I totally understand what you were saying. Actually, I had thought that might've been the case about their reactions, but I felt it was necessary since throughout the Twilight books not only Bella but everyone else seemed so... jumpy. Really, always jumping and flinching like they- particularly Bella- had been electrocuted. Always wincing- even Edward. We can laugh about it now, but it just seemed so in character at the time.

To Damarius: I hope you found the reveal satisfying or at least interesting.

To naedinefebruary2.0: Thank you. You're welcome to do whatever you wish, as I've put on a note in a previous chapter. Surprisingly, I've been getting a lot of interest from comic and visual artists, though I don't know how that works since this is mostly an internal story and the character development, drama and angst takes place internally. How does that work?

To Gerhardboetie: Thank you.