Silver Assassin 24

“Hey guys.”Rosalie greeted Tanya, Irina, Kate and Jane when they entered the arcade. She and Bella had spent the last few hours together alone in their private quarters. Rosalie wouldn’t have minded spending longer time alone but Bella had started to get a little overwhelmed with the physical contact. Rosalie was coming to understand that although Bella could handle her touching her the silent vampire had a limit with how much. Rosalie wasn’t offended as she knew that it took a lot for Bella to let down her guard and relax. It had been obvious in the ways that Bella would tense at times while they were intimate when Rosalie would touch her that Bella was pushing herself out of her comfort zone. Rosalie had been very aware of Bella’s reactions and had taken to telling Bella what she was doing before she did anything. Even with Bella’s limitations Rosalie had a wonderful time and couldn’t wait until they could do it again. Bella told her that if she wanted to have sex with her to tell her how she was feeling and she would let her know if she was comfortable doing it. Rosalie had told her to do the same but she honestly doubted she would turn Bella down.

“Hi Rosalie, Assassin thanks for inviting us back to the arcade.”Kate had wanted to come back and play some more games earlier but Jane told her that it wouldn’t be a good idea without Bella there with them.

“The Assassin figured that you would want to try some different games.”Rosalie told her.

“She was very right.”Kate rubbed her hands together in excitement.”Now where should we start?”

“I thought you wanted to beat the queen’s high score.”Irina said.

“I do but I want to try out some other games first.”Kate would get back to beating the queen’s score after she got to experience some other games.

“How about you try out the game console?”Jane suggested. She looked over Bella and was pleased to see that she didn’t look in any way uncomfortable. The fact that she wanted to spend time with the sisters was a good indication that her time spent with Rosalie was a positive experience for her. It was obvious with the bright smile Rosalie was sporting and the way she was almost radiating happiness that it was a positive experience for Rosalie as well. Not that Jane thought it wouldn’t be. Bella was an exceptional lover and always made sure that Jane was very satisfied.

“Good idea.”Rosalie hoped that if they were playing on the console she would get the chance to snuggle with Bella on the couch.

“What game do you want to play?”Jane asked.

“Do you have a list?”In reply to Kate’s question Bella handed Kate a tablet. Kate saw the screen displayed different systems. Clicking on one she realized that it listed all the games for each console.”There is so many. I don’t know how to pick.”

“You don’t have to worry about not getting to play all of them today because the Assassin is already planning on inviting you back for future visits.”Jane and the royals had been happy finding out that Bella was having such a good time with the Denali and that she wanted to invite them to hang out again. It was exactly what they wanted to happen when Bella made the initial invitation to Kate.

“That’s very kind of you Assassin thank you.”Tanya was pleased that Bella was going to invite them to spend time with her again. She and her sisters had taken a shine to Bella and Tanya knew that she wouldn’t be the only one depressed if they didn’t get the chance to spend more time with her.

“If that’s the case then why don’t we play original Mario Kart. I think it would be awesome playing it on such a large screen.”Kate said.

“Bella will set it up while we all take a seat on the living room furniture.”Jane would have done it but Bella didn’t like people touching her things. Jane wasn’t offended by it as Bella needed certain order in her life for stability and someone touching her stuff and putting it out of order or getting it dirty could trigger her.

“Where are you sitting?”Rosalie immediately took the seat on the middle of the couch when Bella pointed to the left side. Rosalie didn’t think Jane would mind because of her aversion to public displays of affection.

Kate sat next to Rosalie and took the controller Bella held out to her.“Oh rad they are actually Super Nintendo controllers.”

“Each systems controllers have been modified to be not only wireless but compatible with Bella’s personal console.”Jane explained.

“I got to get one of these consoles.”Kate would kill to have a console like Bella’s. It was the ultimate gamer’s dream to have every game ever made in one system and not have to have the physical consoles and individual games. As it was Tanya made Kate store everything and only bring it out if she was playing it. Once she was done Kate had to pack it away and put it back in storage.

“I’ll talk to Queen Athenodora about it. That way if you get one you can play online with Bella. She likes to play with other people but it’s hard to play with strangers when you don’t talk.”Jane thought Kate having a console would be a good way for her and Bella to continue her friendship.

“I would love that.”Kate would happily play games with Bella. Her family didn’t like video games so having someone who loved them as much as she did would be something she would like very much.

“The queen might play with you as well as she likes to go online and trash talk other players.”Jane expected Athenodora to give Kate a run for her money when it came to playing the games.

“The queen trash talks gamers?”Irina was very surprised to hear that.

“It’s kind of funny actually because most of the time the other people don’t understand her insults. Half the time they think they are compliments.”Jane found Athenodora’s old fashion phrases hilarious. Especially when the strangers didn’t have comebacks because they were so confused by what she said.

“That’s epic.”Kate could only imagine the things the queen come up with after being alive for so long.

“She and Bella have a lot of fun messing with people.”Jane said.

“Well I’m willing to play with them.”Kate wouldn’t mind playing with Athenodora. It seemed the queen was a good gamer so it would be fun to have another person to play with.

“I want to watch that happen.”Rosalie was very curious to see Athenodora play video games and trash talk strangers.

“Alright I’m going to go with Yoshi.”Kate said as she picked her character on the screen.

“Bella always picks Luigi.”Jane told her.

“Why does she always pick him?”Irina asked.

“She says it’s because she feels bad that he is always overlooked by everyone even though he is just as capable as Mario is.”Jane explained.

“That’s very thoughtful.”Tanya hadn’t expected Bella to pick her character for those reasons.

“Alright prepare to meet your doom.”Kate leaned forward and focused on the screen. Just as she suspected playing on such a large screen made the game much better.

“So what have you guys been up to while the Assassin and I were gone?”Rosalie was a little upset that Bella like Kate leaned forward because it prevented her from snuggling with Bella.

“Jane gave us a tour of the castle and we spent some time in the gardens enjoying the flowers. The ones in Queen Didyme’s gardens were quite beautiful.”Tanya had been surprised they had been allowed into Didyme’s private gardens as it was rumored that only the royals were given permission. It was said that Didyme did all the work to care for them by herself.

“You got to see the queen’s gardens.”Rosalie had never heard of anyone actually visiting the queen’s garden.

“If you want to see them then I’m sure the Assassin will give you a tour. They spend a lot of time with the queen tending to them.”Jane greatly approved of Bella gardening with her mother. Not only was it a way for the pair to bond it was a peaceful hobby that gave Bella a chance to focus on something other than violence and destruction as even when she was creating sculptures it involved destroying things.

“Would you be willing to do that Assassin?”Rosalie asked Bella. When Bella tilted her head in confusion Rosalie realized that Bella hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation. Rosalie found it odd after having Bella’s complete focus for the last few hours for Bella to fall back into her habit of ignoring the world around her. Rosalie knew it was just how she coped with things but it was still jarring to have her mate disassociate with the world. It made Rosalie wonder how much Bella really knew of what happened around her on a daily basis.”I was asking if you would show me Queen Didyme’s gardens sometime.”

“Hey don’t distract her. I want to win fair and square.”Kate didn’t want to beat Bella on a technicality. Bella was a really good gamer and Kate wanted her victory to be legitimate. It would make the bragging that much more impactful if she won because of her skills.

“I don’t think you are going to win even if she is distracted.”Irina said.

“This is just a warm up to get used to the controller.”Kate hadn’t played on this console in a while and needed a chance to get reacquainted with it again.

“Anyway. Assassin will you take me to see the queen’s gardens later?”Rosalie asked Bella receiving a nod in reply.”Thank you.”

“When she does make sure she shows you all the sculptures of the various Roman goddesses that she made for Didyme to display.”Jane said.

“The fountain she did was my favorite.”Irina had been awestruck by how detailed and intricate the piece was.

“What was the fountain like?”Rosalie asked.

“It is a scene of the goddess Flora pouring a watering can over some flowers. The can actually pours real water into the fountain pond.”Irina explained.

“I definitely want to see that.”Rosalie was fascinated by Bella’s art. Human Bella never showed any interest in anything creative from what she knew so for Bella to be such a talented sculptor was something she had trouble wrapping her mind around.”How did the Assassin get into it?”

“I’m not exactly sure just one day she spoke to Queen Didyme and asked her to get her the supplies and tools she would need and after her first attempt she continued doing it.”Jane was always curious as to why Bella decide to start sculpting but Bella had shrugged off the question claiming she just wanted to know if she was any good at it.

“I still want to see the one she did of me.”Rosalie had seen it through Bella’s gift but wanted to see for herself what it looked like. The fact that it was the first one Bella made had her even more intrigued. It made her wonder if Bella had other ones she didn’t let people see.”Assassin do you have other sculptures that no has seen before?”

Jane was surprised when Bella nodded.”You do?”

“What are they of?”Rosalie asked.

“Hey what did I say about distracting her?”Kate complained when Bella paused the game.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at Kate and took the hand Bella offered her. Seeing the images Bella provided she felt her eyes fill with tears.”Oh Bella.”

“What did she show you?”Jane was very concerned with Rosalie’s reaction.

“She showed me ones she did of what she looked like when she was human and ones of her father and her friends.”Rosalie felt her heart break for Bella. It was obvious Bella still mourned her human life and Rosalie was led to believe Bella didn’t really talk about it. Rosalie was going to talk to Jane and Bella’s parents about what kind of efforts they made to speak to Bella and help her work through her emotions because she didn’t think that keeping everything bottled up was healthy.

“Why didn’t you tell me about them? We could have displayed them in our wing for you to see them more often.”Jane was sad that Bella didn’t tell her about the sculptures. If she had Jane would have insisted that Bella put them in their rooms so they were more visible. Seeing Bella shrug Jane sighed.”You should have told me.”

“Do you want to put them in our rooms or would you rather keep them private?”Rosalie asked earning another shrug.”Alright well when you decide let us know.”

Seeing that Bella was becoming uncomfortable Jane decided to change the subject. She would be bringing up this new information to Didyme later however. The queen would definitely want to know about Bella having sculptures of people she knew when she was human.”Who’s winning the game?”

“We are tied with me winning one circuit, Assassin winning one circuit and I would like to keep playing so please stop distracting the Assassin.”Kate knew that she only won her circuit because Bella was distracted.

Seeing Bella give Kate a thumbs up made Rosalie smile.”Sorry you guys we will leave you alone.”

“So how many people do you think are going to come to the tournament?”Tanya asked Jane.

“The arena holds five thousand people so I would assume that it will be filled.”Jane expected more than that many to show up trying to get a seat.

“That’s a lot of vampires in one room.”Irina had never been around so many of her kind before.

“It won’t only be vampires. There will be some humans and shifters as well.”Jane told her.

“Humans and shifters are coming?”Rosalie was very surprised to hear that.

“The royals have invited all their powerful allies to show off how skilled the Assassin is.”Jane had seen them use Bella as a way to make loyal allies out of their enemies.

“If I were them I would use the event to remind everyone why they should be feared and respected.”Before they met Bella personally Tanya would have never volunteered to be in the same room as Bella. Her reputation alone was enough to instill uncontrollable fear in her. The royals were very smart in inviting important people to watch Bella fight because after seeing it in person Tanya knew that Bella would prove to everyone that her reputation was well earned and the Volturi would be even more feared than they already were.

“The Assassin does put the fear of god in those who witness her fighting. Especially when she is angry.”Jane was proud of Bella’s reputation. Her mate had earned it through a lot of hardships and deserved the level of respect people gave her. Even if that respect was mostly based on fear.

“After the event I don’t think anyone will be able to question her skills.”Irina predicted that Bella’s fight was going to the stuff of legends and would be well known to everyone.

“Unfortunately it doesn’t matter what the Assassin does they always have a line of people wanting to fight them to prove they aren’t as tough as their reputation claims. Of course the Assassin is usually very willing to teach them otherwise.”Jane knew that even if they saw Bella fight she would be challenged by people who thought they were better than she was.

“I find that crazy that someone could be so stupid. I mean I guess I can understand being skeptical but once you are in the Assassin’s presence you can almost feel the power radiating off of them and even if you couldn’t the way they hold themselves proves how deadly they are. Every move they make is precise and controlled.”Irina remembered the uncontrollable fear she had of Bella when she first met the deadly vampire. Everything about her screamed danger and Irina had spent the first few hours in her presence trying to figure out a safe way to leave their territory without Bella following her. It was after seeing her interact with Kate that Irina finally relaxed enough to not feel like Bella was just looking for excuses to kill her.

“I never felt like that around her. Even before I knew who she really was.”Rosalie may have been frustrated that Bella wasn’t giving her any attention when they first met but she had always felt safe around the silent vampire.

“That’s probably because you are mated.”Tanya had felt the same way Irina did when she had met Bella. It wasn’t until Bella invited Kate to see her arcade did Tanya realize that Bella wouldn’t harm them as they hadn’t broken any laws. In fact after that invite and seeing how she and Kate interacted Tanya had felt that Bella would be a good friend for Kate as the pair got along well and Bella seemed to enjoy Kate’s personalty. Usually people were insulted by Kate’s lack of filter but Bella encouraged Kate’s brashness. Now Tanya cared about Bella very much and was extremely happy that she was a part of their lives.

“True I have never feared the Assassin even when they have attacked me.”Jane had never been afraid of Bella. When Bella got violent Jane only thought about how sad she felt that Bella was so overwhelmed that she got to that point but never was she afraid.

“I would have never believed that the Assassin could do that but after the throne room I now understand that it is very possible.”Rosalie just hoped that she would be able to help Bella before she got that out of control again.

“A good thing came out that though.”Jane said.

“How was anything about that situation good?”Irina didn’t think anything about what Bella did was good.

“The royals are getting to remodel the throne room. It was still original to when the castle was built and they have been talking about changing it for centuries. This just gave them the push to actually do it.”Jane knew the royals’ excitement for the remodel was the only reason Bella wasn’t upset with what she did anymore.

“Then I guess the Assassin did them a favor.”Tanya was happy that something positive came out of Bella’s outburst. Other than none of them getting hurt of course. As it was obvious Bella could have easily killed all of them and there was nothing they could have done to stop her.

“Assassin can I touch you?”Rosalie asked Bella when her mate leaned back on the couch. Getting a nod in reply Rosalie wasted no time putting her arm around Bella’s lower back and snuggling into her side. She had fantasized about this very scenario the first time Bella invited her to the see the arcade and now that it was happening Rosalie thought it was better than what she had imagined it would be.

“Hey no lovey dovey stuff. It will distract her.”Kate said.

“I doubt that me leaning against them will be a distraction.”Rosalie actually hoped it would be so that she could have Bella’s complete attention. She wasn’t going to do anything other than snuggle with Bella however because she didn’t want to ruin Bella’s fun with Kate.

“Then make sure that’s all you do.”Kate didn’t want Rosalie to pull Bella’s focus away from the video game.

“I’ll be good but not for you for the Assassin so she doesn’t lose.”Rosalie told her.

“She needs all the help she can get.”Kate lied. If anyone needed help it was Kate because Bella was destroying her at the game. Kate didn’t feel to bad about it though. Jane said Bella spent many days at a time playing video games so Kate reasoned that Bella probably had a lot of practice.

“I doubt that.”From what Rosalie had seen so far Bella was doing very well. She along with the others focused their attention on the game cheering for each player although Bella was getting most of the cheers. Irina and Tanya threw in a few for Kate out of obvious pity but they still cheered for Bella just as much. Rosalie was very surprised that Jane was just as vocal with her support as everyone else. It made Rosalie wonder if Jane cheered Bella on the other times she played video games. It seemed very out of character for the usually severe vampire. Then again Rosalie was beginning to realize that when it had to do with Bella Jane went all out. Even if it meant she had to step out of her comfort zone. Something that Rosalie predicted she would be doing as well. Not that she thought Bella would ever make her do something she wasn’t comfortable with but she figured that with Bella being a member of the guard and the Volturi princess Rosalie was going to find herself in stressful situations. She would put her best foot forward to get through anything thrown at her with her head held high of course as Rosalie wanted to prove that she was good match for Bella and it didn’t matter what situation she found herself in Rosalie would do everything she could to prove she was the best person to spent eternity with Bella. Even if that meant she had to do something that made her uncomfortable.