Death's Shadow 9

“So what happens now?”Athenodora asked Bella after Caius and Marcus told her, Sulpicia and Didyme about what happen with Aro. Bella held back a sigh at the question. This whole situation had gotten out of hand and Bella wished that it wasn’t left to her to deal with. She quickly pushed that thought away. She was given this purpose by the gods she shouldn’t be complaining. They had rewarded her plenty throughly the millennia and Bella didn’t want them to think she was ungrateful. Once she got home she would spend some time in front of the alter she built and pray to the gods and ask them for forgiveness for the moment of resentment she felt for her purpose. Bella knew they knew she didn’t really mean it but she wanted to make sure her actions were acknowledged and she repented for the lapse in judgment.

“Many things happen now. The first one being would you like to have your mate bond with Aro broken?”Bella asked Sulpicia.

Sulpicia took a minute to think it over. It was something she had considered many times over the years but hadn’t really felt it was an option with Aro being one of the kings.”I would like that.”

“Then we will have Chelsea do that for you.”Bella was happy Sulpicia agreed.

“What will happen to Aro after it is severed?”Caius didn’t think Bella was going to let him live.

“I have some things that I need to take care but once I am done I will be calling an audience to the throne room where I will be killing him and announcing the new leadership.”Bella told him.

“What is this new leadership?”Marcus knew that Bella didn’t want to take the throne for herself.

“That’s one of the things all of us need to discuss. I don’t want to bring anyone new in. I want to have each of the queens to have prominent roles and each be involved with running vampire society.”Bella should have done it a while ago but things were going well and she didn’t want to deal with the hassle. Now she was dealing with the repercussions of ignoring the problem.

“You want us to step up?”Athenodora wasn’t expecting that.

Bella nodded.”I have been to hands off with how the court is being run. It’s allowed Aro to get away with many things and had him falsely believing that he was in charge. Bringing in you three will make up for the lack of Aro’s presence and gift.”

“Do you think our people are going to act out now that we don’t have Aro’s gift to threaten them with?”Caius asked.

“Unfortunately I do and I predict that all of us are going to be very busy for awhile. However it will also allow us to set up a new regime and remind everyone that we don’t put up with lawbreakers.”Bella expected that she was going to killing a lot of vampires in the future and wasn’t looking forward to it.

“I think it’s a good idea for you three to step up.”Marcus knew that they needed to have a new face as the rulers of the vampire kingdom. Plus he had always wanted his mate to have her own throne.

“I’m think so as well.”Caius said.

“I’m more than willing to step up.”Athenodora didn’t have a problem being more involved.

“I am as well.”Didyme wasn’t keen on punishing people but would happily do it if they broke the law.

“I think I would like to have my own throne.”Sulpicia had always been a second class citizen in her relationship with Aro. Him always lording the fact he was king over her. Breaking the mate bond and taking his crown was the sweetest revenge she could get against the man.

“Alright then get going on a remodel of the throne room. I want a whole new look. Meaning new thrones, new robes and new crowns.”Bella wanted to make sure everyone understood that things were going to be different.

“Do you want the guards’ robes changed as well?”Marcus asked.

“Yes, no more red. I want you to have a different color from the guards. I want emphasize the fact that you are the authority.”Bella told them.

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”Athenodora always thought it was weird that the guard and kings wore the same robes.

“We will debut the new look for Aro’s execution.”Bella said.

“It would be very symbolic to kill the old king in the new throne room.”Didyme thought it would send the perfect message.

“A changing of the guard. Out with the old in with the new.”Sulpicia was looking forward to seeing Aro’s reaction to seeing her sitting on a throne in royal robes with crown on her head announcing his execution.

“Vampire society has gotten too relaxed. They think that they can get away with whatever they want. With your help we are going to correct that thinking. I have gotten lazy and now it’s time I pick up the slack.”Bella was positive that she could get the vampires back under control.

“I almost pity those that will act out now that Aro is no longer king.”Marcus knew that there was likely going to be a culling of the herd the likes they hadn’t seen in centuries. It needed to be done though. Aro had done too much damage and Bella needed to get it under control before a war broke out and vampires were exposed.

“I don’t.”Caius was looking forward to all the punishments and executions he was going to witness in the coming days. If he was lucky Bella would even let him and his mate kill a few.

“That being said I have some things to get done.”Bella wanted to get home and spend time with Tanya and her sisters because she had a feeling that her time with them was going to be limited in the coming days.

“We will let you know if anything comes up that needs your attention.”Didyme said.

“I will do the same.”Bella knew that she would be reaching out soon. Without waiting for a reply Bella shielded herself from view and left the room. Finding an empty closet she locked herself inside and pulled out her phone and called Tanya while she was still shielded.

“Hello.”Tanya’s voice said coming over the phone speaker.

“Hello sweetheart.”Bella replied.

“How is everything going?”Tanya asked.

Bella didn’t hold back her sigh this time.”Big changes are going to happen.”

“Based on your sigh and that statement I have a feeling that you are going to be spending more time away.”Tanya guessed.

“That has yet to be seen however based on past incidences I predict that my life is going to be getting very busy soon.”Bella was not happy about it either.

“What’s going on?”Tanya sounded just as unhappy as Bella did.

“Sulpicia has decided to sever her mate bond with Aro which the paves the way for him to be executed.”Bella told her.

“So you are going to kill him.”Tanya didn’t seem surprised by that.

“His death needs to be seen to mark the dawning of a new era for the Volturi.”That and Bella knew that Sulpicia wanted him dead.

“What is this new era you are talking about?”Tanya asked.

“The queens are now going to take an active role in the decision making. I ordered an overhaul of the throne room to include new thrones for each of them. They will be getting different color robes and new crowns. The guard will be getting different color robes as well. Vampire society is going to act out with out Aro’s gift to scare them so the kings and queens need to be established for me to bring the law breakers before them.”Bella explained.

It was Tanya who sighed this time.”How bad do you think it will get?”

“I think it’s going to get as bad as it was in the 1300’s.”Bella told her.

“That’s not good.”Tanya said.

“I agree.”Bella didn’t like the way this was going to go but all she could do was try and contain it.

“I guess this would be a bad time to bring up some coven business with you.”Tanya asked.

“Actually it would be nice to focus on something other than the civil war that is going to break out soon.”Bella would prefer dealing with coven business over Volturi business.

“I think I will just come out and say it.”There was a pause followed by the sound of Tanya taking a deep breath.”Rosalie called and asked if she and Victoria could join our coven. I spoke to Irina and Kate about it and the three of us have agreed to let them if you are alright with it as you would be the most effect due to you having reveal yourself.”

Bella was definitely not expecting that but she wasn’t really surprised.”Only Rosalie and Victoria not the other ones?”

“Only Rosalie and Victoria.”Tanya confirmed.

“And all of you would like this to happen?”Bella asked.

“Yes we would all very much like to allow Rosalie and Victoria to become members of our coven.”Tanya told her.

Bella thought about the pros and cons of allowing the pair into the coven. The main point that was sticking out to her was that Tanya, Irina and Kate wanted it to happen. With Bella being busy in the future she thought having new coven members might be just the distraction Tanya would need to focus on while she was gone.”I will agree if you tell them about me. I will give them the block but I don’t want to sit though explaining my history to anyone.”

“Seriously. You aren’t going to fight me on this?”Tanya asked in obvious disbelief.

“My love if you want this I’m not going to deny you. I have heard nothing but good things about Rosalie and Victoria has kept her nose clean since her creation. Minus one incident with a tracker that I took care of she has led a good life. Due to that I approve of them joining the coven and knowing of my existence.”Bella wouldn’t have agreed to any of the other Cullens joining but didn’t mind Rosalie and Victoria.

“Alright then I will Rosalie and Victoria know. Can they come to fashion week with us?”Tanya asked.

“If you reach out to my contact and have her get extra tickets for all the events we are going to then yes. I don’t want to have to deal with the headache.”Bella didn’t want headache of getting tickets and passes to various events.

“No problem.”Tanya easily agreed.”Are you going to be home soon?”

“I have a few minor things to take care of but I will be headed home tomorrow night at the latest.”Bella told her.

“Good then I’ll see you soon.”Tanya sounded pleased by that.

“Yes you will.”Bella just hated that when she saw her mate they wouldn’t be alone.

“I love you.”Tanya said.

“I love you too. Goodbye.”Bella replied before disconnecting the call. Taking a moment to gather herself Bella went over everything that had happened recently. Aro would be taken care of soon so he would no longer be a problem. However many other problems were going to come about as result of taking care of him. The new leaders would help prevent a lot of things from going to far but Bella would be very busy legitimizing through rule until they became effective. Bella was definitely not looking forward to all the lives she was going to have to take in the future but knowing that by doing it she would saving a whole lot of innocent vampires and humans made her feel better. On a personal level she was going to be gaining two new coven members. She wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about that. It would something she would pray on for guidance to make sure it was a good decision. Usually she would have done that before she agreed but she was blinded by her want to make mate and her sisters happy and acted impulsively. Hopefully the situation wouldn’t blow up in her face. Bella didn’t need anymore trouble. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly Bella exited her hiding spot still shielded from view. She wanted to get home and to that she needed to get moving. It wasn’t like had time to spare.