Deadly Weapon 11

“Why were you ignoring the Cullen’s guilt?”Marcus asked Aro. The pair along with Caius and Athenodora were alone in the throne after the prisoners had been taken to the dungeon and the rest of the vampires had been dismissed. Aro wished that he could have followed them out the room but that wasn’t going to happen. Especially with how Athenodora and Caius were standing on either side him each with a hand on one of his shoulders. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get himself out of this situation. He couldn’t amid the truth because then his plans of killing Athenodora, Caius and Isabella would be revealed. That would just give them a reason to kill him instead. The problem was how to continue selling the lie. Maggie had called him out on and it was obvious that Marcus and the other two believed her so Aro wasn’t sure what to do.

“I wasn’t ignoring their guilt.”Aro denied.

“Then how do you explain that you found them not guilty of treason when it was Carlisle’s idea to kill the guards and overthrow us?”Caius wasn’t going to allow Aro to talk himself out this. He was going to make him admit what he had planned.

“I didn’t see it.”Aro decided that sticking to the lie was the best course of action.

“Then why did Maggie someone we know cannot lie say that you were lying about that claim?” Athenodora asked.

“She was mistaken.”Aro said.

“How exactly was she mistaken?”Marcus knew that Aro was up to something and he was going to find out what.

Aro tried to think of how spin it so that Maggie could be discredited.”Do you honestly believe that we can trust anything one of the members of the Irish coven says. It’s well known they hate us.”

“That’s not true. They have been great allies to us since Isabella was brought to the castle.”Caius and the others had called on the Irish coven numerous times to help out since they had met Isabella.

“If they hated us they wouldn’t have been willing to turn over those nomads that were creating the newborn army to overthrow us.”Marcus had no doubt that the Irish coven were loyal to the kings. It may have started with Isabella but the trio had become trusted allies in the last decade.

“They were biding their time.”Aro argued.

“Biding their time to do what?”Athenodora was pleased that Marcus was asking some pointed questions. It showed that he wasn’t on Aro’s side and would make proving Aro guilty of treason that much easier.

“They are just waiting for the perfect opportunity to cause discord amongst us so they can take the thrones for themselves.”Aro said.

“You have read each of them before and have never mentioned them wanting to overthrow us. Does mean you have hidden this from us as well?”Marcus didn’t believe for a second that the Irish coven wanted their thrones.The trio hated interacting with others and kept to themselves.

Aro shook his.”Of course I wouldn’t hide something like that from you.”

“Then why would a coven who has never had a thought of overthrowing us have one of their members a vampire with a gift that Eleazar himself told us makes so that she can’t lie claim you were lying when you said you didn’t see Carlisle’s plans when you used your gift on him?”Caius was very interested in hearing how Aro was going to explain it away.

“Well…It’s just…I mean… they would…”Aro stuttered out.

“Answer the question Aro.”Marcus was sick of the run around they were getting from the man.”And answers it truthfully or I will call Maggie back in here.”

“There is no need to call for Maggie.”Aro knew that if they called Maggie back then he wouldn’t have any chance of turning this around.

“Answer!”Caius demanded.

“I don’t know why Maggie would lie. Maybe her gift isn’t as full proof as she thinks.”Aro suggested.

“Dora would you please text Isabella and have her bring Maggie back to the throne room.”Marcus wasn’t going to waste his time dealing with Aro anymore.

“No you don’t have to do that.”Aro really didn’t want that to happen.

Athenodora put her phone away.”Already done.”

“This is matter between the kings. It is not proper for Maggie to be involved. As matter of fact Athenodora shouldn’t even be here.”Aro said.

Caius tightened his hold on Aro’s shoulder taking great pleasure when Aro cried out in pain.”My mate has more of a right to be here than you do.”

Before Aro fight further a guard entered the room and announced.”Your majesties I present Maggie, Siobhan and Liam of the Irish coven and Princess Isabella Volturi and her mate Princess Consort Rosalie Volturi.”

“You only called for Maggie.”Aro really did not want Isabella back in the throne room. The girl would take any opportunity to kill him and this situation might just give her the justification.

“Your majesties if I am to be here I request that the others stay as well.”Maggie didn’t feel comfortable being in the room without protection when she knew that she would be using her gift on one of the kings.

“That’s perfectly reasonable.”Caius wanted Isabella there anyway.

“I don’t have any objections.”Marcus could see that Maggie was nervous and understood why. Aro had already tried to attack her so it made sense that she wanted the added protection.

“This is highly improper.”Aro said.

“You objection have been noted and overruled. Now let’s back to the questions. Why did you claim Carlisle was not guilty?” Athenodora was pleased that Isabella was called back in. The way it went down made it so Aro couldn’t claim it was part of their plan to kill him and Marcus.

“I didn’t see it.”Aro told her.

“He’s lying.”Maggie said.

“I am not lying!”Aro was outraged Maggie would dare say such a thing. Even if it was true he was still the most powerful man on earth. Maggie should fear what he was going to do to her once this was over with.

“That’s a lie.”Maggie said.

“Do you want to try again Aro or should I answer for you?”Caius asked.

“I don’t need to try again. I’m not lying.”Aro ground out through gritted teeth.

“What do you and Athenodora know about this situation?”Marcus had seen the way both had reacted when Aro was exposed. Neither was surprised and Marcus wanted to know why.

“After learning that Aro believes we are going to have Isabella kill not only him but you and the queens as well we discussed it amongst our family. We all know Aro is paranoid and figured that he would try to kill us before we could kill him. To do that he of course would need allies and who better than a coven with gifted vampires. Even if their gifts are useless against Isabella.”Caius explained.

“That’s not even getting into the fact that Aro knew of Carlisle’s plan to use his sire bond with Rosalie to force Isabella to follow his orders. That’s why he didn’t want the sire bond broken because he thought Carlisle’s plan would work and he could get Isabella out the way.”Athenodora would never have let that happen but it wouldn’t have caused problems if Carlisle had gotten control of Rosalie.

“Is that true?”Marcus could easily see Aro doing all of that.

“Of course not.”Aro didn’t understand how they had known what he was planning. He hadn’t told a single person.

“He’s lying.”Maggie said.

“You little….”Aro tried to get off his throne to attack the vampire but Caius and Athenodora kept him in his seat.

“Why would Caius and Athenodora want to kill us?”Marcus asked.

“Can’t you see they want to be the sole rulers!!”Aro decided to drop the act. This was his chance to make Marcus see what was really going on.

“We don’t want be the sole rulers you idiot.”Athenodora and her mate had no plans on taking the thrones for themselves.

“That’s a good point. Why would they want to rule alone?”Marcus wanted to understand Aro’s thinking. Maybe if he did he could help his brother see reason.

“We all want to rule alone.”Aro didn’t realize his mistake until the words were out of his mouth.

“Are you saying you want to want to be the only king?”Caius couldn’t believe Aro admitted something like that.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying.”Aro denied.

“He’s lying.”Maggie said.

“Then it seems that Caius and Athenodora aren’t the threat but you are Aro.”Marcus concluded.

“I’m no threat. Unlike those two I have made no plans to kill anyone.”Aro tried to think of a way to make this turn back to his favor but everything just seemed to be getting worse for him.

“He’s lying.”Maggie once again said.

“You are plotting to kill us?!”Athenodora suspected it but hearing the truth enraged her.”Isabella restrain him.”

“Yes mother.”Isabella easily grabbed Aro from his chair and held him tight to her body. He tried to fight her off but he was no match for her.

“I am your king I demand you let me go.”Aro struggled the best he could but it just resulted in Isabella tightening her hold on him.

“What allies have you gained to overthrow us?”Marcus asked.

“I have sought no out to kill you.”Aro told him.

“He’s lying.”Maggie said.

Caius grabbed Aro by the hair and forced him to make eye contact with him.”Who have you contacted?”

“I have contacted no one.”Aro continued to deny.

“He’s lying.”Maggie was feeling a little better about being involved in the situation because it didn’t look like Aro would have a chance to target her after this was over.

“What should we do with him?”Athenodora knew what she wanted to do but they needed to handle this delicately. That meant no killing Aro right away.

“Isabella take his phone and throw him in the dungeon.” Marcus didn’t want Aro loose to gather his allies and follow through on his plan to kill all of them.

“Yes, Uncle.”Isabella picked up Aro and led him out of the room with Rosalie following behind them.

“Maggie thank you for you help. I’m sorry you were pulled into this but as you could see Isabella’s life was in danger and we needed to make sure we could protect her.”Caius was pleased that Maggie had come because without her Aro would have been successful in freeing the Cullens.

“It’s no problem Caius. I would’ve come no matter what.”Maggie would always stand up for her friend. Isabella was the little sister she always wanted and Maggie had many good memories of spending time with the girl as she was growing up.

“I’m sure you are going to want to spend more time with her so the three of you may leave. As always if there is anything we can do for you don’t be afraid to ask.”Athenodora would help the Irish coven in any way she could because of their obvious love and support for her daughter. They were one of the only few vampires that were allowed near Isabella when she was human and had proven their loyalty many times over.

“We will.”Siobhan put her hand Maggie’s shoulder and led her out of the throne room happy that this non sense was over.

“Now we have to decide how we are going to handle Aro.”Marcus said once the doors were closed.

“The first thing we should do is call Jane and Alec back to the castle. Not only was Aro trying to keep them away from Isabella I have no doubt he was having them meet with people trying to gain alliances.”Caius wouldn’t be surprised if used the sire bond to force the twins not to speak about what they were doing.

“We should question the vampires that he has sent out on missions since Isabella has been turned. He could have sent them to find allies as well.”Athenodora suggested.

“I think we should keep the investigation to just us, Isabella and Rosalie.”Marcus didn’t know who in the castle was loyal to Aro. That meant he could only trust himself and the other four.

“I’ll have Isabella and Rosalie search his wing of the castle. He is arrogant enough that he could have just worked out of his office but I want to make sure he wasn’t hiding anything.”Caius said.

“How should we deal with Sulpicia?”Athenodora was worried for her friend. The queen didn’t deserve to be grouped in with Aro just because they were mates.

“I think we should offer her the chance to have her bond broken by Chelsea.”Marcus hated to break up mated couples but in this instance it was for the best.

“I think she would like to have that option.”Caius knew how unhappy the queen was with Aro and bet she would jump at the chance to be rid of him.

“I’ll speak to her about it.”Athenodora wanted Sulpicia to have her freedom as soon as possible.

“I’ll start looking into where Aro has been sending the guards.”Marcus said.

“I’ll send for Jane and Alec then I’ll start going through his office.”Caius was pleased that Marcus was so willing to see Aro’s guilt. It would make the investigation go much smoother.

“Don’t tell them what we need them for. We will explain everything when they get back.”Athenodora was worried about when the twins did find out because she knew they would want to kill Aro right away. Luckily Isabella would be there to stop them.

“I won’t.”Caius hadn’t even considered telling them what was going on.

“Well it sounds like we have a plan then. Let me know when the twins are back. I want to be there when you speak to them.”Marcus was going to put in a lot more effort in being one of the vampire kings. His laid back approach had almost gotten him and the others killed. If he had paid more attention to what was going on he would have been just as aware as Caius and Athenodora of Aro’s motives. He vowed to himself that he would never make the same mistake again.

“I will.”Caius gave Athenodora a soft kiss.”Find me after you speak to Sulpicia.”

“Before I do that I’m going to have Isabella set up the surveillance equipment that we ordered for the dungeons.”Athenodora told him.

“After all that has occurred I now understand why Aro never let us put some in before.”Caius now knew that Aro didn't want anyone recording prisoner conversations in case they said something he wanted to kept to himself.

“He has plotting this for a lot longer than Isabella has been a vampire.”Athenodora said Caius humming his agreement. She gave him one more kiss and made her way out the room. Things had gone much better than she expected them to. She had thought it would’ve taken a lot more for Aro to show his true colors but the man’s belief that he was smarter than everyone was what led to his downfall. If he was actually that smart he would abandoned his plan when Marcus called him out on it. Not double down on the lie. That was just more proof that he wasn’t fit to rule. Ruling being something that he would never do again. Athenodora doubted that he would make it out of this alive. That thought made her smile. Anyone who thought they could plot to kill not only her mate but her daughter deserved to die. Die a slow painful death and she was more than happy to be the one to do it.