The Dark Princess 29

“How is Bella?”Alice asked when Tanya entered the Cullen’s sitting room.Each couple had been given their own rooms but they needed to get furniture before they could be used.It was because of that they all continued to use the original room they were held in for a meeting place.It had been three days since they had seen Tanya but had been kept up to date by text messages and phone calls about what was going on.No one blamed Tanya for not checking in on her coven in person as her mate was very ill.

“She’s better.Right now she is taking a bath so Athenodora kicked myself and Jane out.”Tanya had been unhappy about leaving but understood that Bella wanted some privacy to bathe.

“And you aren’t there to help wash her back?”Kate teased.

“I’m lucky the queen even let me near Bella while she was sick.”Tanya said.

“Was she that bad?”Irina asked.She and Kate as well as the Cullen children and Eleazar and Carmen had been beyond worried for not only Bella but Tanya as well.Tanya had just found her mate after over a thousand years and the fact that Bella became ill was very scary.It also reminded them of Bella’s mortality.

“You have no idea.I would be honestly surprised if the queen leaves Bella’s side for anything other than to feed.”Tanya knew she was going to have a hard time forming a relationship with Bella while she was human.She hoped that Bella would ask for her as she had taken to doing more over the past few days.It would probably be the only time Tanya would be allowed to see her.

“That’s got to make it tough to form a bond with your mate.”Rosalie couldn’t fault Athenodora for not wanting to leave Bella.Any good mother would want to care for their sick or injured child.The fact that Bella was in both conditions was probably driving Athenodora crazy with anxiety.

“It’s been alright.Bella has shown a willingness to get to know me.Her not feeling well has stopped us from doing to much other than me holding her when she got to hot.”Tanya told them.

“Is Jane back?”Carmen asked.

Tanya nodded.”She came back as soon as she could.”

“Did she get the parents?”They all knew of Jane’s mission and Alice wanted to make sure the pair didn’t get away with what they did to Bella.

“Yes, they are in the dungeon right now with Carlisle, Esme and Edward.”Tanya smiled thinking about what the guard had told them.”They have had some pretty interesting conversations.”

“Were you told what they were saying?”Bella had promised to tell Kate what they were saying but Kate hadn’t expected it to happen with Bella being sick.So if Tanya knew Kate was more than excited to find out what the idiots were planning.

“Yes, the king and queen were both briefed in front of Jane, Bella and myself.”Tanya said.

“Well what did they say?”Emmett asked.

“Well initially Edward and Carlisle were talking about how Alice was actually working for the Volturi the whole time and she lied to everyone about not knowing about her past.”Tanya told them.

“Wait, they thought I was working for the Volturi?”Alice didn’t understand how they came to that conclusion.

“Apparently you were sent to the Cullen’s with Jasper to infiltrate the Cullens and get Bella away from her true mate which of course is Edward.”Tanya held in a growl thinking about the boy trying to claim her mate.She had been promised a chance to show her displeasure with him in person and was excited by the chance to take out her anger on the boy.

“Why would I want to do that?”Alice asked.

“Yeah, Alice was always encouraging Bella to stay with Edward.”Emmett said.

Alice grimaced at the reminder.”An error I wish I could go back in time and correct.”

“That still doesn’t explain why they thought Alice was a Volturi agent.”Irina was curious on why they thought one of their family members was playing such a long con.

“It is their belief that Alice had a vision of how powerful Bella would be and as a guard brought the vision for Aro to see.Once he did he trained Alice and Jasper to protect their minds from Edward and infiltrated the Cullen family.Their mission was to keep Edward away from Bella and bring her to the Volturi.They both concluded that the plan was messed up because for some reason you didn’t see Bella as Edward’s mate.”Tanya explained.

“If this was true why would Alice waste the time with us and not just take Bella to the Volturi right away.Why wait?”Rosalie knew the pair was stupid but didn’t think they were this stupid.Nothing they were coming up with was making any sense.

“Didn’t you know?Everything that has happened was because the Volturi are threatened by Carlisle and Edward.Bella was simply a tool to use against them to bring them down.”Tanya told them.

Jasper laughed.”They truly believe the Volturi would do something so elaborate just to bring down those two idiots?”

“Yeah, their plan included them breaking out, freeing Bella then contacting us to help them keep Bella away from the Volturi.”Tanya said.

“That’s amazing!”Kate couldn’t wait to see their faces when they found out Tanya was one of Bella’s mates.”Do they know that you are Bella’s mate as well?”

Tanya shook her head.”No one has told them anything.The only visitors they have gotten are the guards who dropped off Bella’s parents.”

“Can we please go with you to tell them?”Emmett asked.

“I can do one better.The royals have decided that Edward would be a perfect training tool for the guard.They are giving Edward to them to teach them how to fight against a mind reader.If you all would like I can make it so you can be at the training grounds when it happens.”Tanya offered.

“Oh we are so there.”Rosalie wasn’t going to miss a chance to see Edward get his ass kicked.”How does Bella feel about this?”

“Bella is the reason they have waited to do it.She wanted the chance to watch.”Tanya smiled thinking about the way her mate had pouted when she found out that Edward was going to fight the guard and she wouldn’t get to watch.It had confirmed then and there that Bella had no feelings for Edward.Well no feelings other than hatred, which Tanya highly approved of.

“I think I like your mate.”Kate would have to plan on getting some time to spend with Bella.She not only wanted to get to know the girl who Tanya was mated to but it seemed like Bella was someone she would want to know.

“I think I do to.”Irina agreed.

“You know Eleazar and I like her as well.”Carmen said.

“Well it’s good to know I have all of your approval.”Tanya was happy it seemed her coven liked Bella.They had a lot of tough decisions to make in the future and without their support it would make things difficult.

“I can’t wait for the wedding!!”Alice had been planning wedding dresses for Bella ever since she started dating Edward.

“Wedding?!”Tanya squeaked out.

“Of course you are going to marry her Tanya.She’s a princess.Do you honestly believe her parents would let you live in sin?”Irina teased liking the way Tanya’s face almost seemed to get more pale.

“Yeah I mean what kind of mate would you be without making a grand declaration of love.Especially since Bella has another mate you have to compete with.”Kate said joining in on the fun.

“You will of course have to ask her parents permission before you propose.”Jasper told her.

“You better have a good speech prepared for the royals.They wouldn’t accept you just plainly asking.”Rosalie hid a smile when Tanya actual began to topple over.

“Stop you guys.”Carmen scolded as she jumped up and grabbed Tanya before she fell to the floor.”You are making her nervous.”

“She should be nervous.She is going to propose to the only Volturi princess that ever existed.That means whatever she does will set a precedence for any future princesses that come after Bella.”Kate said.

“Kate that’s enough.Just remember one day you will have a mate and if you continue there will be payback.”Carmen warned.

“Yeah, yeah.”Kate wasn’t worried about payback.She wasn’t mated to a royal after all.

“Now Tanya sit down and breath.It will all be ok.”Carmen soothed as she helped Tanya sit on the couch.

Tanya put her head in her hands and slouched forward.”No it won’t.They’re right.I need to do something big for Bella.The royals would never respect me if I did something half assed.”

“We were just teasing.You know whatever you do in your relationship is up to you and Bella.Don’t let us pressure you.”Rosalie felt bad that they pushed Tanya so far.She hadn’t expected the coven leader who was normally so unflappable to break down after a little teasing.

“All joking aside I know for a fact Bella is not ready to get married.Not only would she not want to so soon after meeting you but she would appreciate it more if you spent time with her.Bella is a very low maintenance person.She doesn’t need big declarations, she just wants sincere interactions.So just be yourself with her and she will respond positively to you.”Alice told her.

”That is something I can do.”Tanya said feeling a lot better after Alice’s pep talk.The seer was right.From the interactions she had with Bella and the ones she saw Bella have with others proved that the human was very low maintenance.Bella hated being the center of attention and a big show of love wasn’t the way to win her over.Tanya knew that though.She was just letting her insecurities rear their ugly head because she hadn’t had any one on one time with Bella yet.Maybe she would text Bella and ask her to watch a movie with her.Tanya would ask her in person but it was beyond obvious if she did that Athenodora would make sure she was there as well.It was Tanya’s hope that by asking Bella by text that she would ask her parents for alone time.Tanya sighed.This having a mate who was bonded to others was hard.It seemed like everyone had an opinion and Tanya honestly wasn’t looking forward to the many fights in the future she knew they all would have to spend time with Bella.