The Hidden Princess 10

“Come here my love, I missed you.” Didyme said as she held out her arms.

Sulpicia laughed at the look on Athenodora’s face when Didyme ignored her open arms walking past her to engulf Bella in a hug.She, her two mates and Isabella were in the queens’ private family room after they had finished with the Cullens. Originally the room had been a large office but once Bella had started warming up to her mothers they turned the room into a private space for the four of them to spend time together. No one was allowed in the room except for the guards who cleaned it. If they were entertaining guests they were dealt with in the sitting room.

“Why do I feel you love our daughter more than you love me?” Athenodora asked.

“Because she does.” Sulpicia replied.

Didyme ignored her mates’ comments and looked Bella over. “I want you to disrobe so I can see if you have any new injuries.”

“Momma I’m not going to disrobe.” Bella told her.

“I wasn’t asking.” Didyme knew that Bella would just deny having been hurt so the only way to know for sure was to see her body and look for new scars.

Bella turned pleading eyes to her other two mothers. “Please tell her I am fine and don’t have to take off my clothes.”

“Di she is fine. No one but the wolves got hurt.” Athenodora said.

“I don’t care. I want to make sure myself.” Didyme started lifting Bella’s robes slapping Bella’s hands from trying to stop her.

Bella sighed and allowed her mother to take off her robes. She was wearing shorts and a tank top underneath them and hoped that her mother would let her leave them on. “See no new scars.

“I haven’t finished looking.” Didyme took her time moving Bella’s clothes out of the way going over every inch of her body. The first time she had seen Bella naked she had been horrified at the extreme scaring her daughter had. Bella’s body looked like it had been ripped apart and hastily put back together. She had long lines and bite marks everywhere and the queen had openly sobbed upon seeing them. Even now tears filled her eyes seeing the obvious signs of the trauma Bella went through. The only saving grace was that Bella didn’t remember feeling any of it.

“My love leave the girl alone.” Sulpicia said as Didyme started pulling Bella’s shorts off.

“I promised she wouldn’t be in danger and I honored it. Isabella is fine.” Athenodora would have been offended that Didyme didn’t think she protected Isabella but her mate was the most sensitive out of the three of Bella’s mothers. It was lucky for all of them that they had met Bella when she was a vampire because Athenodora didn’t even want to imagine what Didyme would have been like if Bella had been human.

“I don’t see anything new so I will let it go.” Didyme said when she finished looking over Bella’s body. “That doesn’t mean we won’t be having words later about this.”

Athenodora gulped at the look she was receiving from the other queen. She was not looking forward to the next time they were alone. “Of course dear.”

“Now come sit down and tell me all about your trip.” Didyme led Bella to the couch where she sat down pulling Bella on her lap.

Bella didn’t fight her mother and simply got comfortable. “It wasn’t that exciting. The part of America we saw was mostly forest. We didn’t even get to see any big cities.”

“What else did you see?” Sulpicia asked.

“Well we saw the ocean when we went to the Indian reservation. That was a depressing place.” Bella said.

“It was.” Athenodora agreed. “It reminded me of the villages that were trying to rebuild themselves after they had been defeated in battle.”

“So you didn’t have fun on your adventure outside of the castle?” Sulpicia was trying not to be obvious but what she really wanted to know is if Bella missed home or if she now wanted to travel more.” I would have thought this would have made you want to travel.”

“The only fun part was fighting the newborns.” Bella told her.

Didyme growled and tightened her arms around Bella. “That isn’t something fun Isabella. That’s dangerous and you will not be doing it ever again.”

“Of course momma.” Bella easily agreed because she didn’t want to start a fight. Looking to Athenodora Bella held back a smile when her mother winked at her. At least one of her mothers was on her side. “As for wanting to travel more, I don’t know. On the plane ride back Rosalie mentioned she was planning on going on a trip soon. So I will have to talk to her about that.”

“So you do plan to travel.” Sulpicia said through gritted teeth. Her worst fears were coming true.

Bella shrugged not catching on to her mother’s distress. “Rosalie and I have a lot of things to discuss. I think the first thing we need to work out is where to live.”

“Do you not want to stay at the castle anymore?” Didyme asked somewhat horrified at the idea her daughter would want to leave them.

“If I had it my way I would stay at the castle. I don’t want to be away from any of you but I don’t know if Rosalie is comfortable here. I was going to offer to let her redecorate my wing.” Bella told them.”If that’s ok with you guys?”

“I think that is a wonderful idea. You have never really taken an interest in how your rooms were used. Maybe Rosalie would enjoy having her own personal space.” Sulpicia would make sure to offer Rosalie whatever help she wanted. If Rosalie felt she had some ownership of Bella’s wing then maybe she would be more comfortable in the castle.

“What are we going to do about her family? It’s obvious she wants them to stay for a while.” Athenodora didn’t blame Rosalie for wanting to have people she knew around her. She had just lost three members of her coven including the leader. It would make anyone want to cling to something familiar.

“I think it would be a good idea for Isabella to talk to them. She can offer them an invitation to stay and as they are two mated couples, private rooms.” Didyme figured that if Rosalie had her family in the castle it would give them a chance to show Rosalie all the reason that living in the castle was the best option.

“Maybe we can make those two rooms permanent so they know they can come and stay anytime they please.” Sulpicia didn’t like the idea of having the animal drinkers in the castle but if it would make Rosalie more amenable to stay in the castle she would put up with it to keep her daughter close.

“I think Rosalie would like that.” Bella said.

“Good it’s decided. Why don’t you go speak to them now and then come see us later.” Sulpicia wanted to know their response to the offer right away. It would help sooth her anxiety knowing whether Rosalie would want to go live with her coven or stay at the castle.

“Alright. I’m sure they want to know what’s going to happen anyway.” Bella said as she leaned back and gave Didyme a kiss on the cheek before standing.

“Come back right away.” Sulpicia told her as Bella gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek as well.

“Bring Rosalie with you if you want.” Athenodora said receiving her own hug and cheek kiss.

“I will.” Bella said as she made her way out of the room. She was anxious to see her mate and was happy her mothers were offering what they were offering. It might make Rosalie more comfortable around her mothers.

“Do you think Rosalie will want to stay?” Didyme asked once Bella was out of the room.

“I hope so.” Sulpicia said.

“It will work out don’t worry.” Athenodora said pulling Sulpicia into a hug.

“Until then let’s talk about the fact you put our daughter in extreme danger.” Didyme wasn’t going to let her mate off the hook. “Isabella could have been seriously injured or even had died!!”

Athenodora held up her hands as Didyme stood from her seat and stalked towards her. She was dreading this conversation because she feared what punishments Didyme would dole out. It was as she saw her mate’s eyes go black that she wished that she had gone with Bella to deal with the animal drinkers. Dealing with children would be better than whatever Didyme had in store for her.