The World's Last Hope 10

“Rosalie may I have a moment of your time?” Bella asked the vampire. She had just dismissed the wolf pack after setting up a time to meet with the alpha and the tribe elders. Bella would have liked to get their talk over with right away but not only was it not the proper place to have such talks, the elders needed to be involved with them as well. Now she was going to speak with the vampire queens. She needed some information first though.

“Of course Bella, what do you need?” Rosalie happily came to Bella’s side. The mood had been tense since Bella had maimed Carlisle and no one seemed to know how to proceed. Rosalie couldn’t blame them. If the dragon hadn’t claimed her she would have been terrified of doing something to make Bella angry at her as well.

“I was wondering what your opinion was about the mind reader.” Bella didn’t want to have any talks if the mind reader wasn’t trustworthy.

“He can’t be trusted if that’s what you mean.” Rosalie said.

“Is he important in the vampire world?” Bella asked.

Rosalie shook her head. “Most of our kind can’t stand him. He likes to use people’s secrets as leverage over them. Most stay away from him. Even the royals.”

“I see.” Bella thought about how to deal with the boy. “Thank you once again Rosalie. I would like to ask that you be by my side as an advisor during any future talks we have. I need trustworthy people around me and you are one of the most trustworthy vampires I have ever met.”

“I would be honored to be considered one of your advisors your majesty.” Rosalie couldn’t believe the dragon was offering her such an important position. In her family she was considered the least useful and was often overlooked with her opinions not being considered. Bella’s offer not only elevated her to a higher position within her family but to a very powerful position in the supernatural world. “I won’t let you down I promise.”

Bella smiled and patted Rosalie on the shoulder with her clawed hand. “I know you won’t.”

“May I ask why you wanted to know about Edward?” Rosalie wasn’t going to refer to Edward as her brother any more. Now that she was linked to Bella she had no need to be a part of her coven. She would officially break ties with them before they left and hoped that Bella would let her stay with them at Charlie’s or maybe she could live with Beatrice. She would worry about that later though.

“If we want to talk about things we’d rather others didn’t know I would like to make sure someone as untrustworthy as you claim the mind reader is doesn’t have a chance to get the information.” Bella told her.

“I see. How are you going to prevent him from doing so?” Rosalie asked.

“I’m simply going to take his gift from him.” Bella said like it was no big deal to take a gift from a vampire.

Rosalie was beyond surprised. She had never heard of something like that being possible. “You can do that?”

“Of course. You forget I have studied magic for many millennia before I was sealed away. Taking a gift away from a vampire is as easy as snapping your fingers.” Bella said. “First I want to ask the queens if they will give me permission to do so.”

“I’m sure they will be fine with it but I understand why you want to ask first.” Rosalie said as she walked beside Bella as they approached the vampire queens.

“Your majesty.” Irina greeted as Bella stopped before them. It was taking everything she had to stop from blurting out hundreds of questions, some more inappropriate than the others. Like wanting to know if she could touch Bella’s horns or tail.

“I know we were in the middle of making plans to meet at a neutral location but as the circumstances have changed I wondered if we could begin our talks right now.” Bella figured that even if they didn’t have time to discuss all the things they needed to that day it would be a good idea to set up a good rapport with the queens.

“We would like that very much.” Tanya was happy it seemed the dragon wasn’t as hostile towards them as she was to Carlisle.

“Before we do though I have a request.” Bella said.

“What would that be?” Kate asked. She hoped that the request would be that they talk alone before they spoke officially. Kate wanted to know if Bella felt the mate bond as well and if she did if Bella would spend some time with Kate.

“I would like your permission to remove the mind reader’s gift.” Bella said.

Tanya wasn’t sure she understood what Bella was asking. “You are able to take a vampire’s gift away from them?”

“Yes, and because of the importance of our talks I wish to do so, so the mind reader does not have access to the information we will be discussing.” Bella didn’t want to even bother speaking to the vampires if they denied her request.

“I think your request is reasonable and I personally have no problem with it.” Tanya looked to her sisters.

“I have no problem with it either.” Irina would be happy if they didn’t have to worry about Edward any longer.

“I would be extremely grateful if you took Edward’s gift from him.” Kate hated the mind reader more than she hated Carlisle.

“Then we all agree. If you want to take Edward’s gift away from him then we will not stand in your way.” Tanya told Bella.

“Charles.” Bella called out causing Charlie to run to her side. “Bring me the mind reader.”

“Yes your majesty.” Charlie entered the Cullen home without even knocking finding the family in the living room. He didn’t speak to anyone as he approached Edward and grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out the door.

“What do you think you are doing?” Edward yelled.

“Let him go.”Emmett rushed at Charlie to get him to release his mate.

As Emmett got close enough to make a move on Charlie, Charlie switched Edward to one side to free his hand which he then used to punch Emmett so hard that his face cracked and he flew across the yard landing in the trees. Not even stopping Charlie threw Edward at Bella’s feet. “Here you are your majesty.”

“What are you doing?” Carlisle didn’t want to face the dragon again but he wasn’t about to let his son to be hurt for no reason.

Bella ignored the vampire. She grabbed Edward with her clawed hand and lifted him until he was at eye level.The purple of her eyes glowed and the silver fire seemed alive as she reached out with one claw and cut a symbol into his forehead and said words in a strange language that no one understood. After she stopped talking Edward clutched his head and screamed. Finished with him Bella threw him to the ground. “Now that that is taken care of let us begin our talks.”

“What did you do?” Emmett demanded as he rushed to his mate’s side.

“Is it done your majesty?” Rosalie asked.

Bella nodded. “Yes the boy will no longer be able to read the thoughts of others.”

“You can’t do this!!” Edward screamed at the dragon. He didn’t know what she did but he no longer had his ability to use his gift. Even though he was loathed to do it he turned to the vampire queens and pleaded. “Your majesties you can’t let her get away with this.”

Kate laughed. “You have been a thorn in not only our side but the side of others since you were created. The dragon queen has done not only ourselves a great service but the rest of those you have violated for your own gain. If you have a problem with what she has done then you can take it up with her personally because we will not start a war with the queen over something that we are thankful she has done.”

“I won’t let you get away with this!!” Edward growled as he rushed the dragon with Emmett right behind him.

Before either of the vampires could make it more than a foot closer to Bella Charlie stepped in front of the queen and easily removed both of their heads. “Your majesty would you like to dispose of these two?”

“No just give them back to their coven. I think we have made our point. If any one of them try anything again then we will take more extreme measures.” Bella told him.

Irina along with the rest of the vampires present were stunned. After the display Irina was seeing Charlie in a new light. She figured that if the man was a lycan then he would only be dangerous in his lycan form. She along with everyone else was just proven wrong. Irina had to hold back her excitement knowing that after this display Charlie would likely be even more deadly in his other form. She really hoped she would get a chance to see it soon. She also hoped they would get a chance to see Bella’s dragon soon as well. She knew that she couldn’t ask the queen though because it was somewhat impolite.

“Your majesty where would you like to have our talks?” Tanya asked. She wanted to get away from the Cullens as soon as they could. She had no great love for any of them but was worried that not only would they insult Bella further but that they would push the dragon to point she refused to deal with any vampires.

“I don’t suppose you have your own stronghold we could go to discuss business?” Bella didn’t want to stay where they were any longer.

“We have a home in Alaska that is remote. The only ones who inhabit it are the three of us, our guards and two others.” Tanya figured that would be a better place for them to speak.

“You know where this place is?” Bella asked Rosalie.

“Yes, it is a good location.” Rosalie confirmed. “It also has enough space and privacy that I think you would be able to safely be in your dragon form.”

Tanya watched in great interest as Rosalie interacted with the dragon. Rosalie had said she had the dragon’s trust but Tanya hadn’t been sure to what extent. Now seeing that the dragon differed to Rosalie it seemed the vampire had a very important role in Bella’s decisions. Tanya knew she couldn’t take advantage of Rosalie’s position but it was nice to know the vampire queens were on good terms with the vampire. “I don’t know how big your dragon is but I do believe Rosalie is right that you would be comfortable at our home.”

“Is it far from here?” Bella asked.

“It’s not that close. It would take us hours to get there.” Kate told her.

Bella thought through her options. “I need to meet with the wolves. Then I can fly myself and my people to your home. Would that be alright with you?”

“Of course. We will gladly wait for you.” Irina wasn’t going to turn down a chance to see Bella’s dragon. She hadn’t expected to be able to get a chance so soon so there was no way she was going to turn down the offer to see it.

Tanya held back an eye roll at her sister’s quick acceptance of Bella’s terms. She and Kate were well aware of Irina’s obsession with were creatures so it was no surprise that she would easily agree to anything that would give her a chance to see Bella in dragon form. “That would be acceptable. Is there anything we can do to make your stay comfortable with us?”

“Food is the main point. Myself and Charles eat a large amount so we will need you to have a large supply for us.” Bella said.

“Getting food is easy to do. Anything else?” Kate asked.

“Lodging for myself and my people would be appreciated as well.” Bella figured that they would be there for a while so having rooms to rest in was important.

“We will have rooms made up for all of you.” Kate hoped that Bella would share a room with her but would have to wait until they talked to find out.

“Then that is all I can think of. Unless anyone else has anything?” Bella turned to her people.

“We will bring any personal items we need.” Rosalie said.

“That’s settles it then. When you make it to your stronghold please contact Rosalie and we will make our way there after we are done.” Bella figured they would have to wait to go to her keep. They needed to have a place to settle down so they had a safe place to put their belongings.

“Can I talk to you before you go?” Kate asked as she realized the dragon was leaving.

Bella didn’t want to deal with the imprint issue at the moment but she knew it would have to be addressed. “Of course.”

“Great can we go for a walk?” Kate ignored the looks she knew she was getting from not only her sisters but everyone else in the clearing. She would explain to her sisters later about the mate bond. First she had to make sure the dragon had actually felt it.

“As you wish.” Bella motioned to Charlie. “Charles please stay here and guard Rosalie, Angela and Beatrice. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”

Charlie bowed his head. “No harm will come to them your majesty.”

“I will be fine.” Kate assured her sisters. They seemed extremely worried but Kate knew the dragon wouldn’t harm her.

“Are you sure?” Tanya asked. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on but she trusted Kate.

Kate nodded and joined Bella as they walked away from the group. She waited until they were out of hearing range before she spoke. “I’m sure you know why I wanted to talk to you.”

“You wish to speak about the fact that you are my imprint and I am your mate.” Bella said.

“Yes. I wanted to know if you felt the bond too.” Kate told her.

Bella nodded. “I do feel it. However now is not the ideal time to explore the bond.”

“What do you mean?” Kate felt her heart drop. Was Bella rejecting her?

“I’m not rejecting you.” Bella easily could see where Kate’s thoughts had went. “I am simply saying that we won’t have proper time to begin a courtship. I wish we could ignore the war that is coming and dedicate time for ourselves to be alone but unfortunately time is of the essence right now. I need to focus on building my army and training not only them but yours as well.”

“Are you saying that we have to wait to spend time together?” Kate asked.

“No I’m simply saying that although I wish it were different I won’t be able to give you the attention you deserve. I have waited many millennia to find my imprint. I hate the fact that I feel like I am letting you down by not giving you my full attention.” Bella felt saddened by the fact that she couldn’t just snatch Kate up and fly her away to her keep and spend months there exploring the new bond.

Kate smiled hearing Bella’s words. It seemed her mate wasn’t upset with the bond the dragon was upset because she felt like she was letting Kate down by not being able to give her the attention Bella believed she deserved. “I understand and I myself have duties to attend to. When you get to Alaska maybe we can spend some of the time we have between obligations getting to know each other.”

“I would like that.” Bella was happy her mate was being so understanding.

“I would as well.” Kate said. “We should get back so we can get on our way.”

Bella sighed. “Yes this war waits for none so it is important we start our preparations as soon as we can.”

“Yes but with you on our side we will have more than a fighting chance.” Kate was sure with the dragon fighting along side of them the Romanians didn’t stand a chance. Bella seemed to be a skilled warrior even in her second form. Kate imagined when she was in dragon form she could defeat any army put in her way. Kate wouldn’t get cocky though. They all needed proper training. That included the Volturi as well. From the skill that Charlie showed when he removed both Edward’s and Emmett’s heads the vampires could learn a lot from the lycan alone. Rosalie had mentioned that Bella was contacting other allies as well and Kate couldn’t wait to meet them. She was warrior so being able to interact with other warriors filled her with excitement.Looking over at the dragon at her side she thanked fate for matching her with someone who was as much or if not more of warrior than she was. Bella was her perfect match and as soon as this war was over she was going to mark her mate to show the world who Bella belonged to.