The Dark Princess 16

“Thank god.”Alice mumbled as she heard a knock on the door to the room that she, Emmet, Jasper and Rosalie had been hanging out in. It hadn’t been officially said yet but Alice had come to think of the room as their personal space. The reason the knock was so welcome was because she and Jasper had been forced to listen to Rosalie and Emmett arguing for what seemed like hours. Emmett wanted to ask about training with the guard and Rosalie didn’t want him to. The mated couple wasn’t known for arguing but when they did the fights were epic. Alice would have preferred to have left the room but Jasper asked her to stay with him so he could help calm the pair enough that it wouldn’t turn physical. Luckily the knock distracted Rosalie and Emmett enough that they called a cease fire and stood next each other incase they needed to defend themselves. Alice just rolled her eyes as she moved to open the door. Before it was even fully open Alice was knocked down to the ground by a vampire. She stopped struggling when the vampire spoke and she recognized the voice of Kate Denali.

“Alice are you guys ok?” Kate pushed herself off the ground and pulled Alice with her so they were both standing.

“Why wouldn’t we be ok?” Alice asked noticing that with Kate were her sisters Tanya and Irina. Alice figured that Eleazar and Carmen were talking to the kings.

Irina looked at Alice like she was worried about her mental health. “Why wouldn't you be ok? Are you kidding me? The last we heard was that Edward was going to expose himself to get the Volturi to kill him because his weak human mate killed herself.” Irina took a step back when all four Cullens growled at her.

“He is not her mate.” Rosalie hissed.

“And it would be wise for you to never speak of Bella like that again if you wish to stay alive.” Alice warned having no doubt that the royals and even some of the guard wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone who not only said Bella was Edward’s mate but claimed Bella to be just a weak human.

“Alright everyone settle down.” Tanya motioned to the furniture around the room. “Let’s all take a seat and the four of you can explain why you are at the castle and where Carlisle, Esme and Edward are.”

“I guess I should be the one to tell you what happened.”Alice said. “Irina was partially right. I had had a vision of Bella jumping off a cliff and thought she had killed herself. In my panic to check if she was really dead I didn’t realize that Edward had read my thoughts. Instead of actually checking to make sure Bella was dead he decided to go before the kings and ask for death. When they denied his request he came up with the plan to expose himself in the sun in front of humans to force the Volturi to act.”

“So Edward is dead?” Kate knew the Volturi wouldn’t let someone off if they broke that law. It was there for a reason.

“Let her speak.” Tanya to wanted to know what happened to Edward but knew they needed to hear the whole story first.

“Anyway.” Alice continued. “I had found Bella at home where she explained that she was just cliff jumping with her friends and was never in any real danger. When I was with her I had a vision of the Volturi killing Edward and begged Bella to come with me to try to save not only him but our coven as well. She initially didn’t want to go but gave in when I told her the whole family would be punished and most likely killed because of Edward.”

“I don’t get the mate claim though. When he visited us he was very sure that the human was and the rest of you claimed the same.” Irina couldn’t figure that part out.

“I’m getting to that.” Alice told her. “Bella and myself made it just in time to prevent Edward from pulling off his stunt but the kings wanted to see us anyway. When we were in the throne room the kings asked Edward to explain his action. He used the excuse that he thought his mate had died. After Edward said Bella was his mate Jane growled catching Bella’s attention. It was obvious that Bella was not Edward’s mate but Jane’s and Bella felt the bond right away.”

“Holy shit. Edward was claiming a false mate bond with one of the witch twin’s mate.” Kate now knew exactly where Edward was. He was either dead or in the dungeon.

“That’s not even the most exciting part.” Emmett said.

“What else could have happened?” Tanya didn’t know what else would make the story that much more exciting.

“Well it was as Bella made a move towards Jane that Edward grabbed Bella’s wrist. After using her gift on Edward Jane rushed to Bella’s side. As I was debating on helping Edward I heard Cauis say in Italian my child has come home. There was so much happening at the time that I didn’t catch exactly what he meant until he said that Athenodora would want to know that her child was hurt.” Alice wasn't surprised by the looks of shock on the three sister’s faces.

“So you are saying that Edward was not only stupid enough to claim a false mate bond with Jane’s mate but the human is also Cauis and Athenodora’s bond child?” Tanya wasn’t sure if she believed what she was hearing.

“Yes that is exactly what I am saying.” Alice gave them a minute to absorb the information before she spoke. “It was confirmed by Marcus.Cauis immediately accepted the bond.”

“What about the girl Bella? Did she accept the bond as well?” Irina wasn’t sure if a human could feel a mate bond let alone a child bond.

Alice nodded. “She has easily accepted the bond and has been calling Athenodora and Cauis mother and father. She even refers to the other royals as her aunts and uncles.”

“Jesus.” Kate didn’t know what the human had done to deserve being bonded with such horrible vampires. “Are Carlisle and Esme with the royals?”

Tanya noticed the looks of anger on the four faces of the Cullen children. “Are they alright?”

“When we came to the castle we were separated from Carlisle and Esme. We were led to Cauis’ wing where we met with Bella. Carlisle and Esme were brought before the kings.” Rosalie told them.

“Wait if one of your coven mates was claiming a false mate bond why weren’t you all brought before the kings?” Kate would have thought the whole coven would have been punished even if they were just accessories.

“Bella saved us.” Noticing the sisters’ confusion Alice explained. “After Edward was escorted to the dungeons I was led to a sitting room. There Athenodora visited me and basically said that if it wasn’t for Bella I would be dead but because of her fondness for me that myself and Jasper would be spared any punishment for the crimes the family committed.”

“So the human has enough power over the kings to have you spared from punishment?” Irina wasn’t sure she believed that.

Alice nodded. “Bella not only saved me and Jasper but she asked that Rosalie and Emmett be spared as well.”

“The royals must care very much for that girl if the four of you are sitting here right now. Claiming a false mate bond is not something they take lightly.” Tanya kind of wanted to meet Bella. She wanted to see for herself what was so special about the human that she could command the royals on how she wanted a punishment to be carried out.

“That wasn't the only crime against us though. We were also in trouble for revealing the existence of vampires to a human and then leaving her with the knowledge without changing her or killing her.” Jasper once again thought how lucky they were that Bella had forgiven them for leaving her behind. She could have turned her back on them for that betrayal alone.

Kate was beyond surprised that the four of them were actually sitting here talking to her and her sisters. They had broken not only one of the most important laws but two. “What happened to Carlisle and Esme?”

“While Rosalie and I were shopping with the queens last night they told me that..” Before Alice could continue she was interrupted by Irina.

“You went shopping with the queens?” Irina asked.

“Yes.” Alice confirmed. “Bella needed some clothes and human stuff so the queens took her shopping. Bella asked if Rosalie and myself could go so she would have some company while the queens shopped for her. Well I was asked to go because I knew more about what they needed to buy to take care of a human. Rosalie was asked to go so Bella had someone to hang out with.”

“What was it like shopping with the queens?” Tanya imagined that it was not a pleasant experience. The queens were not known for their kindness to those lesser than them.

“It was fun. The queens were nice to both of us and mostly doted on Bella.” Rosalie smiled thinking of all the times Bella blushed with embarrassment.

“You had fun shopping with the queens?” When both of the girls nodded Kate was trying to see where the hidden cameras were because there was no way they weren’t being pranked.

“I know it probably sounds crazy to you but you haven’t seen how they act around Bella. Actually you haven’t seen how everyone acts around Bella. Many of the guards care enough about her that I have no doubt they would give their lives to protect her and not because she is the Volturi princess but because they respect her so much.” Alice told them.

“I think that she gained most of that respect for risking her life coming to a castle full of human drinking vampires because she wanted to save her friend. It is well known that Bella didn’t come to save Edward she was only worried about what would happen to Alice if Edward had succeeded.” Rosalie had also seen the way the guards had been extra vigilant when they were guarding Bella when she had gone for gelato with the human. They had cleared out the entire shop before letting Bella even enter the shop and had stood close to her while she ordered her treat even though it was obvious the teenage boy working there wasn’t any kind of threat.

“I kind of want to meet this human now.” Irina wanted to know what a human who could get the loyalty of not only the royals but the guard as well was like. Most of the castle had little regard for human life so Bella must be someone extremely special to have won over so many in such a little amount of time.

“I would as well.” Tanya then remembered what they originally had been talking about. “Let’s get back to what happened to Carlisle and Esme. You mentioned Edward was taken to the dungeon, what happened to the pair?”

“When we were shopping with the queens Bella and Rosalie left to get food for Bella. After they left I asked the queens what happened to Carlisle and Esme. I was told that even though I had informed them of the false mate bond and Marcus confirmed it Carlisle refused to believe it.If that wasn’t bad enough when it was revealed Cauis and Athenodora had a child bond with Bella Carlisle accused them of lying and claiming they were just trying to break up his family.” Alice said. “As of right now they are in the dungeon with Edward awaiting punishment.”

“That idiot.” Tanya was somewhat surprised by the way Carlisle acted. They all knew he would never go against Edward but Tanya didn’t think he would be dumb enough to accuse the royals of lying.

“You guys were really lucky Bella vouched for you because if she didn’t Carlisle would have sealed your fate and you would be in the dungeon with them.” Irina had no doubt about that.

“Don’t worry we know.” Rosalie said.

“If you were pardoned why are you still being held at the castle?” Kate asked.

“We aren’t actually be held here.” Alice knew if they asked they would be allowed to leave at any time.

Tanya motioned to the doors. “There are four guards at your door preventing you from leaving.”

“They aren’t preventing us from leaving, they are there for our protection.” Alice expected the disbelieving looks. “Athenodora sent them because in her words we were too valuable to the princess for us to be hurt. They even went hunting with us.”

“Seriously?” Out of all the things they had been told Kate found that to be the most unbelievable. “You have members of the royal guard as personal body guards?”

“Yeah they follow us around wherever we go. They even call us sir and ma’am when addressing us.” Emmett chuckled as he thought about the first time they had called him sir.

“Now I want to meet this human even more.” Tanya said.

“Where are Eleazar and Carmen?” Rosalie wondered where the mated pair was.

“Eleazar got a call from Aro asking him if he would come and examine a human that apparently had a rather powerful gift. We decided to come with him because we hadn’t heard anything from any of you and we were worried.” Tanya explained.

“A human with a gift.” Alice looked to Rosalie. “Do you think they are talking about Bella?”

“It would make sense.” Rosalie was a little worried if it was Bella. The rumors of Aro liking to collect gifted vampires were well known and with Bella’s gift he would no doubt be interested in learning just how strong it was.

“The human has a gift as well?” Irina asked.

Alice nodded. “Bella has the ability to block Edward from reading her mind. I have also been having problems having visions of her future. It was because of those problems that led to this whole situation.”

“Christ, can you imagine how powerful she will be as a vampire if her gift has already manifested so strongly while she is human.” Kate wondered if her gift would work on the human. She didn’t think she would ever get the chance to try it out but she still wondered.

“It seems this human is quite exceptional.” Tanya said.

“Bella really is. Hopefully you will get a chance to meet her today. I’m not sure what her plans are but when we parted ways yesterday she said she wanted to hang out.” Rosalie was looking forward to spending more time with Bella. She wasn't lying when she told the sisters that she had fun shopping with Bella and the queens the night before. Bella had treated Rosalie like an old friend and the two of them talked and laughed almost the whole time they watched the others shop. It had been the first time in a long time Rosalie had been comfortable being herself around someone who wasn’t her family.

“I look forward to it.” Tanya said. She was extremely curious about what type of person this human was that she held so much power in the vampire world. The fact that it was on her word alone that only part of the Cullens were punished for a crime that anybody else would have been killed for right away was a show of that power. Bella having not only Jane as mate but Athenodora and Caius as bond parents made the human more powerful than every vampire in the world except the other royals. Not only would it be nice to meet Bella to see what kind of person she was but by the way Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper were being treated it would be smart for Tanya’s coven to try to get in Bella’s good graces. Having the human as an ally like the four Cullen children would give the Denali added protection against any enemies that came their way. As she sat back and watched the others talk about their adventures while they had been in the castle Tanya made a promise to herself that she would put her hatred for the Volturi aside and give Bella a chance. If from what the others said was true then maybe the new princess wouldn’t be so bad.