THE WORLD THAT EXISTS FOR ME IS NOT THE ONE I WAS BORN INTO.
I realized that when I turned, when I was told I wasn't human. Being in this trial and being forced to choose between a rock and a hard place also did that. Rosalie's look of despair during the entire thing made me second guess what I was doing. Because I was doing it to them, laying out these punishments.
This would mean that Emmett and Rosalie potentially couldn't visit their friends in Seattle. If they had any, which I was assuming that they did. Why else did they talk about going to Seattle every other weekend to have fun?
I was sure this would be a blow for anyone with a social life. It would be like me not being able to visit Jasper, or for Luna and Afton being ripped apart. Vampire social lives mattered.
Which is why this was the punishment. Isolation from an area fit the crime but also made people ask questions as to what happened. If they looked into it, they would find out that they'd harmed a group in the state and had to be forcibly kicked out via a failed hearing and eventually a trial.
Truly, Rosalie and Emmett did not deserve this. I just wished they had a better family than the one they had. Sometimes your siblings ruin things for you, it seems.
To say it kindly, the group did not take this information well. Bella resisted heavily, stating that she could not just not be in physical contact with her father. He would ask questions, apparently, and this was cruel and unjust. Alice also didn't like this, since Bella didn't, and Edward called it wrong. Tyrannical, cruel, rude, unable to be kept as a rule just for them.
To be frank, I didn't want to hear it and left the room before he could start insulting me personally. This wasn't the night- yes, night- we had taken that long- that I wanted to have. I needed some time with my books and my friends to prove to myself that everything that Edward had said and was thinking about me wasn't true.
The Cullens were to be kept in the furthest away guest quarters and since the place was under lockdown, we made the decision that they weren't to leave their rooms. Except for Bella, who could only leave to go to the bathroom with a guard or to get some food, since she had been so long without food.
Jasper had been let into the guard quarters that night, having properly filled out the paperwork to leave the Cullens and to join the Volturi. Every member was happy to have him there. Wren had hugged and kissed him all over the face when she heard, from what Luna told me when she slipped into the library to ask if I wanted to take a break.
I didn't need a break, really, I just needed the ability to do my job properly. Whether or not this was the job I thought I would have is another question, but I did have this as my new job. Being Queen, having boyfriends, what a time I was having in Volterra.
A shiver went down my spine when I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned back, I was met with Wren, which felt much more like looking in a mirror than meeting the face of another person. The way she held herself was different from me, so it wasn't as uncanny as seeing someone exactly like me would be.
"Hello, River," she greeted with a large smile on her face. "I was wondering if we could talk. We haven't and that isn't right."
She was right, I had to admit. I'd been avoiding it, honestly. Jasper told me that she was great, that we should chat, that we could be really good friends if we got the chance and got over the way she looked so damn similar to me. It was my fault, I was the one who had a hard time getting over it.
Could he blame me, though? I didn't think I had some doppelganger roaming around the same country that I'm from.
"Yeah, of course we can talk." I was a bit shaking from being caught off guard and because I'd been looking through some of the heavier laws that were almost entirely around things we kill people for. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Well, I know that you're friends with my mate. Now that we're officially a part of this coven, I thought it was only right that I get to know the leaders," Wren beamed.
I nearly laughed. Not in a rude, petty way, but because she was so lively and gregarious. Good at talking to people and sweet in the way she used her words. I liked that in people, it's why I like Jasper. He's always making other people happy.
"You're the first one to ask me that directly." Aro had made an entire game out of it that ended in him getting into my pants. "What do you want to know?"
"What made you become friends with Jasper? He won't tell me how you two met! I hope it's nothing too embarrassing and if it is you don't have to tell me. I'm just curious because you seem to know a lot of people from my old Coven."
She spoke so fast that I was barely able to keep up with her, almost manic in the way she moved her arms as she asked her questions.
"It's not embarrassing," I insisted. "Rather he was at the right place at the right time. He noticed me in the snow and Carlisle took me into a house. He later transferred Chrissy and I to New York where we hung out and did fun things! Mainly the Theatre or helping him with his college work. Although, I think he already knew how to do most of it."
Wren giggled. "He does that, doesn't he? Pretends to not know how to do something so you can explain it to him? It's adorable."
"It really is. He's a close friend of mine, though we should hang out more often when all of this shit gets sorted out. I think he's staying away mainly so he can help teach you all the things you need to know."
"Should I tell him to leave me alone?" Wren asked. "He thinks I'm glass. I'm really not."
"No, you aren't," I agreed with a laugh, "you're stone. Which is good, if you think about it. We can be statues and creep people out from the windows."
"Have you done that?" She asked, eyebrows raised.
"No, but Alec and Jane do it all the time. It's so creepy when you walk in on them doing it when trying to get past wherever they're posted." I started to laugh quietly. "Aro tries to get them to stop, but it's impossible."
God, it was the scariest thing sometimes. Straight out of a horror film, if you're asking me. I'd even seen Aro scold them in the hallways when he catches them doing it. Afton doesn't help, he actually encourages the behavior quite a bit.
"I also did want to ask you about how long you've been here," Wren admitted. "The timelines that others have been giving me aren't exactly adding up. I think it's because of all the madness around Andrei. Time flies when a madman is on the loose."
"Nearly three months now." It felt much longer than that, with the issues surrounding Athenodora and the aftermath of my turning. "Though as a vampire time moves differently. It's short, but the time you have with others matters more. You can get close with people faster."
Practically the only reason that was true was because none of us slept. We talked in the night and during the day. We could do anything in the Clock Tower walls! I'd found myself talking for hours with Luna and Corin.
I'd have to include her in more things, clearly. That was a part of my job, I suppose. Getting to know everyone and creating a healthy social environment.
I was glad that she came to talk to me, since most haven't gotten the courage to.
---
"YOU HAVE VERY FEW REASONS TO ALLOW THIS BEHAVIOR TO SLIDE," CAIUS SAID WITH A HUFF AS HE WALKED NEXT TO ME, "AND I HAVE LITTLE PATIENCE FOR THEIR NONSENSE."
The time had come for all of us to question the Cullens and Bella. Jasper had come to speak to what he knew since he was a part of the Coven when Bella came along.
Everything for them was on the line here. From what the law books said, vampires don't take lightly to breaking this certain rule. Humans aren't very well liked, so to harbor one and to love one despite them not being their mate? Oh, I knew from those writings that Caius was having a field day on this case.
He loved making fun of people he hated. He'd been holding back for the past eighteen hours as we prepared for the trial. I hadn't heard a peep from him in the library. He just stared intently at those books, seeing some of the same things I had.
All of the texts were in our favor. That much was obvious. Plenty of laws stated that if the Volturi could prove that a human that was waiting to be turned for any reason was still in contact with humans that could pose a threat to the secret, they would have to turn within a moon cycle. We had so many laws that had situations such as theirs, examples of previous vampires that had tried to evade this law.
I didn't realize before how deep this went, how much of an affront to the law this was. It was a power play, honestly, and Edward was the one playing with fire. It was almost like he liked being an ass. Somehow it filled some self-righteous bucket that when filled to the top could prove that he was indeed a good person.
Imagine being contrarian for the damn sake of being so.
We weren't some dictatorship, anyone could overthrow my boyfriends. If they had the forces and reasons to, I bet some of our own would join them. Yet there's been so little fucking proof of that. Edward has nothing to stand his arguments on except his pity pedestal.
"I just hope I never have to hear from him again after this," I admitted to Caius. "After everything he's said about me..."
Then there was that. I knew coming into the ballroom again that Edward hated my guts because I didn't hate being a part of the Volturi. I wasn't wallowing because I'd been turned. I moved past shit that happened to me. Sure, I could easily be triggered and have an episode, but it had been only perhaps six months since Jasper and Carlisle found me.
I had the rest of my life to heal from that. An endless period of time where I could forget what happened to me. Forget the horrors that I witnessed in that house.
Edward couldn't take that from me. He could hate me all he wanted but he wasn't in the place to ruin my life. His words meant nothing when I've done nothing wrong. One person with a small following can't ruin the word of royalty.
At first I didn't want this job, in a way I still don't. It's stressful to do this trial and it won't get easier for my mental health moving forward, but for some reason the world was going to trust me. Most people trusted the Volturi, pledged fealty to them. If I was a Queen that means that they also pledge fealty to me and expect that I protect them from danger.
I haven't met all the vampires around the globe, but they do deserve my all when it comes to their safety.
"He will not be allowed to speak to you that way or he will be removed from the ballroom," Marcus assured. "No slander, no lies. He knows the rules."
"Will we go over them again?" Aro asked as he found us at the front of the ballroom. "I fear that we may be spending too much time on these issues. We should be trying to have a quick trial so we can focus our efforts on what truly matters."
Like Andrei, who was still on the loose.
"I think it would be excessive when we just had them in the ballroom yesterday. Since we are still using the room, we can stick to the main parts of the trial," Marcus responded with.
I agreed. I didn't want to have to stand up and state all of that all over again. Laying it on too thick wasn't what we needed. Edward was using everything he could to his advantage here... he may think of it as passive aggressive. I wouldn't, but Edward likes to read in between lines of books that don't exist.
So I sat down where I had before and waited. Like before, the Cullens came last with guards leading them in. Jane and Alec were in the room this time, as they promised to keep their mouths shut if anything bad was said about their Coven Masters. They were the most protective things sometimes, but they had to just be guards and not family members right now.
Edward sat next to Bella, who was away from the other Cullens. He glared at Jasper, who stood next to the table.
He'd been betrayed by his brother. I couldn't blame Jasper for it.
"We are going to begin this trial under the assumption that everyone remembers the rules from the previous trial held yesterday," Caius stated as calmly as he could.
"You're not even going to say the case name?" Edward snapped.
"Volturi vs Cullen Coven is the name of this case." Caius sighed and whispered, "obviously," under his breath.
This seemed to settle the issue for now, with Edward taking his seat and accepting that he wouldn't be able to push Caius' buttons anymore today. I watched him in that seat, though, and he wasn't happy that he didn't win. The boy had gotten too used to winning.
We had to put an end to that, once and for all. He needed to be humbled. Edward was on his high horse about Bella being his forever woman even when some poor girl was mated to him and hadn't found him. I feel bad for whoever she is, having to be with such a fucking asshat.
Guess she must be just like him because that's the only woman who would fit perfectly with Edward.
"We are here today to discuss the lack of action on the Cullen Coven's part when it comes to turning Isabella Swan into a vampire. As it stands, on March 19th, 2006, she was supposed to be turned as soon as possible. While the Kings did give until the end of the year, the Volturi has considerable worry over the continued contact with humanity on part of the human woman," I introduced.
"When it comes to what can be labeled as an issue, Isabella still has contact with her father, who is a human sheriff who works for the Forks Police Department. This directly goes against our laws.
"In the fifteenth century a law was created that stated that any human with a delayed turning must not have any contact with anyone to whom they have a relation to. That means friends and family, as modern biology was not known to humans during that period of time.
"The Coven has not done their part to isolate Isabella Swan before her turning and has therefore violated the rule of law."
Our ballroom turned-court went silent and it struck me then something I hadn't even thought of as a thought.
He didn't know the fucking rules.
How many fucking times had I thought he was doing stupid things on purpose? He was an idiot for arguing that he couldn't possibly think like this. He couldn't think that he's getting away with all of this.
But he really did. A mix of ignorance and arrogance.
The perfect storm to fuck everything in his life up.
"Charlie has no idea that there's anything different about the Cullens," Bella tried to say in defense. "He approves of Edward because he makes me happy. He wants me to be happy. I'll walk away from him when I turn but- but you can't expect me to have just gone to Italy and never come back for him!"
Yet that was what the law required. It wasn't even an unreasonable law either. Humans that are going to be vampires need to leave their human lives behind. That includes their families, their friends. It sucks that they can't know, but the danger of fire and an entire human population killing vampires off in hordes is too strong.
There were a few thousand vampires and billions of humans.
"The law says what it says," Aro said with very little patience remaining in his voice. "We have it this way to protect the secret. We have even more of a reason in the modern age to keep it this way. If your father did not love you as much as he does he would be looking into the Cullens and their history. He only looks the other way because he doesn't want to lose you."
"Charlie and the other humans of Forks would find it odd if we left with Bella, which is why we didn't," Carlisle said to defend his actions. "They might have even claimed we kidnapped her."
"That is a situation of your own making, Carlisle, and a situation that is your job to fix," Caius stated plainly. "The law does not care if you chose a human who would be hard to turn or take away from their family."
It wasn't like they were mates either, which had different rules. A true mating bond mattered the most, so it was given special accommodations like I had. Apparently I could have turned when I wanted as long as I kept the secret. Bella doesn't have that privilege.
I wish I could be frank with all of them. They had no backing here and it was so annoying to hear the defenses. Carlisle especially since he had been a member of the Volturi. He had no excuse! He knew this and still freaking did all of this.
Just to protect a man who didn't deserve his protection. To protect Edward's feelings.
They should have just let him kill the girl and get it out of his system, would have been better for him.
Better for Bella as well. She'd been dragged around the bush by Edward just to be abandoned. Then she was taken back just to have a Newborn Army raised to kill her. Makes you wonder whether or not her life would have been better if she'd died not knowing what killed her.
It was morbid, sure, but it may be right.
"You just want her dead," Edward accused, pointing a finger at Caius. "You've never liked humanity and now you want to kill my mate."
"Watch your tone, boy," Caius spat. "You have no mate, she is a human girl that you have made your lover. Nothing more, nothing less. If you speak to me like that again, you will be removed from the room."
"How can you speak to me like that, but I can't defend my mate?" The arms of Felix and Demetri wrapped around Edward, fully ready to drag him out. "You have to let me defend her! I am defending her!"
"You know what to do, boys," Aro said quietly as Felix and Demetri began to pull Edward out of the ballroom kicking and screaming incoherent things at the pair.
And just like that, the room went deadly quiet once more. No more Edward and his ridiculous arguments, just the pure dead silence that haunted both sides of this issue.
Marcus was the one to speak next.
"One of the rules of the room is that you are not to lie or slander. The fact of the matter is that Edward and Bella are not true mates. They are lovers. They have love for one another in the romantic sense. They would not die inside if they had to separate." Marcus let out a deep sigh before he continued. "Now that this fact has been stated, we shall continue. Since this is a trial that the Volturi has brought forward, we shall let Carlisle speak on this."
"The law was supposed to be amended years ago, it is quite outdated. Humans don't just go missing," he said with a frown on his face. "Edward did not believe Bella was ready to turn. We needed that extra time. So much was happening in our family, we needed time to adjust."
Still defending Edward.
Defending Edward.
"Is that your defense?" Caius asked. "Is there any more evidence that we should know?"
"You can't just order me dead-"
I cut off Bella, "The rules of the room, Ms. Swan."
She was quiet after that.
"If I may," Jasper started, looking at the people he used to call family, "Charlie did ask me if something was going on between Edward and Bella. He implied that he was worried that she was being abused. I have no evidence, but he could go to higher authorities if he isn't reassured that his daughter's boyfriend isn't an abuser."
If Charlie was any good at his job he would notice the signs here. Vampires are predators and Edward had probably shown the signs of that. Chrissy had when I hadn't... then again I've never been able to judge people that well, have I? I didn't think Edward was a horrible person who would use my traumas against me until Aro told me everything that happened.
I should have known better though. The red flags were always there.
"He doesn't hate Edward," Alice denied. "He doesn't like anyone dating his daughter."
"That's not what he told me," Jasper replied. "He told me that he wished his daughter would have gotten with a man with a job, that Edward is nice enough to him but he doesn't seem normal with her. He's worried for her safety."
Things that every father would want. I never met mine, so there was that, but all my old friends' fathers told them that they should get a man with a job and who treated them right. Because that's what fathers want for their daughters, right? They want the best for them if they're decent parents.
"What Charlie thinks about Edward is not within our control," Bella said. "I love him and he is the only man I will ever be with. That's what's important, right? I'm going to be with him forever."
"So you want to be turned?" Caius questioned.
"When the time is right, yes. When Edward and I have settled down and are ready to take that step."
"That sounds an awful lot like moving the goalpost," I admitted, "You could be turned now. You could have been turned then. You're not in high school and you're above the legal age."
"What matters is that she needs to stay away from Charlie until she is turned, as the law states," Aro said as he stood up. "Five hundred years of precedent for this law has taken place, we cannot allow for you to stay human and stay in contact with your father.
"We gave you time, but that time will be up soon. Your time with your father is up."
"I have to say goodbye!" Bella cried out.
"Our mercy does not extend that far. Have Carlisle do it for you. Figure it out," Caius said as he stood up like his brother.
"That is not fair to Charlie or to Bella, she needs to say goodbye to her father. She deserves that much. She won't ever see him again! It's her father, Caius," Alice tried to weasel her way in.
"The word of royalty is sanity. The word of sanity is the law. This is the end of the discussion. We end our trial now, do not make us regret not turning you here in this room. The next offense you make will lead to your death, Cullens. The Volturi do not give third chances."
---
The last bit of the damn trial that literally took me out the night before this is coming out. Save me from their nonsense, please.