My Strength Chapter 30

After a week of being cooped up in her room, Bella was getting antsy. She wanted to leave the room and explore, but she knew the second she did, she would run into either Caius or Athenodora the second she left. She was sure if they weren’t waiting outside her door, there was definitely a guard member there waiting to rat her out the second she stepped foot outside her door. And as much as Bella was starting to feel more like a caged animal inside her room, her stubbornness was winning out with avoiding the royal couple.

But she was only human and there was only so much time she could put up with being locked away in her room without dying of boredom.

She asked Victoria to see if it was okay for her to go to the library or a garden or something so she could get out of her room. When the redhead had returned from exploring to see if those were viable options, she didn’t come with the best of news.

“Athenodora is out in the gardens now and Caius is in the library studying for something.” Victoria explained as her mate pouted at her. The redhead was close to suggesting some other activities, some very rigorous activities that would definitely help Bella to pass the time quickly but she knew they weren’t quite there yet in their relationship. It also likely wouldn’t end well for her and Zafrina with the royals so bent out of shape from Bella ignoring them and checking on her so often.

“I can ask my sisters to come back?” Zafrina offered. She had had her sisters visit multiple times a day to help alleviate the boredom but even her sisters were running thin of stories to share with their human.

“No, that’s fine.” Bella said, giving her mate a grateful smile.

As she smiled, she finally took in her mates, both of them, appearance. It wasn’t that she hadn’t looked at them while she was in her room, because she definitely had; sometimes it seemed like her mate’s were magnets that her eyes were acutely attuned to. But Bella had been so preoccupied with waiting for Caius or Athenodora trying to get in or talk through the door and then with trying to come up with something to do that she apparently hadn’t been paying as close attention to her mates as she should have.

For the entire time she had been locked away, whenever she asked for something, her mates were quick to get it, whether it was food from the kitchens or a new book to read, they were more than willing to help her and never once left her side when they weren’t doing something for her. Thinking back on it, she definitely felt she abused their bond with having them act like her errand girls.

What was more unsettling though was that Bella had not been paying attention to their eyes. She had been so caught up in her avoidance and anger of the royal couple that she completely ignored the people who were trying to just make her happy. The two people who were doing all they could to make her happy and take care of her, she apparently couldn’t be bothered to do the same.

While they’re eyes weren’t entirely black, they were really dark. They were definitely hungry and even trying to recall, Bella couldn’t remember the last they had eaten. What kind of mate was she that she was practically allowing her mates to starve?

She needed to be better.

“How long has it been since you’ve guys have last eaten?” Bella asked in a somber tone, her concern shining clear in her tone.

“We were waiting for you to be more comfortable here before going for a hunt.” Victoria answered for them both.

Bella couldn’t help but smile, even while they starved, they were still looking out for her. How could she get so lucky as to have mates like them? She really needed to be better, for both of them.

“You should both go hunting.” Bella said, “It’s not fair for you guys to starve while I’m just hiding in here like a little kid.” Bella may recognize that she was acting a bit on the childish side but in all fairness, Caius and Athenodora were taking her choices away like a little kid; so if they were going to treat her like a little kid, she was going to act like one. She just didn’t want her mates to suffer for it.

“Don’t worry about us, we want to make sure your wishes are followed just as much as you do.” Victoria said. The redhead could understand the lack of control Bella was feeling and the reason she was hiding away was a defense mechanism and unfortunately since the very people who were taking the control away from her had so much power, Bella was probably feeling like she was fighting a losing battle. Victoria got it. She understood. And she, and Zafrina, were more than willing to stand by their mate and be a little hungry for their mate to take control of their lives back.

“But I do worry and it’s not fair.” Bella said, then turned her attention towards her stoic vampire, “Zafrina, please, can you two go hunt. It would make me feel a lot better that you two are taking care of yourselves.”

“You would be alone.” Zafrina said. She knew her mate was upset and didn’t want to be alone; at least she wanted her and Victoria there with her while she struggled to figure out her emotions. Zafrina knew neither Caius nor Athenodora would try to come in, or at least they wouldn’t force themselves, into their room if Bella didn’t want them to. But she knew Bella wanted company and she and Victoria were her only options at the moment.

But what good would they be if they became so hungry themselves they couldn’t control themselves or even be a sensible talking companion for Bella?

“And that’s okay.” Bella urged, looking between the two women. “I’m not a little kid, I’ll be fine on my own; especially since I’ll know you two will be eating and taking care of yourselves. I want you both to go hunt and to be healthy.”

Victoria was still on the fence about leaving her very human mate, who was very much upset with the people who lorded over this palace, who could attract unwanted attention if there was a younger guard around. Logically, she knew they were in part of the castle that was heavily protected with higher level guards and there was zero chance of anything happening to her while they were gone. But Victoria couldn’t help but think about all the what if’s that could happen. Even though her gift said it would be find to go hunt and nothing would happen, her gift wasn’t infallible and risking her mate’s safety and wellbeing wasn’t something she wanted to think about doing.

“We will go.” Zafrina said, then threw a quick glare towards the redhead when she opened her mouth to argue. “We will be quick.” Zafrina promised and Bella knew it to be true.

But no matter how fast they were, she knew the castle didn’t keep a ready supply of humans to eat whenever the mood struck. It would be a few hours for them to go outside the city proper and then to actually hunt, eat, clean up and then come back.

After saying goodbye, Victoria promising to tell whomever they were leaving to go hunt and to make sure the royal couple respected Bella’s boundaries, they left. And Bella was left alone.

Bella had opted to open a new book Zafrina had picked out for her earlier that morning and had only gotten a few pages into the book when a knock sounded at her door.

With a huff, Bella didn’t even bother marking where she was in the book much less putting it down, she answered from her spot on the couch.

“I still don’t want to talk to either of you unless you both came here to tell me you were wrong.” Bella said in a bored tone. She knew very well the couple wouldn’t just take her back to Forks, there would be too many questions from both Charlie and everyone else if she were to do that; it was safer to stay in Italy now that the choice had been taken from her.

“It’s only me here, so I was hoping you would talk to me since my sister and brother are idiots and too stubborn to acknowledge what they did was wrong.” The voice said from the other side of the door.

Bella jumped to her feet. She hadn’t expected anyone else to come to her door besides Caius or Athenodora; truthfully she thought it would be Athenodora who would have the gall to try to talk to her without her vampire protectors nearby. The problem though, she wasn’t sure who was on the other side of the door. She knew it wouldn’t be anyone who would hurt her; she was positive once her mates left a guard member would have taken up post outside her door. Which she was fine with because it only made her safer incase a younger guard member decided to try their luck with getting to her for a snack.

But she hadn’t expected anyone to actually try to talk to her.

Slowly, Bella walked to the door, giving herself a mental peptalk to try to calm her nerves. She just had to remember whoever was on the other side, if they had wanted to hurt her a door wouldn’t have stopped them in the first place.

Cautiously, she opened the door and was shocked to see who was on the other side.

“Hello dear, I was hoping you would accompany me to my private gardens?” Didyme asked with a genuine smile, happy her new niece decided to open the door for her. “Neither of your parents would dare to go in unless I invited them, so we would have complete privacy.” She assured her niece and then added more when it seemed the human was fully convinced, “I figured since you’ve been in here for so long, some fresh air might be welcomed; especially fresh air without risk of your parents bothering anymore than they already have.” She said with a smirk, seeing she had the human convinced already. Thankfully her gift didn’t work on her niece so Didyme was even more proud of herself than usual with getting what she wanted by being nice; something she would be sure to rub in her Caius and Aro’s face at some point soon.

“Yeah, I think I would like that.” Bella said, still on guard around the queen.

Bella had thought this queen, versus all the royals, was the easiest to get along with. She hadn’t spent much, if any, time with them, but her very presence was very relaxed and inviting. It was near the complete opposite than all the others. It also helped that Bella really wanted to get out of the room and if the queen was promising sanctuary from her siblings, then Bella was going to trust she would follow through on that promise.

What Bella didn’t realize was that while Didyme was by far the nicest and most personable of the royal family; there was still very much a reason she was an active queen in court. When Didyme wanted something, whether for someone to join their coven, to stop whatever nefarious deeds they were doing or for anything really, Didyme always got what she wanted. Her biological brother was Aro after all, Didyme had learned a few tricks from the manipulative man over the centuries. And right now, Didyme wanted to be the favored among the new aunts and uncles, and what better way to become the favored than to simply give the girl what she wanted?

Didyme gestured for Bella to start walking down the hallway while she closed the door, the smirk on her face at wining so quickly was only there for a second. Didyme couldn’t wait to see the look on the other’s faces when they found out Bella preferred her company to their’s.