Give in to Us Chapter 8

Waking up that morning to both Jane and Heidi standing in front of me, talking quietly to themselves, was reassuring. Just seeing them there and knowing even though they seemed to not be paying too much attention, they were definitely keeping an eye on me. It made me feel safe, more than I had ever felt before. It wasn’t just a physical safety they made me feel either, it was also emotional safety. It was something I wasn’t used to feeling; even with Charlie.

“Good morning Bella.” Jane said as I started to stretch to help wake up.

“I hate to tell you this, but our schedule is a bit tight this morning.” Heidi said and I could see a small frown on her face. “The Cullen’s are arriving a bit earlier than expected; something with their flight plans changing or something.”

“How much earlier?” I nervously asked, afraid they were already in the castle and everyone was just waiting for me to wake up.

“Much too early for having a psychic in their coven.” Jane grumbled with her ever present sneer.

“They will be here in about two hours.” Heidi answered and I frowned. I guess it was time to get ready.

“Okay.” I said, not sure if I should feel happy or not. Even when they got here, they wouldn’t meet with the queens right away, they would meet with Edward first and get his side of the story and then we would all meet up in the throne room.

After getting dressed for the day, Heidi and Jane walked me to the dining room where Sulpicia had apparently decided to cook something for me. The girls found it extremely amusing, though slightly concerned since the queen wasn’t one to cook… in over three thousand years at least.

When I walked into the small dining room, the three queens as well as four guards were there waiting for me. The guards were seemingly trying to look like they weren’t paying attention to the six of us and trying to look like they had just so happened to be in the same room as us, but they were failing horribly.

“When we are expecting trouble, the guard tends to be on extra alert.” Didyme answered my unasked question when I paused in the doorway. “They shadow us to make sure nothing happens to us.”

“Even though they are completely unneeded.” Athenodora said with a sneer. I swore Jane had to have been related to her somehow with how similar their personalities were.

“We know dear, and I’m sure they know.” Sulpicia soothed her mate. “But it never hurts to err on the side of caution.”

“Is there going to be trouble?” I worriedly asked. I didn’t think the Cullen’s would do anything, even though everyone else seemed they would. The Cullen’s were kind, nice people. They may have left me, but they did so because Edward thought it would protect me. They were doing what their coven mate wanted and thought was best. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to let them get away with their actions. They let one boy, not the coven leader, decide what the whole coven should do. Not even the Volturi left the decisions to just one person; they had three queens for that.

“We hope not.” Didyme answered. “But it never hurts to be prepared for the unexpected.”

“Let us worry about it for now dear, you just come here and eat.” Sulpicia said with near child-like excitement. “I’m quite excited to see how you like it.”

I smiled at the thought of a red eyed vampire caring what a human thought of their cooking. Just a few months ago, I never would have thought a red eyed vampire would care at all about anything to do with a human. Not even Esme was truly worried about what I thought about her cooking, she was confident in her cooking skills; Esme was more worried if I liked the type of food she served.

They made breakfast food, nothing extravagant. Sulpicia was absolutely ecstatic I liked the food, her grin only growing wider as I ate more and more of what she had cooked. After I was done eating, the queens talked about what was going to happen. They told me the Cullen’s had arrived and were with Edward in his room and waiting to be brought to the throne room. The queens assured me they would wait for as long as needed if I had any questions I wanted to ask any of the Cullen’s.

I didn’t have questions. Originally, especially after they first left me, I wanted to ask all of them everything Alice already told me. Now with the option to ask them, I didn’t want to ask anymore. I just wanted to see the Cullen’s and see what would happen after the trial. I was a little embarrassed to admit, especially after how obsessed I was with him a few days ago, I wasn’t as eager to see him anymore.

The girls had made me practically forget he was in the same castle with me this whole time. I barely thought of him while I visited with the queens and my girls. I was so caught up in them, I barely thought of Edward anymore. I felt guilty about not visiting someone who once meant so much to me.

“Are you ready dear?” Didyme asked with a tilt of her head.

“To go straight to the throne room?” I asked, trying my best to keep my nerves from showing in my voice; but I was sure every vampire in the room heard it anyways. I was so calm before and during breakfast, but now that the time had come for me to see them, I was nervous.

“Yes, and then shortly after, the Cullen’s will be escorted into the room.” Athenodora said.

“Alright, I’m ready.” I said as I stood up, Heidi immediately looping one arm around my own while Jane wrapped her arm around my waist on the other side.

“You will sit in my seat.” Sulpicia said with a Cheshire smile. “We decided last night it would be amusing to show the Cullen’s just how important you are to us. We do not have a throne for our princess, but sitting on the middle throne of the queens will certainly show exactly how important you are to us.”

“It will hopefully help to curve any problematic outbursts that may or may not occur.” Didyme explained their line of thinking.

“You being in the middle of us and your mates on either side of you it would be difficult for Edward to do anything if he decides to try and ‘rescue’ you.” I never thought I would ever see Athenodora use air quotes, but she did. There was, of course, a sneer while she used them.

“You all really think Edward will do something, don’t you?”

They had said as much yesterday and everyday this past week. But I hadn’t wanted to believe them. How could I believe that Edward would do anything to really hurt me? It was like they were expecting him to attack me and a part of me couldn’t believe them. This past week of listening and watching how Heidi and Jane, my mates according to everyone, behaved around me and the queens, I developed real concerns about how they acted around their mates compared to how Edward acted around me. Edward and I acted the complete opposite of how the queens and Jane and Heidi.

The past week gave me a lot of doubt about Edward. So, I wasn’t worried about how Edward would act during the meeting; I was worried about how I would. I was worried my emotions would take over, especially after running from them all week, I was close to exploding.

“We do.” Athenodora calmly answered with a serious look. She was preparing for a fight and if there was one thing I knew about the warrior queen, it would be that she always took fighting very seriously. “He is a young vampire that believes his mate is in trouble and being kept from him. Until he accepts you are not his, he will be a threat. Vampires who believe their mate is in danger are always a threat.”

“But you have nothing to worry about dear, we won’t let Edward do anything too stupid.” Didyme assured as we approached the throne doors sooner than I thought we would.

“I um, I don’t think he will do anything too stupid.” I weakly said, still wanting to stubbornly defend Edward if only out of habit; not even I believed my words. Not anymore.

I received a non-comital hum from Sulpicia and a quick growl of distaste from the two women on my arms. I knew they not only didn’t believe what I said but also didn’t like I said it.

We walked into the throne room not much later and Athenodora and Didyme immediately went to their thrones, Jane and Heidi escorted me to Sulpicia’s and as I sat on her throne, which they had thankfully added several cushions so it was comfortable. Jane and Heidi moved to stand on either side of the throne with one hand on the back. Sulpicia opted to stand in front of me as we waited for the Cullen’s.

“They’re almost here.” Heidi whispered before I could ask.

I felt myself grow anxious about meeting the Cullen’s again. I couldn’t decide if I was nervous about seeing people the Volturi were so sure were going to cause trouble; or if I was excited to see them after so long. I had seen Alice a week ago but I hadn’t spent much time with her. I didn’t know if I wanted to stay where I was and use Sulpicia as a pseudo shield, or if I wanted to give Esme or Emmett a giant hug.

“Welcome Cullen’s.” Sulpicia greeted as two guards opened the door and walked into the room with the Cullen’s close behind them. “It’s been far too long since you’ve last visited old friend.” I could hear from her tone she had a wide smile on her face, a sharks’ smile.

The Cullen’s were barely in the room before their eyes zeroed in on me. They, except Alice and Edward, looked shocked to see me. Carlisle even looked a little concerned.

“Bella!” Edward yelled as his eyes shone with happiness from seeing me. “Why haven’t you come to see me? They wouldn’t let you see me, would they?” He angrily asked as he started to walk towards me.

“Stop Edward. You will stand with your coven.” Sulpicia said as she got in the way of Edward getting any closer to me. “You are here to answer for the charges brought against you. If you do not wish to try to defend yourself, then we can just sentence you and get on with our day.” There was an edge to her voice that warned while she was being nice, she was on edge and shouldn’t be tested.

Edward looked at Sulpicia, as he was read what she was thinking and then looked back to me.

“Don’t worry Bella, I’ll get you out of here.” Edward swore to me, causing the two girls next to me to growl and tighten their grip on me, as if afraid I was going to go to him. The idea briefly crossed my mind, since I once thought it would be nice to have his arms around me again; but I didn’t feel that way anymore.

“Watch what you say boy.” Athenodora said with a sneer.

“Can you at least let her tell us if she is okay or not?” Esme asked with worry clear in her tone and on her face. She kept glancing between me and Sulpicia, like she was afraid to ask me herself but still wanted the answer.

“Does she look ill or damaged in anyway?” Sulpicia said with a sneer.

“Bella?” Esme asked me, seemingly more confident since Sulpicia didn’t tell her not to talk to me.

“Esme.” I said in a near gasp, happy to see the woman who had acted more like my mother than the woman who actually gave birth to me. I thought it was really telling I barely thought of not seeing Renee again and hadn’t asked the Volturi to tell something to Renee, only Charlie.

Without thinking how anyone would react or if I shouldn’t, I shook off Heidi and Jane’s hands and moved quickly towards Esme. I wanted to hug her, I wanted to feel the maternal comfort I always felt from her in waves.

Vaguely, from the corner of my eyes, I saw Athenodora and Didyme stand when I moved past Sulpicia to hug Esme; who welcomed me with open arms. It had been so long since I last saw her. Even though I was both upset and sad she left, it was hard not to hug her when I finally saw her. It was incredibly hard to stay mad at a woman like Esme.

As much as I wanted to stay near Esme, and to get her side of the story of what happened and why she didn’t say goodbye, a hand on my shoulder pulled me away. Sulpicia pulled me from Esme and wrapped a possessive arm around my shoulders.

“Why don’t you go back to your other two mothers dear so they can tell you anything important that may happen in vampire culture during this meeting?” Sulpicia asked, though it was a rhetorical question. She was letting the Cullen’s know who the queens were to me. “We wouldn’t want you to feel left out again, do we?” She asked, looking at the Cullen’s and I knew she was doing her best to insult them.

“Or she can stand with her family and we will tell her.” Edward said and I nearly rolled my eyes at his stupidity. As much as I really wouldn’t have minded, I preferred to do what the vampire queen said. Before going to Voltera, I would have thought it was romantic he wanted to protect me and keep me close. At the moment, I thought it was stupid he would outright go against what a very powerful queen wanted.

“It’s alright Edward.” I said before Sulpicia, or anyone else for that matter, could say anything. “I don’t mind being around Didyme or Athenodora and I don’t want to make things more tense than it needs to be.” I was sure if I fought to stay standing with the Cullen’s, the queens would let me. They had no problem letting me make my own decisions. They just wouldn’t be very happy about it. But I actually didn’t want to stand with the Cullen’s, I wanted to be near the queens.

“If you cannot control yourself Edward, we will keep you under control ourselves.” Athenodora threatened from her new spot of standing next Sulpicia’s throne. Both her and Didyme had taken over one side of the throne, while Heidi and Jane had the other side.

Didyme immediately hugged me when I got to the thrones. She held me longer than what I thought was necessary. When she finally let me go, I sent a small smile towards Athenodora, which seemed to make her relax, and then sat down when Jane placed a possessive arm around my shoulders.

“Now, let’s get to business, shall we? I have better things I want to do today.” Sulpicia said, no longer using the jovial tone she normally liked to use.

“I’m sure we can clear up any misgivings in a timely manner.” Carlisle said with an easy smile, his eyes showing just a hint of concern.

Edward kept his gaze on me, making me uncomfortable. The way he stared was in a way I had never seen him stare at me before. It made me feel like prey. I was tempted to ask Athenodora or even Jane to do something to get him to stop. The last time I felt this way was just before Laurent had attacked me. I didn’t like feeling like prey with Edward.

“I’m sure.” Athenodora said, her sneer firmly in place.

“Come.” Sulpicia ordered Carlisle as she held her hand towards him. She was going to read his thoughts and get straight to the answer without risk of someone trying to lie to them. She wasn’t going to give him a chance to leave anything out of the story.

“She’s going to read all of their thoughts to make sure nothing is left out and that no one is unjustly punished.” Didyme whispered into my ear as Carlisle gave his hand to Sulpicia. All the vampires were nice enough to act like they hadn’t heard Didyme whisper to me.

“That’s smart of her.” I replied, earning an eye roll from Rosalie and a frown from Edward. Sulpicia’s gift made it impossible for someone to lie to her. I thought it was very responsible of her to read everyone’s thoughts so they wouldn’t punish anyone unjustly.

One by one, Sulpicia held everyone’s hand. She didn’t say anything to anyone and kept a very stoic face. She wasn’t giving anything away about what she was thinking; at least until she got to the last person. Edward was saved for last and the anger on his face told me he wasn’t happy.

“I opted not to read you previously with respects to my history with Carlisle.” Sulpicia said when she finally received Edwards’ attention, which made Heidi and Jane relax a little without his attention on me. “It would seem that was a mistake. Now you will show me everything and we will get to the bottom of what has happened.” Sulpicia said with a wicked grin just before she grabbed Edward’s neck in such a tight grip even I could start to see cracks forming around his neck. I was impressed the only thing Edward did in retaliation was to grip Sulpicia’s arm; but I couldn’t tell if he was trying to remove her arm or not. I chose to believe he was just letting her do what she wanted so as to not upset her more, perhaps Alice had a vision about consequences if he chose to do anything.

“I believe you will find now we meant no harm.” Carlisle said once Sulpicia released Edward and turned around so fast I was sure if she wasn’t a vampire, she would have lost her balance. She had her eyes closed when she faced us but from looking at her and from the way her mates tensed, she clearly didn’t like something she saw.

“Alec, you are to keep Edward contained downstairs. Felix, you are to escort the Cullen’s back to their assigned room and you are to remain there to ensure Alice does not share anything about what we decide.” Sulpicia ordered just before she opened her eyes to reveal they were all black.

In seconds, the room was cleared out with the exception of the queens and Jane and Heidi. The Cullen’s hadn’t even put up a fight; or if they had, I hadn’t seen it. I didn’t even hear Edward say or do anything and I had thought he would have done something or at the very least said something.

“Can I go see them?” I asked when no one did or said anything. I wanted to at least visit with Esme, maybe even Emmett since he seemed happy to see me. I just hadn’t had a chance to say anything to him before Sulpicia pulled me back.

“I think it best if you stay with us.” Didyme said; there was a tenseness in her voice I had never heard before from her. It was unusual to hear Didyme as anything but calm and collected.

“They are a bit put out that you willingly hugged Esme, a woman who has filled a space in your heart they want, and have yet to hug them.” Heidi told me before I could ask Didyme why myself. “It’s a vampire territorial feeling thing. It’s something Jane and I are struggling with, with Edward being here. Although, it seems the queens are having a bit of a harder time handling their emotions.” Heidi said with a tense smirk.

“We are not having a difficult time.” Athenodora hissed. “That woman has no right to touch you or to even ask about you.” There was no question Athenodora was mad and I had to admit, a mad Athenodora was a scary sight. If it wasn’t for Jane and Heidi right next to me, I was sure I would be trying to get away. In fact, all three queens looked really pissed and on the verge of losing control; which I had previously thought to be impossible. “She left you, abandoned you. She deserves to know nothing about you any longer.”

I couldn’t help but frown at what she said. I knew Esme left but I wanted to move past that. There was something about Esme, Alice and even Emmett that made me want to see past them leaving me. I at least wanted to talk with them and try to understand why they did what they did. I just wanted my life back to the way it was; even though as each day passed, I wanted my old life with them less and less.

“But I still want to talk with her.” I said, quickly becoming on the defensive. “We were really close.” I added, hoping it would help my case. But the dark looks all three queens wore said it didn’t.

“I see no reason for you to be anywhere near that woman.” Sulpicia said. “For a woman that treated you like her daughter, to only leave you on your own with a vengeful vampire after you, she’s not worth much to me. It proves she should have nothing to do with you.”

“She did have a strong maternal bond towards you, and she still does.” Didyme said, sounding like she wasn’t happy with what she was revealing. “But on your end, the bond is growing weaker. It was severed and while it seems to be trying to reconnect, it never will. She hurt the bond so much it will never be like it once was; no matter how much you both may want it to be.”

It seemed like they were trying to do everything they could to talk me out of talking with Esme, to see her. After everything they explained, I suppose I still hadn’t believed their bond with me. But seeing how they were threatened by Esme but still tried to keep me in the loop instead of shielding me away from everything showed how very different they were from Esme. Esme would have shielded me from everything but they wanted me to face everything head on.

“We have a lot to discuss.” Sulpicia said, her eyes started to fade from black to her normal red. “I’ve learned a lot from reading them.” She said with something that could have been a frown or a sneer.

This just proved my point by how different they were from all of the Cullen’s. The Cullen’s would have waited until I was out of the room or talked in vampire speeds about what had happened while the Volturi very much want me in on everything. It was very refreshing.

I had wanted to ask to visit with the Cullen’s, to ask them their individual reasons for leaving, but that desire was fading fast.

“I believe we should have this conversation in a more comfortable setting.” Didyme said as she looked towards me.

The throne wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable but even with the cushions, sitting on the hard surface wasn’t the best for an extended period of time.

“There is a lot to discuss and I want to make sure we do not make any mistakes.” Sulpicia added.

“Or make any rash decisions.” I mumbled before I could sensor my words.

“We do not make rash decisions.” Athenodora argued right away, reminding me of their super hearing. “We simply make quick decisions with no regrets.”

“That doesn’t sound much better dear.” Sulpicia said, seemingly completely calmed down with Esme not around and with me not asking to see the Cullen’s. “Now come, let’s go discuss what I’ve learned and what we will do. The sooner we can be rid of the Cullen’s, the better.” She finished with narrowed eyes that made me slightly worried about what exactly she wanted to do with the Cullen’s before they left. I suppose the calm exterior was only a façade, but at least she didn’t want to do something drastic right away.

Hopefully I could influence them, in some way, to not hurt the Cullen’s too much. I knew they needed to be punished but I didn’t want them to be punished too harshly; they had been my family at one point.