Sulpicia
The tension that filled the air in the throne room was palpable as the Volturi Guard, the Denali's and Bella stood watching the scene infront of them intently.
Most notably for Bella however was the sudden feeling of safety that washed over her as she gazed behind her at the blonde haired queen who had spoken. Her body relaxed without her consent as she leaned further into Irena. All three Denali's noticed her reaction and smirked at the queen knowingly as she cast a curious yet concerned glance at the human holding Irena in her arms.
The blonde queen along with her two mates gazed at the human curiously. It was a brave girl that stood her ground against three of the fiercest members of the vampire world. Queen Didyme the black haired woman and Queen Athenadora the taller blonde felt rather proud that their daughters had found their other mate, a brave one at that by the looks of it, where as Sulpicia gazed on curiously as she found herself feeling strangely protective of the human girl infront of her. The humans scent was strong but she found she had no desire for the girls blood but the desire to hold her close. To nurture her and keep her safe. Was this the maternal bond Didyme and Athenadora went on about. These feelings? She had never felt them before. They were the same but different from the way she felt about her mates. The same because she knew she would do anything to protect and love this human but different because there was no romantic interest. She wasn't attracted to the girl she was simply inclined to mother her.
Sulpicia's attention was drawn quickly away from the girl as she caught movement out the side of her eye. Looking up she noticed that the three kings were subtly shuffling themselves towards the side entrance as if they meant to get away.
"Apprehend them" she commanded the guard as she pointed at the men. This time the guard jumped into action. Jane, Alec, Demetri, Felix, Hiedi and Corin all flashed forward, grabbing the kings roughly and bringing them to their knees.
"Now, I do believe that introductions are in order. We do have a guest. Kate, Irena, Tanya how nice to see you three after so long. Your mothers have been insufferable in your absence" Sulpicia said lightly as she glided forward, coming to a stop infront of the four members of the Denali coven.
She pulled Kate and then Tanya in for a hug but avoided Irena for now when the blonde cast an apologetic look her way before glancing at the human still wrapped around her.
Sulpicia chuckled before murmuring quietly "I see".
"Now who is this lovely young lady that clings so tightly to you dear Irena" Sulpicia asked gently. Her voice far softer than it was in the beginning as she noticed the brunette eye her wearily.
"This my queen is our mate, Isabella Marie Swan. We actually came here seeking your council regarding a personal matter to our mate who has a few experiences that need to be dealt with" Irena informed her, her tone just as soft as Sulpicia's was.
As she finished talking she gently pried Bella from around her and passed her gently to Tanya to allow herself and Kate to move forward and greet their mothers.
"Isabella" Sulpicia called gently pausing to allow the human to look at her. When Bella made eye contact she continued.
"I am Queen Sulpicia. Behind me are Queens Didyme and Athenadora. My mates and your mates mothers. It is a pleasure to meet you" she said politely as she offered her hand to the human.
"Pleasures mine" Bella smiled as she shook the queens hand. Forcing herself to sound more comfortable than she currently felt. She was still apprehensive about the kings kneeling behind her. She didnt much trust them.
"We shall get to the more personal matters in a moment once I have dealt with them" Sulpicia stated as she gestured to the kings, when she felt her mates and her mates daughters make their way back to the small group.
"Aro, Cius, Marcus for the crime of treason in the attempted murder of your princesses you are sentenced to death. You had been well warned before now that we would not tolerate anymore if your schemes. Going against our children was the last straw" Athenadora spat as she glared at the three men before nodding to the guard.
"You cannot possibly mean that" cried Aro in disbelief as Felix took hold of his head.
"I'm afraid we do, goodbye Aro" Didyme said quietly as she cast a tentative look his way.
Bella was forced to cover her ears at the piercing screams and sickening sound of crunching bone that was heard throughout the throne room as the three men were torn apart and lit aflame.
Tanya ran her hand soothingly down Bella's back to comfort her. Well aware that their very human mate had never experienced the brutality of the vampire world to such an extent. "Its over now little one" she murmured into the brunettes ear tenderly.
"I'm alright Tanya, it was just loud" Bella reassured as she lent up to place a kiss on the vampires cheek.
"Of course Isabella" Tanya smiled at her mate before turning back to the queens.
"Now then thats the trash dealt with for the day, what do you say we retire with our daughters and their mates to our private rooms" Athenadora asked her tone no longer containing any trace of her previous displeasure.
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"She's my child isn't she Didyme?" Sulpicia asked her mate quietly as the group walked towards the queens private rooms. She deliberately ensured her voice was far too low that the human girl wouldn't be able to hear her just yet. She wanted confirmation before she would address Bella with that information.
"Yes she is. She is your bond child as Kate and Irena are Dora and mine" Didyme replied. Tone matching her mates as she smiled softly. Glad that her mate finally had her own child and wouldn't feel as left out as she had done with Athenadora and Didyme finding their bond children so long ago.
"We gathered the same" Tanya added, also smiling.
"How?" Athenadora asked curiously.
"Her reaction to Sulpicia was instant. As soon as she saw and heard her i felt Bella relax completely" Irena added.
"Interesting, I've never heard of a human reacting to any sort of vampire bond so quickly" Athenadora murmured.
"It was the same with us. The bond asserted itself within her as soon as she saw us. She thinks its because she has spent so long being exposed to vampire pheromones that her brain reacts on a more instinct driven basis and is therefore more in tune and susceptible to our natures" Kate replied quietly as she smiled fondly at her brunette mate.
"Any gifts?" Sulpicia questioned curiously.
"Shield we think. Kates gift is useless against her. She tried shocking her to test it out and got no reaction. Bella felt nothing even at her highest voltage" Tanya chuckled in amusement as she recalled the plane ride to Italy where that particular discussion had taken place.
"I'll have to see if she can fend of me" Sulpicia mused curiously as she glanced at the brunette.
Before anyone could comment further they arrived outside the queens rooms and Sulpicia opened the door. Beckoning them all in.
"Find a seat and get comfortable" Didyme said out loud so Bella could hear.
"Bella please?" Irena questioned as she sat down in the middle of a sofa. Tanya and Kate sitting either side of her.
Sensing that Irena was asking Bella to sit on her lap to help her remain calm Bella did not hesitate in situating herself on Irena's legs. Her back against Irena's front as she moved her hair to one side to allow Irena access to her neck if she should need it.
"I am sensing by the way that my daughter is currently holding Isabella hostage that this conversation isn't going to be a pleasant one?" Didyme enquired gently as the queens sat on the sofa across from the Denali's.
"Its a rather difficult one and it never fails to bring out both my possessive instincts and my anger. It is safest if Bella is close to me. Her presence helps calm and ground me" Irena informed her mother as she smiled somewhat shyly.
"Noted" Didyme replied with her own smile.
"Now Bella would you like to begin?" Sulpicia asked as she met the brunettes gaze. It concerned the Queen greatly to see the flash of pain and apprehension that flooded her human daughters eyes at the question.
"May I suggest an alternative?" Sulpicia added, trying to work out how to ease the humans upset.
Bella nodded quickly. "I am gifted at mind reading. With one touch I can see every thought you've ever had, may I try? I know you are a shield but it may not work against me because my gift isn't an offensive one" Sulpicia explained reaching her hand out towards the brunette.
Bella nodded again, reaching her hand out to meet the blonde queens.
Upon contact Sulpicia felt her gift hit a brick wall but could still feel her mind connected to the girls.
'Let me in little one' she murmured gently into the girls mind, soothing her and coaxing the brunette to open up her mind.
The reaction was almost instant as Sulpicia felt the barrier preventing her entrance to the girls mind soften and dissolve under the gentle prodding of her gift.
"There we go" Sulpicia whispered, not able to keep the effection she was feeling for this human out of her voice. As she began exploring the girls thoughts and memories, willing herself to remain calm as she witnessed the torment the girl had been through.
The room was silent as the remaining vampires watched the interaction between their queen and the human.
Sulpicia and Bella were both sitting in their respective seats with their eyes closed. Bella portraying a picture of calm, her body relaxed as she breathed evenly.
Sulpicia however sat with her body growing more rigid and tense as each second passed, her facial expression growing more angry and horrified by the second.
When Sulpicia finally opened her eyes and pulled away from Bella's hand everyone could see the barely controlled rage that sparked through the blondes eyes.
"I am going to ask Kate and Tanya to make room for me to sit by Bella" Sulpicia ground out, standing abruptly. Leaving no room for the other blondes to argue. Kate and Tanya cast a weary look between each other before standing and making their way to the sofa the other queens sat on.
Sulpicia took her seat quickly, pulling Bella to sit between herself and Irena, half on each of their knees as she guided the human to lean herself back against the two vampires chests. Sulpicia waited until Bella was comfortable before she burried her head in the girls neck, purring gently as she felt the human tense slightly.
"Okay I'm going to need someone to explain this" Bella said quietly as she felt the blonde queen tighten her hold on her.
"Do you know about our gifts little one?" Athenadora asked gently. Bella shook her head in response.
"The reason we had the Kings around despite them not being our mates is because they shared our gifts. Like Marcus, Didyme can see bonds between individuals. Sulpicia can read every thought you've ever had like Aro, but unlike Aro she can control it and pick and choose what memories or thoughts she focuses on and I like Cius have the gift of strategy. We had them around to help us even the work load and give us time to spend time with our family." Athenadora explained before Didyme cut in.
"As Dora said, I can see bonds. Now when I saw you I saw straight away the mate bonds between you and the Denali girls, but I also saw one other, that being a maternal bond between you and Sulpicia." Didyme said, her tone soft, trying to not startle the young woman.
"Like I do with Irena and Kate does with Athenadora, you have the same bond with Sulpicia. From what I've seen you already feel it?" She questioned, smiling tenderly when Bella nodded in agreement.
"Now you know why Irena needs to have you close, it is for the same reason Sulpicia needs you close now. Whatever she has seen in your mind has kicked in her instincts to protect you and the fury against those that have wronged you is making her quite possessive. She sees you as her child, her beast will be screaming at her to avenge whatever you have been through and protect you. Irena is lucky she is in control enough to recognise she isn't a threat to you or she too would have been kicked off the sofa and you would be being held hostage on your mothers lap solely" Athenadora chuckled as she watched the understanding dawn across the humans face.
"I have to say for a human you sure know how to navigate vampire dynamics rather well" Didyme added with a smile, laughing quietly when the brunette rolled her eyes.
"So I've heard. I'm convinced its because for the past two years I've been surrounded by vampire pheromones. I think I've become attuned to them" Bella replied, smiling a little herself as she lay her head on Irena's shoulder to allow Sulpicia more access to her neck as the blonde had began to nuzzle her.
"I'd have to agree with that. Your reactions to your mother are perfect, something we wouldn't expect of any human for at least the first three months of a new bond. But yours has been instant" Athenadora observed as she nodded towards Sulpicia who had began visibly calming down.
"Its more an instinctual reaction than a conscious thought. I dont have to think about it, I just react" Bella laughed as she glanced at her mates sitting by the other queens. Her laugh grew when she saw Kate pull a face at having been kicked off the sofa and away from two of her mates, before cringing as Tanya slapped the back of her head.
"Sulpicia dear maybe now that you're calmer you might want to inform us of what has you so lost to your instincts" Didyme enquired lightly, but everyone could hear the slight command in her voice.
Sulpicia nodded and sat herself more upright as she held Bella a little tighter, ensuring her daughter didn't move. If she was to have this conversation Sulpicia knew she couldn't let her child go just yet or she was likely to lose control in her anger.
"Starting from the moment the cullen boy took Isabella home from here after our Kings had issued their demand for her to be changed, the boy began beating her, demanding she talk, walk, dress and behave in certain ways. If she didnt comply he would hurt her. It escalated to him then cutting her while he was abusing her so he could drink her blood without consent. Two days before their meant to be wedding he raped her. Claiming that in two days she would be his completely to do as he wished with" Sulpicia grit out, well aware of the tension that over took her child's mates bodies, Irena had began growling lowly as she burried her head against the brunettes neck and Kate and Tanya had burried themselves tightly together in an effort to control themselves.
"Thats not all though. It was the reckless actions of the Cullen boy who got Isabella's father murdered. He convinced his coven that it would be fine to leave the mate of a man he killed protecting Bella alive, convinced she would be no threat. In her anger the mate Victoria found Bella's father, killed him and then created a newborn army to deal with the cullens and help her get Isabella. Fortunately the cullens had help from friends of Bella and managed to deal with the army and Victoria without further harm coming to her." Sulpicia spat out the anger clear in her tone of voice.
"Bella you didn't tell us that" Tanya hissed, looking at her mate in a mixture of chastisement and worry.
"I still can't even think about it without falling apart, my dad was my everything Tanya. He saved me from my mother and he saved me from myself when the Cullens left. I was drowning in my own grief and if he hadn't been there to hold me I wouldn't have made it through those months. I could barely function. Losing him broke something in me all over again. I didnt even blink when I was told it was Victoria after me. I didnt care if she got to me or not and still the thought of him destroys me" Bella whispered as tears escaped from her eyes, trailing softly down her cheeks.
Sensing that dwelling on this part of Bella's history would do nothing but upset the brunette further Kate took the lead in changing the subject. Hoping to give Bella a reprieve from those memories and time to calm herself.
"We came to ask for a trial, we cannot let him get away with what he has done but we would rather not spark a war between the covens. We have no desire to harm Carlisle or his family as they have no idea what their golden boy has been up to. But we need justice for what the boy did to our mate. We will not let it stand" Kate said seriously as she looked at her mother to gage her reaction.
She winced visibly seeing the absolute fury marring Athenadora and Didymes features. She got up quickly and plopped herself down on her mothers lap, knowing fine well that Athenadora in an angry fit was a terrifying thing and she had no want to experience it. Tanya stood and swapped places with Irena to allow Irena to make her way to her mother to calm her also while Tanya allowed herself the comfort of holding her human tightly.
"Then we must call a trial. The Cullens will be called for. In the meantime you will all stay here. I have little desire to let my child go so soon after finding her" Sulpicia commanded before allowing the room to settle into a comfortable silence. Each vampire and the human content to take respite in one another as they calmed themselves and prepared themselves to deal with the issue at hand. One Edward Cullen.