THE PRINCESS HAD SERIOUSLY UNDERESTIMATED HOW DISASTROUS THIS DAY COULD HAVE BEEN.

She'd gotten a text around noon from Afton that he heard yelling in the throne room. Her papa was furious and from what it sounded like, her sister had dropped herself into the country.

Andromeda didn't know whether or not she felt sickened or furious. This had been her day, her time of year to hang out with Jacob by the beach while the city was filled with people. Nobody would see them in the sun, see her skin shining away like she was an oversized disco ball.

Jacob tried to tell her that she didn't have to go, that he could go in her place since her past with Bella was still fresh. Bella might have listened more to Jacob, but Andromeda insisted that they both rush back to the castle, which was only a short distance away.

The woman slammed open the door to the throne room, knowing that she didn't need permission to come in.

Andromeda was infuriated by the scene in front of her. Edward had come back, seemingly, and now Bella and Alice were here as well. She hadn't met the two new vampires, but she knew of them.

What a horrible reputation the two of them had gained over the years. For so long, they'd become the laughing stock of the lower guards that had come across them. Andromeda didn't like to gossip, didn't judge that often, but ever since meeting her sister she wondered if they were right. The lower guards didn't slander people.

There was too much going on, their voices unable to be heard. She tried to make out what her papa was saying.

Jacob had to take the lead for her, like he'd offered to. Andromeda knew that he would be her ears, would explain whatever happened later. The guards would make sure that Charlie didn't get involved.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming here, Bella," Jacob seethed as he stepped forward. Andromeda was perfectly safe within these walls and could handle being away from him for a moment. "After what you did? What you said? You're lucky that you aren't dead."

"What are you doing here, Jacob?" Alice questioned him.

"Your kind hate the vampires," Edward seethe. "You're a traitor even in your own pack."

"You two have no right to question me. Believe it or not, my imprint and I have been spending some lovely quality time in her home city." Jacob rolled his eyes as he tried to figure out what he would do. "You really know how to ruin a holiday, don't you?"

Bella was silent, her eyes sullen. She hadn't slept in days, Jacob knew it, and she looked disgusting. Her hair was oily, her skin clearly cracking due to lack of care. Where had she gone once Charlie left? Jacob hadn't bothered to ask the sheriff, thought it was too personal for him to ask after everything that happened in his life.

The man lost two daughters at one point. Now he could have one.

"If you guys don't stop shouting at one another, Charlie is going to hear. We can't risk the secret with him," Jacob mentioned.

Oh, how the truth made Edward angry. The fact that he'd slipped the secret, practically handed over his identity to Bella, was put on clear display. The Cullen boy had to make due with knowing he'd messed up. More than messed up, he broke the law that mattered to his king more than any other.

"He deserves each insult my brother lays out towards him," Marcus whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Marcus, please." Aro put a hand up to stop him. Marcus held onto Caius, who still wanted to break Edward and Bella apart limb by limb. "We need to hold a proper trial without the issues of our emotions getting the better of us."

"Wait until Athenodora tells Sulpicia that you said that!" Caius exclaimed, still trying to wrangle himself loose. It was no use, Marcus was much stronger and taller than himself. "Your wife will rip you to shreds-"

"Caius," Aro said with a sigh. "Gods, please, calm yourself before Marcus has to drag you from the throne room."

"I will do no such thing."

"Whose side are you on?" Aro questioned his brother before letting out an angrier sigh, staring now into the eyes of Isabella Swan. "You will have to be tried for your knowledge of the secret as well as the attempted murder of Princess Andromeda Volturi. We will do this tomorrow."

Jacob knew how this would end, or rather, he thought he did. From what he knew about the vampire government in Italy, things were quite archaic. There were no real lawyers, the Kings got the final decisions, and the Queens only came in if they could not agree on a punishment. Andromeda was being trained to become a Queen, due to the death of Didyme thousands of years ago.

Bella's lip quivered at the idea of being tried. She'd never gotten in trouble, not really. The law was something she knew, her father was a sheriff, but she always felt safe in regards to it. Charlie wasn't here to save her, Renee did not care enough to come here even if she knew. Edward had broken the law and Alice had been an accomplice.

She was doomed.

"The day is not yet over, we take them to the dungeons," Marcus said, clearly not wanting to hear any of this drivel. "Or rather, Jane and Alec will."

The twins, Andromeda's young cousins. They'd been accused of witchcraft and from what Jacob had learned from Andromeda, were very sweet. Playful rather than malicious.

"Then it is said and done. Everyone is on the same page." Aro was also done with this. "I will be in my study if anyone wishes to speak with me."

---

CHARLIE HAD HEARD SOME YELLING DOWN IN THE WEIRD ROOM WITH THE THREE THRONES. It was odd, he had to admit, but it wasn't the worst thing he'd heard in the Clock Tower. How many odd noises had he heard? So many. It was like being in a hotel.

He couldn't complain that much. Andromeda had come into his room, knocking before entering, and told him that the festivals were dying down and that they could come out to see the pictures she'd acquired from her childhood.

In every one she was smiling. She often had air flow into her nose, which saddened him, but Andromeda didn't seem that upset about it.

He noticed the woman that appeared plenty of times. This had to have been her mother, the woman who loved her more than anything. Charlie was happier about seeing her, knowing that Renee was a sorry excuse for a mother. This woman clearly loved his daughter.

Yet he hadn't met her...? Charlie wondered why that was, where she was. She couldn't be dead, Andromeda had mentioned her in the present tense.

Charlie had wondered many times if he could have given Andromeda and Bella the lives they deserved in his own home. As he looked into the happy eyes of his daughter, he knew that it wasn't possible. Not in the way that he wanted it to. American Healthcare was garbage, Andromeda needed constant care growing up and even a heart transplant.

Bella could have turned out different. Even if he had to take more time off, make less money, she'd been happy during her time in Forks. Before her mother won the custody battle, used a single night in highschool when he drank too much to win, Bella had been such a good kid. She never tried to get with bad boys, and was so happy to see him.

Charlie suspected that Renee had made her a parent for her at a young age. She didn't know how to be an adult. She didn't want a daughter that needed more attention, and when Bella began to grow up to need that, she must have been silenced.

He felt bad, he really did, but she was an adult now. Bella had a chance to change, he'd given it right to her! No, she didn't want to change. That would be too hard. She'd need to put in effort and realize that some things weren't anyone else's fault but rather her own.

Andromeda had been raised like a princess. She'd been given everything she wanted but also had clear rules to follow. Her adoptive mother adored her, gave her her whole heart.

Caius was in some of the pictures she showed now. He smiled, played with her. Showed her baby self off to his brothers. He loved her too, looked down at her like she was the perfect baby, even with the air tubes in her nose and her face all scrunched up.

In the end, he felt guilty that he couldn't be like that for his daughters. He'd made a hell of a lot of mistakes.

He hoped that this trip could bring him closer to his daughter. Charlie never wanted to lose her again.