ɴᴏᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴀɴɴᴀʟɪꜱᴇ'ꜱ ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴅᴀʏ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴏʟᴛᴜʀɪ ᴄᴀꜱᴛʟᴇ.

ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ:

mia regina. My queen.

Sembri stupendo. You look gorgeous.

I was thankful that Caius had allowed me to sleep in his bed for the night. Since he had things to do, I did not want to disturb him with my snoring. My mate insisted that I would not be a problem and that he did not have much work that he needed to do.

Unfortunately, like many people, my mind tended to dwell on the bad things. Isabella and Edward hated me. I had lost a growing friendship. I had been dumped as a friend many times, many of those times being during middle school, but this felt different. This was a betrayal of my trust. I trusted them to trust me and to trust my judgement. My judgement allowed me to be friends with them. I had given them a chance and the second that I had a difference of opinion on a big life choice of my own, they dumped me.

Betrayal was a feeling that was mostly unknown to me if you exclude middle school. I knew that people would leave me most of the time. I hadn't placed my heart in someone since that day during 7th grade. No, in Forks I had just been learning how to trust again. I had finally gotten somewhere. During my time in Forks I felt like I mattered somewhere. If I went back, I don't think I would feel the same sense of belonging.

Things were different now. I had mates, I had a coven of vampires to help take care of. The severity of what had happened in my life had finally caught up with me. I felt so weak. In my heart, I felt so completely useless.

"What seems to be the matter, mia regina?" Demetri asks. I look back at the flower I had been picking at to satisfy my desire to just destroy something. My ways of fixing my problems would not work here in the Volturi, I knew that for sure. I needed better habits before I turned and my habits became eternal.

"Do you think that Isabella and Edward could be right, on some sick and twisted level? I mean, I am a human who has power in the vampire world. I don't belong in the vampire world. Edward says that I chose power over family," I unload my personal drama on my most loyal guard. He had been kind to me even before he figured out I was the kings' mate. For that, he would always remain my friend wherever I went, no matter what life brought to me.

"No, Isabella and Edward are wrong on every level. Just because you are our queen does not mean that you believe yourself above us. Yes, you hold power, but even if you weren't the queen and just became a normal vampire the guards here would be loyal to you. You are a good person, Annalise, that matters most of all. Edward has no idea what it is like to be placed in a position of power. Isabella is also a human, but she seems to think that she belongs. In all honesty, you belong in the vampire world a hell of a lot more than young Isabella. Edward and Isabella may have seen you as family, but that changed once you snapped those bonds. I do not mean to be cruel, but it is the truth. Isabella and Edward, after the bonds snapped in with the kings, looked at you like you were a pawn. They claim that is what the kings will use you as, but that is just what they did," Demetri replies honestly. It was one of the things I loved most about Demetri. He was just plain honest.

My guard's words did nothing to calm my anxieties. I whispered, "I just feel so useless. I am useless. What is a human queen going to do? What do I even need to do?"

"You call yourself useless, but you've done more for the Volturi in the two days that you've been here than anyone has in the 900 years that I have been here. The guards used to be treated like shit because we all know that Master Caius is in an eternal bad mood, but he hasn't even made one rude comment. He just smiles at us as he walks by. Caius doesn't smile. Aro hasn't made any comments either. Marcus looks like he may be coming back to life. I've never seen him have an ounce of happiness in his eyes but when he looks at you he's on cloud nine. The way that you change the vampire world is that you stay. You can do other things, of course, but first you just need to stay," Demetri says as the door opens to reveal Marcus.

"Sorry to interrupt your chat, tesoro, but Aro has gotten into a mood for a ball and there is nothing I can do to coax him out of the idea. You will have to go with the ladies to go and get a dress, as none of the dresses that we have here are from this century," Marcus informs us of the ball. "I do believe it would be good for you to guard my mate during this ball, Demetri, as Aro has invited countless vampires from covens all over the world."

"It would be my honor, Master Marcus," Demetri bows. I got up off of the seat I had found myself in. A ball, huh. God, this is the kind of thing royals do, isn't it? They throw a ball and discuss politics and drink. Thankfully I took dance lessons in Forks, so the dancing part won't be too bad. Wait, if vampires are going to be there, does that mean that my arrival is going to be announced? I mean, my mates have to announce me to the world at some point, or at least Aro does. Dramatic man, he is. He's more dramatic than Emmett. Damn, never thought I would ever think that. Wait, Aro is going to be seeing this at some point. Hello, Aro, how are you? This ball sounds fun. I hope that I find a good dress. I hope you haven't decided to throw this ball just to piss off Isabella and Edward. Scratch that, I know you've thrown this ball to piss off Isabella and Edward. Don't blame you, they did hurt my feelings.

"When will I be getting this dress? Wait, more importantly, when is this ball being held?" I question Marcus, who looks surprised that I was okay with this.

"In a week."

____________________________________________________

"Not that one, Heidi!" Renata shouted from the other side of the dressing room. Currently, this was the only shop that knew of the Volturi and would allow vampires inside. The shopkeeper was quite surprised to see that a human was travelling among the vampire guards of the Volturi.

"Why not, Nata?" Heidi whined. "It feels so comfy!"

"Heidi, you look like a whore in that dress, comfy or not! We are supposed to be sexy, but fashionable. You can't be looking like a pornstar!" Renata fires back. I heard Jane giggle as she picked out a long black dress. "Oh, Jane, that looks lovely. Go and try it on!"

Jane rushed to the fitting rooms, running past the shopkeeper. "Good lord, these girls are going to kill me someday. Annalise, you said that your favorite color is purple?" The shopkeeper asked. I nodded my head. The older woman smiled and ushered me into the back of the room.

The dresses back here were fit for Queens. They were all perfectly crafted, one of a kind in their own rights. "I have waited for the day that someone would be fit for this dress. Nobody that I have found has been worthy of the beauty of this gown. I have to admit, it is my best dress. Never have I been able to make something that compares to the beauty of her," The shopkeeper muses, taking me deeper into the sea of dresses.

Right at the very back, in a gold casing, was a bright purple ball gown. Dear lord, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and I've already seen the kings. No, she doesn't think that I'm worthy of wearing such a beauty. This is something fit for someone better.

"I know that you may question my judgement, but I know who you are Annalise of the Volturi. You are the Human Queen, the queen that the kings of your vampire coven plan on introducing to the world tonight. Never have I seen someone with such grace, such elegance as she talks with vampires like they are her own family. You have a bravery I have not seen in my lifetime. My family have been making ball gowns and accessories for the Volturi for almost 700 years. It is such an honor that I get to see the woman that they make their queen. I believe that you will make this world a much better place to be human or vampire, Queen Annalise," The woman bowed to me, moving out of the way so that I could see the dress.

On the bottom lie multiple handsewn purple butterflies, almost lifelike in their own regard. The purple lace that lined the bottom was just noticeable enough to see from where I stood, but you wouldn't be able to see the intricacies from afar.

"Please, try it on, my queen," The woman almost pleads. I just nod, knowing just how important this dress and seeing me was to her. I guess the few families here that know about vampires have been a part of a generational line that goes back almost a millenia. They must not know a lot about how the Volturi work, but I guess that if they get money and immunity they don't care. Most humans would worship vampires these days.

The dress would fit quite nicely with some alterations. I was on the short side, often finding my mates towering over me. Hell, most of the guard towered over me. The only ones who were shorter than me were Jane and Alec. The young looking vampire could still be heard giggling in the other room.

When I finally got the dress completely on my body, I came out of the changing room. "Oh, sembri stupendo! Do you like it?" I nod my head quickly before giving the woman a warm smile. I knew that this would be the dress for me. Paired along with some nice white heels and some small earrings, this would be the best outfit of my life. "I shall have it sent. I will make sure that it specifically says for the kings to not open it up. I would not want to ruin a surprise such as this!"

I nodded my head again, heading to the other changing area where the ladies were. They gave me a knowing look and Jane said, "Where is the dress? Are we going to get to see it on you?"

"You'll get to see it on me when we go to the ball. My dress is a surprise," a chorus of boos could be heard throughout the crowd. They clearly wanted to see the dress before I showed up with it on my body. I understood why, I could have picked out a dress that looked like crap on me. Thankfully, I didn't, my dress looked amazing on me.

"Why can't we just see it? We all want to know what our beautiful queen is going to wear for her opening ball!" Renata protests. Everyone nods. The shopkeeper laughs at their antics. We really did act like a bunch of teenage girls.

"Your queen will look lovely during her ball, ladies, I promise. You have my word," The shopkeeper promises us. Everyone groans and starts to head out. I knew that they would just mail the check in to the shopkeeper. Good lord, are all of the italian seamstresses this good? Italy really must be a great place for fashion. Maybe that is why my mates decided to settle here anyways. Great and open locals that could go missing as well as good fashion.

I would be going to that ball in style.