ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ⁴⁹
ᴡᴇʟʟ, ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀꜱ. ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴇᴛ ᴏɴᴇ ᴇᴘɪʟᴏɢᴜᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɴ ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴅᴏɴᴇ.
ᴀʟʟ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀɪᴇꜱ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ.
For the first twenty steps I was sure that the opposing side was unable to see us. Once we reached fifty I knew that their eyesight was failing them. Only when we did hit the seventy step mark did the group of defendants see us.
The look on Alice's face when she realized that she did not see us coming was one that will be ingrained into my memory for all time.
None of our own witnesses had come yet. No, they would wait until we made our first statements, lingering in the background. Many of our own would have let the word slip that we did not need them there for the first few minutes because the defendants did not know that they would be coming.
All of it had been planned out so perfectly. I looked so delightfully evil in my stance, my pitch black cloak trailing after me, my covenmates not far behind. With my mates at my side, I stop at a good place in the snow, allowing some of the snowflakes to hit my head. The tiny snowflakes added some contrast to the midnight cloaks.
Our cloaks all matched in some way, although none are exactly the same. It was a shame that the outfits on the other side did not match.
I did have to give some props to the other hybrids for correctly matching themselves. It made it so much easier to spot them when they all look so beautifully aligned, even if Nahuel disliked most of them.
Poor Renesmee stood with her father, who just looked plain angry with us. Maybe he's upset that we have better outfits. Come on, Edward, the Volturi always show up in stylish clothes that will make an impression for the next century and a half. Get with the program.
We all stood there for a few minutes, waiting for them to take their stances. Lord, they should have known how to act in a trial. You always approach the royalty after they walk towards you. Simple hints, so simple.
Edward was the first one to walk, an almost shaky walk. He may have been angry, but there was always one thing that would outweigh his anger.
His fear.
"You don't need to be here. We haven't committed any crimes," his voice was calm and monotone, although I could hear the fear hidden behind his indifference.
Those words did nothing to stop us. Aro let out a small chuckle, one that sounded more threatening than anything. Not his usually maniacal laughter. No, this was laughter that would haunt your nightmares when you just wanted dreams.
"Quite the arsenal," Caius comments. "Were you planning on a coven meet up after trial? I didn't know you had any friends you could bring along. Usually the brooding alone type of guy, aren't you?"
"What would you know about friends, Caius?" Edward sneers, his calm demeanor suddenly falling back to his anger. He had to cover up that fear of his with anger because if he allowed himself to be afraid of us, Edward's ego would be shattered. We all know how much he cares about that fragile ego of his. You always did complain when anyone wanted to be friends with you, and claimed that they wanted to be near you for your beauty. I don't get how anyone could find you attractive.
"A lot more than you realize considering that I have been friends with my brothers for over three millennia. You do learn quite a lot about kinship with soul siblings. Though I don't think you have any of those. What a shame," Caius fake pouts at him before rolling his eyes.
Edward looks at me and then stutters, "I-I can't read you." You're welcome, babes.
Oh, what he cared about most. His gift that had only ever been known to fail with Isabella now failed with me, the person he hated most. What a turn of events indeed. Just like Alice not being able to see me or my coven, Edward was now unable to read anyone. He was really rendered useless.
"Ah, our best friend," I coo fakely at him "I have a few more tricks up my sleeve, Masen, you have no idea how deep you have gotten yourself this time."
"Nobody is able to beat my gift!" Edward exclaims. "The only person who is able to beat me is Bella and that's because she is a shield! You aren't a shield and you never will be!"
Hit a nerve, didn't I? He's making a fool of himself now. The other covens don't like the way he is speaking to you. They always did respect royalty and the women inside of the castle, even when they hated Sulpicia and Athenodora.
"Becoming nobodies, are we?" Aro jokes, giving him an evil smile. "Go back and get your people ready for the trial and we will get ours. I do hope you don't mind a few witnesses."
The telepath looked back at Alice, who almost looked teary-eyed as Aro announced the visitors. She had not seen this. For once her gift had been wrong, fooled by Maeve as a distraction. First, we had blocked her and then Maeve had rendered Edward's telepathy useless. Our thoughts are our own and should not be looked through by the likes of a man who has no sense for privacy.
It was the difference between Aro and Edward. My mate always asked permission before looking through new people. They knew what he was going to see. Edward just looked through their minds and didn't care if he invaded them in that way. For both humans and vampires, our minds are private. The things we think inside are what makes us different. One may seem nice on the outside and be a bitch on the inside.
Just like Bella, who Edward was unable to read.
"You brought people?" Aro smirks and nods. "Why?"
"Just like you, we have people we need to see right now. I don't think that this is very relevant to our current topic of discussion. Do as we say and go get your people ready for trial, Masen," Marcus looks more bored than ever, standing next to me and rolling his eyes at Edward just as his brother had. And next time, make sure that they wear better clothing. Some of these people look too old in their clothes. Come on, you have to live out of the century that you're in, not the one that you're from.
Oddly enough, Edward did what Marcus asked of him, running back to his wife and the group, who had heard everything and were beyond confused. Hah, stupid bitches. I agree. Except Nahuel and his sisters. Exactly.
The way that they all started walking at different paces just pissed me off. None of them were in a line like we needed them to be. That was how trials were conducted, in a line of people, most important in the middle and least important on the outer edges. Except for Heelie and Afton. They're like the most important but right now Heelie is a box. A pretty box, but a box nonetheless.
Bella gave her daughter over to Jacob, her imprint, and walked with Edward back up to us.
"So are we going to get this over with or am I going to have to threaten you into getting into the correct line? If you believe us to be here for attack, at least have some decent stances," I complain, ready to go to the party and hang out with my mates and son already. "Mismatched outfits as well. At least Nahuel and his sisters know how to do things," I turn to them in the crowd. "You guys are doing great with those outfits!"
I could see all of the hybrids in that area blush scarlet at my compliment. I always had been quite the charmer myself.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Bella questions me, giving me a disgusted look. "You come here looking for the battle! All we wanted was to raise our daughter in peace-"
"Here we go," I cut her off, rolling my eyes once more, "The bitch thinks that she has the right to speak. Hush, honey, the royals are talking."
Bella shrieked in anger like a child as Aro started to speak. "A trial like this one is needed. To be accused of creating an immortal child is a grave sin. Either you did do it or you must have done something quite harsh to deserve such an accusation on your part. Our trials must be done quickly and properly at the moment, as being here for longer than possible goes against our own self interests."
"You will state your defense and allow us to see through your memories. It is either that or we bring back the original witness, Irina, who was the one to come forward with this accusation after seeing a child with inhuman abilities in your midst. Right or wrong about what Renesmee is, she had the right to come to us, as such a child would seem to be that, immortal," Marcus says calmly.
Out of the corner of my hearing and eyesight, I could see and hear Helios starting to fuss a tiny bit. Afton made sure that he was secure, but the poor baby was likely hungry and wanted to see more of the trial since his big brother was so far away from his parents.
"Anyone who wishes to see the trial as it commences may come out now," Caius waves his hands towards the covens of immortals that had started coming closer to the trial. "Lovely to have you all here. Refreshments after the trial will be divine."
Everyone who had come to our aide smirks, knowing that if Caius thought one of these social outings was going to be good, it likely was.
"Ah, we haven't done something like this in too long," Aro muses, watching as many from the other side tense in their stance.
"Yeah, you haven't come somewhere to kill a coven and take a few of their gifted members in a while, Aro. We know what you are here to do. Let the world know what you are here to do, they're all here and listening," Edward spits at my mate, his words laced with venom and loathing.
"I do believe that I came here for a trial," Aro counters.
"Simply what we are here for, Edward," Marcus confirms.
"Who said we were here for anything else?" Caius asks. "Don't think we have been invited to any coven killing party. Do they even have those? Oh, let me guess, you are about to create one! Such a splendid idea for someone who sounds so sordid! Enough moping and get around to killing your own kind! Oh, you would love that idea, wouldn't you?"
Quite a few of the vampires in the audience cackle at Caius' joking comments. Our allies knew just how damn dramatic my mate could be when he needed to be, which was likely always considering how big of a drama queen he is on a daily basis.
"That does sound like something that you would do, not me. I don't kill people who disagree with me and my way to eat."
It was that comment that really got to Aro, as he started to let out his maniacal laugh. I don't think he could even stop it as he tries to compose himself. It took my mate quite some time to come back from the brink of hysteria.
"Is that not exactly what you were about to try to do to us?" Edward's face pales. "Killing us just because we don't particularly like you and because we eat our natural food source? Please, Edward, hypocrisy does not suit any vampire."
My former friend's face was stone cold, his power cut off from him as Maeve shielded us from him. How she did it to multiple people, it did not matter.
Standing in a form of my own power, I take one last unneeded breath.
"Let the show begin."
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