Solstice

CONSPIRACIES

'I'm sorry I have to be so cloak-and-dagger about this, Bella,' Julius told me as I climbed into his Mercedes. I had arranged to meet him five blocks from the apartment, telling Edward that I was running errands. He would have insisted on coming to meet Julius with me, otherwise. 'I thought we'd take a walk round Puget Sound Park. It's always been one of my favourite places for quiet conversation.' He darted in and out of traffic, barely looking at the other motorists, his hands touching the wheel lightly. In a few minutes, due to his excellent driving, we were parking in the lot of a big grocery store near the park. I pulled my hood up, having decided that today was one day I wanted to be free of my omnipresent umbrella, and squinted at the dark sky overhead. Tattered shreds of charcoal cloud drifted across heavens that were the colour of sheep's wool. A little wind whisked trash and fallen leaves along the gutter and, underlying the stench of diesel fumes, and rotting food in a nearby dumpster, I could smell woodsmoke.

We entered the park and took an unpopulated path, walking side by side. We kept our hands in our pockets, barely looking at one another, our eyes intent on the ground as we chattered about this and that. Two friends out on a stroll.

'Let's sit.' Julius indicated a bench. A friendly dog ran up. Its tail lowered as it smelt me, and it turned and fled back to its owner. 'This is difficult for me, Bella. But you absolutely have to know. I do know what Aro's plan is. I lied to you last night.

The Byzantines have a tradition of their own. A very secret one, and one that goes back over the centuries. Like the father of your daughter's fiancé – oh, yes, we know all about Joham – they have created a large number of half-human, half-immortal beings. These beings transact their business in the world. Because they can walk in the sun without being detected as vampires, they can carry out financial transactions in sunny climates, or transfer important documents and items around the world.

Gregorius became enamoured of a young woman in sixth century Athens. She was named 'Aphrodite' for the goddess, and was of exceptional beauty for a human. Indeed, she was so beautiful that she could stand amongst vampires and be counted as exceptional to look at as any one of them. He wed her and, when she became pregnant, Changed her just after her traumatic birth. You understand that experience, so I shall not labour it.' His dark eyes flashed over my face, and I restrained a shudder with difficulty. 'She bore a son, Paris. Paris, like all other half-human half-immortals, reached full growth at the age of seven. For centuries, he lived a monastic life, one of prayer and contemplation. He worked amongst the sick and the blind, ministering to all those poor souls who could not care for themselves. But a hundred years ago, he had a crisis of faith. Not belief – for, as he says, it is both arrogant and illogical to make the declarative statement that God does not exist without proof; and as for those who say it is impossible to prove a negative, he points out that you can prove it in both mathematics and philosophy. But he no longer has faith that God acts in the world, on our behalf.

Gregorius wants a mate for Paris. Aro has come up with a plan. In order to prevent the Byzantines from slaughtering the Volturi wholesale, he wants to unite with them instead.' Julius took a deep breath. 'He wants to offer your daughter's hand in marriage to Paris,' he told me, and I stared at him in utter shock. 'Much like a late mediaeval marriage between children of the heads of states and kingdoms, to prevent wars from breaking out. If there was a marriage between the House of Hapsburg and the House of Burgundy, for example, those two houses could not attack one another. And their children would create a stronger dynasty.'

'He wants to arrange a marriage for my daughter with this Gregorius's son?' I breathed, restraining myself from screaming with an effort. 'Someone she's never met in her life? But she's engaged to be married already –'

'And here is where the second problem lies,' Julius said soberly. 'He either wants to buy Nahuel off, or destroy him. Your future son-in-law is in great danger. And it does not matter if they were to marry in haste. Even if they stood before a judge tomorrow, Aro would have the marriage annulled. He wants Ness to come to the conclave in Volterra not because he wants to exploit her gifts – he sees no useful purpose in her ability to put her thoughts in other people's heads at this point – but because he wants to exchange contracts with Gregorius. And he is prepared to do absolutely anything to get his way.'