Amnesia

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Witnesses

Two things happened at once. Caius's eyes focused on Aro, and the tiny cruel smile came back. And Edward hissed, his hands balling up in fists so tight it looked like the bones in his knuckles would split through his diamond-hard skin. Carlisle glanced anxiously at Edward's face, and then his own face hardened. While Caius had blundered through useless accusations and injudicious attempts to trigger the fight, Aro must have been coming up with a more effective strategy. Aro ghosted across the snow to the far western end of the foe's line, stopping about ten yards from Amun and Kebi. The nearby wolves bristled angrily but held their positions.
"Ah, Amun, my southern neighbor!" Aro said warmly. "It has been so long since you've visited me." Amun was motionless with anxiety, Kebi a statue at his side. "Time means little; I never notice its passing," Amun said through unmoving lips. "So true," Aro agreed. "But maybe you had another reason to stay away?" Amun said nothing. "It can be terribly time-consuming to organize newcomers into a coven. I know that well! I'm grateful I have others to deal with the tedium." Aro said and many took a quick glance at Maeryn before returning their attention back to Aro. Alec grabbed Maeryn's hand and squeezed it lightly. Maeryn returned his gesture by stroking his hand with her thumb once. "I'm glad your new additions have fit in so well. I would have loved to have been introduced. I'm sure you were meaning to come to see me soon." Aro continued. "Of course," Amun said, his tone so emotionless that it was impossible to tell if there was any fear or sarcasm in his assent. "Oh well, we're all together now! Isn't it lovely?" Amun nodded, his face blank.
"But the reason for your presence here is not as pleasant, unfortunately. Carlisle called on you to witness?" "Yes." "And what did you witness for him?" Amun spoke with the same cold lack of emotion. "I've observed the child in question. It was evident almost immediately that she was not an immortal child - " "Perhaps we should define our terminology," Aro interrupted, "now that there seem to be new classifications. By immortal child, you mean of course a human child who had been bitten and thus transformed into a vampire." "Yes, that's what I meant." "What else did you observe about the child?" "The same things that you surely saw in Edward's mind. That the child is his biologically. That she grows. That she learns." Maeryn still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Bella and Edward had intercourse when she was only human. Maeryn had to admit she was impressed by Edward's ability to restrain himself. But she was also disgusted by it at the same time. She couldn't ponder on the fact how he could bring his mate in so much danger. Not just by having intercourse, but also by impregnating her. Overall, she found it foolish.
"Yes, yes," Aro said, a hint of impatience in his otherwise amiable tone. "But specifically in your few weeks here, what did you see?" Amun's brow furrowed. "That she grows... quickly." Aro smiled. "And do you believe that she should be allowed to live?" Hisses escaped multiple mouths on the foe's side, once Aro's words had been spoken out loud. Half the vampires in the foe's line echoed in protest. The sound was a low sizzle of fury hanging in the air.
Across the meadow, a few of the Volturi witnesses made the same noise, including Maeryn. Edward stepped back and wrapped a restraining hand around Bella's wrist. Aro did not turn to the noise, but Amun glanced around uneasily. "I did not come to make judgments," he equivocated. Aro laughed lightly. "Just your opinion." Amun's chin lifted. "I see no danger in the child. She learns even more swiftly than she grows." Aro nodded, considering.
After a moment, he turned away. "Aro?" Amun called. Aro whirled back. "Yes, friend?" "I gave my witness. I have no more business here. My mate and I would like to take our leave now." Aro smiled warmly. "Of course. I'm so glad we were able to chat for a bit. And I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." Amun's lips were a tight line as he inclined his head once, acknowledging the barely concealed threat. He touched Kebi's arm, and then the two of them ran quickly to the southern edge of the meadow and disappeared into the trees. Maeryn was sure that they wouldn't stop running for a very long time. Smart move.
Aro was gliding back along the length of our line to the east, his guards hovering tensely. He stopped when he was in front of Siobhan's massive form. "Hello, dear Siobhan. You are as lovely as ever." Siobhan inclined her head, waiting. "And you?" he asked. "Would you answer my questions the same way Amun has?" "I would," Siobhan said. "But I would perhaps add a little more. Renesmee understands the limitations. She's no danger to humans - she blends in better than we do. She poses no threat of exposure." "Can you think of none?" Aro asked soberly.
Edward growled, a low ripping sound deep in his throat. Caius's cloudy crimson eyes brightened. Renata reached out protectively toward her master. And Garrett freed Kate to take a step forward, ignoring Kate's hand as she tried to caution him this time. Maeryn watched the scene closely, holding her hands out, ready to weaken Bella's shield at any moment.
Siobhan answered slowly, "I don't think I follow you." Aro drifted lightly back, casually, but toward the rest of his guard. Renata, Felix, and Demetri were closer than his shadow. "There is no broken law," Aro said in a placating voice, but everyone on both sides of the meadow could hear that a qualification was coming. Bella was becoming furious, and hurled the fury into her shield, thickening it, making sure everyone was protected. Maeryn smiled and used her gift slightly, giving Bella some resistance. Not enough to break the shield, but enough for her to lighten up Bella's fury even further, and use more energy than originally asked for.
"No broken law," Aro repeated. "However, does it follow then that there is no danger? No." He shook his head gently. "That is a separate issue." The only response was the tightening of already stretched nerves, and Maggie, at the fringes of their band of fighters, shaking her head with slow anger.
Aro paced thoughtfully, looking as if he floated rather than touched the ground with his feet. Maeryn noticed every pass took him closer to the protection of his guard, and felt more relieved with every pass he took. "She is unique... utterly, impossibly unique. Such a waste it would be, to destroy something so lovely. Especially when we could learn so much .. ." He sighed, as if unwilling to go on. "But there is danger, danger that cannot simply be ignored." No one answered his assertion. It was dead silent as he continued in a monologue that sounded as if he spoke it for himself only.
"How ironic it is that as the humans advance, as their faith in science grows and controls their world, the more free we are from discovery. Yet, as we become ever more uninhibited by their disbelief in the supernatural, they become strong enough in their technologies that, if they wished, they could actually pose a threat to us, even destroy some of us." Aro said, his face looking troubled.
"For thousands and thousands of years, our secrecy has been more a matter of convenience, of ease, than of actual safety. This last raw, angry century has given birth to weapons of such power that they endanger even immortals. Now our status as mere myth in truth protects us from these weak creatures we hunt. This amazing child" - he lifted his hand palm down as if to rest it on Renesmee, though he was forty yards from her now, almost within the Volturi formation again.
"if we could but know her potential - know with absolute certainty that she could always remain shrouded within the obscurity that protects us. But we know nothing of what she will become! Her own parents are plagued by fears of her future. We cannot know what she will grow to be." He paused, looking first at the foe's witnesses, and then, meaningfully, at his own.
His voice gave a good imitation of sounding torn by his words. Still looking at his own witnesses, he spoke again. "Only the known is safe. Only the known is tolerable. The unknown is... a vulnerability." Caius's smile widened viciously. "You're reaching, Aro," Carlisle said in a bleak voice. "Peace, friend." Aro smiled, his face as kind, his voice as gentle, as ever. "Let us not be hasty. Let us look at this from every side."
"May I offer a side to be considered?" Garrett petitioned in a level tone, taking another step forward. "Nomad," Aro said, nodding in permission. Garrett's chin lifted. His eyes focused on the huddled mass at the end of the meadow, and he spoke directly to the Volturi witnesses. Maeryn raised an eyebrow, wondering what this nomad could possibly say to still put an end to this tension. A tension of a starting battle, waiting around the corner to blossom like a deadly flower.
"I came here at Carlisle's request, as the others, to witness," he said. "That is certainly no longer necessary, with regard to the child. We all see what she is. I stayed to witness something else. You." He jabbed his finger toward the wary vampires. "Two of you I know - Makenna, Charles - and I can see that many of you others are also wanderers, roamers like myself. Answering to none. Think carefully on what I tell you now. 'These ancient ones did not come here for justice as they told you. We suspected as much, and now it has been proved. They came, misled, but with a valid excuse for their action. Witness now as they seek flimsy excuses to continue their true mission. Witness them struggle to find a justification for their true purpose - to destroy this family here." He gestured toward Carlisle and Tanya.
"The Volturi come to erase what they perceive as the competition. Perhaps, like me, you look at this clan's golden eyes and marvel. They are difficult to understand, it's true. But the ancient ones look and see something besides their strange choice. They see power. I have witnessed the bonds within this family - I say family and not coven. These strange golden-eyed ones deny their very natures. But in return have they found something worth even more, perhaps, than mere gratification of desire? I've made a little study of them in my time here, and it seems to me that intrinsic to this intense family binding - that which makes them possible at all - is the peaceful character of this life of sacrifice. There is no aggression here like we all saw in the large southern clans that grew and diminished so quickly in their wild feuds. There is no thought for domination. And Aro knows this better than I do."
Maeryn watched Aro's face as Garrett's words condemned him, waiting tensely for some response, a sign to end this nomad. Who does he think he is? Questioning her Master like that?!
But Aro's face was only politely amused, as if waiting for a tantrum-throwing child to realize that no one was paying attention to his histrionics. "Carlisle assured us all, when he told us what was coming, that he did not call us here to fight. These witnesses" - Garrett pointed to Siobhan and Liam - "agreed to give evidence, to slow the Volturi advance with their presence so that Carlisle would get the chance to present his case. But some of us wondered" - his eyes flashed to Eleazars face - "if Carlisle having truth on his side would be enough to stop the so-called justice. Are the Volturi here to protect the safety of our secrecy, or to protect their own power? Did they come to destroy an illegal creation, or a way of life? Could they be satisfied when the danger turned out to be no more than a misunderstanding? Or would they push the issue without the excuse of justice? We have the answer to all these questions. We heard it in Aro's lying words - we have one with a gift of knowing such things for certain - and we see it now in Caius's eager smile. Their guard is just a mindless weapon, a tool in their masters' quest for domination." Maeryn frowned at his words, but quickly shook them off. This Garrett is a liar, nothing more, nothing less.
"So now there are more questions, questions that you must answer. Who rules you, nomads? Do you answer to someone's will besides your own? Are you free to choose your path, or will the Volturi decide how you will live? I came to witness. I stay to fight. The Volturi care nothing for the death of the child. They seek the death of our free will." He turned, then, to face the ancients. "So come, I say! Let's hear no more lying rationalizations. Be honest in your intents as we will be honest in ours. We will defend our freedom. You will or will not attack it. Choose now, and let these witnesses see the true issue debated here." Once more he looked to the Volturi witnesses, his eyes probing each face. The power of his words was evident in their expressions.
"You might consider joining us. If you think the Volturi will let you live to tell this tale, you are mistaken. We may all be destroyed" - he shrugged - "but then again, maybe not. Perhaps we are on more equal footing than they know. Perhaps the Volturi have finally met their match. I promise you this, though - if we fall, so do you." He ended his heated speech by stepping back to Kate's side and then sliding forward in a half-crouch, prepared for the onslaught.
Aro smiled. "Avery pretty speech, my revolutionary friend." Garrett remained poised for attack. "Revolutionary?" he growled. "Who am I revolting against, might I ask? Are you my king? Do you wish me to call you master, too, like your sycophantic guard?" "Peace, Garrett," Aro said tolerantly. "I meant only to refer to your time of birth. Still a patriot, I see." Garrett glared back furiously.
"Let us ask our witnesses," Aro suggested. "Let us hear their thoughts before we make our decision. Tell us, friends" - and he turned his back casually on us, moving a few yards toward his mass of nervous observers hovering even closer now to the edge of the forest - "what do you think of all this? I can assure you the child is not what we feared. Do we take the risk and let the child live? Do we put our world in jeopardy to preserve their family intact? Or does earnest Garrett have the right of it? Will you join them in a fight against our sudden quest for dominion?" The witnesses met his gaze with careful faces.
One, a small black-haired woman, looked briefly at the dark blond male at her side. "Are those our only choices?" she asked suddenly, gaze flashing back to Aro. "Agree with you, or fight against you?" "Of course not, most charming Makenna," Aro said, appearing horrified that anyone could come to that conclusion. "You may go in peace, of course, as Amun did, even if you disagree with the council's decision." Makenna looked at her mate's face again, and he nodded minutely. "We did not come here for a fight." She paused, exhaled, then said, "We came here to witness. And our witness is that this condemned family is innocent. Everything that Garrett claimed is the truth."
"Ah," Aro said sadly. "I'm sorry you see us in that way. But such is the nature of our work." "It is not what I see, but what I feel," Makenna's maize-haired mate spoke in a high, nervous voice. He glanced at Garrett. "Garrett said they have ways of knowing lies. I, too, know when I am hearing the truth, and when I am not." With frightened eyes he moved closer to his mate, waiting for Aro's reaction. "Do not fear us, friend Charles. No doubt the patriot truly believes what he says," Aro chuckled lightly, and Charles's eyes narrowed. "That is our witness," Makenna said. "We're leaving now." She and Charles backed away slowly, not turning before they were lost from view in the trees. Maeryn rolled her eyes slightly. Cowards.
One other stranger began to retreat the same way, then three more darted after him. Maeryn evaluated the thirty-seven vampires that stayed. A few of them appeared just too confused to make the decision. But the majority of them seemed only too aware of the direction this confrontation had taken. Maeryn guessed that they were giving up a head start in favor of knowing exactly who would be chasing after them and Maeryn was sure Aro saw the same thing she did.
He turned away, walking back to his guard with a measured pace. He stopped in front of them and addressed them in a clear voice. "We are outnumbered, dearest ones," he said. "We can expect no outside help. Should we leave this question undecided to save ourselves?" "No, master," they whispered in unison. Maeryn, Alec and Jane said it too. Jane and Maeryn with venom in their mouths. They were ready to put an end to this coven. Even if it meant they had to die in the process.
"Is the protection of our world worth perhaps the loss of some of our number?" "Yes," they breathed once more. Alec, he wanted to finish off this threat. A threat that was ready to rip off his sister's and mate's head in a blink of an eye. No. No more family would be taken from him. Not by some lowlifes who think they can defy the Volturi and think to get away with it. He too felt his venom filling his mouth, ready to attack.
"We are not afraid." Aro smiled and turned to his black-clad companions. "Brothers," Aro said somberly, "there is much to consider here." "Let us counsel," Caius said eagerly. "Let us counsel," Marcus repeated in an uninterested tone. Aro turned his back to the foes again, facing the other ancients. They joined hands to form a black-shrouded triangle. As soon as Aro's attention was engaged in the silent counsel, two more of their witnesses disappeared silently into the forest. Carefully, Bella loosened Renesmee's arms from her neck. "You remember what I told you?" Tears welled in her eyes, but she nodded. "I love you," she whispered. Edward was watching them now, his topaz eyes wide. Jacob stared at them from the corner of his big dark eye. "I love you, too," Bella said, and then she touched Renesmee's locket. "More than my own life." Bella kissed her forehead. Jacob whined uneasily. Bella stretched up on her toes and whispered into his ear. "Wait until they're totally distracted, then run with her. Get as far from this place as you possibly can. When you've gone as far as you can on foot, she has what you need to get you in the air."
Edward's and Jacob's faces were almost identical masks of horror, despite the fact that one of them was an animal. Renesmee reached for Edward, and he took her in his arms. They hugged each other tightly. "This is what you kept from me?" he whispered over her head. "From Aro," Bella breathed. "Alice?" Edward asked. Bella nodded. His face twisted with understanding and pain. Jacob was growling quietly, a low rasp that was as even and unbroken as a purr. His hackles were stiff and his teeth exposed. Edward kissed Renesmee's forehead and both her cheeks, then he lifted her to Jacob's shoulder. She scrambled agilely onto his back, pulling herself into place with handfuls of his fur, and fit herself easily into the dip between his massive shoulder blades. Jacob turned to Bella, his expressive eyes full of agony, the rumbling growl still grating through his chest.
"You're the only one we could ever trust her with," Bella murmured to him. "If you didn't love her so much, I could never bear this. I know you can protect her, Jacob." He whined again, and dipped his head to butt it against her shoulder. "I know," she whispered. "I love you, too, Jake. You'll always be my best man." A tear the size of a baseball rolled into the russet fur beneath his eye. Edward leaned his head against the same shoulder where he'd placed Renesmee. "Goodbye, Jacob, my brother... my son."
Maeryn watched the little scene, and felt her ice cold heart break alittle. Even though she hated Bella and Edward, all she could see right now where two parents saying farewell to their little girl. A girl who had never asked for any of this. Renesmee had never asked to be born, or to cause any of this. Maeryn bit her lip, and found herself hoping that the child would be able to run and at least survive for as long as she could. But Maeryn soon regained herself. She must not let her own feelings about her parents get in the way of justice. Of the safety of her own kind. Of her mate.
The others were not oblivious to the farewell scene. Their eyes were locked on the silent black triangle, but Maeryn could tell they were listening. "Is there no hope, then?" Carlisle whispered. There was no fear in his voice. Just determination and acceptance. "There is absolutely hope," Bella murmured back. "I only know my own fate." Edward took Bella's hand. He knew that he was included.
Esme's breath was ragged behind her. She moved past Bella and Edward, touching their faces as she passed, to stand beside Carlisle and hold his hand. Suddenly, the foes were surrounded by murmured goodbyes and I love you's. "If we live through this," Garrett whispered to Kate, "I'll follow you anywhere, woman." "Now he tells me," she muttered. Rosalie and Emmett kissed quickly but passionately. Tia caressed Benjamin's face. He smiled back cheerfully, catching her hand and holding it against his cheek. I didn't see all the expressions of love and pain.
Maeryn looked at Alec and he looked back at her, even though he tried to stay strong she could see the fear in his eyes. Not for himself, but for his mate. He quickly pulled her close to him and kissed her passionetly, pouring all his love in what could be their last kiss. Maeryn wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, doing the exact same before letting him go. Pain in her heart. She knew this could be their last kiss, but she would fight to the bitter end. Both Alec and Jane hugged , kissing eachother on both cheeks. And to Maeryn's surprise, Jane pulled her into a hug too. "You are my sister, Maeryn." Jane whispered in Maeryn's ear. "And you are mine, Jane." Maeryn replied. No one saw the three vampires, as they were hidden and protected well by their much taller bodyguards. And no one heard them. Soon the three vampires got back into their position, ready to attack.
There was no change in the silent, still forms of the counseling ancients. But Aro had given the three vampires the signal. It was time. And Bella had seemed to notice this too. "Get ready," She whispered softly to the others. "It's starting." Yes, it was indeed.