Chapter 12-Bella's POV

      Bella's POV

 

Dearest Friends,

You are cordially invited to join us for the seventh annual Volterra Ball celebration. Please keep this letter confidential. We very much hope to see you there.

 

Yours Truly,

Aro, Caius, Marcus, and the Volturi Guard

 

The envelope, fancily decorated in red and gold, arrived this afternoon, addressed to the Cullen Coven and Guard.

It now lay on the dining room table, where we all sat to discuss the matter.

Jake was growling over the whole “guard” thing.

“Don’t worry dog, we know your true purpose and that’s all that matters”, Rosalie said with fake assurance in her voice.

“Whose stupid idea was that, anyway? A ball? For vampires?”

He snorted.

“The Volturi have had this ball every century or so for the last five hundred years. Their guest list consists of mainly large covens, to make sure everyone is following the rules. More so, as we all know, they are hungry to welcome newcomers with extraordinary talents to their own coven. The ball allows them to meet the newest members of our kind, and learn of their abilities. Most likely, they will try to persuade the vampires with talents useful to them to join”, Carlisle said.

“What’s it like?” Renesmee asked.

Edward smiled.

“I must admit, Aro very much outdoes himself for this. There’s light everywhere, and Volterra is completely overdone with red and gold. But it’s the dancing that everyone enjoys the most”, he said.

I could hardly imagine the dark, cold home of the Volturi as being light and magnificent. But I took Edward’s word for it, of course, since he’s been to one more Volterra ball than I ever had.

Renesmee’s eyes sparkled, trying to imagine it too. But then her expression became darker.

“It sounds beautiful, but I’d rather not revisit with the Volturi”, she said quietly.

“It’s a very nice event”, Carlisle said, trying to avoid Renesmee’s

last statement.

“Wait. We don’t actually have to go to this, do we?” I asked, getting a little uncomfortable.

Edward wrapped his arms around Renesmee and I, from where he sat in the middle of us. Jacob sat to Nessie’s right.

It was definitely not part of my plan, but it was unavoidable. I had to put my selfishness aside for a moment, and listen to what my daughter wanted. And that was Jacob. I did feel a small ounce of relief that marriage was put aside for now. I don’t think I would’ve handled that too well. And although acceptingly watching Jacob and Renesmee display lovingly gestures every now and then kicked my motherly instincts into gear, I allowed it. Because in a way, Jake was right. Nessie had been born only five years ago. Yet, as we all knew, she was much older than that. It was hard for me, a mother to get used to it all in so short a time. But I let it go. Because it was worth it to see my Renesmee and Jacob so happy.

Only two seconds had gone by, and I was still waiting for an answer. Edward’s expression became tense. Carlisle and Esme exchanged a glance.

“I’m afraid we have no choice. If we don’t go, the Volturi will find some way to meet with us, and it’s just too risky. What if they found out how involved Charlie was in our life?”, Carlisle said softly.

I shook my head, not wanting to imagine the consequences for not only my father, but our whole family.

“I’m sure it won’t be so bad. As long as we kindly greet Aro, and stay out of his way…” Edward said, his voice trailing off.

I examined the bottom of the note, where an address, date and time were handwritten. The writing was so tiny, it would be practically microscopic to a human. The big event was in eight days.

“I’ll go buy the tickets”, I sighed.

Hopefully, everything would go well.