20. Treaty

     As we ran together back home, I began thinking about what a victory now would mean. Not just for Edward and I, not just for the family, and not just for Jacob and the rest of the Quileutes. I could see it having an impact on our entire way of life. With Carlisle’s compassionate judgment to temper Aro’s arrogance and ambivalence, perhaps there could be governing without terror. Perhaps there would never be another Bree, destroyed without mercy or recourse. I never knew just how much Bree had affected me. I had looked at her with fear; fear of her wanting my blood, but also fear that I was looking at my future self. Although both fears were now dispelled, I knew that it was something more than that, something about Bree herself. I remember her wild look of confusion and fear, not understanding completely what had happened to her. Not understanding that she had been a pawn for Victoria, nor realizing that she would become Jane’s example to emphasize the Volturi’s policy of no second chances. As I had said to Aro, I had chosen this life, and I did so understanding my sacrifices and consequences. Bree had been kidnapped from her family, from her very life, and then summarily murdered, an expendable commodity in the clandestine world she had been recruited into against her will. As much as I had hated the memory of her in her wild newborn state, I pitied her. I wondered how many other newborns had been created as disposable soldiers in the southern wars Jasper had told us about. How many children had been ripped from their homes and loved ones, only to be slaughtered. I hoped this pact with Aro would see an end to such cruel waste. I knew our victory against Jane was the key to that dream, and I wanted it to come true. It was a driving force in my present course, almost as compelling as the protection of my family and Jacob’s.

     I could see Edward glancing sideways at me as we ran. His face was pained with insecurity but also wonder at what I was up to. I thought it might be better if I quickly explained to him before we got home. I slowed my pace, he responded in kind, and finally I stopped. He knew I was about to explain myself, so he crossed his arms and with a serious brow, waited for me to begin.