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CARLISLE WAS QUESTIONING EVERY ACTION HE'D EVER TAKEN IN REGARDS TO HIS CONNECTION WITH THE VOLTURI.
Aro had been more than a friend at one point, and Carlisle knew all too well what happened when that man was in love. He had been blinded by the idea that Aro, and by extension the Volturi, could keep River safe from any harm from vampires or otherwise.
How terrible that River had been attacked. She would be forced to take her first life soon, and that went against the woman's very nature.
"She isn't like you, Aro," Carlisle tried to guide Aro towards his point as he sat down, the phone stuck to his ear, "River has never desired to hurt anyone. Not even when she was attacked, you said she didn't fight back. She's not a fighter. She's not a killer."
"You don't know that," Aro denied over the phone. Carlisle hated when they got into this debate because they would never be on the same page. He was sure Aro hated this just as much as him. "Carlisle, River is not the same as she was before. Vampire venom changes people in ways we still don't fully understand. She is the same woman, but the vampirism has given her at least a bit of confidence in herself that I don't believe she had before."
"It has only been a day. None of mine changed overnight." Carlisle shook his head, trying to imagine the woman that he had helped pack to go to Volterra. She had to visit him soon as the same person, he didn't know what he would do if she was different. "Jasper wants to see her. Things have been overwhelming around here."
"You have money. All are allowed to visit my home. I've always been open to your children, despite two of them hating me personally," Aro snapped at the end, the reminder of Alice and Edward's thoughts on the Volturi and Aro as a leader cutting him deep with the talks with Carlisle.
Carlisle understood why Aro was upset, but that didn't change his own hurt and discomfort around this situation.
He had left River in Volterra and she had become a vampire because of it.
It was tragic.
"Alright," Carlisle conceded. "Jasper will be visiting soon then, I believe. It will be a short trip, we need him back in Forks as soon as possible."
"What could you possibly need your empath for so badly?" Aro questioned, knowing deep down that there was another reason why Carlisle was so peeved about the idea of River taking human life. "Are you keeping something from me, Carlisle? Because we have just had an attack on our Queen, if there is another issue, we must be informed."
He didn't want to tell him.
What had been happening in Forks was his issue.
Or at least, it was. It should have been. It would be eventually.
Aro would never let this go, and he would be in more trouble when he eventually found out. If there was one thing that Aro found unforgivable, it was lying by omission. Carlisle was no liar, perhaps sometimes a truth bender if he truly had to, but never a liar.
