Chapter 1
“Are you serious?” I stared horrified at my unearthly, unmoving,
beautiful mother.
“Yes, I am quite serious, Lilly.” My mother continued to opened trunks
that I was told since infancy wouldn’t be open until my wedding. “Now
get out, most of this is for your husband’s eyes only, and your
nervousness is making me ill.”
I stood up and walked out of her room and crossed the long hallway
into my room, slamming the door behind me. I looked at the canopy
bed, gauzy curtains of soft greens and blues falling down to the dark
blue and silver stitched bedding. I threw myself onto my bed, taking in
the only human looking room in the house. I spotted my reflection in
the mirror of my vanity and picked up a dark blue pillow and threw it.
Of course my room was the only human looking room in the
ridiculously oversized house, I was the only human in the house. The
mirror distorted my reflection and I looked away trying to keep my
tears from falling, the last thing I needed was for my younger brother to
scent my grief and saunter in like he owned the place.
I sighed, who was I kidding, he was going to own this place, and the title
and everything else. He was a Halfling, half vampire, half human, what I
was supposed to have been. Imagine my vampire mother and fathers
surprise, when they prepare a bottle of formula cut with blood only to
find out, voila, full human daughter.
I stared up at the ceiling, genetically I was rare, if you had two vampire
parents, and the vampire gene is dominate, it’s only a small percentage
that the baby would have the recessive human gene. But I did, which
meant for an average vampire household, embarrassment, and the
hopes that someone will adopt the human quickly. At least that is what
I would assume would happen. To be honest I have never heard about
another human born to a vampire family, but who knows.
However, for my family, who held royal blood, and with it, royal power,
for my family it brought embarrassment, and shame. How could a
vampire family with such strong lines, have a human daughter?
I took deep breaths trying to keep the tears back, because of who my
family is, they couldn’t just dump me off at the nearest European
orphanage. Nope, because, it just so happens when the great Vlaine
line has a child, that child is married off right in the womb. Some old
witch comes around, tells them the sex of the child, and poof the child
is engaged.
Imagine how thrilled my family was when they discovered the ruling
vampire family had just had a son not one year ago and was still trying
to find an appropriate match for him, and my mother just happened to
be carrying a daughter. Parties were thrown, engagements were made,
bonds were formed, blood oaths were voiced, and I ended up engaged.
Then out came Lilly, and down went my family. At least that’s how my
brother tells it anyway. My mother, being a kind hearted creature, says
that the royal family still saw potential in the marriage between
Damien, their precious prince, and me, the embarrassment of a human.
However, other families with vampire Halfling children would have
their slightly stronger spawn start to attack me. I almost died three
times before I was even eight.
Needless to say, my father was forced to swallow his pride and take me
away from Europe, for my safety as well as my entire family’s safety.
Thus exchanging a couple of hundred year old castles for a brand new
mansion built in the wilds of Idaho. That’s right, Idaho, where else can a
future human princess to the vampires be kept safe except in the only
place where running water still hasn’t been discovered yet. Yep, Idaho.
I’m exaggerating the running water, but not by much, I look out my two
windows and see nothing but farm land, farm land as far as the eye can
see. It’s depressing, but its home. At least to me its home, to the rest of
my family, it’s beyond depressing.
Finally the tears began to fall and I groaned as my bedroom door
opened, as expected, and my twelve year old brother sauntered into
the room, smirking at me.
“Get out Luke.”
“Oh ho, little human Lilly crying in her little bitty bed?” I glared at the
frustrating brat. He was the perfect specimen of vampires, midnight
hair, midnight eyes, pale face, and sharp angular features. He could eat
his weight and then some, and still gain not a pound.
I, on the other hand, had long, chestnut hair, that had naturally, soft,
bouncy curls. That’s right, soft curls, not the beautiful straight severe
black hair of my family, nope, soft, chestnut, and curls. It was
humiliating, along with that obvious difference, I was also full figured,
not angular and severe like the rest of my family, no I had curves, full
hips, full bust, a perfectly human hourglass figure. My eyes were
chocolate, that’s right, sugar and milk with cocoa, chocolate. No
mysterious black, no intimidating harsh light from my eyes, nope, soft,
again! And I was a honey kissed tan, because while my family sun
burned, then returned to their pale glow, I absorbed the sun. My skin
took in the sun, changed my skin tones, and gave me the last nail in the
proverbial coffin.
I glared at my perfect specimen of vampirism brother and narrowed my
eyes, “You aren’t a vampire either brat.”
He shrugged the argument off haughtily, he naturally had haughtiness, I
couldn’t muster it to save my life, “So, eventually I can be bit and
changed into a vampire. You can’t, can you itty bitty Lilly’’
I stood up and stalked towards him and I was satisfied to see panic flash
across his face before he bolted out the door yelling for Mother. I
snorted in satisfaction as I slammed the door again. But it was short
lived as I heard my door open and felt the ice cold presence of my
father stalk into my room, “Lilly.”
I looked up at him and saw a frown on his sharp features, “What?”
His back straightened even more and his eyes narrowed, “Your mother
is ready to speak with you.”
I nodded looking down, I knew my father disliked me, who wouldn’t;
my entrance into the world single handedly ruined his reputation and
took away everything from him, including his home. I walked silently
through the dark halls and back into the black and red room of my
parents.
My mother closed the last of the luggage and I gawked at them, “Wait,
what is going on?”
My father stood next to my mother giving me an icy stare, “You are
headed to France to meet up with your aunt, and from there you will go
by train to the house of your future husband.”
My knees buckled under my weight and I collapsed hard onto the floor,
landing hard on my soft ass, “But I’m not supposed to marry him until
I’m nineteen, that’s still six months away.”
Mother looked up at my father in what could only be described as
nervousness, which for her to actually show, must mean something
very bad. I waited, staring miserably at them and finally my mother
turned to me and sat down on the edge of her bed, “Lilly, you must
start courting soon. It is different for vampire royalty, the courting is
very important. It is one of those things that must be learned by doing,
not by being told.”
I looked up at her, fear stealing my breath, “I don’t understand, I know
I’m an embarrassment, but, I thought that the marriage was cancelled
because of what I am.”
My mother shook her head, “No darling, the agreement was made in
blood, and there is nothing that can be done. It will be hard and might
even be deadly for you, that’s why, we came here, why we gave up so
much for you to have a happy life until now.”
I felt tears spill down my face and looked up to my father who was
looking away in disgust. I looked back down ashamed, “I thought…I had
plans, college, a future…”
Both my parents shook their heads, “No Lilly, you leave for Paris
tonight. Isadora, your aunt, will meet you there, and then you will have
to go shopping.”
“Why?” Of all the stupid things, the last thing on my mind was shopping
but the look in my Mothers face silenced me.
“You have nothing appropriate to wear, I went through all six trunks,
when I had bought the garments, I had thought your body would be
more…like mine.”
I hunched down a bit realizing that I had to get an entirely new
wardrobe because my mother had shopped for a future vampire, not a
plump human.
“Enough coddling Esmeralda, let’s go already.”
My mother nodded and touched my soft hair before pulling me to my
feet and kissing me goodbye.