Chapter 1

White... Red...

Silence...

That’s all I can hear...

Blood, but whose blood? Someone, please someone wake me up, I can’t, what’s all this? Where am I?

It’s nighttime, the forest is covered in snow, and it’s too cold. There’s a trail of blood right in front of me, but whose blood? Suddenly I hear a scream. Is someone asking for help? I run, trying to find the source. But it’s too dark for me to see someone needs my help...

Intro

I wake up to a knocking at the door. I didn’t get enough sleep again. I’m feeling restless, and I’m sweating a lot. The dream I just had felt so vivid.

As I laid back down, I started removing the strands of hair that are sticking in my forehead. Looking at my room ceiling, which has some clouds and birds drawn on it. I hear the grandfather clock show it’s eight in the morning. My room is quite a mess, clothes are scattered everywhere, weapons on my vanity table and blood. My dinner from last night that I didn’t have, I had forgotten again.

The dreams have been making it hard for me to eat. Every time I have a dream, I would wake up scared, sweaty, restless, it’s that awful, sick feeling. And for the last two weeks, I’ve been having those dreams of someone asking for help. Blood everywhere, and screams. They remind me of my experience and of him.

That person which I don’t want to be reminded of, but miss at the same time.

A knock at my door distracts me from my thoughts.

“Your Majesty?” someone said.

As I got up from bed, someone came in and said, “Good morning, Your Majesty.”

“What do you want, Antonia?” I asked.

Antonia is my grandfather’s assistant, she’s redheaded, short and kind of chubby. She can be annoying and ungrateful. Usually, I would keep my distance from her. This woman can be hideous.

“Sorry, but your grandfather is waiting for you in the dining room to have breakfast,” Antonia said.

“Fine, get out, I’ll get ready,” I said.

...

Ten minutes later, I’m ready. I put a simple shirt with some sweatpants on, socks, and did a messy bun. My hair looks a mess, but I couldn’t care less.

Walking down the hall where the dining room is located. I see two maids working in their daily routine. Some are cleaning, moving furniture, and others washing the windows. There are at least eighteen maids in the palace. Which sometimes I think it’s too little for this place.

The palace is where my grandfather, my brother Caspian, and I live. We have some guards that live on the palace grounds. But inside the palace is just us three. We are a small family.

Even though we are vampires that live in the twenty-first century, our homes are mostly castles and palaces. We keep certain things the old fashion way or better said we keep it traditional.

The palace has a Victorian style to it. Big chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, huge crystal windows like prisms that reflect unique colors, and most of the furniture is vintage. I’ve been in charge of redecorating the palace time by time.

It also has nineteen bedrooms, three living rooms; one on each floor, three dining rooms; which most of the time are used. We have a huge bathhouse that’s connected with Caspian’s and my room. There’s a library also where I spend most of the time reading. A theater, a big lab for testing weapons. We have a gym and training grounds; that’s mostly used for guards and assassin’s training and purposes. We have two kitchens, one for the royal family and one for the guards. There’s an inner garden that’s used by me, the throne room, and lastly a Grand Hall for events like balls.

The palace is way too big for us, but we enjoy this place; it’s our home. My home.

As the guards open the doors to the dining room, there at the head of the table sits my grandfather, Elder Cornelius.

“How long are you going to make me wait, Amilia?” my grandfather said.

“Good Morning to you to Grandfather,” I said, taking a seat.

“Enough, just sit down. We need to talk about the Grand Ball.” Grandfather said.

The Grand Ball? I hope he doesn’t ask me to assist this year again. Because I’m not planning ongoing again. The Grand Ball is a celebration for not mated Vampires and every year I find an excuse to not go.

“Amilia, this year you’re going to the ball,” my grandfather said as he studies my face.

“I can’t go,” I said, lying.

Honestly, I don’t wish to go, and I don’t need to. I already had a mate, but my grandfather and my brother don’t know about it. There’s no need; He’s already dead.

“Enough!!” my grandfather said, shouting. “You’re going and that’s the end of this Amilia, you’re going even if you don’t want to. Caspian will join you, as you know he’s not mated, so he will be your partner.”

“What? Caspian!! Hell no, I’m not planning ongoing to the damn ball and especially with my brother, so no, thank you,” I said, getting up and leaving.

I’m so annoyed, my grandfather thinks he can force a mate on me, but he can’t and no one won’t. I won’t allow it… never...

I’m Amilia Vlad and I’m a Pureblood Vampire, I’m twenty-eight years old and I’m Princess of the Kingdom of Constanta, and I’m not planning on finding my mate, because my mate is dead already. I’m Princess of the Sapphire eyes and I hold tragic secrets that no one has to find, even if it means I have to kill everyone.