Disgrace

Chapter 1

      Brenna lay in bed wide awake. She couldn't sleep today is her sixteenth birthday but it is nothing like she expected it to be, because today is also her wedding day. She is marrying Prince Ian Dragomir. He will soon be King of his people, the Vampires. She will never be Queen of her own, the Demons. She isn't complaining because she was never taught how to rule. Her father didn't see the point, because even if her older brother Brendan dies, nobody would follow her. She is a mutt after all.
            The Demons are very much about pedigree and purity of the blood line. Her mother was human and her father is a Demon obviously. She still doesn't quite understand what happened with her mother and father, but she does know it was a big scandal when she was born. Her father was almost removed from the throne, but by some miracle wasn't. She doesn't know any of the details. Her father doesn't talk about it and she doesn't ask.
            Brenna jumps when her bedroom door swings open revealing two human maids. They are both young and beautiful with carefully applied makeup and perfectly curled hair. One is tall with blonde hair the other is shorter with brown hair. Together they pull her out of bed. She is dragged towards her vanity where they begin setting up an array of makeup and hair products. She don't know what any of it does and her lack of knowledge is apparent to the two girls.
            Looking into the mirror Brenna cringes she obviously didn't get much sleep last night. Dark circles surround her eyes. Her hair is a black frazzled mess. These two have got to be good or else she will be walking down the aisle looking homeless.
            The blonde introduces herself as Katie and the brunette introduces herself as Anne. Katie is a hair stylist while Anne is a makeup artist.
            Katie begins brushing through her long black hair. She uses several hair ties to separate the long strands into five sections.
            Anne washes Brenna's face, taking her time while going on about an artist needing a blank canvas. Brenna doesn't know what that's all about, but okay. It kind of makes sense to her.
            Brenna sits silently while the two girls do their work. Katie curls Brenna's hair apologizing as she flinches when the curling wand gets a little to close to her scalp.
            Anne begins by applying a layer of base and concealer. She then brushes blush onto Brenna's cheek bones. She then lines Brenna's blue eyes with brown eyeliner. Expertly, Anne glides on mascara, darkening Brenna's pale lashes. Finally, she applies golden shades of eye shadow enhancing the princess's blue eyes.
            Looking in the mirror Brenna can barely recognize herself. It's a complete one eighty from how she looked earlier. Her skin mimics porcelain with just the slightest hint of color on my cheeks. Her blue eyes pop against the golden eye shadow. Brenna's long black hair is pulled to the side in a bun. Perfect ringlets frame her face. For the first time she feels pretty.
            Anne leaves as Katie begins spraying Brenna's hair with hair spray.
            Moments later Anne arrives with a long white dress. It's simply beautiful, but Brenna is not sure how it will look on her. She undress and with the help of the girls she is zipped up inside the dress. Looking at the floor length mirrror she stares at her reflection in shock. She doesn't look anything like herself.
            The dress clings to her body flaring out around the knees giving the illusion she has curves. It is full lace with rhinestones placed strategically around the dress adding just a bit of shine. She looks like a bride. The kind that you see on TV. She never expected to look anything like this. She can't help but wonder how Prince Ian will feel when she is no longer made up.
            She tries to push the thought out of her mind as Anne hands her a pair of three inch heels. They were white and just lightly dusted with sparkles. Brenna slides them on thankful nobody hadn't lost their mind and given her anything too tall.
            Katie grabs a veil from the vanity and places it on Brenna's head. The two smile at each other in approval. "You look absolutely beautiful princess," Anne says helping Brenna to stand in the heels.
            "Thank you," Brenna whispers her eyes on the ground feeling shy. If it weren't for them Brenna felt that she would look like a monster on her wedding day. Maybe she should've invested more into learning how to do hair and makeup instead of learning how to fight and use magic.
            Anne checks her watch and cringes. "We got to get you to the chapel in five minutes." Brenna nods and pull the front of my dress up to keep from tripping over it. Brenna follows behind Anne at a slight jog trying her best not to fall. Katie brings up the rear keeping the train of the dress off the ground. They arrive just as the wedding planner begins freaking out. "We're sorry Miss, but we wanted the princess to look beautiful on her wedding day," Katie says speaking for the first time since her introduction.
            The wedding planner waves them away and directs Brenna to stand behind a burgandy curtain that will open up to the chapel. Her stomach knots the longer she stands there. She tries to stay calm so, when a hand touches her elbow she jump. She turns to find her father standing there in a black suit looking as he had twenty years ago. Demons age slower than humans just like every other race. Especially after they turn eighteen.
            Brenna bows her head. "There is no need for that my dear," he says taking her hand. "This day is about you and Ian."
            She smiles to herself as he pulls the veil over her face. She hadn't expected him to be there. She kind of thought this wasn't important enough for him to show up. The music begins to play inside the chapel. The curtain pulls away revealing the chapel. It's simply beautiful.
            Intricately placed roses add color to the room. Gold decorates the room adding a sense of regalness to the chapel. A dusting of sparkles gives it a magical feel.
            Walking down the aisle, she can't help but be enthralled by the person standing at the alter. The pictures she has seen of him, do him no justice. He's tall, over six foot. He has chin length blonde hair. Striking blue eyes, which is odd among vampires they usually have red eyes. Even through the suit she can tell he has a lean athletic build. Why in the world does he need an arranged marriage? she questions silently.
             Does he have a horrible personality? Is there a more political motive? She's freaking out. Brenna hopes she is wrong about the last two, but then it starts making sence. Her father would have never come to my wedding if he didn't already have ulterior motives.
            Standing in front him she can feel her stomach tighten in painful knots. Brenna is terrified of what their marriage will do to her, to him, to their people.
            The more the priest talks the more nervous she gets get. When she hears Ian say "I do" in a sexy accented voice she waits until she hears. "Do you Brenna Annaliese Maria Henrietta Vulcan take Ian Dragomir to be your husband?"
            "I.. I do," her face beginning to burn as she stumbles over her words. At least she didn't vomit though.
            "You may kiss your bride," says the priest. Ian lifts the veil and they kiss. She doesn't know how people do this with people they've never met. This is her first kiss so she doesn't really know what to do. She doesn't know any of the logistics of everything, and she'd never done it before.
            He pulls away flashing her a white smile. Everybody is then led away. Ian and Brenna are pulled away by the wedding planner to follow her. She leads them down an unfamiliar hallway, Brenna didn't know existed. Eventually they arrive to one of the smaller ball rooms the castle offers. It's been transformed from dusty and dull to magical. It very much resembles the chapel.
            All of the guest have already arrived, so they're just waiting on them. Ian and Brenna enter the room and take our designated seats at the front of the room. She sits nervously trying to think of something to talk about, but instead of saying anything she picks at a loose string on her dress. "What exactly are you doing?" she hears Ian ask.
            Brenna clears her throat and looks up. "Trying to get rid of this string," she says shyly. The only people of the male sex she'd ever been around in her entire life is her brother and father. She hadn't been equipped for this type of interaction.
            "Here," Ian says grabbing the string and ripping it out with ease.
            "Thanks," Brenna whispers shyly then turns to the plate that had been set in front of her. It was every food she doesn't eat. She is a vegetarian, a picky one at that.
            "What's with that face?" Ian asks at the sight of her frowned up face.
            "I'm a vegetarian, I only eat animal carcass when I absolutely have too."
            "Animal carcass? Well that's a fun way to look at it, and I've never met a demon who cared about anything but themselves."
            "I'm not your typical demon, as you know."
            "Well I thought that even being half demon would make you as bad as the rest."
            "Shh that's half my family you're talking about," Brenna smiles jokingly. This was going a lot better than she expected it to be. At least they're interacting, and he seems nice enough so far.
            Ian chuckles flashing an award winning smile. Even with the fangs he has a beautiful smile. "Well, please accept my apology I didn't mean to offend half of your family"
            Brenna returns his smile. Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as she thought it was going be.