The Blood Of A Royal

Chapter 1

Emelia POV:

The distant echo of howls that came from the wolves that surrounded the darkened, viridescent forest made me shiver as the sound creeped up my spine, as if awaiting to pounce on my unexpecting, small form. The moon seemed to fill the sky with a bright white light that shone perfectly onto the lake that lay just before the forest. I raked a hand through my soulful black hair in trepidation as I grew alarmed at the distant sounds. I sighed in relief as I reached the wooden oak door to my house. I hated leaving the house some days and it didn't help that my parents were constantly trying to persuade me to find a man to marry and move in with.

My parents were both bright and strong people yet like any other human they wanted their only child to have the best life. With their overprotective nature, the best only served to compensate for their daughter. That, and the fact they wanted me to marry a rich man. My parents may be smart but they were definitely not rich, no where near it really. In the small village that we lived in we had the oldest house that was mostly made of wood and stone. My father believed the house to be strong because of it's old age. My mom just complained about the dull grey walls it had on the outside.

My Mother was a sprightly middle aged woman and got excited about a lot of things. My father was the exact opposite, I rarely saw my father smile or laugh; not counting when my parents came back from mysterious nights away. My mother and I looked pretty similar. I had inherited her small button nose, along with her height...or lack there of it. I had also inherited her singing voice and many had praised me on it for the last 18 years of my life, I thought I was average at best although I did enjoy writing songs.

I had my fathers green eyes and our personalities were similar. We didn't stand for anything going against us. We were both deadly stubborn people and we both spoke our minds in the most unidealistic of places. The only aspect of my mothers personality I had was that of her awkward and flustered state when in an embarrassing situation. We both hated being embarrassed and it caused me problems all the time.

My father had bright green eyes that I used to admire from his lap as a child. His hair, although it had slowly turned grey over the years, used to be a soulful black which apparently was quite rare in our Kingdom; what good luck I had on inheriting it.

As I walked into the room my eyes travelled to both my parents who seemed to be having an in depth conversation. I placed my bag into the cabinet and took my shoes of, placing them near the door neatly. My parents must have heard me shuffling as they both looked up like lamb about to be slaughtered. I offered them an awkward smile as I could feel the tension that was thick enough that it could be sliced with a knife.

"Hey Mom, Dad? What's wrong?" I asked as I cautiously walked up to them. My father shifted his weight onto his right leg as he stood up and motioned for me to sit down. My mother offered me a nervous smile and I swallowed against the growing form in my throat. Butterflies flew around in my stomach making me shuffle a lot more quickly towards the seat that my mom also sat on. She then started comfortably rubbing my back as if warming me up for bad news. I looked at them both as we sat in silence. My mom coughed awkwardly, motioning for my father to speak. He huffed at her indignantly before turning to me.

"Emelia, you've been chosen." His words morphed together as he spoke to quickly. My mother tapped her fingers onto the thigh of her leg. A frown took over my face as I took a look at her. Her usual porcelain skin was now a pale almost ashen white. Her eyes darted between Father, myself and her hands.

"What?" I asked in confusion as I brought myself back from studying my mother.

"I said. You've been chosen." He said it a lot more slowly and the ball in my throat grew even larger, I found it even harder to swallow and tears started to form in my eyes.

"What?" I asked in disbelief this time and his eyes closed and nodded to confirm what he said was indeed true.

"No...No...I-I don't want to.....I-I can't leave you." My eyes started watering, tears softly fell from eyes and I grabbed onto my mom. She pulled me into a hug instantly as she herself started sobbing. Mt father looked on at the two woman that were held close in his heart and a single tear fell from his right eye.

"I-I'm sorry Bunny. You have no choice." My father turned away from me and my mother, trying to keep his emotions intact.

"You leave tomorrow." His voice echoed off the walls of my once warm home, even if the stone was a dull grey, it was where I lived for my whole life. My mother started sobbing again and I stared blankly at the far wall of my living room, just past my mother's shoulder.

"OK." I whispered as I wiped my remaining tears away. I let go of my mother's sobbing form gently and walked over to my father. He pulled me into a hug and I smiled as I smelt the sweet chocolate scent that I would certainly miss.

Before long, I found myself inside my room packing my clothes. Tears ran down my face as I picked up the picture of my parents off of my desk and placed into my suit case. I ran a hand gently over both of my parents faces and then over my face. The happy 6 year old girl in the picture wore a blue summer dress that reached her knees. Her black raven hair was adorned with a beautiful flower crown, a blue tulip hung loosely from the crown and lay against her left ear. A sad smile appeared on my lips as I zipped my suit case up and placed my phone down on my bedside table. I jumped on my bed and snuggled into the warmth of my blanket, locking the feeling into my memories to look back on when I reached my destination tomorrow.

With the thought of what would come next, my whole body shook slightly with nervousness. my eyes slowly closed as I felt the tired nature of my long day settle in.

My consciousness faded.

Awaiting the future was never something I looked forward too.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mary-Jo's POV:

I growled in annoyance when one of the orphanage boys stole my bag from my shoulder. I walked up to the little boy that looked up at me with a smug smile which then slowly disappeared as I snatched my bag straight out of his grip before walking away from him. I let out a huff of annoyance as I trudged my way home, flashing a beautiful fake smile at each person I passed on the way. As I reached the door to my apartment I snatched the key out of my bag and pushed it into the lock impatiently. I walked into the mahogany decorated living room, throwing my bag on the arm chair and taking my shoes off and placing them by the door.

A white letter that had been posted through my door was lying alone of the floor. I picked it up and turned it over. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the stamp on the front. The royal stamp was what sealed the letter. The beautiful blue wax had a snake wrapped around a sword imprinted on it. I ripped the letter open in excitement. My eyes widened as I read it and I smiled to myself confidently.

Dear Miss Henlern,

This letter has been approved by the King and Queen of Caesdelvine.

As you are 21 years old, you have been approved and have been chosen to take part in a series of events which will be considered as a competition to win the Prince's heart.

This will mean that if you were to win you will be crowned Princess of Caesdelvine and further on in the future take the throne with your husband.

However, this also means that if you are to win that you will undertake the transition into a Pureblood vampire by drinking the Prince's blood.

You will make your way to the castle of Caesdelvine tomorrow and have to arrive no later then 11am and check yourself off at the front gates, failure to follow these instructions will be inexcusable and will not be taken lightly.

Sincerely,

The Head Butler of the Blackthorn Family, the Royal Family,

Alexander.

I set the letter down on the table top and grin to myself. I then take off down the hallway t my room to pack. As I do the only thoughts that follow inside my head are these...

"I will become Mary-Jo Blackthorn."