Bound by Shadow [SAMPLE]

CHAPTER ONE

Part One: The Escape

CHAPTER I

The sound of dancing and violins reverberated up the stairs and through my bedroom door as Catherine carefully combed my hair away from my face. She was gentle as she grabbed the brown strands, and she hummed a soft tune under her breath.

"All of the nobles of Luxtera are here," she murmured. I tensed and sucked a breath in through my nose. They were here, for me, to watch me transition into an eternal and join the royal family of Luxtera. In under an hour, I would become a Stuart. I gulped. It was the price I had to pay for what I wanted.

When she finished with the final strand, she placed her hands on my shoulders and squeezed gently. Her breath was cold against my ear. "You will do wonderfully. You have been preparing for this your entire life."

For as long as I could I remember, I wanted to become an eternal, a being with an extended life and magical gifts aided by their necessity to drink blood. I nodded. "I know, mother."

If it wasn't enough that I had been peculiarly adopted by the Luxterian royal family, it was even weirder that I was human and adopted by the family. Not as a pet, but as a young, human orphan. To me Catherine Stuart and the rest of her family were my own. The Stuarts had raised me as one of their own. Most humans would say I was living a life of luxury and was blessed.

Despite all this, it didn't stop the nagging in the back of my mind that I was about to walk into a slaughter. A party for me, where I was the closest thing to a meal.

She walked in front of me and handed me a mirror to inspect the work she had done. I lifted it and tilted my head to the side before sitting the mirror down on the table beside me. Looking at my reflection terrified me. I didn't want to think of my irises lining with white after the change or how my skin would smooth over. Instead, I offered her a sheepish smile. "Thanks."

She picked up her mask from the table and tied it over her face. White feathers covered her cheeks and forehead, blending into her white-blond hair. Red lipstick coated her lips, one of the few colors that graced her. A long, white dress with lace covered her frame. She truly did look like an eternal queen.