In the room, the curtains were still shut with only a bed lamp giving light.

“Good evening,” the lady greeted, pulling a string hanging from the chandelier, lighting the room. The decor matched the Victorian Era dress that the lady was wearing, which was strange to Emily since they were not in the Victorian Era.

“Good evening?” Emily asked, wondering why the lady was laying a gown on the bed instead of a nightgown.

“The royals are eager to meet you. Shall we get you ready?” the lady asked.

“The royals?” Emily asked, confused.

“Yes, you are to be wed tonight,” the lady said.

“I am Emily, and you are?” Emily introduced herself, getting out of bed.

“I am Hannah,” Hannah introduced herself as she unstrung the dress Emily was wearing.

“I did not expect Lord Dario to be so important that royalties will attend his wedding,” Emily said.

“You are not marrying Lord Dario. Lord Dario is already married. He is my husband,” Hanna said, making Emily look up at her.

Emily looked at Hannah ‘She is so dark. Looks like the red Indian slaves.’

“A lady-in-waiting married to a Lord?” Emily asked.

“I am not a lady-in-waiting; do you think a lady-in-waiting will be dressed as well as I am?” Hannah asked as she slipped the dress over Emily’s head.

“I apologize. Didn’t mean to offend you,” Emily said, feeling her cheeks flush red.

“We are understaffed right now, so my husband asked me to make sure that you look perfect for your wedding night,” Hannah said, buttoning the dress up.

“Is the man I am marrying a good man?” Emily asked nervously.

“I don’t know. It depends on who you will be marrying,” Hannah said, pulling the lace sleeves seam to line up perfectly.

“What do you mean?” Emily asked, thinking that the dress was way too revealing, a style she has never seen before.

“Well, soon you will meet several men, all royal, mostly Kings,” Hannah said.

“Where are these royal men from?” Emily wondered.

“Mainly Europe. Please take a seat so that I can do your hair.” Hannah showed her to the vanity table.

“Will I be returning to Europe, then?” Emily’s eyes lit up.

“Highly unlikely,” Hannah said as she took out the hairpins that were holding Emily’s hair into a high bun.

Emily’s hair cascaded down to her waist.

“Much better,” Hannah said.

“Are you sure? In England, that is in Europe, by the way. It is in style to have our hair up in a bun,” Emily said, objecting to her hair down.

“Well, we are not in England, that is in Europe, by the way. We are in America and here it is custom to wear your hair down, especially when you want to impress your husband-to-be,” Hannah responded sarcastically.

Emily picked up on her sarcasm and felt silly for thinking she won’t know where England was. ‘After all, her husband did buy me.’

“You are ready, please follow me,” Hannah said after putting a tiara on Emily’s head.

Emily stood up. “What about shoes?”

“Right there, three different sizes,” Hannah pointed out to a row of white silk-covered shoes that had a slightly raised heel. ‘At least the shoes are on point,’ Emily thought as she slipped her feet into the smallest pair.

Emily followed Hannah through a long hallway and noticed some paintings on the wall, all the people in them, beautiful.

They came to a halt in front of two large doors that were shut.

Hannah waited without a word. The two doors opened and revealed a medium-sized room, with young girls, looking about the same age as Emily, all standing next to each other. 

“Hello Hannah, how are you this lovely evening?” A man with tied-up long blond hair greeted Hannah, touching the thrills on her dress, near the swell of her breast.

“I am wonderful,” Hannah said and brushed his hand away.

“Joining us this evening?” the man took her hand and landed a kiss on it.

Hannah pulled her hand from his. “Andre, when will you realize that I will never be yours?”

“You were mine once,” Andre reminded her, his voice a hint of anger.

“Four hundred years ago, for but a moment in time,” Hannah said as she walked into the room, ignoring the stares from Andre’s mother, Queen Amirah, one of only two that survived the supernatural war, so they think.

Hannah wished that Andre’s turn will just come already to choose a human bride so that he can just let her be.  'One would think after a war of four hundred years he would have moved on, having better things to do than to pine over a lost love that was never his in the first place,' Hannah thought.

Hannah hated it when her husband, Lord Dario, left her alone at the castle, putting her as nothing more than a vulnerable human in danger. Hannah knew that the only thing that was keeping her safe and out of the mouths of the other vampires was the fact that she drank her husband's blood every two to three days. A vampire drank from a human every two to three days to stay sane, and in return, a human drank from the vampire to stay young. While the blood of a vampire was in a human, another vampire couldn’t drink from the human, as it made them sick.

“Wait here,” Hannah says, positioning Emily next to another girl, standing next to four other girls.

‘Did I hear right? Four hundred years ago?’ Emily thought to herself, looking around.

Emily looked in the direction of the gentleman that Hannah was just talking to and then at the woman wearing a crown. Their appearances were similar.

Emily felt the fear creep up in her as it dawned on her why Lord Dario called on the princess at night and why she does not remember how she got to the lovely bed she woke up to moments ago and why it was dark.

‘There is no such thing as vampires, right?’ Emily asked herself.

Emily looked over at the girl standing next to her. “Hi, I am Emily.”

“Princess Claire,” the girl with blond hair and blue eyes responded in a whisper.

“What are we waiting for?” Emily whispered.

“To get married,” Claire said.

“Are we all getting married?” Emily wondered, looking at the tall windows that had no drapes.  It was dark outside.

“I think so,” Claire said.

A tall man wearing a gold crown entered the room. He had light brown hair and matching light brown eyes wearing the same era clothes as Hannah, formal evening wear; a dark tailcoat and trousers with a dark waistcoat, a white bow tie, and a shirt with a winged collar. His shoes had a slightly high heel and a narrow toe.

Emily curtsey alongside the other woman. The king stopped in front of her, looking straight into her eyes but not saying a word. He walked to the next girl and held out his hand. Claire took his hand, and he kissed it. “I am King Torvald and you are?”