| |
Lila
“WHEN DO YOU THINK PRINCESS Alessandra will leave?” Natalia asked quietly, squishing her oatmeal around in her bowl with a spoon.
“Ha! I knew it. I knew I couldn’t have been the only one who didn’t like Princess Alessandra.” Lexi grinned proudly.
“I don’t know how I feel about her, but I’m not asking because I want her to leave,” Natalia replied. “The reason I want to know is because I’m afraid that they will leave soon.”
“Why?” Hannah questioned with raised eyebrows.
“I just... I really, really like Eric, you guys.” A dreamy look filled her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever liked someone so much.”
“Not even the record store guy?” Hannah asked.
Natalia shook her head. “Not even the record store guy.”
“Record store guy?” I asked, feeling slightly out of the loop.
“Back when I lived in New York, I was dating this guy,” Natalia explained, glancing over at me. “I fell really hard for him, really fast. My mother even warned me about how quickly things were moving, but I didn’t care. It felt like things were really going to work out with this guy. After about three days, I was already calling him my boyfriend.” She paused for a moment, her eyes clouding over with a dark look. “I guess I should have listened to my mom, because that guy turned out to be a Seeker. He’s the one who brought me here.”
“Oh, wow. That’s so awful,” I murmured.
“It was pretty awful, but this is different. I can just feel it. I feel like Eric and I have a real connection with each other. I don’t want them to leave.”
“But you know they’re going to end up leaving, eventually,” Hannah told her softly.
“I’m sure that’s probably part of Princess Alessandra’s sick game,” Lexi chimed in.
Natalia glanced over at her. “What do you mean?”
“Well, why else would she insist that we go to the ball with her slaves?” Lexi asked. “It almost feels like she wants us to fall for her slaves and then she’ll just take them away from us—like some sort of sick cat and mouse game.”
I hadn’t even thought of that, but it made a lot of sense. Not that it was going to work on me. If anything, the more time I spent with Vernelle, the less interested I became in him. I wasn’t sure if it was just because he tried too hard or if it had more to do with my heart being set on Sebastian.
Except Sebastian had been giving me the cold shoulder lately. He’d been avoiding me completely. This time, it seemed like he completely refused to look at me. I wasn’t even sure why. What had I done wrong?
It felt like the two of us had taken five steps forward with that almost-kiss, except now we had taken ten steps backwards. And the worst part of it all was that I didn’t even know why he was treating me so differently all of a sudden. My only theory was that it had something to do with Princess Alessandra and her slaves staying at the palace.
At that moment, a voice said from behind us, “Oh, but I do love to play games.” Princess Alessandra stepped into the dining room, her eyes gleaming with amusement. “I see you ladies have been talking about me. You’re all lucky I’m in a good mood today. I could drain each and every one of you of all your blood, but I’m just going to take gossip as a form of flattery right now.”
“Why are you in such a good mood?” Lexi asked, eyeing the princess curiously.
“Because Martina has finished my dress for the ball, and it is stunning.” Alessandra beamed, her skin glowing radiantly. “She’s finished with all of your dresses as well. That’s actually why I decided to stop by today. I want each of you to try them on before I give them my final approval.”
“Why is it so important that our dresses look so good?” Hannah asked.
Princess Alessandra narrowed her eyes at her. “Would you rather I force you all to attend the ball in rags?”
“No, but it would probably be more your style,” Hannah muttered under her breath.
“Excuse me?” Alessandra took a step closer to her—close enough to make me nervous. “What was that?”
“I just know that slaves mean little to nothing to you. It’s surprising you want us to dress so nicely. That’s all.”
“Well, you’re partially right. Slaves do mean little to nothing to me.” Her eyes fell on mine and lingered there for a moment longer than I felt comfortable with. “And you girls mean even less to me because you don’t even belong to me. However, I do care about Prince Sebastian greatly. That’s the reason I treat you with the same level of respect I treat my own slaves.”
She paused for a moment. “The reason it’s so important you all look so good for the ball is because it will be a historical ball. I can’t go into any further details with you, but Prince Sebastian and I both have an image to uphold. We must show the rest of the vampire world and the rest of the Royals, in particular, that we have selected the finest slaves who were auctioned off to our kingdoms.”
Glancing around at us, she smiled. “You ladies are the ones who Prince Sebastian has chosen, which means you have the good fortune of being given the Royal treatment for this event. You’re the lucky ones. Own it.”
Princess Alessandra walked around the table, her heels clacking against the tiled floor. “You will each go into the living room with Martina. She will help you into the gown she’s designed for you. Once you have it on, you will come back into the dining room to show each of us your dress.” She smiled. “It will be just like show and tell.”
I suppressed my urge to frown. I’d always hated show and tell.
“Lexi, I want you to go first,” Alessandra commanded.
Lexi looked like she wanted to protest about going first, but she didn’t. Instead, she rose to her feet and went out into the living room.
The rest of us remained quiet. I figured that, like me, the other girls were too afraid to say much in front of the princess. Something about her was so intimidating, though I got the feeling that she hated me more than Sebastian’s other slaves, for some reason.
A few minutes later, Lexi returned to the room. She was wearing a long, light pink mermaid gown. It clung to her hips in all of the right places, accentuating the curves her slender body had to offer.
Princess Alessandra nodded. “You look beautiful, Lexi. Martina has done a very good job with your gown. Please have a seat. You may all change once we’re done.” She glanced around at the other girls. “Hannah, I’d like to see your dress next.”
Nodding, Hannah rose to her feet.
A few moments later, she came back wearing a long, sleek navy blue gown. It made her sapphire blue eyes pop.
“You look stunning, Hannah,” Princess Alessandra said with a nod. “The gown has my approval.” She paused for a moment. “Rachel, it’s your turn.”
Rachel, who had been even quieter than usual this morning, if that was at all possible, stood up and went out into the living room. She came back a few moments later wearing a shiny, emerald green gown with one shoulder. There were sparkly sequins at the bodice and ruching on the side.
I watched the look in Princess Alessandra’s eyes as she observed how beautiful Rachel looked in the gown. “You look fantastic. That dress...” She trailed off, apparently speechless.
There was a long silence as Rachel awkwardly sat down at the table, rejoining the rest of us. After what felt like forever, Alessandra finally spoke again.
“Natalia, I’d like to see your dress next.”
When Natalia returned to the room a few moments later, she was wearing a dark red, off the shoulder gown. It revealed a little heart tattoo that she had on her upper back, one which I’d never noticed before.
“Beautiful,” Princess Alessandra said, nodding her approval. Then she turned her gaze on me. “I’ve intentionally saved the best for last. It’s your turn, Julia.”
Unable to ignore the fact that I felt like she was singling me out yet again, I stood up and went out into the living room. Martina greeted me and helped me change into the gown she’d designed for me: it was a light pink princess gown with silver beading at the bodice.
It reminded me a little bit of the dress I’d worn to the junior prom with Sean. Except when Martina held up a mirror to show me what I looked like, I’d never felt more beautiful in my life than I did right there in that living room, which was kind of funny because I didn’t even have any makeup on. But I still felt like Cinderella in the gown.
It felt like my gown was so much more extravagant than the dresses Martina had designed for the other girls, but I knew I was probably only imagining it.
As I went back into the dining room, Princess Alessandra’s eyes grew really wide and then they filled with a cold look. “That dress is inappropriate.”
“How is it inappropriate?” Hannah spoke up for me.
“It makes her hips look too wide, and the color is not at all flattering.” The princess shook her head. “I’m going to have to talk Martina into designing something else for you—and fast, since she’s running out of time.”
“Nonsense,” a familiar voice said from behind me. “The dress is staying. It’s perfect.”
I turned to find Sebastian standing just feet away from me. His intense blue eyes locked on mine for the first time in days. “You look beautiful, Julia.”