Chapter One

"Tell me, why must we go again?" I asked Alice, my best friend, for probably the thousandth time.

We were maids working for the duke. He was about to ship us off to the castle where the royal family lived.

I was about to become the Prince Edward's personal servant and leave everyone else behind. Well, except, Alice, of course. She had to go and work for the prince's brother, Prince Jasper. How sad.

"Well, Bella, they needed some more maids I guess. Plus they already have enough of here"-she paused-"Think about it this way, we'll get to meet new people and an-and see new places" Alice was trying to convince me but I could tell that her voice was full of fake hope

"Nice try, Al, but please keep in mind that you don't have to work for Prince Edward. And, remember, you don't have to clean up after all that he does. What I have heard of him is that all the girls basically just worship him and…" I started to babble and trail off.

"I guess some of that is true, but where did you get this information, Bella?" questioned Alice. Darn.

"Well, you know, all your magazines and all the dukes nieces say so and so do all the girls around town"

"Bella, do you always believe them? They're probably just rumors." There she goes with her voice again trying to make me believe something that something is true that isn't

Today was going to be our last day at the duke's house. I was extremely upset about this.

One thing I was extremely happy about was leaving the dukes house. And that I was seeing the last of some of the servants and the duke's nieces. Though, I would probably see again them when they came to visit the castle. They were all pretty unbearable people and I was glad to get them out of my life.

As Alice and I were saying our good-byes, I looked around the servant's quarters for hopefully the last time. I was sad to see it go but I was glad to get out of the place.

As I was gathering the last of my favorite books, one of the cook's helpers, Mike, came up to me. "I'm going to miss you guys" he said, and then he came up and gave me a hug. It felt good. I didn't know what was going to happen at the castle and I had been worried lately, so I hugged him back.

Alice and I set off on our journey to the castle. We had to walk there. King Carlisle was a little old fashioned and so was his wife, Queen Esme.

Everyone had to walk everywhere unless they used a horse and carriage. The few people who owned cars were the royalty. Mostly, because the princes and princess were more modern and persuaded their parents to have cars.

The duke did not want us to be taken to the castle in either the car or the carriage and insisted on us walking to the castle. Good thing that it wasn't far away.

I looked around at the town, marveling at its beauty. I didn't get to see the town that often.

It was always so interesting to see the contrast and the mix of the old and antique things from the queen and kings and then the new, modern things from the princes and princess. It was also intriguing to see the blend of the two and how there was a side for each and then they blended together near the entrance to the castle.

I saw some neat-looking bookstores on the way there. I made a mental note to come and check them out sometime.

Alice on the other hand couldn't keep her eyes from the clothing stores on the modern side. I had no clue why she did look over there because I was pretty sure she knew that neither of us could afford something like that.

Soon, we arrived at the castle gates and I had to take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. It worked a little. An extremely tall and strong-looking man was expecting us at the gates.

"Hello, my name is Jacob Black. You two must be Alice and Isabella" he greeted us with. He was very cute and now that we were closer he looked around our age. Alice replied with a simple "Yes" whereas I had my glued to my ratty, old shoes and nodded. After a second I looked up and added "Please, just call me Bella" with a small smile up at him.

I saw he was looking down upon me, studying me intensely. It was a little uncomfortable. He finally replied with a huge smile at me and said "Bella it is then"

We stood at the gate for an awkward moment and I could just see how massive Jacob was.

I broke the silence when my curiosity won me over and I asked him old he was. He chuckled in response and said he was only 17.

I was genuinely shocked.

After a little while longer he finally broke the silence again and said "Well, I guess I will I will take you on through the castle now."