Angela was putting finishing touches to my hair as I sat in the vanity chair in my chambers, today was the day the fate of Swan Empire would be decided by the second largest; and apparently the kindest, ruling vampire family in the world. They would either take the Empire under their control or we will be left vulnerable to invasion from Chief James and his coven; weak but cruel rulers.
About 500 years had passed since the renaissance of the human world, since vampires crawled out of the dark of the night and forced all mortals into submission.
Clans fought each other using vampire and human armies to win land, with land came power and blood. There are still some countries standing with human rulers but only because they haven't caught the eye of a clan yet, are too small to worth the bother or they don't have any valuable resources for the vampires to feed off of.
There is still some resistance like the small number of werewolves' group. But they are too insignificant, weak and small in number to even hope of overthrowing the vampires. They just hope to live by.
This is partly the reason my father- King Charlie Swan- had to turn to the Cullens for assistance in a last hope to save the Kingdom from James. We have a great relation with the Quileute Tribe; in fact I am betrothed to their heir- Jacob Black, a childhood friend. Even with the wolves aid we still wouldn't be able to resist the invasion, at least not without heavy loss of life; something my father is dead set against.
Apparently he and King Carlisle Cullen are good acquaintances. And because the Cullens don't kill and occasionally feed of animals, not to mention that the countries under their rule have flourished and are happy my father called on them for help.
So here we are about to willingly hand over our freedom to one set of monsters to save ourselves from slavery at the hands of other apparently worse monsters. I have never met a vampire but I carry nothing but hatred for them in my heart. I have heard countless tales of their evil and coldness, they may look beautiful but they are the darkest kind of evil on this planet.
With one final check Angela deems me ready and escorts me to the room where I am expected. Angela isn't only my lady-in-waiting but also a close friend. She gives my hand one last squeeze and a gentle smile before opening the heavy doors and ushering me inside.
I hate to admit but the first thing I notice is their inhumanly beauty and the paleness of their skin. There were 7 of them seated with my parents and some men and women from the council. They seem to be seated in couples; there is a blonde beauty sat close to a burly giant man with intimidating muscles and dark curly hair, then there is a pixie like little girl seated next to a tall lean blonde vampire and finally there is another lighter blonde man with his arm around a slight woman with caramel coloured hair and a face that seems oddly motherly; as if vampires could be parental! The last one is a male with a mess of odd bronze hair and a medium yet strong and prominent build; he is sat alone in a single sofa.
All 7 pairs of golden eyes including the bleu of my mother-Queen Renee- and brown of my dad turn my way as soon as my presence is known. The prince-I assume-with the bronze hair immediately looks away and seems more tense then before I came, but not before I shank away from his cold glare that oozed hatred and anger. I don't even know his name and he already hates me, but what else was to be expected from a bloodsucker.
My dad broke the silence,"There she is! Meet my daughter Princess Isabella. Bella these are the Cullens. This King Carlisle and Queen Esme, with Princess Rosalie and Prince Emmet," he said, gesturing to the representative couple. "Along with Princess Alice, Prince Jasper and Prince Edward." He finished.
Everyone smiled but Prince Edward still stared at the floor as if looking at me would curse him. How I wish I could banish all vampires to their rightful place in hell!
I take my seat next to my mum and on went the meeting. They were mostly discussing trivial things so I guess the decision was made. No like I knew what it was.
Suddenly, Prince Edward spoke out, "Since this region comes within my regime I have a condition that must be met in order for us to assist you." Alice had a look of wretchedness and terror on her tiny angelic face, as if she knew what her "brother" was going to propose.
"Princess Isabella must agree to marry me, or else no Cullen would take the Swan Empire under their protection." The prince continued in an emotionless tone as though giving the weather report.
"Edward! What in the world do you mean? You can't just blackmail Isabella to marry you in return of our help! She has a life and the right to choose who she marries, no son of mine would make a human their slave. That is not what our family stands for!" spoke the Queen in a terse voice that left no room for argument. I got the feeling that the Queen rarely raised her voice.
My parents were still in shock so it was King Carlisle who continued," Edward, the Sawns are close friends and we will help them without making any demands in return. Esme is right, this is not how we decided to work when we realised that we would have to rule to survive." His tone was more levelled but dripped with authority, which was lost on the Prince.
Despite his "parents" clearly forbidding his demand the prince argued straight back, "Okay then, but the kingdom would be under our control anyways right? So I can choose anyone I want to marry or keep as a blood-slave. This is how the world works now Carlisle and I think it's time that we embraced this new world where we have power and move on with the times. Don't you think so?" he said in a voice dripping with venom.
"But you should know that if the Princess doesn't marry me, I will personally hand over the kingdom to James."
At this point Jacob -who I hadn't noticed -stalked up to the arrogant Prince, shaking and quivering about to shift. Anyone else would have been terrified out of their minds but not Edward, all he did was stand with his arms crossed as if Jacob wasn't strong enough to rip him apart.
"How DARE you filthy bloodsucking leech even THINK about laying a hand on MY Bella!" thundered my fiancé.
Edward didn't look frazzled at all but his brothers reacted and took menacing stances on either side of him. Jacob was clearly outnumbered. I know I should do something before Jake got hurt but all I could do was stare; neither my parent nor I could move.
Edward roared back in a voice that seemed to emit from the deepest pits of hell, "You have no right to talk to me like that! YOU LOWLY MONGREL! It is you who is unfit to protect her and thus I am better suited to marry her!"
I don't know what happened next as I couldn't take it anymore and ran from the room all the way back to mine.
I couldn't believe what had just transpired. I was never a coward, always facing things head on but this time all I could do was sob into the mattress. I knew vampires were cruel but never thought that someone could be evil to this extent. In that moment I truly cursed them from the deepest part of my heart.
How could the fate of millions of innocent lives rest on my shoulders? And why did the Prince want me? I wasn't pretty or anything, so why me?
On one hand were my freewill and a right to choose my life. But wasn't I already being forced to marry Jacob, someone who I had no romantic feelings for? Not to mention that once the Cullens took over the country I wouldn't be the rightful Princess and heir anymore. My freedom was already compromised.
On the other hand were the lives of millions of people. I wasn't sure that the Cullens were fully trustworthy but the King and Queen seemed kind enough.
It was just one life as opposed to millions that would be sacrificed if I were to agree to the Prince's proposal.
But just the thought of being a blood slave to a vampire was revolting and terrifying; let alone a wife. What would he want from me? He could just imprison me so why ask-no demand- to marry me?
Prince Edward Cullen was a mystery but as sun rose in the sky I had my answer. There never really was a choice.
I was going to marry a vampire.