Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I only own what I can come up with.

I don't often sit around and think about my past. Actually, the only times I do think about it is when the memories come back to me suddenly without my control. Most of the time I simply tried to forget anything before I arrived in this castle. Not that I had a bad childhood or anything. It's just that it got painful to think of sometimes. Athenadora, the woman I considered a mother, seemed to understand that. She had been waiting for me silently when I had got back to my room.

I studied her as she flitted around my room. Jane had stayed long enough to help me draw a bath, but then my mom came in and sent her away. They had spoken for a few minutes, but that was out of my human earshot. Now, here she was, grabbing different beauty supplies from around my room. Her light hair was pulled up in a ponytail for once, with only a few long tendrils escaping it. As she made her way over to me, I noticed she was sucking her bottom lip in concentration. That subtle habit of hers made me remember my birth mother, Renee. Whenever she concentrated, she used to suck on her bottom lip. Not that I had seen that look very often.

"There you go, my dear. You're as lovely as your name implies, Bella." Her voice was soft and loving with a hint of pride. It was the voice of any proud mother, which made me feel warm inside.

"Thank you, mommy." Her red eyes shone with a mix of happiness and worry. I very rarely called Athenadora anything other than her name or 'mom'. Only when I was scared, did I call her mommy. Everyone who lived with us knew that too. She pulled me into a hug and I held her tightly. Renee was never like this.

"There, there, baby. Why don't we get you into your dress and do your hair before we call the girls back in. Sound good?" All I could do was nod as she got up and pulled my dress from my closet. It was a gorgeous dress. Red, of course. The top of the dress was tight fitting, with a strap over the shoulder that had a little ruffled flower on it. On the bodice part of it there was a silver vine design. The skirt didn't flare out much, but it did just a little to look cute. It was ruched up in places, the fabric held together with silver jewels. I stepped into it and then let her lace up the back of it.

We stood next to each other, looking into my mirror. It was an odd sight. One of the vampire queens, looking more like a modern day mom in jeans with her hair pulled up, standing next to her adopted human daughter who looked like a princess from a fairy tale. A knock on the door broke my train of thoughts. Mom called the girls in for me, since I didn't feel like talking just yet. They all filed in elegantly, already wearing their dresses. Sulpicia was carrying mom's dress. They all fussed over my hair and added a few last minute adjustments. Soon enough it was time for their daily gossip.

I had zoned out as they talked, only to be jarred back to reality by a sudden knock on my door. The clock read six-fifty four, which made me frown. I told Jasper seven, no exceptions. Before I could answer though, my door was opened and the kings walked in. They all had grim expressions on their faces, which made me worry.

"Father, uncles," I said, curtsying to them. "To what do I owe the pleasure of you coming to my room?"

"Isabella, it seems that some of the vampires in attendance have not heeded our warning to feed before coming. They are dangerous. I'm afraid that tonight we will have to cancel the ball and send Heidi out instead." I stared at them, not fully understanding the situation. They wanted to cancel the ball? Tonight was the only night that I'd be able to share my story with them.

"I've been freaking out all day thinking about what I would say tonight and then you want to cancel it? I'm sorry father, but that won't do." There was a sharp knock on my door, making everyone look towards it. I looked up at the clock and noted how it was seven on the dot. A small smile graced my face. At least he was capable of following directions. "If you would all excuse me, that is my date for the night."

There were grumbles and sighs as I opened my bedroom door, grabbed Jasper's hand, and started walking away. He didn't say anything at first, not until we had gone a little way from my room.

"You look quite lovely, Princess."

I looked at him from the corner of my eyes. He was wearing a tuxedo, much like last night, but it was a different style. More southern, I guess. And old looking. His honey blonde hair fell perfectly, and made him look much more like the gentleman I thought he couldn't be. "You clean up nice, Whitlock."

He didn't reply as we walked for a few minutes down the hallway. We reached the doors to the ballroom soon enough. Surprisingly enough, I was the first one there. Sure, I saw some of the other guard members (on high alert I may add), but they were the ones that didn't hang out with me as much just yet. While I trusted them all, it made me a bit nervous to not have my regular group with me. Jasper's hand tightened around mine as if he could tell I was nervous. I subtly entwined our arms, clinging to him. He didn't say anything about it, thankfully.

We stayed that way until my group showed up. All of them were on high alert as well. None of them approached me, but they all sent me sideways glances every few seconds. It was very annoying. All the glances seemed to say they didn't trust me. Or Jasper. Which was beyond ridiculous. I'm pretty sure I was the only one stupid enough to annoy the God of War. And since we had a bet in place, he wasn't about to kill me, that's for sure.

"Relax, darling," my date said quietly. "They're just worried about you. Ignore them and focus on something else." I suddenly felt calm at the thought. Odd.

"Why don't we go talk to your family? They all seemed nice enough. Plus I didn't get much time to chat with them yesterday." Jasper shrugged, indifferent at the thought. Since our arms were still hooked together, he led me over to where his family was standing around chatting to the second golden eyed coven that I had yet to meet. There was five of them together. Four were women, of which three were blonde and one had dark hair. The fifth was a man. The conversation they were having came to a halt as we approached.

"Jazzy!" Little Alice's nickname made me chuckle. Jasper sent me the universal 'shut the hell up' look, but I just laughed harder. It was funny after all. The fact that this tiny energetic girl could call the 'Great and Powerful God of War' by 'Jazzy' was laughable. She came to a stop about a foot away from us. "And Isabella!"

I grinned at her. She was a bit quirky, but that was fun. Jasper had a relaxed smile on his face. Obviously there was something about her that melted the coldness around him. It was a nice change, that's for sure. Edward came over to her, dropping a kiss on her head as he greeted me. The rest of the group slowly made their way over. Emmett gave one of his infectious grins. Rosalie just looked bored and upset.

"Hey y'all. Isabella here wanted to meet you all and come talk. Don't ask me why though. Wanted to talk with you bunch makes me think she's a bit crazy." I giggled along with some of the others. My hand made light contact with his chest.

"Be nice, Whitlock." I turned to the others. "I haven't had the pleasure in meeting you. I'm Isabella." The hand that wasn't curled around Jasper's arm was extended and they all shook it. The three blond women I learned were Tanya, Kate, and Irina. The dark haired women was Carmen and her mate was Eleazar. My eyes widened as I recognized Eleazar's name.

Irina was the only blonde sister that was mated. Her mate was off talking to an old friend though. About half way through our conversation she straightened up and looked over my shoulder with a big smile. We all turned slightly to see a dark haired man making his way through the crowd. I disentangled my arm from Jasper's as I noticed his eyes were black.

Growing up with vampires helped you learn a few things. One of which was that if the eyes were black, the vampire had little to no control over their thirst. I eyed him carefully, already set on edge.

"Laurent! Come here and meet Princess Isabella!" Her voice was happy, but it was cut off by a low growl from Laurent. He let a growl rip from his throat as he lunged at me, fangs bared.

A/N: So, yeah... I'm a horrible updater and we all know it. Thanks to everyone who actually sticks to this story and reads it. What do you think of this chapter? I've got some time so I'll start the next one right now. Thanks again to everyone who reads and follows and favorites and reviews. 3