Ok, not my best chapter on this story but I tried my best and I'm sorry for the late update but I didn't have much inspiration on this one until the very end of the chapter. So please read and review and I promise that the next one will be better.

Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!

Chapter 10

A royal meal

Bella's Point of View

I never thought that any of this would happen in my life. But it has happened. Or it was beginning...Not too sure. How would this night go? It would be uncomfortable, that was for sure. I was a mere prisoner. Why in the world would Edward invite me to have dinner with his family? They were royals... I would never fit with them...But did I have a choice? Probably not. Who in their right minds would say no to a prince, much less when you were a prisoner? And so I had to go along with it, even though it wasn't right.

Edward and I walked towards a large room but my stomach turned into knots. I should be here... I should be in a dungeon with all the other prisoners... My mind kept telling me as we walked. Edward seemed to be... glowing at the moment. A smile was lit on his face—a dim smile but it was evident that he was happy for some reason—and his expression, meaning his stance, features and everything about him, seemed to be radiating happiness. But why? And for what?

Once arriving in front of two large double doors, Edward stopped and asked the guards to open the door. As the guards opened the door, my heart clenched. I grabbed onto Edward's arm softly with my good hand—grabbing him forcefully would probably resort in my return to the dungeon—and he immediately stopped. His emerald green eyes turned to me and looked worried.

"What's the matter?" He asked, his velvety tone nearly cutting through me. It was beautiful to hear. Never could I get enough of his voice, or Edward in general. Maybe this was the reason that I didn't want to go back to the dungeons... I wanted to stay with him. No matter what.

But right now seemed essential to say this. "I don't belong there. This is your family dinner and I'm just a prisoner. I don't even deserve to be up here. I should be back in the dungeons where I—"

"Bella, I wanted you to come with me. You being incarcerated in the dungeon will help no one, and especially yourself. And that wound of yours was badly damaged. If no one had taken care of it, you would not be here at the moment. And I want you to dine with us tonight. It looks like you haven't eaten in a very long time and it will do you some good to meet the family," Edward replied with a soft smile. It was true that my wound would have killed me and that I should eat something but meeting his family? After two days of being in this castle?

"You're a royal and I'm a street rat."

"Never call yourself that Bella. You are much more than a... street rat, as you say. But Bella, you have a choice in the matter. I would never force you to do anything; much less go to a measly dinner with my family. It's your choice. I would rather you feel like a guest than a prisoner at this point in time," Edward said, his eyes boring into mine. It felt like I was melting under his gaze. Absolutely amazing...

"I... I have a choice...?"

"Of course you do. You always have a choice Bella. In everything. Especially with me."

"Are you allowed to give me this choice?"

"Why would I not be? You're a human being with free will."

"Yes, but I'm a human being with free will who stole all her life. It's different. If I hadn't done that, then maybe I wouldn't feel like this right now. But you are all royals. Imagine what they will think when the prince of Persia comes to dinner and invites a prisoner to eat with him... Imagine what would happen to your reputation, your majesty." Yes, I just called him that. He hated that people like me used titles in front of him. Edward had told me that, if I were to speak to him, it would be by his name and not his title. Wonder what he would say to this now...

Edward's face fell at the mention of the title and looked at me. "I told you that I cannot stand to be called by my title. And you stole to live."

"Everyone does that in town."

"But you wish to stop stealing and live a life free of all of that. It's different. Others steal to want to elaborate their finances and simply get richer from others' misery. You, Bella, are not like that. You're different, which makes you a different person in general, which makes you the perfect candidate to stay in one of our quarters and to have dinner with my family. And I... I want my family to know you, know what I see in you," Edward admitted, never removing his gaze from mine. He was speaking from the heart; it was easy to tell from his voice. And that shocked me. "I want them to know that you're not just another prisoner."

"I—"

"Please." I don't think I've ever seen a prince beg for anything, especially to a street rat like myself. Did he really want me there tonight? What was so special about me anyways?

And could I say no to a prince? Edward said I had a choice but do I really? Doesn't seem like it in this context... And could it hurt to have dinner with royals? Probably hurt my self esteem and make me want to never come out of that large room ever again. There was only one way to find out...

Sighing, I nodded and Edward flashed a small smile that simply dazzled me, making me melt under his gaze. He nodded to the two guards and they opened the doors slowly, revealing a large and magnificent room. Golden plates, a table large enough to touch both end walls, food in the center big enough for a dozen royals, it was amazing. There were pillows on the ground for us to sit when eating and servants awaiting their orders to begin distributing the food... Maybe I should be one of them. It would surely fit me better than this. Those girls must think that I'm some sort of monster for eating when they should be eating instead of me. I could always as Edward if he would rather want me in the kitchen or cleaning the floors... but he'd probably say no.

For some reason, he really wanted me close to him. I didn't mind but it felt wrong for him, his reputation. It would be shot when others would hear that he is keeping a worthless street rat around in the castle... Some charity work. It would be awful for Edward to have to feel that he has to keep me around... But all of these thoughts couldn't be uttered aloud. Edward would blow his top if I did speak my mind. It's best for a peasant to keep their mouth shut when things like this pop up.

Suddenly, as we walked over to the table, a few royals came in, one of them being Alice. Alice had her arm around the blond man I'd seen that day they had captured me, Edward's brother. It appeared to be the man from her tale, Jasper. Edward had the same coloured eyes as Alice's husband. As Alice and her mate entered, there came an outstandingly beautiful woman with long, blond wavy hair that went down to the middle of her back. She was literally the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my entire life. Even standing in the same room as her made my self esteem drop immensely. Her green eyes told me that she was surely Edward's sister. Both the same emerald green eyes. And so he had two siblings...

Once the beautiful woman gilded over to stand near Alice and the curly blond man, she stood by the table and a couple entered. The King, with his blond hair and blue eyes, and what I presumed was his wife, the Queen. She was shorter than the King and had billows of gently waving, caramel-coloured hair. Her face was what attracted me to her the most. It seemed almost heart-shaped, motherly. Her figure is seen as slender, elegant for a queen. And she looked young. Maybe she simply looks young for her age... But Edward's family was beautiful. There was no denying that.

Alice's dark brown eyes shined when she saw me in her beautiful ensemble. She had dressed nicely as well, with a long white dress and her spiky raven-black hair shining in the light. All of them were dressed beautifully. And now, all eyes were on Edward and myself. Oh no…

"Son, I see you've brought a guest," The King pointed out, looking at me with a slight… smile? He was happy to see me? A prisoner such as myself in front of the King… It was unheard of where I live. "You must be Bella. I've heard many things about you," The King mentioned, his eyes boring into mine.

"Thank you, your majesty," I replied with a slight bow, trying to be polite. Edward slowly made me stand properly and placed a hand on my lower back, pulling me closer to his side.

The Queen approached me slowly and looked me over, making me feel inferior to all of them. I shouldn't be here... my mind kept telling me over and over again. After a few deliberate seconds, the Queen smiled at me and said: "It's wonderful to finally meet you Bella."

Bowing once again, my only reply was: "It's an honour to be in your presence, your majesty." But once again, Edward lifted me up and made me look in the Queen's eyes, her blue eyes shining upon me. Why didn't Edward want me to bow? That's what peasants do when they are face to face with royalty. They barely speak and they bow.

"You are quite well-mannered, Bella. It's appreciative," The Queen responded, her smile still standing.

"Bella, let me introduce you to my family. I would like to introduce you to my mother, Esme Cullen, and my father, Carlisle," Edward said, motioning to his mother and then to his father. Both the King and Queen nodded and smiled at me. How could they be so calm and smiling in front of a prisoner such as myself? And what had Edward told them about me? It couldn't have been Jasper or anyone else who had told them about me… or could it? Bowing to the King and Queen, they smiled and stepped aside. The amazingly beautiful blond woman stepped forward and nodded, barely smiling. "This is Rosalie, my eldest sister."

"Pleasure to meet you Bella. Edward has told us… barely nothing about you," Rosalie mentioned, being quite straight forward. I didn't expect Edward to mention much about me but it still kind of hurt. "But welcome to the castle, I suppose."

Bowing to her, I responded slowly: "It's a pleasure to meet you, princess." Rosalie nodded and stepped aside to let Alice and Jasper walk up to us.

Alice smiled at me and, with a small smile of my own, Edward began speaking again. "Of course, you have already been introduced to Alice. And this is my elder brother, Jasper. And this, Bella, is my family."

Jasper never said a word to me. He simply stared me down and nodded ever so slightly after Edward finished speaking. Alright, this was not going the way I had thought… but then again, nothing was turning out the right way these days. Especially with me living in the Persia castle. Out of politeness and fright, I bowed and looked down. Jasper's emerald gaze frightened me to no end and made me feel as though I should not be standing in front of him or any of his family members.

To avoid looking further at Jasper, Edward looked towards a woman with light brown hair, streaks of honey and, what seemed to be, very gentle brown eyes. The woman was carrying food and Edward nodded. "I believe that Angela is telling us it is time for dinner. Shall we?"

Edward's parents and siblings sat down and the servants began serving them. The servants looked at me as they served my drink in a manner that wondered why I was sitting with the royal family. My self-esteem once again was shot when nearly all of the servants glared at me. How they wished they were in my place right now… Only one was standing out from the others. Angela, as Edward had mentioned, was smiling at me, her eyes telling me that it was alright that I was here. She seemed nice, very gentle, just like her brown eyes. Maybe Edward would let me talk to her soon…

Angela placed a few pieces of chicken and rice on my plate and offered me a few fruits and vegetables. Taking a few, the King began speaking again, to me. "Edward has told me a few things about you, Bella."

"Is that right, your majesty?" I asked, not touching my food until the royals began eating.

Edward beckoned me to begin eating before us but it didn't feel right. The King nodded with a smile and everything became quiet. Awkward… Rosalie and Jasper began eyeing me as they ate, not sure of what to do with me just yet. But what threw me off what Jasper's look. It seemed as though he… questioned my stay here. Not a shock. I would have figured that one royal would be on my case about staying in the castle and not in the dungeon.

And Jasper was that royal.

His gaze was quite uncomfortable and so, I looked down at my plate, barely having ate anything. Alice noticed my gaze and spoke up. "What's the matter Bella? Is the food not to your liking?" She asked, her pixie voice ringing in my head happily. Alice was quite nice to me for some reason and I liked her back. She was, along with Edward, one of the few people who seemed to be happy to talk to a street rat such as myself.

Looking up slightly, she was smiling slightly at me. "The food is delicious. I'm just… not hungry…" Unfortunately, my stomach decided to betray me by resonating a large growl. Placing a hand to my stomach, everyone aside from Jasper—even Rosalie seemed to chuckle ever so slightly—laughed at me. Lovely…

"I believe your stomach seems to say differently. Don't be shy Bella. You have nothing to fear. You may eat with us as if you were one of us," The King answered with a smile. One of them…? I could barely even look like one of them, let alone act like a royal during supper. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you hurt your arm?"

"Um… I was running away from some guards and they shot me…" Adding more to that sentence might get me sent back to the dungeons. They wouldn't like it if they knew that I'd stolen a golden necklace and had been chased away by the guards… and Edward had saved me for the first time. "It's nothing… Your, um, shaman helped me."

"Well, we're glad to hear you're alright now. It must have been painful for you to experience such a thing," The Queen replied with yet another smile. It was hard to look away from her motherly face. It was so precious… irresistible…

Jasper couldn't seem to stay for dinner any longer and stood up briskly, walking away from the scene, glaring at me before closing the door behind him. Bowing my head, I knew immediately that he didn't fancy me at all. Alice frowned at Jasper's leaving form and gave me an apologetic look before standing up, saying a small: "If you'll excuse me," and prancing after Jasper, closing the door behind her.

And that's how the night was ruined, by none other than me and my staying in the castle. Sighing, I played with my food as the others continued to eat without another word. Because Edward had invited me to eat with his family, dinner was ruined. I'm so sorry... was my thought as dinner came to an end later on and Edward stood up, looking at me and extending a hand.

My expression seemed confused as Edward placed his other hand behind his back like a true gentleman. With his extended hand, he smiled that wonderful smile and said: "If you have finished eating, would you care to join me on a walk around the gardens?"

Looking at the King and Queen, they smiled and nodded. Turning my attention back to Edward, he never removed his extended hand and kept his smile plastered on that beautiful face of his. Rosalie was the only silent one here. She continued eating silently, looking at her plate and nothing more, whereas Angela was smiling at me and motioning me to go with him. Should I? Should I go with a prince to have a stroll? Shouldn't I go back to the room or better yet the dungeons as Jasper would love to have happen?

That didn't seem the case… for now.

"Um… alright…" I answered, taking his hand softly and he lifted me up softly, careful not to jostle me too much because of my arm. As we both stood, Edward nodded to his family members and we both began walking out. "It was an honour to have had dinner with all of you. Thank you," I answered before we walked out of the dining room and began walking towards the gardens.

What was Edward planning…?

So what did you guys think? I know it wasn't the best but it's better than nothing right? Well, let me know what you thought in some REVIEWS!

Bellacullenswan17

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