~Bella~

I quickly realized that lessons with the princess would be nothing like lessons with Edward. I realized this when I had the covers ripped from me while it was still dark outside. I had looked around in bewildered confusion until my eyes landed on Alice's pale face looking at me with a palpable excitement. I blinked slowly as I tried to understand what was occurring. Last night, Edward and I had arrived back in my rooms once the sky had started to change in color. He had accompanied me for a bit as I ate another meal before he had to leave to attend a court meeting. By the time he returned I suppose I'd already been asleep. A faint memory of seeing bright golden eyes watching over me in the dark of night flashed before my eyes before I shook it off.

How strange.

My gaze refocused on the petite princess bouncing in front of me.

"Your Highness, is there a reason you've found yourself in my rooms at-" I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. "5:00 am?"

"Of course there is, I tried to come at 4 and Edward growled at me and slammed the door in my face. But he's gone now, so we can start our fun!" She trilled as she took my hand in her small one and yanked me out of bed. She was quite strong for such a little thing. I tried to get my bearings as I grabbed onto the bed's banister in an effort to maintain my balance.

"Oops." She giggled. "I forgot how fragile you humans are. I'll be more careful." I barely resisted from giving her royal highness the stink eye before making my way to the bathroom. "Oh wait, I was going have the attendants give you a sponge bath before your fittings-"

"I'm taking my own baths Your Highness." I stated, no room let for argument as I walked into the bathing room. There was a beat of silence before she yelled out,

"You can call me Alice!"

"And you can call me Bella." I called back as I suppressed a smile before twisting the knobs to start the water. I was sure I'd have to give up a lot of privacy in the next couple of months, but I was not going to give up bathing myself. I quickly scrubbed away at my skin, leaving my hair up in a knot so it wouldn't get wet. When I left the bathroom in a silk white robe that had been hanging on the door, my room was filled with people. I let out a yelp, drawing everyone's attention as I jumped back into the bathroom. Alice immediately came over to peer at me from behind the crack in the door.

"Your High- Alice, what the hell?" I exclaimed.

"They're here to give you your fittings and prepare you for the day!" She said happily as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But Alice, I'm practically naked!" I protested as she tried yanking the door open, knowing she was only allowing me to keep it closed against her brute strength.

"I know! How else do you expect to get your raw measurements?" The princess the proceeded to roll her eyes. Well then. I sighed exasperatedly before letting the door swing open again.

"Fine, but this better be quick." I grumbled.

It was not quick. Alice had a small man in red robes called Alistair measuring every inch of my body with his assistants poking and prodding at me from different angles as they tried to figure out the "colors that favored" my "golden skin and warm undertones." These were Alistair's words, not mine. My stomach started grumbling about an hour after my shower, which was quite embarrassing in a room of vampires with superhuman hearing. Everybody's heads turned to look at me as I blushed and turned to glare at Alice.

"Don't worry Bella, we're almost done! Just a few more things and then we'll move onto makeup and then breakfast!" My glare sharpened. That did not sound like "almost done." That sounded like another hour of this.

"My lady, if you would just please drop your robe from your shoulders so I can get a better measurement of your collar and breast area." Alistair requested. My eyes shot to Alice in alarm. She shrugged, as if to say, what can you do? I sighed as I slipped the robe from my shoulders, holding it tightly to the tops of my breasts. Alistair reached out and wound the tape around me, calling out measurements to his assistants.

Then, he handed the tape measure to one of them as he went to get another fabric sample. The young girl who replaced him was shaking slightly as she placed her cool hands on me, measuring the space between my shoulders and my cleavage. Jesus, this was thorough. I tried to offer her a smile to ease her nerves, her golden eyes flickering up to look at me uncertainty.

"No Cora, you're doing it wrong. Extend it like this." Alistair flashed over and adjusted the tape on my skin, effectively startling me with his fast movements and causing me to lose my grip on my robe.

It was then that several things happened at once.

Just as I yelped in surprise while my robe fell away from me, the door swung open to reveal none other than the Crown Prince. His slightly alarmed expression at hearing my yelp darkened as he took stock of what was going on in the room. Everybody was frozen, and my naked breasts were out in the open. It took me a moment to realize that the young vampire, Cora, had saved me from total embarrassment by grabbing the robe before it could fall from my waist, effectively covering my lower half. She looked even more afraid than before as her eyes flashed between the Prince and the robe in her hands. I quickly grabbed at it, slipping it back over my shoulders and clutching my arms around myself as I heard an animalistic sound come from the doorway.

I turned to see Edward, eyes black and expression almost darkly beautiful in it's furious expression as he looked at me. His eyes surveyed the room before landing on a spot over my left shoulder. I followed his gaze to land on Alice, glancing at her nails as if her brother wasn't looking at her like he was contemplating sororicide. Everybody else was still unmoving as she hopped up from the bed she had been seated on, walking over to her brother.

"Edward-"

"Alice, what in the hell is going on here?" The words were barely recognizable in their growl like quality.

"Oh we were just doing some fittings with Alistair here and there was a little mishap, it's really no big-" Before she could finish her thought, Edward's eyes fixated on Alistair. Alistair, who I realized had unfortunately frozen his movements with his hands still resting on my skin, his gaze fixated on the spot above my breasts. Oh no.

Before I saw him move, Edward was at my side, his hand wrapped around Alistair's shoulder.

"Would you care to remove your hands from my sire?" He snarled, not giving him the chance to reply before ripping him away from me. Then Alistair was on the floor, expression full of terror as he looked up at Edward standing over him and snarling, posed protectively in front of me. He looked about ready to rip the poor man's throat out.

"Edward-" Alice was cut off again.

"Don't even speak sister, I will deal with you later." Edward growled, eyes still on Alistair's jugular. Alice shot me a panicked look, chin jutting out towards Alistair on the floor. Wonderful. She creates a situation prone to disaster and then I have to calm down the vampire turned angry caveman. Just splendid.

"Edward," I said as he began to lean towards Alistair. My voice seems to snap him out of some trance, because his head snaps around with a panicked expression before he comes over to rest his hand on my cheek. Cora quickly backs away to give him a wide berth. I didn't blame her.

"What? Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" He asks with wild eyes. I tentatively lift my hand to rest it on his, turning my face into his touch as I see him visibly calm.

"I'm fine, Edward. It was my fault, I got startled and the robe fell." I explained. His eyes narrowed.

"There's no reason you should have been in here in just a robe regardless." His voice was getting growly again. I sighed internally as I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm okay, nothing happened. There's no need to hurt anyone." I continued. He remained quiet for a moment before yelling out again.

"EVERYBODY OUT! NOW!" His gaze didn't shift from mine but it was clear he was addressing the rest of the room. I kept my unflinching gaze on his as all of the vampires around us flashed away, not needing to be told twice. Alistair was the first out the door. When I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, I realized someone was still with us.

"But we had plans to continue with makeup before her lessons-" Alice protested.

"Change them." Edward snarled. At my wide eyes, his tone calmed slightly. "And Alice?"

"Yes brother?" She snapped from her position at the doorway.

"You will never, ever expose my sire like that ever again. And change her dresser. I don't care who it is, but make sure it's not Alistair. Preferably a woman. I'll return Isabella to you later." With that, Alice was gone in a huff. I narrowed my eyes as Edward gazed at me.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" He asked, head cocking to the side. What the hell? Talk about a change of topic.

"Breakfast? You want to talk about breakfast? You just treated me like your property in front of all of those people!" Edward let out a frustrated sigh as I stepped back from his touch, his expression turning dark again. "And that "preferably a woman" business? What the hell?"

"Isabella, you have to understand-" He said, stepping closer to me as he raised his hands to rest on my shoulders.

"Oh no, I've been quiet, you're listening now." His eyes narrowed but he remained quiet, his grip on my arms tightening. I ignored his cold touch through the thin robe and glared back. "I understand how that looked, and I can understand being upset. But you do not make my decisions for me. You may ask me if I'm okay with changing my dresser, you don't make demands right in front of me and throw people around for making mistakes. You understand me?" I jabbed a finger into his marble chest as I spoke. He huffed and remained quiet. His fingers flexed on my arms as he just looked at me for a moment.

"You're right. The sire bond is just a very animalistic instinct, I feel...protective of you." When he said nothing else, I raised a eyebrow. Did he really think it would be that easy? He huffed impatiently again. "I understand. I'm sorry." I got the feeling that this wasn't a word the crown prince had much experience with by the way it sounded like he was choking as it left his lips. But it was better than nothing.

"Good. No, I haven't had breakfast, and I'm starving. We'll talk about this dresser situation while I eat." I said as I turned to walk towards the doorway. "Well?" I asked, waiting for him. He shook his head and laughed before following.

We ended up seated in the living room over a plate of pastries while we talked. Edward insisted I wasn't going anywhere until Alice got me dressed in more than a robe and I was inclined to agree. It was a while before the princess made a reappearance at my door. Edward was in the middle of laughing at something I'd said about his sister's excitement this morning when I called for her to come in. She gazed warily from Edward's smiling face to my own before continuing into the room.

"Everything's okay now?" She asked warily. I rolled my eyes with a laugh.

"Yes Alice, everything's okay now." This seemed to appease her, because soon enough she was vibrating with excitement again.

"Wonderful! Now, we're off schedule so we'll have to hurry in preparing you. Ladies?" She snapped her fingers and soon the room was entered by many of the same assistants from earlier. However, there were considerably less, and no Alistair this time.

"Isabella has requested that Cora be her new dresser Alice. And be careful with her," Edward told her as he got up to leave. He glanced towards me for a moment before continuing. "Please." With that, he pressed a cold kiss to my hair before flashing out of the room. I stared after him with a small smile on my face before Alice caught my attention again.

"Interesting." Was all she said, looking between me and the spot Edward had vacated curiously before shooing the assistants into my bedroom again.

…

Forty minutes later found me in a small classroom-style room in another section of the palace. I was seriously going to need a map of this place if I ever hoped to find my way here. I was dressed in a green tunic and my face had been touched up with makeup. I had only allowed very little, as I wasn't used to wearing it and I knew Alice would back off after Edward's earlier outburst. A few minutes passed before a lean man with a beard entered. He bowed his head to me.

"Greetings my lady. I am Professor Molina, and I've been tasked with your education on history and literature." His golden eyes surveyed me curiously.

"Hello professor. You may call me Bella." He smiled at this.

"Alright Bella. Let's begin. What do you know about the First Battles?"

"They were the battles that established the Kingdom of Volterra. Before them, there was absolute chaos. The vampires and humans both lived in hatred of each other and my kind was turned rampantly, the human race was dying out. The battles between warring factions of the vampires came at a cost, in damaging much of our natural lands and animal breeds. They also left many of the human factions at a disadvantage in the social class system used to establish order. Both extremes of riches and poverty remain as a long term effect of these battles. " I replied. Professor Molina was staring at me in something akin to open mouthed shock. It was a moment before he closed his mouth and swallowed.

"Alright then, I suppose we'll move onto the next topic…"

I was in the middle of discussing the thematic implications of a novel I had read when I felt a presence at the door. I turned to see Edward leaning against the doorframe and watching me with rapt interest. Against my own volition my entire face flushed with color and I ducked my head. I hated the way I reacted to his presence.

"Your Highness, it is a pleasure to see you here again. It's been far too long since I taught you in this same room." Professor Molina greeted. I looked up curiously at this to see Edward walking over to me, his eyes still on me as he spoke to his teacher.

"It has, Professor. Thank you again for agreeing to teach my sire."

"It is my sincere pleasure my Prince. She is...quite incredible." I smiled at Professor Molina, surprised at his unexpected praise.

"She is." Edward returned. My head turned to meet his gaze with a raised brow, my surprise increasing. "If you don't mind, Isabella is due at her next activity."

"Of course not, we will continue tomorrow. It was lovely meeting you my lady." With a nod in our direction, the professor took his bag and exited the room. I looked back at Edward.

"I thought today was Alice day." I told him, cocking my head to the side curiously.

"It is, but I had a short time to spare between meetings. I thought I'd drop by and see how lessons went, but from what I can tell, you've charmed the professor as well. Walk with me?" He extended a hand, which I quickly took as I wondered what in the world he meant by "as well."

Sorry for the wait! Excited for the next chapter :)