Disclaimer: These are not Stephanie's vampires.

Chapter Eighteen

Isabella Swan

"Sire."

I should have known it was too easy. My breath comes out in a whoosh and the cadence of my heart slows as I tilt my head just enough to see Jasper averting his gaze.

As he should, really. Edward and I are in an intimate position; his shirt is off and he's holding me to his chest tightly, my back is arched over his arm and his fangs are close enough to penetrate my skin. This isn't a position I want his subjects to see me in and, as if reading my mind, Edward instantly changes our position, pulling me up to stand straight and pushing me slightly behind his body so that, at the very least, by bare legs are covered, even though I was sure Jasper had enough respect to not look.

I wonder, very briefly, if Edward has a problem with my skin being shown to others. And if that's the case, then I need to talk to him because he has absolutely no problems with nudity and I wasn't about to let that hypocrisy go unchecked.

"Jasper," Edward greets, nodding his head slightly while Jasper bows his head deeply in respect.

"I am sorry to interrupt, Sire," Jasper says. "But your brother-"

Edward lets out an annoyed growl. "What is it this time? Did I not give him and Rosalie the allotted honeymoon time when they became mated. I didn't interrupt them, did I?"

Jasper blinks at the rhetorical questions. "Sire, Prince Emmett wishes to speak to you about an urgent matter."

Edward stops growling and his agitation melts off his body. "Urgent?"

"Yes, Sire."

Even from behind, I can tell that Edward has transitioned from my Edward to Prince Edward – he stands taller, his shoulders squared and confident and his feet immobile to the floor. "I see. Relay that I will meet him in fifteen. Send in Alice."

Jasper is gone before I can raise my brows and Edward is moving very quickly – I can barely even see him. I'm not sure if he's doing the vampire version of pacing or what, but when he begins to blur, I shout his name.

Edward stops, looking at me.

"What's going on, Edward?"

His aristocratic face is still tense and professional but his eyes warm slightly as he takes me into his arms. "You work today, yes?"

I nod against his chest, unable to stop myself from melting against him.

"Alice will accompany you while I deal with this issue," Edward says, leaving no room for argument.

I feel my lips press together as I pull away from him. "You're sending a babysitter?"

Edward watches me closely. "You're not a baby."

"I know this."

"Then no, I am not sending a babysitter. I'm sending Alice."

I roll my eyes and poke him in the center of his chest, which is really right in front of my chin. "Nobody watched me before you came around, Edward. I don't need anyone to watch me."

"It's Alice's job."

I throw my hands in the air. "To babysit me?"

Edward shakes his head, his brows furrowing. "Of course not. We've already established that you are not a baby."

"What else do you call it? She's being sent over to watch after me. Why?" I demand, growing more stubborn the longer he didn't understand me – or pretended to not understand me. I just wasn't sure at this point.

Edward pushes his hair off his forehead. "Alice is kind of like your lady's maid," he tells me. "She is to help you with anything you wish to do and watch over you when I cannot. It is traditional protocol."

I deflate.

A lady's maid? That explained why she called me her Lady.

But I was human. And I certainly wasn't royalty. "I don't need a lady's maid, Edward."

And he shakes his head stubbornly. "You will be a princess, you are my princess. You need a lady's maid."

I huff, seeing that I clearly won't be winning this argument.

He's very serious about this and still in Prince mode.

Reluctantly, I nod, resolving to make this arrangement with Alice as informal as possible – maybe I could even get her to call me by my name.

Edward smiles slightly, kissing my temple and murmuring his thanks before pulling back. "I have to go soon," he tells me.

I frown, thinking about what we had been about to do before Jasper interrupted. "But we didn't…"

He strokes the curve of my cheek. "It's probably for the best, princess. I shouldn't take blood from you when you are already bleeding."

My face heats up at the mention of my cycle but, thankfully, I don't react to it – my mood is evening out now and I didn't foresee any irrational mood swings in the future.

"I love your blush," Edward whispers, kissing the edge of my mouth.

At least that makes one of us. I hate the damn thing.

He repeatedly presses his lips against the hot skin of my face, as if he can sink into the warmth. His last kiss feels especially warm, as his lips seemed to absorb some of the heat from my body, which was interesting.

Vampires absorb heat. Another piece of information.

Edward sighs into my ear, pulling back. "I will see you soon," he promises as he moves towards the window. He doesn't allow me to say good-bye and as soon as he manages to get his tall, wiry frame through the window, a thin black and white blur enters my room.

Alice stops in front of me, her long black hair still moving slightly from the speed of her movements. She gracefully executes a curtsy and greets me with a smile and, "My Lady."

My lips twitch into an uncomfortable smile. "Please, call me Bella."

Alice frowns. "I cannot do that, my Lady."

"Why not?"

"It is not proper."

"Can you call me Isabella, then? It's my formal name."

"No, my Lady," Alice tells me, shaking her head softly. "That would be very disrespectful."

I bite back an annoyed sigh, my mind moving a mile a second – and then I get an idea. "Alice, I have to at least insist that you call me Isabella in public. It would be very odd if my boss heard you calling me a Lady."

Alice frowns. "I'm not sure the Prince would agree."

I wave off her concerns. "He'll understand."

And he would, even if I had to use alternative ways to convince him. There was no way I would be going out in public with Alice if she was going to act like I really was a princess.

"If you insist, my Lady," Alice says, bowing her head.

I feel my lips pull into a frown. I hoped she didn't act like I was royal or something in public, but I had no idea how to bring that up without seeming really rude. Alice had already almost been wrongfully punished for kind of insulting me and I knew I had to do my best to prevent a punishment from happening just because I didn't want to get weird looks from Sue.

"How may I assist you, my Lady?"

I reach for my toiletry bag quickly. "I have a shift at the diner in about thirty minutes, so I need to grab a shower."

Alice looks positively horrified. "Only thirty minutes?"

"Uhh, yeah."

"My Lady, that is not enough time!"

I grip my bag to my chest because an odd glint has entered her eyes and she's looking at my closet with barely restrained excitement.

"It's just a diner shift," I tell her.

Alice shakes her head. "Nonsense, my Lady. You shower and I will be prepared to help you dress."

Okay then.

I hurry through my shower, scrubbing my hair and my body because it felt weird knowing that Alice and Jasper could smell Edward on me – not to mention my period. God, it was so embarrassing but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

When I get back to my room, Alice has several different outfits laid out, along with matching underwear I didn't even know I had – which, thinking about it, I probably didn't have until fifteen minutes ago. My desk is covered in neatly organized rows of make up, from foundation and blush to a variety of eye-shadows and mascaras.

Briefly, I think about arguing with Alice and her eager smile. But I really am running late and she's already done all this work and I didn't want her to feel bad.

So, I pick one of the more casual outfits – printed jeans in mossy green and a snug white turtleneck along with my mocha leather slouchy ankle boots. I barely flinch at Alice's cold fingers as she adjusts the hunter green lace bra and panty set and helps me into the jeans and turtleneck. That's when Alice abandons all illusions of being human; she uses vampire speed to gently brush my hair and fix it into a secured messy bun that looks really complicated. I hardly feel her hands as she ghosts blush and a fine layer of bronze shadow over my eyes, along with a generous amount of mascara and a dusty rose red lip stain.

She guides me over to the wall-length mirror hanging off the back of my door and watches as I appraise myself – and while I do look good, I know that I'm almost overdressed for working at the diner.

But maybe looking like this will make Edward want to exchange blood with me, even if he doesn't want to take blood when I'm already bleeding. I'll just eat something really rich in iron at the diner to make up for it.

I smile at Alice and she grins wildly before blurring around my room to clean up the desk and put away clothes.

By the time I have pulled on my winter coat, Alice is opening the door. "I do not know where this diner is, my Lady," she whispers.

I shoot her a look.

"Isabella," she quickly corrects.

Satisfied, I smile a bit. "That's okay. It's not far."

Alice nods and I watch as she tries to make herself seem more informal, which is a bit hard since she's actually wearing a heather gray sweater-dress with a fluttery hem and loose neck, black tights and shiny patent leather Mary Jane heels with a very structured white trench coat. She walks slower and relaxes her shoulders, though she still looks like a very graceful vampire.

Since we are walking at a human pace and I rather hate the silence, I start up conversation. "How long have you been a vampire, Alice?"

Alice tilts her head. "Nearly twenty years. Jasper found me in northern Mississippi when he was sent on a mission to look for you."

This was news to me, of course. I had no idea that Jasper had searched for me, though Edward had casually mentioned something about many of his people searching. I still had no idea how they knew who to look for, but I suppose I hadn't changed much from my previous life.

"Jasper found you?" I ask, watching Alice nod with a serene smile. "He changed you, too?"

"Yes. We were love bonded."

My brows rise. "Really?"

Alice had been in my position before? I suddenly felt a kinship towards her as we crossed the street.

Alice smiles at me. "He was very romantic. My daddy was very strict about boys since he was a pastor but my Jasper was determined to win him over before he changed me. Daddy knew I left the human world happy and I think that's all he really cared about."

"You're dad didn't know about vampires?"

Alice shakes her head solemnly. "Unless you're becoming a love bonded or about to be changed, it's very important that humans don't know about the vampire world."

Lots of secrecy, then. No wonder Edward had issues telling me what was what before – it was his law. I had the notion that the secrecy was for the protection of the vampires, though, not the humans. That explained why Edward was really reluctant to tell me about how to destroy a vampire. If that kind of information got into the wrong hands…

"So Jasper is your mate?" I ask, cutting off my won thoughts. I could think about it later.

Alice sighs dreamily. "He is. That is why I am your lady's maid," she tells me. "Mates are not often separated by class or job and since Jasper has always been the Prince's guard, I have the privilege of serving the new princess."

I wince. Serving me? I didn't like that one bit. "Why don't we call it helping me out?"

Alice blinks at me before stiffly shrugging, the movement unfamiliar to her. "Of course, Isabella."

I smile, relieved and reach for the door of the diner. Alice's hand blurs past mine and opens the door but before I can enter the diner, I hear my name being called.

"Bella!" Victoria yells from down the street, walking slowly towards us. "Bitch, you need to get a cell phone!"

Alice growls and while her growl sounds more like a lion cub as opposed to Edward's genuinely scary tone, I still feel a shiver race down my spine. She is glaring hotly at Victoria and I suddenly wish that Jasper-the-great-Interrupter was here because I didn't think I had a chance of holding Alice back.

A/N: Oh, damn. Probably shouldn't call a future princess a bitch, huh? Poor Victoria. I wonder if she's about to die? Lol

And the first ten reviews (plus guests) are…

BedwardCullen – Daddyward, yes! Thumbs up for the pacing of the story! Woot woot!

yagalinus0420 – Someone's going to try and get Bella, alright! Just maybe not in the way you think! Lol

1sparklygirl – I and a close friend of mine actually went and listened to that song and you're right Now we have a song for the entire story! Lol

Lizakimiko – Sorry! No sexy times!

vampyregirl86 – LOL Yeah, I meant to leave a cliffy. Whatcha gonna do about it?

Sadie1787 – We should clone this Edward lol Yep, I think everyone would have that reaction!

Pumpkinmykitty – lol yep! PMS moodswings are the best ;D

Twilight Rocker 12 – They have bloodstones and age! And they don't sparkle! For reals, a totally different vamp!

Holidai – I'm so happy that you're emotionally connected to these characters! They really deserve it! 3

Jmcfall – You're addicted? Don't have withdrawals!

And super special shout out to the first review of the last chapter, blve6 – And I hope it keeps getting better and better!

As always, be brutally honest. I can take it.

~cupcakeriot