Chapter One

Amelia wasn't even sure why they were going to Mystic Falls. That thought had been in her mind ever since Katherine had announced they were going to be staying in Mystic Falls, and then she had left Amelia to pack all her dresses, and that was no easy feat. She had met Katherine a year prior and the two of them had clicked pretty well, but sometimes Katherine infuriated her. But she liked her to some degree, and she put up with it for the most part. And if she was busy packing Katherine's things for them to depart, then that meant she would have some time to herself before they set out onto the road. Her suitcase was already packed, and her clothes were nowhere near as fancy as Katherine's, of course they wouldn't be. Amelia was a maid, and Katherine was a lady. She finally got Katherine's suitcase packed and lugged it off the bed, letting out a small groan as her muscles strained. She took one last look around the room, Katherine's room before leaving, shutting the door gently behind her with a click. Katherine and Emily were waiting outside for the carriage to come, as Amelia walked down the stairs, the stairs slightly creaking as she came to the bottom of the stairs, and leaving the house as she stepped into the bright sunlight.

Katherine turned to look at her and a slight smile graced her features as Amelia put down the suitcase, and stood next to Katherine. "Done packing, Amelia?" Katherine asked, and Amelia was reminded of why she actually liked Katherine. Even though Amelia was her maid, she treated Amelia more like a friend, maybe even a sister, and not like a servant.

"Yes, Katherine, all your clothes are packed. So, any idea when the carriage'll get here?" She wasn't entirely sure when the carriage would arrive, which was why she was asking, looking between Katherine and Emily to see if they had any idea of when the carriage would arrive.

"I think it'll be coming soon." Emily said, and Amelia smiled at her. Emily and Amelia were Katherine's maids and closest friends. But Amelia was jolted out of that thought by the sound of the carriage coming down the drive as she picked up the suitcase so she could put it on the back of the carriage. Knowing Katherine, she would probably get more dresses when the three of them arrived in Mystic Falls. The carriage drew to a halt as Amelia, Katherine and Emily approached the carriage. Emily opened the door for Katherine as Amelia put the suitcase on the back of the carriage, before joining Katherine and Emily in the carriage.

A few seconds later, they had set off. Their journey to Mystic Falls had begun, and Amelia suspected it would take a while to get there. But luckily she had enough to occupy her. Whenever her, Katherine and Emily traveled together, Amelia had a habit of getting books for her to read on their long carriage journeys because they traveled so often. She had just been about to take out the book she had bought in the town they had been staying in when she felt Katherine's hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her. It was clear Katherine wanted her attention so Amelia turned her attention to her, wondering what she wanted.

"What is it, Miss Katherine?" She asked, using the expected title she had been instructed to use for Katherine, even with the friendly relationship between them.

Katherine had that smile on her face, that smile that signified trouble, but also that she was excited about something. And that made Amelia curious to see what it was that Katherine was excited about.

"You know we're going to Mystic Falls, don't you?" She asked, and when Amelia nodded to show she knew where they were going, Katherine continued speaking. "Well, the place we're staying, Veritas Estate is the home of Gisueppe Salvatore, and his two sons, Stefan and Damon Salvatore." She giggled in a rather girlish way and Amelia was reminded of just how young Katherine truly was. But that was a story for another time. And something told her that Katherine would be interested in those two brothers once they got to Mystic Falls. She just hoped that didn't cause trouble for the three of them.

"Katherine, I know that you'll probably like these two on first sight but remember, we're guests, we can't behave inappropriately while staying with Gisueppe Salvatore." She was trying to help Katherine by stopping her from doing anything that would get her into trouble. Considering the story was that Katherine was an orphan, which wasn't exactly untrue. That was the cover story that the three of them had agreed on. The carriage jostled and Amelia felt irritated for a second. It felt like they had been on the road for ages, but it must mean that they were getting closer to Mystic Falls. She pulled back the curtain on the carriage and looked out the window, but all she saw was dirt road and trees stretching in every direction.

But a few hours later, they had arrived in Mystic Falls. The carriage came to a stop in front of the Salvatore's Estate, and Amelia was the first to get out, walking to the back of the carriage to get the luggage out of the back of the carriage. She had come back around to come face to face with who she assumed was the younger Salvatore brother, and her heart skipped a beat. He was handsome, he looked kind, charming and everything that she had been looking for in a person. But of course he only had eyes for Katherine, which was to be expected. Katherine was beautiful, charming, alluring, everything a man would want in a woman. And for someone like this young man, Katherine was the ideal woman.

She carried the suitcases as she rejoined Katherine and Emily, Katherine curtseying to the young man, and offering him her hand which he gladly took, kissing the back of it. He was clearly enraptured by her beauty. "You can call me Katherine, these are my handmaids, Emily and Amelia." She gestured to each of them as they both curtised, Amelia directing her gaze to the floor like she had been told to before raising her head. "We're all so glad you can join us, you can call me Stefan." He glanced over at Amelia and she could have sworn that he had smiled at her but she couldn't really tell. Katherine signalled them to follow her towards the guest house where they would be staying, Amelia carrying some of the suitcases, the servants that served the Salvatore Family was carrying the others. She couldn't carry them all on her own either.

The guest house that they were staying in was rather quaint, homely even. Amelia could honestly have called it home as she set down the suitcases at the foot of the bed that she assumed Katherine would be staying in. Katherine had already marched in and was surveying the room with what Amelia assumed was eager eyes, before turning her attention to Amelia. "Unpack for us, Amelia." She said, not giving her a chance to respond before she left the room, Emily trailing behind her. Amelia was once again left to carry out the chores, which was anything Katherine asked her to do. So she opened the first trunk and started taking out Katherine's dresses, opening the wardrobe as she placed the dresses carefully in the massive wardrobe that was in the room. She imagined Katherine was busy speaking with the Salvatores, while she was forgotten in their room. But then there was a knock at the door, and she looked over, surprised. "It's open." She called out. The door opened and Stefan entered the room, looking around before his eyes fell on her, as she was busy still putting Katherine's dresses away. She put the dress away she had been holding, before turning her attention to Stefan, smoothing over her simple dress, her green eyes focused on Stefan.

"Can I help you with something?" She enquired politely. Stefan chuckled nervously. Which made her realize that she must have thought Katherine was in here.

"I thought Miss Katherine would have been in here, my apologies." He was so polite, even to her, and she was just the servant. It made her feel warm inside, and she appreciated him for that. She honestly thought that he was way too good for Katherine. But that wasn't her place to say anything. Katherine would probably kill her if she ruined things for her here.

"She was, but she left. I think she went to see your father, Gisueppe. Or she may be exploring the grounds. She didn't tell me where she was going before she left, Stefan." She said, a slight smile on her face.

Stefan looked a little put out, and Amelia wondered what was wrong. She knew it wasn't her place to ask, but she was concerned, her eyebrows furrowing together. "Is something troubling you, Stefan?" She asked. She was willing to listen but she wasn't sure if Stefan would tell her.

He didn't seem annoyed by her asking that question, but he seemed to be wondering if he should tell her. "I just…" He sighed. She was now fully attentive to Stefan, wondering what else he was going to say. "My father….he wants me to get married to this girl, but I've never liked her." And now she understood. Arranged marriages in this day and age was just something the rich was meant to do.

She felt sympathy for him though, even though this was something Amelia would never have to think about, that didn't mean she couldn't sympathise with him. But she kept her distance because it wouldn't be proper for her to go near him.

"And you don't want to be married to this woman, because you don't feel anything towards her? Or have anything in common with her?" She felt like she was doing something wrong just by asking those questions, but she had already asked, so there was nothing she could do. But Stefan didn't have to answer either.

But much to her surprise, he let out a bitter chuckle. "Nothing gets past you, Amelia, is it?" She was surprised that he had remembered her name, especially when he had been more focused on Katherine.

"Yes, I'm Amelia. And no, most think I'm too observant for my own good." She smiled, bowing her head slightly at Stefan, resting her hand on the metal bedstand.

"But you're right, I have nothing in common with the woman Father wants me to marry, but I can't disagree with him either." He seemed depressed, yet Amelia could tell that Stefan was a little happier because of Katherine's arrival in Mystic Falls. She had finished putting away Katherine's clothes, and Emily's and then cleared away a little space for herself, though she didn't have that many clothes.

"I'll um….I'll tell Katherine that you stopped by." She said, smiling at him as he nodded at her before he left. Once she was finished packing away, she stored the suitcases in the small walk in storage closet in the room, before leaving to look for Katherine and Emily. She had known they wouldn't be in the guest house, so she surmised that they were either at the actual estate or in the grounds somewhere. She was hesitant to go to the actual estate, so she chose to search the grounds instead, looking for Katherine or Emily. Amelia knew it had been a while since Katherine had fed, so she wondered if she was off somewhere feeding before meeting with Stefan and his father, lifting her dress as she walked the extensive path that was laid out around the extensive estate. It was bigger than any estate Amelia had seen.

While she had been walking the grounds, searching for Katherine, she heard light footsteps on the path behind her, and she immediately knew that it was Katherine. Amelia turned around and true to her guess, Katherine was walking towards her. She was lightly dabbing at her mouth with a handkerchief and she knew that Katherine had been off feeding somewhere, but she wouldn't say anything about that. Because it really wasn't her place to say anything about her feeding habits. She just hoped she would stay under the radar while they were here, however long that was.

"Miss Katherine." She immediately bowed her head, remembering her manners. "Mr Salvatore stopped by our quarters while you were out, it seemed to me that he was looking for you." Katherine stopped right in front of her, and Amelia found that she was gazing into Katherine's intense brown eyes, as she had done since the first day she had met Katherine Pierce.

She giggled rather girlishy, as she did when she was amused by something, or interested what she had been told.

She moved closer, laying her hand on Amelia's shoulder. "And what did you tell him, Amelia?" She asked her curiously, dragging her fingers along her shoulder as she did when she wanted to get under Amelia's skin a little.

"I told him that you went for a walk, that I didn't even know where you had gone, which was true. You didn't tell me, Katherine." And she knew why, it was because Katherine knew that Amelia would have known exactly what she would have been doing, but they weren't to discuss it outside, where anyone could overhear.

"Come, Amelia. Let's get settled in."