"
Princess? Your father is requesting your presence in his study."
Katarzena sighed deeply and rolled her clear blue eyes, snapping her book shut. She couldn't even seem to have an hour to herself without her father sending servants after her. She jumped from the thick branch she was reclined on to the compact path below, startling the human girl.
Zena inhaled deeply, leaning forward slightly so as to intimidate the young servant whose heart had begun to race. "
Type B? Exquisite." she purred lowly, running her fingers through the hair at the girl's temple. She took another step forward, making her companion shake. "
Everyone's blood has a slightly different flavor but each type has a distinct after taste. B's always have a bit of a spicy tang to them-,"
"
Katarzena!" Father barked at her, his rough voice drawing the Princess' attention from her victim before her. "
Put the girl down and come inside to change. You have a suitor in the library." His thick Transylvanian accent grated on Zena's nerves but she did as he demanded and released her hold on the servant's clothes. "
Besides, your grandmother's potion garden is not a place for a princess." he sniffed, turning on his heels and walking back into their manor castle.
"
It's an herb garden," she grumbled.
Princess Katarzena sighed again and followed him inside to change out of her jeans and black t-shirt and into an expensive black and burgundy high-low lace dress and heels. The vampire princess thought about using the servant's stairs to get to the library faster but then she remembered that she didn't want to meet this suitor. They were all the same. They brought her expensive gifts that her father never let her use, like the lambo the last rich snob had bought her, or the race horse the one before that had given her. Both were sent off to one of the other estates her father owned and she wasn't allowed to even mention them again.
As she approached the library door she heard her father talking to someone whose voice she didn't recognize.
"
She should be here any moment. She just wanted to freshen up first."
"
I trust that you were speaking without guile when you mentioned her beauty and talents."
"
I may be selling my daughter's hand in marriage to the highest bidder but you will still respect your king."
"
I apologize if I overstepped, Your-,"
"
Father you wanted to speak with me?" Katarzena asked a little stiffly, throwing the door open and folding her arms across her chest.
"
Yes, Jacob, the son of a dear friend of mine was in town and I suggested he come by to meet you since the both of you are roughly the same age." Her father practically cooed.
"
Uh, huh..." she rolled her eyes and went through the formalities for when a princess meets someone new and before long, Jacob was mentioning a present he had for her.
"
Oh, I'd love to see what it is." Zena said without feeling.
"
I'm sure you will enjoy this gift. I went through quite the red tape to get him here." Jacob said absently, waving in someone from the hallway.
"
Him?"
"
Yes, him. A Slave." Jacob said with a devious grin as the vampire king looked on with a scowl.
"
Slave?"