Young Writers Society

Chapter 1

"You look beautiful sweetheart". My mother was all in danger of ruining her make-up with the tears, welling up in her eyes. I guess she had every reason to be all happy and excited, because this is the first time she's been able to get me to wear a dress in over 10 years. I'm 19 by the way. My father walked in to stand by my mother's side, he comforted her and gave her his hanky, to blow her nose on, which she did noisily. "Finally you look appropriate daughter, you are of noble blood yet you wear men's clothes and have knives on your person almost all the time. The dress makes you look beautiful, you will definitely catch the princes eye". He looked at me proudly for the first time since I was born.

"Alice my daughter, why do you insist on wearing men's clothes, when you are so beautiful". She blew her nose again, so hard I imagined her eyes popping out of her head. My father patted her back and looked at me. I rolled my eyes and glared at him until he looked back down at my mother, I didn't answer. "Why can't you be like your sister Rose". Asked my mother, who had finally calmed down. I tried not to laugh. My sister Rose flirted with anything that moved, not that my mother noticed. I rolled my eyes at my mother again. "Because I'm Alice and I'm not Rose's twin". "Don't you be smart young lady, you will treat us with respect". My father pointed his finger at me. At that moment a maid hurried in and said that the carriage was ready to leave. My father gave me a warning glance before he escorted my mother out. I followed them out quietly, without a sound.

The carriage ride to the castle was quiet and I just gazed out the window at the forest, where I'd rather be. I spent most of my time in the forest, I was a silent hunter and I never missed. But most of the time I just sat in the tree-tops listening to the birds and other animal's of the forest. They were my friends. I had a special gift, all vampires had one, but they usually only got it when they changed at the age of 20, which was when they became a fully fledged vampire. But I'd always had mine, I had more than one. I could talk to animals, shape shift into any animal I wanted for as long as I wanted and I could also make things out of nothing, like knives and swords. I could even become a shadow and I had enhanced senses, even at night. But I'd never told my parent's that It wasn't just my clothes that made me different. They would tell everyone and then I'd never have any peace and quiet. All vampires would want to be like me.

We arrive at the castle and there was a big crowd of nobles all dressed in their best attire. All the young lady's were dressed in big, sparkly dresses and expensive jewellery to attract the princes attention. I scoffed at them all as I hopped out of the carriage with a hunters grace, instead of being helped down. My parents looked at me disapprovingly and motioned for me to follow as everyone was allowed into the ballroom. My sister Rose would be jealous, she had a cold and was in bed whining. But even if she wasn't sick she was still too young to attend the ball because she was only 15.

The Ballroom was huge, on a raised platform at the head of the ballroom, there were four thrones. The two thrones in the middle were larger than the others, the king sat on the left and the queen sat on the right. The prince, whose birthday was the main reason for the ball, sat at the king's side and his sister the young princess Fiona sat next to the queen. Once everyone had entered the great ballroom, The doors were closed by two guards. As everyone saw the royals, they began to stop and stare in awe, eventually it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. After a few minutes silence the king stood up to address his subjects. His voice echoed loudly, "It gladdens me to see all of you here tonight and I'm happy to say that by the end of this night, my Newly turned son will have found a bride to spend the rest of his long life with. I know he will choose well, let the dancing begin!". The king gestured to the musicians and the great ballroom was filled with loud music. Servants came as if out of nowhere, serving drinks and small treats to the awed nobles. Alice kept her eyes on the king, nothing else interested her, they held no worth. The king sat down next to the queen again and before settling down into a conversation with her, motioned for his son the prince, to join the festivities and begin his search for a wife. Alice had no intention of being chosen by the prince to be his bride and she wasn't to modest to know she had a chance, so she slipped away to find a dark corner to spend the majority of the night.

Prince Tom's P.O.V

After my father had told me to join the festivities and 'have fun' I walked down off the platform and joined the crowd. I had convinced my father to allow me to wear simple clothes so that I could blend in more. All the young ladies with there perfume and complicated dresses were trying to get my attention, but I finally managed to slip away. I knew that I had to find a wife this evening, but I had to get away for a while. I saw a perfect spot to hide, it was a small corner away from the main part of the crowd and it was in shadow, I made my way towards it. I was almost there, when I caught sight of a young lady in a blue dress sitting there already, with the newly enhanced abilities of a fully fledged vampire I could just see her face. I stop dead in my tracks and stood staring at her, she was so beautiful, the very image of perfection. I made my decision and turned around towards where my father sat, making my way towards him.

Back to Alice's P.O.V

I felt like I was being watched, out of the corner of my eye I could see someone standing and looking right at me, obviously unaware that I knew they were watching me. It was a young man in nobles clothes, so I ignored him and let my mind wander...

A trumpet was sounded and the music stopped playing. Everyone turned to look at the king, who was standing again with the prince at his side. "My loyal subjects, it is time for my sons decision". Declared the king, who looked suspiciously happy. All the young ladies pushed their way to the front and tried to look as appealing as possible, as the prince made his way down off the platform. Alice stood at the back of the crowd and watched all the young ladies make fools of themselves, she found it quite amusing. The prince pushed past all the girls at the front who looked disappointed, some even started crying, but the price ignored them and his eyes searched the crowd. For some reason Alice had a sinking sensation in her stomach that he was looking for someone in a blue dress, as she recognised him as the man from before who had seemed so interested in her. That she had dismissed as a random nobleman and the feeling was confirmed as he spotted her and his eyes sparkled, as if he had found what he was looking for. He strode towards her and their gazes locked, she only just concealed her horror. He reached her and took her limp hand in his, leading her back towards the platform to stand beside the king, who was smiling a smile so wide and so happy she wouldn't have been surprised if it was now stuck that way.

The prince pulled her closer to him and put his arm around her waist. "I have chosen this woman to be my wife and to rule by my side for as long as I shall live". There was clapping and trumpets, but everything had gone blurry for Alice, she saw only one thing clearly and that was her parents smiling proudly at her and her mother blowing her nose on her fathers hanky. The world faded to black and she fainted.