"I've got a surprise for you." Pedro wakes me up bright and early, or I guess it's dark and late. "Wake up, Rosie."

I roll and stretch beneath the blankets, waking with a smile on my face. Fallon and Pedro had kept me up so late that falling asleep and staying asleep was an actual possibility.

"Surprise?" I ask sleepily. Sitting up and I see him standing at the foot of the bed, a vision in a thick deep royal blue tuxedo, a matching bow-tie, and a long fur lined cape tied over his wide shoulders. "Wow." I nod at him. "You look so..."

"Kingly?" He laughs, doing a slow spin in his shiny black shoes. "And you're about to look like a true princess if you can manage to roll your lazy bones out of that bed and follow me to your surprise."

I hop up and go to get some clothes but he shakes his head "Come as you are." He waves me forward.

I loop my arm with his, glad he isn't making me wear shoes like everyone else does, and he escorts me to the elevator with a huge smile on his face. "Where's your crown, Your Majesty?"

He tisks his tongue and makes a sour face. "Dreadful thing." He tells me. "It's so damn heavy, I always have a crick in the neck after a few hours of wearing it." He rubs at his neck absently as if he already feels the annoyance. "I wait until the last possible moment to put on that travesty."

The doors open and we exit onto a busy floor. People, mostly service members, bustle around carrying large flower displays, or trays stacked with glasses. They all stop to bow as Pedro and I walk by, murmuring their praises to their king. I suddenly feel extremely underdressed as we cut through crowds of busy workers in my pajamas.

The corridor gets a little less crowded when we take a right up a another passage, this one's floor is lined with white marble, and the drab stone walls are painted in a glossy white, giving the semblance of an actual castle passage instead of the underground tunnels through an ant hill of vampires. A door a few yards away opens up and Dalton walks out. I sigh in relief when I notice he isn't dressed for the ball yet either. He still has on his usual uniform of black pants, shirt, and dark worn combat boots.

He bows his head to Pedro as he approaches. "Looking good, Highness." He winks and Pedro shakes his head at him.

"I've had your things sent up to your room." Pedro tells him, clapping a hand on Dalton's wide shoulder. "Go get ready. Is...?"

Dalton nods. "Everything is ready." He assures him and I furrow my brows. He cuts his eyes to me slightly, and I pretend not to notice, examining one of the golden torch light fixtures to my right instead. "See you both in a few hours." He says as he walks past us and I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"Arguing again?" Pedro whispers in my ear and I give him a look. "A shame, two people so dead set in their stubbornness."

"What are you talking about?" I play dumb, and he doesn't fall for it.

He purses his lips and shakes his head once. "Right, this way then."

"Where are we going?" I sigh, seeing Dalton threw off my mood. Now I am right back to being stuck in a confused state with him and with Lance too I guess. I haven't even had time to think much about him either, and I feel crappy about it.

"We're here." He smiles, standing in front of the room Dalton had come out of and I slowly turn the nob and push open the door, looking down as it slides over the thick carpeting.

"Is this?"

"It is."

I take a step into my mom's first room here. The giant four poster bed with the blue duvets and plush feather pillows, the vanity over flowing with makeup and hair products, the back of the room with three different racks overflowing with dresses and shoes lining the front of them. I run my hand absently over the beautiful blue silk that hangs down from the ceiling and covers the stone walls as I walk in.

"I thought getting ready in Rachel's room would be fitting for your first ball." Pedro whispers, breaking me back to the present instead of the memory of reading mom's experience here.

I turn and hug him around the neck and he laughs as he holds me close. "Thank you." I whisper.

He kisses the top of my head and then turns, keeping an arm over my shoulder.

"Girls," he calls and the bathroom door swings open, Fallon and four handmaidens coming into the room. "let's get our girls ready for the ball."

Standing in front of the full length mirror I can't believe the girl in the reflection is me. The girl's body is draped in black silk, the fabric moving with her body like liquid. The dress is tight, hugging every curve, the deep v neck dips down below her breast bone, the intricate tiny silver chain that hangs down from the black lace choker around her neck glitters in the light. The slit up the bottom of the dress shows one of her long tan legs, ending in a stilettoed black and silver diamond covered shoe.

"You," Fallon tries to say, standing behind me, but she can't find the words.

"A sight." Pedro nods and I smack him in the shoulder with my good hand when I see him wipe a tear from his eye. "Same old girl underneath." He laughs at me.

I turn back to look at myself again.

I've never worn anything so glamorous, or had my hair and makeup done up so well. Not because I dislike any of it, I just haven't ever had a reason to be so dolled up. I'm going to have to hunt down the maiden who did my hair and find out how she got my hair to lay in such thick glossy waves around my shoulders.

I purse my dark crimson lips and turn to Pedro and Fallon.

"Is it time?" I ask, nerves eating at me from the inside out.

Pedro nods, walking over to the bed to grab his large black velvet lined crown and I help him set it atop his head. He wasn't kidding either, the thing is heavy.

"Lance will be meeting us there." He says, looping an arm through mine, while Fallon in her red ballgown takes his other arm. "Oliver as well."

I snap my head over to Fallon. "Oliver?" I gasp.

She nods and hides her smile. "The hot blonde from West Wing."

"The instructor?" I laugh and she shrugs.

"He's hot."

The walk over to the ballroom is shorter than I imagined it would be, but you could practically hear the music from the elevators. A tall blonde guy with a dimpled chin smiles when he sees Fallon and the two of them enter through the giant two story doors that are held open by elegantly dressed guards. Pedro pulls us to the side for a moment and the doors are closed.

"What are we doing?" I ask, fidgeting with the little chain the hangs between my cleavage.

"About to make our grand entrance." He winks down at me then practically has to drag me over with him to stand in front of the doors. I hear the music stop and the rumble of voices shush as the announcer speaks, his deep voice echoing through the passages.

"His Royal Highness, King Pedro Merchancious the First, and his niece Miss Rose Merchancious."

The doors pull open and we walk out onto the landing at the top of the grand staircase. I'm glad everyone is in a deep bow so that I have just a second to take in the space without a billion eyes on me.

The red velvet covered stairs wind down into a cavernous ballroom, lined with candlelit chandeliers and sprawling red and gold drapes hang over the golden painted walls that glitters like the sparkling golden marble floor covered in people dressed to the nines in their gowns and tuxes. In the back, on a stage stands a lone throne, golden arches of light around it.

Everyone stands to face us and the first set out eyes I find are Dalton's, standing out in the middle of the crowd. I smile at him as he stares, his eyes unblinking and his jaw slack, until I see who is with him.

Eyan stands at his side, her hand on his arm, squeezing hard from the looks of it. She hisses something at him and looks up at me too, then she storms away from him. Finally his eyes flutter in quick blinks before he rushes off to find her.

Lance ascends the stairs and I have to gasp.

He looks like a shiny prince, his blonde locks pulled back away from his handsome face. He's freshly shaved and his tailored white tux fits him like a glove. "My god, you are beautiful." He shakes his head, holding out a hand for me.

I trip a little in my shoes as I take the first step but he steadies me. "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing."

Pedro releases me to him and a man walks up to meet him. "Rose, wait, meet Sir Darius." Pedro tells me and I turn to shake his hand. "He is the head of my council and has been anxious to meet you. He knew your cousin, Octavia, well."

I smile graciously, or at least I try to. "So nice to meet you."

"You as well, Miss." He dips his head to me and then shakes his head at Pedro. "I must say, Your Highness, your nieces just get more and more beautiful. What are they feeding them back home to grow them like this?" He laughs and Pedro nods I can go.

Is that guy insane? More beautiful than Octavia? Clearly he needs his eyes checked.

"So," Lance leans in to whisper in my ear as we walk out into the crowd. "What are your thoughts?"

I look up over my head at the flickering light of the chandelier as the music begins to play again. "I think I've never seen anything like this." I admit, my cheeks burning from how hard I'm smiling.

"Well, should we dance?" He laughs, yelling over the noise.

"We should!"

The night goes on, feeling like it might never end and I almost wish it wouldn't. We dance until my feet burn, laugh until my throat hurts, and I stuff my mouth with every sweet thing I can get my hands on until my head spins in a sugar high. Never in my life have I had a better time than tonight, and I actually start to think that I could see this being my life. Living here, being a part of this atmosphere. I know mom longed to leave this place, but aside from my family, I haven't thought about home a single time. It was striking to realize I don't miss the human world a bit.

I'm glad for the distraction of a waiter walking over a fresh tray of donuts to the desserts table to keep my mind from wandering to a topic I'm not ready to tackle yet. Do I want to live here?

"Be right back!" I tell Lance and he slides his arms out from around me.

"Grab me one too, please." He laughs as he follows my gaze to the food. "I'll grab us more drinks."

"Oh, the pink one please!"

"You got it." He disappears into the crowd on the hunt for a drink tray while I weasel over to the dessert table, getting two napkins to grab our treats until I feel someone staring at me.

I look up and find Eyan's snake eyes watching me.

"Can I help you?" I snap at her and she crosses her arms over his chest. I hate how pretty she looks in her scarlet gown. Fitting she'd be wearing the color of blood seeing as how she's a blood whore.

She takes a step towards me, inches from my face and she looks down her pointed nose at me. "I know you tried to break Dalton and me up, but it won't work." She says in an icy sneer. "He won't leave me, he needs me."

"Oh, like the other ones need you?" I snap. "Slut."

Her eyes widen only a little. "Feisty aren't we?"

Her tone pisses me off and I raise a fist, ready to swing it at her perfect pouty mouth. "I'll show you." I spit, but Dalton appears between us, putting my fist down.

"What are you doing?" He hisses, not at me, but at her, and I smile over his shoulder as Lance comes over to pull me away from her a few feet too.

I watch the two of them argue, glad he seems to be ripping her a new one, until suddenly the whole room seems to quiet. No sounds but the hushed whispers and gasps. Dalton looks up, walking over to the closest group of whisperers to him, leaning in to listen as Eyan storms off.

"What's going on?" I whisper as the music stops.

Lance shakes his head and Dalton comes over to us, looking like a god in his fitted black tux, but the look on his face makes my stomach drop.

"What?" I ask again.

He rubs his jaw and shakes his head. "There's a blood moon."

A blood moon? "But the blood moon isn't due for-."

"Exactly."