"Introducing her royal highness, Lamia Princess Octavia Domitius Monarchia, Princess of the fallen Santorinian Empire, Lady of the vampires and the bearer of the Vasa Gloriae Coronam."

The herald's voice echoed across the ballroom, causing the soft chatter to disappear and the crowd of people to part and create a path to the royal family. Marcella and I strode in behind the princess, eyes scanning the room as we walked down the centre of the ballroom. Gradually, my eyesight swept from the faces and bodies of the crowd of high-ranking people around us to the feet of the royal family, not meeting their eyes in a respectful manner. Although, I did glance upwards to see what they looked like.

"Kalo̱sórisma, Octavia," the tall, imposing man standing in the middle spoke first. He was clearly the Alpha King as he wore the Lycaon crown, an intricately carved band of wood with a wolf howling at the moon as its centrepiece.

"Thank you, Lorenz, for your gracious welcome," the princess responded graciously. "And, thank you, Hippolyta, for organising such a wonderful ball. You truly have a talent: the music is delightful and the food looks delicious."

The Luna Queen smiled, the compliment sending a delicate blush to her cheeks. She was a tall, slim woman with long blonde hair tightly curled up into a bun and soft white eyes which radiated warmth and love. Like her husband, she wore a wooden band upon her head, however, instead of a wolf, the centrepiece was an intricately carved moon, showing her position as a Luna as well as a royal.

"We are honoured by your presence here, your highness. I hope that you and my promised shall find common ground on which to forge this alliance, protecting every child of Lycaon and every citizen of Santorini." Her voice was graceful, but submissive as she respectfully held the princess' gaze whilst never appearing threatening.

"Indeed, we all hope for peace and prosperity. And, with this common ground, we should be able to take the necessary steps to ensure this, isn't that right Lorenz." She turned her attention back to the Alpha King who did not flinch under her hardened gaze.

"My Alphas and I bear no grudges for the unfortunate relationship your family and mine have had over this past millennium. We look instead to the future and to a promise of friendship, rather than war."

I could not help but smirk at the underlying message of their conversation. Lycaon once was under the rule of the Lamia Queen and Lamia King as part of their Empire and many wolves were killed during the reign. Although we may have brought them out of their primitive ways, constructing harbours, roads, towns and teaching them how to use their natural resources, Santorini was still hated for their reign. And, the Alpha King was trying to remind her of this; attempting to make her grateful for the diplomacy he was showing her.

Extending her hand outwards, the Princess brushed off the remark without batting an eyelid, remaining diplomatic and unreadable as always. "I believe a dance would be an appropriate way to begin this journey into the future. Would you do me the honour?"

"It would be my honour," he responded, taking her hand and stepping towards the centre of the ballroom.

Marcella looked at me as we watched the Princess disappear into a crowd of Alphas and Lunas, all ready to begin the first dance. "Left side or right side?" she asked, gesturing to two of the wooden columns which were part of the colonnade at the side of the room.

"Left," I answered, noticing the General standing on the right side of the room with several Alpha Warriors, probably discussing their next massacre or ways to encourage the young into the army. That was one group of people I wanted to avoid unless I was allowed to show them how well a woman can fight.

The orchestra struck up a waltz that resounded across the room, immediately sparking life into the dancers who began their graceful twirl across the floor. I leant against the column, watching the Princess and everyone who came near her carefully and glancing over at Marcella from time to time to see pulling a grimace every time someone came to talk to her, probably asking for a favour from the Princess.

Eventually, the waltz crescendoed into an abrupt ending and every pair paused with the women leaning back and the men supporting them. Slowly, they stood up straight and the woman bowed their heads to the men in admiration, all except Princess Octavia who gave him a curt nod before gesturing towards the General. Within moments, General Castor had one hand around her waist and the other in hers, ready to dance with her in the next waltz. 

"Salve," a woman greeted me in Santorinian, taking my attention off of the Princess for a moment to look at her. She was tall, taller than me, with raven hair, golden skin and familiar scarlet eyes. 

"Salve, Duchess Aquila," I responded respectfully.

"It is Alpha Aquila now. Jase and I had our union seven months ago and after much arguing, the Alpha King allowed me officially take the title of Alpha and be his equal."

I smiled, pleased for her. "How does it feel to be the first female Alpha?"

"It is difficult. The mutts do not like the fact that a female has been let into their little circle, nor the fact that I am not pregnant yet. But at least they do not outright challenge me. Although I think that may be because they are all terrified of my Aunt." She stopped to beckon a servant over and took a goblet of blood from a tray they were carrying. "Speaking of, how fares my cousin?"

"The Princess is well," I replied, looking back over to Princess Octavia as she glided across the floor. "Though I think she is a little disheartened since you found your promised. It has been over a millennium of waiting and hers has yet to appear. I think she fears she will never find them."

"Octavia needs to be patient." Aquila took a long sip of the blood, leaving a scarlet stain on her lips. "I was there when the witches cast that spell. I saw the magic which gave us each a soulmate. And I know she will meet hers eventually, whether that be in ten years, a hundred years or a thousand years. She just needs to be patient."

Noticing the Princess bite her lip as she danced past us, I scowled. "She also needs to stop listening to our conversation."

"It would be nice to have vampire hearing," an unfamiliar voice interrupted our conversation and I watched as Aquila curtsied towards a dark-skinned woman wearing a small, oak tiara with a moon as its centrepiece.  

"Luna Princess, may I introduce Agem Artemis Cirillo," Artemis gestured towards me and then back at her. "Artemis, this is Selene Mycenaeans, the promised of General Castor Mycenaeans."

I looked at her again, with more interest this time. Was she like her promised or was she the opposite, helping to balance out his savage nature? From the softness of her amber eyes and the genuine polite smile on her face, I would have to say the latter. And so, I tried to return her politeness and forget who she shared her bed with.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," I offered my hand for her to shake.

"The pleasure is all mine, Artemis," she accepted my handshake, wincing at my strong grip. "I heard you visited Oudéter this morning. How did you find our city?"

I paused to think of how to describe my visit. I did not exactly want to say I looked for escape routes, almost died from a migraine and then snuck in through the back entrance of the castle. It was not the good impression I was meant to be making. 

"Well," I started. "I had a very nice venison broth from an inn at the edge of the city and I enjoyed the marketplace near the palace, although it would have been more enjoyable with some company. Especially when -"

"You were unaccompanied?" she suddenly interrupted. "Did you not have a male escort to protect you." 

I almost growled at her. "Why would I need an escort? I am perfectly capable of protecting myself."

The Luna Princess looked both innocent and guilty as though she knew how offensive her words were without knowing why. "Men are stronger than women. It makes them far greater warriors than we could ever hope to be. So, surely a woman would need a man to protect her from any man wishing to attack or hurt her."

"Princess," Aquila quickly interrupted, before I could offend the Luna Princess. "I am sure you know of the dangers in the city far better than Artemis does. However, she is a highly trained Agem and so is fully capable of dealing with any threats she faces."

"But how?" she still questioned.

I felt Aquila nudge me and she pointed towards the sword I carried. Understanding what she was trying to get me to say, I pulled my sword out of its sheath, ignoring Selene's gasp, and held it out in front of her.

"Men may have more physical strength than women, but that does not mean we are defenceless. This blade is thinner and slightly shorter to make it easier to carry and fight with. It means that instead of brute force, I can fight with speed and skill, easily taking my opponent down."

Slowly, her hand reached out to touch the sword and I kept it very still so she would not get cut. "Be careful," I warned her. "The blade is forged from silver."

Her hand shot back as soon as her fingertips made contact with the sword and a look of amazement flashed across her face. Somehow, it softened my heart and I made her a rare offer.

"Would you like to hold it?"

I could feel Marcella's look of disapproval from across the room as I placed the hilt in her outstretched hand. She struggled slightly under the weight of it as the end fell to the floor so I reached with my hands to correct her grip.

"Both hands," I instructed. "Your dominant hand goes close to the bade. Wrap your thumb around the hilt. Now, lift it up."

As she lifted it up, I could hear loud footsteps stomping towards us and turned to see the General hurrying over. "Selene," he called out as he approached. "Put that down before you hurt yourself or our child."

The Luna Princess's face fell as he pulled the sword from her grip and shoved it back at me, giving me a growl as he did so. "Castor, I was just holding it. No harm was done."

"Sweetheart," his tone of voice turned softer and more caring. "Swords are not meant for you. Now come and dance with me."

He linked his arm around hers and pulled her onto the dance floor as she gave me an apologetic smile. Following their movement across the floor, I caught sight of the Princess again and noticed she had switched partners and now danced with the Grand Alpha of the Deimos pack. Judging by how his hand kept slipping lower than her waist, I guessed she was not enjoying herself.

"You still hate him for your father, don't you," Aquila asked.

"Who wouldn't." Sliding my sword into the sheath, I found my eyes wandering past Aquila's head and to a small side door that was slightly ajar. I was not sure why, but something felt wrong about the way it stood innocently in the corner and I found myself moving towards it. 

"Artemis?" I heard Aquila's voice behind me, but I ignored it. A pit of dread had begun to grow in my stomach and as I reached out to pull the door fully open and walk inside.

I felt the prickle of my hair standing on end as a cold draft swirled around me, coming from the set of stairs at the end of the small passageway. My leather boots hitting the wooden floor was the only sound in this small space and it unnerved me. Usually, passages like these would be used by servants to travel around the castle without being noticed. But, this one was completely silent, as though it had been closed off or abandoned.

"Artemis, what's wrong?" I could hear the rustling of a skirt behind me as Aquila followed me inside.

"I'm not sure. Something feels wrong," I answered honestly, my hand brushing against the wooden panelled walls as I moved further down the passageway.

A sudden sound echoed across space and we both froze, recognising it as the sound of glass being smashed. Within moments, a strong odour filled the air and horror filled my face. There was no mistaking the stench of Belladonna - the only poison that could kill a vampire.

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Hello again. I am sorry for taking so long to update, but here it is. Also, hhere is the family tree of the Werewolf Royal Family. Not all the characters will be introduced in this book, but they are all on there for you.