Chapter 1

"You can't be serious", I scoffed to myself as I stared at the letter that was left for me on the table. The royal red seal with specks of golden foil had been torn open and the contents of the letter laid bare before me.

"Do not make that expression young lady! You should be overjoyed to be receiving such a privilege", my aunt Elizabeth straightened my letter while giving me a stern look. Her greying blonde hair in a tight bun which seemed to pull the skin around her eyes back.

"There's no need for me to participate" I wanted to grovel on the floor in despair. "I'm barely a lady".

My cousin Randall laughed, clearly unaware of the severity of my circumstances, but I didn't expect him to understand.

"Well, at least smile about it when your cousin arrives. She was so thrilled about attending with you" Aunt Elizabeth proudly held an identical letter addressed to Crystal, her daughter.

I wish I could say I felt the same…

To explain what had happened would mean for you to understand a small bit of history. Not something heroic about war, okay maybe a bit about war, but nothing interesting at all.

This all started exactly twenty three years ago three days after spring had begun.

The country that I reside in is directly adjacent to an Empire more than thrice it's size. It was no question that if the Empire were to find fault with our country we would be done for.

But regardless of the risks of war, civilians of Grandor, my country, held rather conservative views in regards to the Harmon Empire. This was because the Harmon Empire was a boiling point of all species, magical or not, evil or not. Grandor being much the opposite found the Empire both unappealing and intimidating.

But knowing they would not last in a war, they asked for an alliance in the most common form. Marriage.

Mother had once told me that people had riots when word got out. That there were crowds of people for weeks on end protesting at the capital. It was a mess.

It was only when a visiting ambassador from the Empire duelled against Grandor's most esteemed general and won, that the truth sunk in. The ambassador wasn't even a Knight.

The Empire eventually came to an agreement and allowed the country of Grandor a minor princess of Harmon. The princess married the crown prince and soon became the queen. She gave birth to an heir and very soon after passed away. Apparently she was sick and although the Empire officially confirmed she was in fact poorly since birth that didn't stop the public from making up rumours of a planned murder.

Although she had a short reign as queen she didn't have an easy time. People were apprehensive to having a queen who in all technicalities was not human. None of the Harmon Empires royals were. They all came from a blood feasting race known as vampires. Of which there had once been a great many old wives tales about, but nowadays we read about them in newspaper corners.

Her inhumanness meant the first heir would only be half human. A fact that scared many. The king, however, apparently deeply in love with his new wife reassured that his son had so little vampire qualities it was disappointing.

Maybe it was because he was a child, but there wasn't as much fuss about him as about the queen. I had once came across an old article about her and winced. It was brutal. But it didn't last. It couldn't. Not if we didn't want a full blown genocide.

The king had made such post punishable by death and thus it had stopped in print but carried in whisper.

I spent a great deal of my youth wondering why the empire didn't just attack us. Why send a princess?

It was only when the crown Prince became an adult that it became apparent that the country of Grandor, was suddenly the official property of the Harmon Empire. Apparently the late king had signed for it before the marriage had even taken place and kept it under wraps for years.

So this year, when the crown Prince had finally run long enough without a bride, under the Empires tradition, an invitation is issued to every available lady of some sort of prestige to the crown princess selection process.

Something Grandor had never hosted before. A battle of young ladies, all thriving to rule their country.

Now I had nothing against the Empire or half-vampires. In fact I would be happy for whichever lady married the crown Prince and became queen, but I came to the capital with much different plans.

My family was a middle man merchant family with most of our income coming from my fathers delivery business. My siblings and I were all nurtured into the same merchant mindset. My eldest brother had opened many stores all catering to men's retail which were successful. And my other brother had started a chain of apothecary stores, also successful.

I, Madeline Crowden, had decided to finally take up the practice and learning from both brothers I had opened a few boutiques with built in make up parlours. It had been such a success I planned to open in the capital so I travelled half a week to stay a month at my aunts to set it up.

I had not expected this.