I restrained a grunt as Verona tightened the corset; I had to grip the back of a chair that Marishka was sitting on to avoid leaning back. Verona tightened the laces and tied them. She stepped away and sighed. I ran my hands over my stomach, and then nodded my approval. Thus began the rest of my dressing. Verona and Marishka tied panniers around my waist to give my skirt lift at the sides. They tugged two petticoats over my head and positioned them. They pinned a stomacher onto the front of my corset and then pinned the gown onto that. I was then shoved down into a seat as they begun to pin my hair up and styled my makeup.

"You are not to speak at this," Aleera hissed pinching my cheeks roughly, bringing a natural blush to my cheeks. I kept my gaze lowered. It was only ever in private that I would, if my father was there, the women would be gentle and loving as if I was their birth daughter. "It's a wonder you are even invited, the family disgrace. You're lucky that the Prince of Darkness didn't let you die all those years ago."

"You are lucky that I haven't spoken to him about all the deeds you do with other men," I replied quietly back. The sharp sting of a slap burned my cheek, and I raised my hand quickly in attempt to cool it before the red mark showed.

Marishka came to my aid, pressing a cool damp cloth to my cheek. Verona grabbed Aleera's arm and pulled her away.

"Aleera! Sister!" Verona hissed, "Are you insane? You'll get tortured for that!"

"I won't tell," I muttered rubbing my cheek, "I never do."

"That's a good princess," Marishka patted my shoulder softly, "Aleera is just…bitter. You know that."

Verona handed me a fan to match my dress before helping me up. I stared at the mirror, the dress was beautiful. A dark red with intricate designs of black over the stomacher and the gown had woven flowers etched into the fabric. I turned my gaze towards my father's brides and curtseyed.

"Thank you all for helping me get ready," I said graciously before heading towards the door. The brides were not invited to the meeting, only council members and direct descendents from my Grandfather were invited. My grandfather had called for a meeting of the Council last month and for the last week the council members were drinking and getting fat on blood. Softening them up for something, I wondered. My friends had no clue, and they didn't care. As long as none turned to them for some blood.

I headed down the hallway, knowing that the meeting was not well for another half an hour, but needed to stop somewhere first. I fanned myself as I walked; even if it was pitch black outside, it was still midsummer. That meant the night was not too cool, and the dress was heavy and thick. A symbol about my status and heritage, rather than being at all sensible.

I stood, admiring a painting as I waited for the coast to be clear. A couple of vampires bowed as they sauntered past, I tilted my head and waited for them to turn the corner before pulling part of the frame to the side and rotated it. There was a click and the painting popped forwards slightly; I gave another cursory glance around before pulling it towards me, revealing a set of steps. I hurried behind the painting and pulled it back into place. There was a click as the painting locked.

The castle was littered with secret passages, and I had lived here for nearly all of my life. I knew every passage way.

I hurried down the steps, relying on my night vision to see the steps. This passage was continuously used by me and my friends, so normally there was just a little dust brushing the steps. This time, however, there was no dust, they were cleaned very well. I assumed it was because my friends knew that I would be in trouble if I had dust on my skirt. My father would know I had been exploring the passages without his permission again.

I reached the bottom and knocked three times on the wall before it slid to the side. My heart would've leapt with giddiness if it had been beating. There was never a time when I came to visit my friends that I didn't get a sense of pure naughtiness for slipping underneath my father's gaze to do something I wasn't supposed to.

I stepped through the door and saw familiar faces. Clawrk, Harriet and Rachel. Clawrk smiled and sat up in his bed. Rachel bounced on her bed grinning at me. "Miss!" she whispered, staying where she was. Knowing not to touch me before going into council. While it was normal for vampires to smell of humans, it was their blood. My father would've known immediately that I had gone to see Rachel, being the only human in the castle that wasn't allowed to be fed on. Also the only human I ever saw.

"You shouldn't be here," Harriet scolded, stepping away from the stone that activated the secret entrance, "You need to go to council, it's starting soon. The others have not stopped whispering about it."

"I know, but I may not see you guys for a while after this. My father said something big is about to be decided, and if it is accepted, he said that the brides and I will be sent to ground for a long time," I whispered back, "I think it's something bad, but I cannot have a say yet, I am not high enough in the hierarchy to decide anything," I whispered to them. The others might hear me, and I couldn't risk a rumor spreading around about the council. There were already enough murmurings about why the Council members had been here so long.

"That is not fair!" Rachel cried, jumping off her bed, "Miss, by the time you come back out, I may be old or dead!"

"I'm sorry, Rachel, it isn't for me to decide. I cannot go against this. If I do, I do not know what will happen to me. You people will be safe as long as you are under my father's roof. You'll live out relatively happy lives here," I promised her, reaching out and brushing her jaw with just the tips of my fingers. I could feel the thrum of her heartbeat beneath my skin, and it warmed me. This little girl was alive and safe.

"I wish I could hug you," Rachel whimpered sinking to the floor. Harriet bent down and stroked her hair. "Stupid rules."

"I only don't allow you to hug me before council because you are the only human here, my father would know that I snuck down here to see you before council. You know he'd get mad at me, and then I wouldn't be able to see you anymore," I replied softly, "I would give you a hug otherwise."

"I don't like the sound of this council," Clawrk interrupted our moment, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He rested his forearms on his knees and looked up at the ceiling. Trying to decipher what the meeting was about, as if the ceiling had the answers. "After all, Prince Dracula wants to shove you under the ground where no one will find you; don't ya think that they are planning something big?"

"I know they are," I replied looking back at him, "I wish they weren't. It's going to be bad, I know that."

Harriet ushered Rachel to her bed, tucking her in before guiding me closer to Clawrk. When she spoke next, her voice was too low for Rachel to hear more than a quiet rumble of Harriet's voice. "What if they are planning another war? My mother spoke often about the last war, and how her mother had witnessed her siblings dying around her. It lasted a century until the Monster Council was formed, and the werewolves were forced into slavery to control them," she replied, her voice dripping with resentment.

"Harriet," Clawrk snapped quickly, Harriet apologized quickly to me. I didn't take it personally, and nodded my head slightly.

"I was a child then," I murmured, "I had just been turned."

My mother had passed away due to an illness, and my father turned me to save me. Within a few decades the war I had no idea was happening hit our peaceful life. All I remember was the fear for my father as he tucked me into a casket beside my grandmother. He promised me that it would be alright and everything would be over quickly, and then I woke up a century later to my father who was completely different. He was angrier, and everything was not all right. The werewolves were enslaved, and Vampires had everyone under their thumb as the head of the Monster Council.

If there was one thing vampires were good at doing, it was manipulating people.

"Which is why it's not your fault that we're slaves, you are different than the other vampires. They look down at us and treat us like filth, while you are kind and try to treat us as kindly as possible," Clawrk said, reaching over as if to pat my shoulder but his hand dropped. I still didn't know if he refused to make physical contact because he didn't think it was right to touch a Princess, or if he was afraid my father might find out, or if he just realized he was about to touch a vampire and stopped. Either way, just the moment of him moving to comfort me was enough, and I gave him a small smile. "If you have time before you go into the ground, come tell us what is happening. I think the werewolves should know what's going on; if we need to we can jump ship before it blows."

"I promise, Clawrk," I said with a smile, "I will make as many stalls as possible before my father becomes suspicious. If I cannot make it back, I will leave a detailed note hidden in my room. Harriet, since you clean my room, you will be able to find it. I know it."

"Alright," Harriet said before bowing, "You have to get going, Your Royal Highness," she quirked a smile before glancing over at Clawrk as he bowed his head towards me.

"One day I won't have to bow to you," Clawrk said, as he stood up to push the brick to open the secret entrance. His voice was soften when he added, "We'll be equals."

"One day, we can be friends without fear of hurting each other," I whispered and turned, disappearing back up the stairs.

Thankfully, no one was outside the painting, and I was able to hurry down the halls towards the Council room. It was just starting; the Council members were filing inside as I slid up beside my father and greeted people with a slight inclination of my head. My father gave me a sly look as he shook the hands of Lord Devein, and acknowledging his son, Bram.

Lord Devein shot me a toothy grin, "Better late than never, Your Royal Highness. Isn't that right, Vlad?"

My father gave a tight lipped expression that passed as a smile, "Of course, Liam."

The two filtered into the room and we waited as the last of the Council filed in before we followed in after.

"Where have you been?" my father hissed quietly, tucking my hand into the crease of his elbow. The Council room was wide and in the heart of the castle. It had a huge slab of round rock that formed the table in which chairs lined the side. Everyone had someone standing beside it. Each chair had a different family crest hanging off the back, indicating the Council family and their importance in the council.

The closer the chairs were to the three thrones that towered above the table, the more importance they had. My uncles – Vlad, Micera, and Radu – sat at the closest seats, with Vlad and Micera sitting to the right, and Radu to the right. My Aunt Justine sat beside Radu. The rest of the seats contained vampires from all over Europe, the empire that my Grandfather ruled.

"I got distracted, there are some wilted flowers on the third floor," I replied quietly, he said something in a dead language.

"That isn't my job, inform one of the dogs," he muttered as he released me in front of the left throne, and he walked to the right. My grandfather walked up the stairs and stood in front of the center throne. One decorated with gold, rubies, and rich red velvet. He held up his hands and spoke something in an ancient language before sitting.

"Nunquam vincitur, semperque verebar!" the council cried out. Never conquered, always feared. The vampire motto. The council sat down, falling into silence as they waited for the council to start. I fanned myself, hiding my mouth from view. I noticed the lack of servants in the room and swallowed thickly as the heavy wooden doors shut us off from the rest of the castle.

This is set in 1736, and is a prequel to my story New Blood. You can read New Blood without reading this story, and you can read this story without reading New Blood. It's just something that I wrote a while back to help flush out the back story for Draculaura in that story.

Just some little tidbits of the story and the world I've created (as this is an AU):

Werewolves age naturally until they are twenty years old, after that their aging slows down and nearly grinds to a halt in which they age only every couple years.

Draculaura is 1320 years old.

Werewolves are still slaves under the vampire rein.

And finally, the only other Monsters who are alive at this time are Frankie's parents, Clawd/Clawdeen's parents, and Deuce's mom. Cleo and her family are still stuck in their tombs (they won't be released for another hundred years or so).