Rejected Princess

Bellator Academy

Walking into the hallways of Bellator Academy with my best friend Amelia by my side really made the nerves shooting off into my stomach quell a bit, but not much.  I was honestly terrified that I would find my mate and he would reject me like my mother's did to her. 

I know she meant well when she was telling me that story, and teaching me to always guard my heart, but I wore my heart on my sleeve.  I wasn't as tough as she was, and that was okay too, although I knew it had to change if I were to be queen one day. 

Queens were tough, resilient, emotionless almost, the weak ones never survive, and that fact had been drilled into me my entire life by not only my mother but also my father, and I knew that I needed to be tough to run an empire, but couldn't one also show compassion and mercy as well?

I supposed it was different for them, they couldn't show those emotions because they portrayed them as weak, and if they looked weak then they would be susceptible and vulnerable to attacks just like the one twenty something years ago, when my dad's crazy sister tried to overthrow him. 

When I heard that story I almost freaked out.  There was a history of mental illness in my family?  What if I contracted it? What if my powers were a freaky side effect and I was just as sick as my aunt was? 

I brought my concerns up to my mother but she simply shook her head and told me that it was nonsense, that she would love me even if I had an illness but that they had a doctor look me over and saw no signs of any illness, and that was the end of that conversation. 

She never really liked to talk about it, always kept that part of their past to herself and I always wondered why.  The main thing that I took away from that conversation, however, was a necklace.

My mom gave it to me, its beauty was something I had never seen before with my own eyes, it couldn't compare to the crown jewels that I saw on a daily basis.  The necklace was exquisite sapphire, shaped into an ancient looking mold.  I could wear it with anything and it would still go with the outfit. 

My mom told me that it was very important and to never take it off.  It had special properties that didn't allow the metal it was situated inside of to tarnish so I could even bathe with it on, and no one could take it off of me.  She said it would protect me and keep me safe. 

She said she wished she had one for each of her children but I was the one most at risk because I was the first born, so when she passed away and my dad took his life to be with her, I would assume the throne.  I needed to be safeguarded always, which was why my cousin Kace always followed me around the castle anywhere I needed to go. 

My aunt Elise married my mom's bodyguard and I guess they took the job so seriously that they passed it down to their son.  He could be more of a pain than a bodyguard sometimes, although I did enjoy the company.  It was always just Kace, Amelia and me, plus our younger siblings.  

I never got to really have any other friends in the pack, seeing as though most of them lived in the neighboring villages, only the higher up generals, soldiers, and advisors lived in the castle with us, as well as immediate family. 

One of the children whom I didn't necessarily get along with too well was the son of Alexei, our war trainer, and Nikolai, my dad's advisor.  His name was Vincent, always brooding around the castle never really paying anyone any attention.  He had hair dark as night and eyes almost the same shade of blue as mine, though I wasn't really sure how that happened. 

He was handsome, too handsome, and I'm sure he let it get to his head.  He was always too closed off and cold towards me that I never developed any feelings toward him, thank Goddess.  If I'd fallen under Vincent's spell, I was positive I wouldn't come out of it alive.