Amaryllis huffed as she walked toward the dining room for dinner. She missed lunch as she was busy cleaning up Ulric's bedroom and she was starving. She didn't feel right this morning either; she felt like something was missing or something was wrong, so she stayed in her room and didn't eat breakfast.

She was thankful to finally be getting some food in her stomach.

While the King's room wasn't messy - he was quite an organized person - she got caught up in the whole cleaning process. She gathered up everything that was scattered around his quarters and put them all back in places they seemed that they should go. She picked up his dirty clothes and washed and folded them all. She also swept, vacuumed, mopped, and dusted. She was pleased with the final result when she was finished.

As Amaryllis was walking toward the dining hall, she saw a couple in the distance walking closer. There were a girl and a boy, the girl was average height and the boy was a few inches taller than her. As they got closer, Amaryllis couldn't keep her eyes off of the boy, he looked very familiar.

She discreetly stared at the couple as they got closer, not wanting them to notice her rudeness. When they finally got a few feet within Amaryllis, she locked eyes with the boy. They both had shocked expressions on their faces as they saw each other.

The moment was gone as soon as it had come, though, because they walked away. The girl was a vampire, as portrayed by her eyes, but not a royal. The boy, however, was human. In fact, he was her old best friend Travis.

She wanted to look back, but before she could, someone called her name.

Amaryllis looked up to see who it was. In front of her stood Cameron with a beaming smile on her face.

How could anyone be happy in a place like this, Amaryllis thought to herself.

Cameron caught up with Amaryllis and matched her pace.

"What has you so happy?" Amaryllis wondered.

"Oh, nothing," the girl giggled. Amaryllis shrugged her shoulders, though still curious about what caught her excitement.

"Okay, I will tell you!" She exclaimed. She grasped onto Amaryllis's arm. "I think I'm getting a promotion!"

Amaryllis looked at her with a confused expression. How would she get a promotion? Like as in a job?

"I know, I know. You think I'm crazy, but I'm not! I've heard some of the vampires talking about some of the girls that have been here for a while moving to a new job to make room for newer people." Cameron said with much enthusiasm.

"Well, why do you want one? Is your job really that bad?" Amaryllis asked.

"No, but I've been a maid forever now, and I really want something new. Maybe I'll get to work at a blood bank. I don't really like the look of blood that much, but maybe I could work at the one in my hometown. I could see my family!"

Amaryllis nodded and followed Cameron into the dining room. "Well I hope it works out for you," she said.

Once a month, humans above the age of 18 had to go to a blood drive where they donated blood. Vampires needed it to survive, of course. Humans were usually trained in drawing blood and worked the blood banks.

Cameron was a really sweet girl and she deserved to see her family again. Amaryllis wanted to know why Cameron was there but didn't know if they were close enough to ask such a personal question again.

"Do we have to give blood here?" Amaryllis asked as she sat down on the other side of the table from Cameron.

She shook her head. "No, we just do the chores and stuff here. The only humans that give blood are the villagers."

Amaryllis nodded and her mind drifted back to Travis. Cameron had distracted her from the thought of seeing him.

A smile broke out on her face as she realized her old friend was still alive. He recognized her too, he wouldn't have stared at her for so long with the expression that he did if he didn't recognize her.

The only problem was that he was holding hands with that woman. They were lovers. Amaryllis frowned as she came to this realization. Amaryllis would probably never get to talk to him or hang out with him if she was around. She assumed her protectiveness of him would be even stronger than a normal relationship because he was human, not vampire.

After dinner, she and Kayla were dismissed from chores for the rest of the day. Amaryllis thought Kayla would go lay by a certain King's side causing her jealousy to spike. She didn't understand her jealousy, but it didn't matter. She didn't want Kayla near the King, at all.

Amaryllis wanted to hang out with Cameron more, but she had to attend kingdomly duties. Amaryllis frowned walking back to her cell. She really didn't want to go down there, but she didn't have any other options. Ulric wouldn't want her walking around the castle and she knew that.

She took a breath and let her hand slide down the stone brick walk as she walked down the hallway to her cell.

When she walked through the opening of her room, Thierry was there sitting on her bed.

He looked up and smiled at her when she walked in. Amaryllis wasn't afraid of him, but she was still anxious.

Why is a vampire sitting on my bed?

"Hey, Amaryllis!" He said in a cheery voice.

"Hi, Thierry. What are you doing here?" She asked curiously and with a somewhat timid tone.

He stood up from the bed. "I wanted to take you around town. You've been locked up in here most of the time. I'd be cool to show you around."

She stared at him with a skeptical face.

"Uh, I don't think that's allowed. Besides, why me?"

"I don't care if it's allowed or not, Amaryllis. Ulric has been treating you like some heinous criminal or some bullshit. You don't deserve it. And you why you? Because I think you're a lovely girl who needs a friend," he replied. His smile was warm and friendly.

Amaryllis smiled back and nodded. Maybe things here wouldn't be so bad after all. She had Cameron as a friend, Travis was alive, and Thierry seems to like her as well.

"Let's go then. Do you have a jacket? It's cold down here and it's getting cold outside." He said.

Amaryllis shook her head.

Thierry frowned and looked down at her bed. He picked up the thin blanket in his hands before crumpling it back up and throwing it in the corner.

"When we get back, you'll have actual blankets. He knows humans can't stand cold temperatures like this." He said, sounding rather annoyed. He seemed to be talking to himself about the last part.

"Let's get you a jacket so we can leave. I'm sure Cameron will have one that fits you," he said.

"You know Cameron?" Amaryllis asked, surprised.

"Of course I do, I know everyone. And I know you two have taken a liking to each other." He said.

"Yea, she's a nice girl," Amaryllis answered.

"Hey," she said. "I don't want you to think I'm using you, but do you think you could help her get a promotion? She thinks she is going to get one anyway, but maybe if you put in a good word it will better her chances. She wants to work a blood bank, specifically one in her hometown."

Cameron was nothing but nice and welcoming to Amaryllis, the least she could do was try to help her get promoted, even if that meant she would have to leave the castle.

Thierry smiled down at the girl. "You're a good friend. I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"Thank you, Thierry" She replied.

Twenty minutes later they were walking around the main part of the village. Little shops and cafes lined the streets. There was even a movie theatre at the end of the main street.

Amaryllis was wearing one of Cameron's jackets thanks to Thierry. It was the middle of fall so thankfully she had one.

"So where are you taking me?" Amaryllis asked.

Thiery shrugged his shoulders. "Wherever you want to go," he replied.

Amaryllis giggled, "I don't know where to go."

"Okay, fine. Let's go to the bookstore. Do you read?"

Amaryllis gasped. "I love reading!"

Thierry cracked a smile. "Good, me too."

They walked toward the bookstore. When they entered, Amaryllis was surprised. Books lined the shelves and walls. There were columns and rows full of books, and there were even two stories of the building lined with books.

"Wow," Amaryllis gasped as she gazed around the store.

"You know who else likes reading?" Thierry asked as they browsed they rows.

"Who?"

"Ulric, he loves reading."

"Really? What does he read?" The girl asked. She didn't even realize her own eagerness to discover more about the mysterious man.

Thierry smirked at her eagerness, that's when she realized what she asked.

"He reads old books like The Iliad and The Odyssey. He likes novels like that and ones about battle strategies and government philosophies."

Amaryllis nodded and smiled a little bit. A lot of men and people, in general, didn't read for enjoyment or even for an increase in knowledge, but that was something her and Ulric had in common.

Amaryllis gravitated toward the science fiction center as that and romance were her favorite genres.

She picked out quite a few books that she was interested in reading, but it wasn't like she had money to buy any of them.

She met up with Thierry after a while and he a few books laying in his arm.

"Hey, you ready?" He asked Amaryllis.

She nodded, ready to go back to the castle because she was getting hungry.

"Didn't you find anything you wanted?" He asked and stopped in his tracks as he realized the girl wasn't holding any books.

"Yeah, but I don't have any money." She said.

Thierry rolled his eyes. "Go get what you want Amaryllis. Don't worry about the money."

She hesitated, not wanting to take advantage of his generosity, but his eyes told her not to argue.

She went and got some of the books she was interested in and met Thierry back at the checkout.

When they checked out, the lady told Thierry he didn't have to pay and that the purchase was "on them", but he laid down a one-hundred dollar bill on the counter before telling her to have a good day.

After they left the bookstore, Thierry looked back at her. "Are you hungry yet? Because I am starving." He said while rubbing his belly.

"Me too," Amaryllis said through her laughs.

"There is this cafe down the road. One of my good friend's ma - wives owns it. They have the best burgers," he said while practically drooling.

"Sounds good to me," Amaryllis said. She too was excited about eating a burger. Meat wasn't exactly "rare", but it was definitely harder to get and more expensive to buy than other foods.

As they walked along to the cafe, they received a lot of stares and unwanted looks, but Amaryllis noticed when people would look at her, they quickly looked away and sped up. She assumed Thierry was doing something to make the vampires leave her alone.

A small smile graced her lips as she came to this conclusion. Like she thought before, maybe life with the vampires wouldn't be so bad.

When they got to the cafe, they sat down in a spacious booth. Waitresses were running around taking orders and delivering food; the place was crawling with vampires.

Amaryllis was surprised that they got a booth so soon as the diner was so packed.

A waitress came to take their orders and Amaryllis thought she was nice but artificially so. She figured the waitress, Riley, was only nice to her because a royal vampire was sitting in the same booth as her.

When their food came out, Amaryllis's mouth started to water. Her burger and fries looked absolutely delicious. She also couldn't remember the last time she actually went out and enjoyed a nice meal like this; it was definitely before the vampires moved to town.

However, she almost gagged a little bit when she saw Thierry's burger. It looked as if he cut a chunk of meat straight off the cow and was eating it. It was barely even cooked!

"Thierry, what on earth are you eating?" She questioned, her burger in front of her face ready to be eaten.

He started laughing and almost choked on his food because of it. "I like my food to be as close to the real, bloody thing as possible," he said.

Amaryllis made a face of disgust and shook her head but didn't say anything, she wasn't one to judge. Instead, she ate her well-done burger and french fries and ignored the almost raw patty of beef that Thierry was eating.