Royal Pain ~ Slave to the High Royals

Chapter Three

I took a deep breath, filling my lungs before I exhaled noisily. This earned me a disapproving look from a few other slaves but a few chuckles from others, as the noise broke some of the tension.

I patted down my dress a few more times and made sure my bottom was covered as I climbed the steps, ignoring the constant throbbing pain in my ankle. I felt a fake smile similar to Rose's stretch onto my lips and flicked my fringe from my eyes for the last time before I reached the top of the steps and walked cautiously out onto the stage, stumbling slightly as a sharp pain radiated up my leg.

The room was silent as I faced forward towards a large number of hungry stares, all fixed on me. I breathed in a calming breath before introducing myself slowly and clearly to the room, ''I am Violetta Simmons.'' My introduction was simple; to be honest I didn't really know what else to say to a crowd of bloodthirsty beasts.

My words echoed off of the walls and the silence stretched on.

Nobody raised their hand.

I wasn't even sure anybody breathed.

My eyes scanned the room taking in the hundreds of vampires that had gathered and not even one person raised their damn hand.

That meant no bids and no home.

I felt all hope drain out of me, my energy following close behind. I tried to stop my legs from shaking so badly, and my shoulders from slumping out of defeat. My mother would never want me to show such weakness in front of a whole crowd of vampires.

My eyes landed on the thrones at the back of the room in a way to distract myself. They were now occupied by three High Royals, though I knew there should be a fourth. Taking a few calming breaths, I spent the little time I had to truly appreciate the beauty of the oh-so 'royal family'.

And yes, they definitely were stunning.

A woman with long, silk-like hair sat to the left. Her hair fell in waves that looked almost silver and even I could feel the coldness emitting from her icy blue eyes at this distance. Simply expressionless and sat on her extravagant golden throne in a long white dress that reached to the tips of her toes, her appearance radiated authority and elegance. I felt real envy boil up inside of me, followed by disgust as I remembered she was a vicious animal at heart.

To the right of her sat a man, even sat down anybody would be able to tell his height was petrifying. He had dark hair that contrasted with the woman's, it was almost black but in the light there were specks of lighter brown. His eyes were also dark to compliment his expression that showed he was less than happy to be here. His fingers were rhythmically tapping on the arm of his throne as he waited.

The girl on his other side was more cheerful looking. I would guess she was around my age and the daughter of the man and woman beside her. Her hair was golden, not as light as her mother's due to her father's darker shade. She wore a dress similar to her mothers, though it was much shorter to show off her skinny, pale legs and white high heels. Her pink lips held a smile that was neither cruel but not terribly inviting as she sat playing on what looked to be a mobile phone in her hands. I immediately resented her; my phone had been taken from me weeks before I was brought here.

The last seat was empty. Obviously the Prince hadn't shown up, probably entertaining himself somewhere up in that mansion with a young girl that thinks she's lucky. I bet he's exactly the same as those players in school. Another girl every night, no care for their feelings, only using them for selfish pleasure. This was all speculation of course, but there was no reason for me to believe otherwise.

I wasn't making this judgement blindly. The Prince had a reputation of being heartless and using others for his own selfish gain, though I had never had the 'pleasure' of meeting him and I never ever wanted to.