Changed

Knightly Manners

People gasped at the sight before their eyes, some even went so far as to scream. Shocked, people dropped their glasses, causing them to shatter against the hard stone floor. After nearly five minutes of chaos and shock, someone shouted, "She bares the royal crest!" Riley pulled me back up and examined the mark on the back of my neck. His eyes were staring at me intently out of disbelief and something else.

I looked to Luca for help, but he was already staring back at me. All of the color was drained from his face and his eyes were wide with emptiness. The air around us seemed to go from thin to thick in a matter of seconds. I looked all around for an escape, but all I found was more embarrassment as everyone stared at me. I didn't know what to do. As I looked at everyone's faces, I saw some people were happy, whereas others appeared to be furious. A special few were crying or fainting.

Finally, my eyes landed on rescue. Professor Marda was pushing his way through the crowds with a force that slightly scared me. Behind him, nearly fifty guards ran to see what all of the commotion was about. "Vanessa," Professor Marda sighed as he stepped in front of me. "Turn around." Scared, I turned around and pulled my hair to the side. After a sharp intake of breath, he cursed under his breath-- which surprised me more than I thought it would at the moment. "I should have checked for the mark. After all, you are too similar to your mother. But... I thought she was dead." Professor Marda spoke quietly and I suddenly couldn't stand up.

I turned around to face him but he moved his position and came into a deep bow. "What are you doing?" I whispered quietly to him and he didn't move.

"Princess Vanessa, it is an honor to be in your prescence," Professor Marda stated and everyone in the crowd bowed, as well.

Not being able to cope with all of the... attention, I fainted and fell onto the ground.

______________________________________________________________

"Luca, why are you in my room?" I sat up in my bed and looked to see that Luca, Professor Marda, Brutus, and Clari were all crowding around my bed. "Why are you all in my room?" I remarked as I put a hand to my head and winced. That hurt. Luca handed me an ice pack and I sighed with relief as I placed it on the probably cherry red bump that sat atop my head. ,"Oh, yeah. Now I remember."

"You've been out for about an hour. As soon as you passed out, King Xavier had everyone leave the party and we all came here so that you could rest properly." Professor Marda nodded to the door.

"Your father and your cousin are waiting outside. We told them that you would probably feel better waking up to familiar faces rather than faces you just met." Clari sat on my shoulder and I winced.

"Right. So... can't you just tell them that I need some more rest before I meet them?" I looked around for help but Luca laughed.

"You're afraid to meet him for the second time? Wow, you're scared to meet a person you've already met." Luca had taken off his jacket and cute black tie, leaving him in only a slightly unbuttoned dress shirt and black pants. I glared at him and he stopped smiling.

"Luca, she has probably been waiting her whole life to meet them. She probably would rather meet them on better terms." Brutus lay his head down on my legs and yawned.

"Actually, I was hoping I would never meet them..." Everyone looked at me with a surprised and confused expression. "It's just, if I really like them and if they really like me... I might be tempted to stay with them. I can't just leave my mom and dad like that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Listen, you guys wouldn't understand. It's an orphan thing." I shook my head and Professor Marda chuckled.

"Vanessa, you won't need to worrry about that. During the school year, you can stay with King Xavier and live with him or whatever you want to do with him. Then, when summertime comes around, you can go back to your human parents and stay with them. And, when you are old enough to live on your own, you can choose to either stay there and live a normal life or live here and take on big responsibilities. But, that is all up to you. Right now, you need to meet them and get to know them." On that note, they all stood up and left the room. Seconds later, King Xavier and Riley came into my room with nervous smiles and stood at the foot of my bed.