Lavinia read a book silently as a cool breeze entered into her room. For the past two weeks since she'd woken up she had been confined to her bed, with a nurse and her nanny on constant watch. The reason for this being that she wasn't completely out of the woods. Her fangs had come in at the alarming age of three, and these were not at all like human teeth.
Fangs are one of the most important parts of life for vampires, and they came in stages of age. The first fangs are supposed to come at the age of five, these prepare the child's body for the other changes meant to occur. The child becomes more independent, more responsible, less inclined to tantrums, and behaviors that are considered toddler-like. It begins the body's process to prepare for the consumption of blood as an energy source.
Fangs coming in early isn't at all unheard of. The usual standard for when they come in tends to circle the fifth birthday continuously. The reason why Lavinia was in such danger, is that her third birthday had only just passed. Her body is very small, she's had little time even speaking whole sentences clearly and learning enough in the difference between right and wrong for her mind to be prepared for such a drastic change.
Her fangs making an appearance so early on could have killed her. Or, at the least, the fever that they had put her into could have caused lasting damages to her brain and heart. As of right now, her body was recuperating from the intense shock that it was put under, and she would have to rest for around a month before she was cleared. Which meant most of her time was spent sleeping and eating last week, and this week she had finally garnered enough strength to be propped up with a few children's books to skim.
To Lavinia, it was all rather boring. For nearly twenty-four hours every day she was in bed, the only times she was let out of her bed was to use the restroom and given careful baths with water that had various herbs added to strengthen her. Her only real conversation partners were her nanny and the nurse, both of which tended to speak less and more so check her over. They seemed slightly off-put by her fangs coming in, and with the not so hushed speech of the maids in charge of changing her bedding while held in her nanny's arms, people thought it was something of a bad omen.
Despite thinking how idiotic that was in her head, what with having memories of time from when this wasn't such an issue, Lavinia could see why.
One, this had never happened before. Or if it had, no one of too much importance shared it. A few months before the fifth birthday, sure, a few months after, it happens, but two years... That was pushing it to an alarming stretch. If Lavinia was anyone but a pureblood from the royal family, she would be dead. A sad truth that brought about the next issue.
Two, she is a pureblood child. As the only child of two startlingly powerful vampires, who was reaching maturity at an even more startling rate, just how strong would she be? Pureblood vampires are different from noble and common vampires, for various reasons. One such reason being the eyes, and another is power. They are naturally stronger than others, though this calls for an explanation.
Vampires live on a caste system not only made of birth but also innate ability. This ranking is most easily explained through the eyes of vampires, which is different depending on the purity of one's blood.
To vampires, a powerful pureblood is expected, they are considered the top of the food chain regardless of nearly all actions, but a pureblood who exists outside of what is expected, that is unusual and outside of the usual perfections, is something to fear. A pureblood must uphold a standard, even as children, they must hold manners, must be smart, must be calm, graceful, exude a certain charm. Something that Lavinia didn't naturally possess.
Despite being a princess, or maybe because she is a princess, Lavinia before her fangs and visions and various realizations was a small, quiet, shy child who was more clumsy than any sort of graceful. She was a joke between staff, whispering about how shameful she was, more like a peasant child than a pureblood. Some had taken to remarking on the rumor of 'Josephine' the supposed bastard child living in the human kingdom, saying things like Lavinia's incompetence were the explanation for the king's transgression.
It honestly didn't help her case when neither parent addressed the rumors and had very little time to spend with her.
Both had reasons, however, one being that the King and Queen were aware that the rumored child wasn't his. To them, that was all that was necessary, the two were aware that he was loyal to her and loved his family. That was it for them. The other reason was simply put like this. They are rulers of a country. Not just any countess or baron, not even a duke or some unnamed noble living whimsically. The weight of hundreds or thousands resting on both of their shoulders.
Her mother was not a centerpiece, she had work to do as the Queen, from paperwork to fieldworks, she dealt with most of the issues dealing with common people, small disaster relief, and investigation involving all orphanage and creature dealings. Not to mention constant meetings with other noblewomen. Her father was in meetings discussing military and large relief issues more than half the time, along with around the clock paperwork for schedules and investigations of all his most trusted people. He deals with any implications of black markets and illegal trade and as King, he deals with nearly everything requiring both a glance of his eyes and his stamp of approval.
Lavinia before knew her parents were busy, in that sense she had always been very conscientious of her parents. An hour or two spent with her could be an hour or two getting through at least twenty of their issues.
This is a fact. But aspects were changing. Lavinia that was unlike any pureblood in attitude and conduct had disappeared, her parent's frantic nature had burned large holes in the notion that she wasn't cared for. For now, she was an anomaly, an uncomfortable presence, but she could work with that.
For the next few years, she would work with the cards in her hand, get better, and learn all that she can. She would destroy the unfortunate storyline and protect what's important. Her vow stands no matter what happens next.