Ericina paced nervously around her chamber, her elegant red gown sweeping the ground behind her. She was on edge. “Another poisoning!” She cried, her red eyes flashing. “Who could be doing this?Who?”

She was referring to the incident that had happened at the Nobles Banquet. Someone had poisoned her drink. Again.

“This is terrible.” Nesha agreed. She ran her fingers through her auburn waves nervously. The worry in her emerald eyes was reflected in all of our faces. Why would someone want to poison the princess?Stupid question, I thought almost immediately. Who wouldn't kill to take her place?

You see, for a long time, we had no leaders. After Queen Anicire had been murdered by a group of rebel vampires, the Elders had been searching for a new leader. Specifically, a reincarnation of Anicire.

The Prophet vampires had searched far and wide. At last, they thought they had found her. She had the black hair, the perfectly symmetrical face, and most importantly, the red eyes. They named her Ericina.

They then whisked her away to the palace so she could learn how to be a monarch. She basked in the glory and the pampering for sixteen years. But then, just before her seventeenth birthday and coronation, something happened. Her startling red eyes had turned milk-white, just like her mothers. This worried the Elders, who consulted the Prophets. The Prophets confirmed the suspicians of the Elders:This was not Anicire.

Her name was changed to Roreina, and she was sent back to her home. My elder sister, Viola, who was a lady in court at the time, told me of the incident.

Her parents, who were Nobles, were so ashamed, they sent her into exile. But they weren't nearly as ashamed as Roreina herself. For a year after she was she was exiled, her mother, Lady Sobrina, had another child. The Prophets and Elders rejoiced-this was to be the leader. The child was named Ericina, and she was to be queen.

Roreina was enraged. My sister tells me she could never forget the moment, on Ericina's tenth birthday, when Roreina stormed into the palace, her milk colored eyes turned black, from drinking human blood. Her skin glowed silver and she leered at all of them with a crazed look in her eye. “How could you replace me?”She shreiked at everyone present. “You will be sorry for this!” She then plunged a dagger made of pure ivory into her heart, and everyone at court watched as she fell forward, her silver skin darkening with her black blood.

But the most disturbing part is still to come. As she died, a group of bats flew into the palace and drank her blood. The largest bat of all grabbed the dagger, and they all flew away.

This event has been talked about for years, and Ericina still has nightmares about it.

Anyway, Ericina grew up to be a very powerful vampire, and was crowned Princess on her seventeenth birthday. Three years later, about a month ago, the first poisoning occurred. Since then, Ericina and her ladies in waiting-I (Milana), Layla, Nesha, and Shayma-have been on edge. We are all friends, and we are all feared for Ericina, and ourselves. Some think that the BloodSeekers are behind this, and while that's a good theory, I happen to have my own.

I think that it is Derek.