A.N.: Five years have passed since the girls graduated from St. Vladimir's Academy. Lissa passed a law that stated she could be the queen without any family.


Rose opened her eyes and quickly shut them again when a bright light hit her face. She felt a hand touching the fingers on her left hand and instinctively moved her hand away. She heard a squeal of excitement and voices telling her to open her eyes. Trying to ignore whoever was talking to her, Rose brought up an image of Dimitri. He was sexy in her opinion and had always been able to distract her. At least until now. Whoever was talking was persistent, and annoying, and hadn't stopped. Deciding that she wasn't going to be able to ignore them any longer, Rose opened her eyes again, with her head turned to the side so she could avoid the light this time, and was immediately met with her best friend's smiling face. Lissa was grinning at Rose, which in turn made Rose smile. Lissa always knew how to make her happy without using any magic.

"Liss, who is talking?" asked Rose quietly.

"The doctor. Are you alright?" asked Lissa. Concern was written all over her face.

"Of course I am. What doctor? Where am I?"

"At the hospital. You got hurt four days ago. Everyone thought you weren't going to wake up."

"What?"

Lissa was about to explain it again when she saw the confusion on Rose's face, but stopped when she heard Dimitri behind her. Looking down again, Lissa saw a smile on Rose's face and moved out of the way.

"Is she awake yet Lissa?" asked Dimitri. He clearly hadn't been in the room for very long.

"Yes I am."

Dimitri looked over to the bed with a huge smile on his face. It was no secret that Dimitri and Rose were dating. Everyone knew it. And since they were both Lissa's guardians, it had been a big deal when they had told people. But, seeing as Lissa was the queen, everyone had had to shut-up about it. It didn't bother Lissa, and she had stated that it shouldn't be an issue for anyone else either. Everyone was entitled to their own lives.

"Thank god Roza," said Dimitri, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I still don't understand why I'm in a hospital."

"Even when she's hurt, she's stubborn. You were kidnapped by a few rogue Moroi hell bent on killing Lissa."

"Why me then? Shouldn't they have taken Liss?"

"You were too busy protecting her. They couldn't get past you. Don't you remember?"

"I think I might. Was I in a basement?"

"Yeah. When Eddie found you, you were leaning against a wall. He said that you were mumbling something. I think it was 'stay away from Lissa.'"

"Actually, I said to stay away from Lissa or I'd throw them out a window when I got the chance." A smile had appeared on Rose's face at that memory.

"Anyway, what else do you remember?" asked Lissa.

"I don't know. Liss, where are your guardians?"

"At the court. I told them that if Dimitri was with me, I'd be fine."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't worry about me Rose. You need to recover and then you can worry as much as you want. Do you want me to heal you?"

"No Liss. I'll heal by myself. But thank you anyway."