As a guardian, I have found myself in countless perilous situations. Any time I have ever faced strigoi, there has been a possibility that I would die. This was always something that I could accept, because it was my job to protect moroi. If that meant getting rid of strigoi at the risk of my own life, I would do it, because they come first. All the times I thought I was going to die aren't even as terrifying as this.

I thought I was going to die once, back in Russia. Dimitri had been so fast and strong, so intent on changing me… or killing me… that my death was imminent. That was not really Dimitri in Russia, for he was a strigoi, and that was what made the situation, and my fear, all the more real. Even when I'd been captured by strigoi with Eddie, Mason, Christian, and Mia, our deaths were obviously close. Mason may have been the only of us to die, but we had all come precariously close to death. And yet I had never felt as doomed as I did now.

The molnija marks on my neck are meant to be a badge of honor. They scream to the world that Rose Hathaway has taken down countless Strigoi, even fresh out of St. Vladimirs as I am. And yet, those very same tattoos mark me as a loose cannon, as dangerous and wild. Those molnija marks are a cruel reminder of how I played a part in changing the age decree, how I lowered the guardian graduation standard to 16. And the age decree is what got me in trouble in the first place. Had I managed to keep my temper under control, rather than scream blasphemous insults at the queen in royal court, I would not be in this situation at all.

Or perhaps I would. I want to blame myself a little bit for my circumstances, because I cannot come to terms with the fact that somebody has set me up so masterfully, that somebody is controlling me. I hate the idea that I am somebody's scapegoat, and so it is almost easier for me to accept that maybe I did do something to warrant this speculation. Not that I think I should be implicated in the murder of Queen Tatiana. That much I know for sure.

The queen was manipulative and cold, but her final letter to me has left me thinking. She knew that somebody was coming after her; She knew that her life was just about over. And yet rather than have her guard tightened, she wrote me a final letter. Of all people, Tatiana wrote to me. She claimed that the age decree was a better alternative then what some may have suggested, like putting all dhampirs into service. Perhaps that was good enough to warrant some respect for her.

My thoughts turned to Ambrose. He and the late queen had been close, with some speculation that they were romantically linked, a thought which always made me shiver. Ambrose was one of the few dhampir who chose to forego his guardian duties, and, instead, chose to work at court. Female dhampirs who refused their duties of guardianship were more often than not leaving to enjoy a life of vampire endorphins, a life of pleasure that earned them the term blood whore. It was something I would have cringed at even six months ago, because by our standards it was the lowest of the low, except for willingly turning strigoi. But when Dimitri in his strigoi form had captured me, I had been more than content to live in a world in which I was drugged up on his endorphins, content to wear the jewelry and dresses he brought me, blissfully ignorant of the bruises on my neck. It was all part of his plan to keep me weak of course, and it would have worked, if it weren't for Adrian visiting me in my dream and noticing the bruises.

That was another pressing issue. Dimitri. When he had been locked up in the court's holding cells (the very same one I was in, as fate would allow) while everyone tried to figure out whether he was still a strigoi or whether he had indeed returned to his dhampir form, he had told his guards that I should not be allowed in to see him. I had thought to say the same thing of him, but I neglected to. Not that it mattered anyways, because two days have passed in which I have been locked up in this room. As far as I know, Dimitri has not even tried to visit me. His absence would have given me much to think about, except Lissa and Adrian never left me alone.

Between slipping into my best friend's head through our shadow kissed bond and meeting up with Adrian in my dreams, I was never really alone. Besides, the five guards outside my cell made sure of that.

The first day I hadn't been allowed visitors, but this morning Mikhail had come to tell me that they would allow me guests if I elected to have some. But who did I want to see?

The obvious choice was Lissa. She needed to be informed about what the queen had told me, about Lissa having a half brother or sister. Lissa needed to know that another Dragomir lived, which would mean she could have her place in the court, thanks to the new balance in the quorum. But I still did not understand what I should tell her. I could tell her about what the man had said in Las Vegas, about how Eric Dragomir liked the ladies, how he visited often. But no, I decided, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And I could tell her about the records that had been stolen from the alchemists, but I still didn't know what those files contained. Though I knew she was dying to see me, I was not ready for Lissa.

I wanted to tell Adrian, but the queens words haunted me. I was supposed to share this secret with as few people as possible. I hated to keep secrets from Adrian, especially after we had promised to be honest with one another, but I could not share this information with him yet. And so, I thought of who else I could tell.

I longed to tell Dimitri, but I was still so full of spite. While I was under the impression that he was no longer in the limelight thanks to my charges of murder, he still wouldn't be able to do much. I would have gone to him any time before now. I would have run to him and told him everything. But now… Love fades. Mine has. Though he had hurt me because he no longer loved me, I felt a divine instinct to protect him, much like the one that had caused him to protect me when the queen's guard had shown up at the cafe to arrest me. I could not ask him to get in trouble for me. No, I would not ask to see Dimitri.

The words came out of my mouth before I even processed them, and I was surprised to hear with my own ears who I had asked to see. I looked at Mikhail, and I think he too could sense my surprise. "I want to see Christian Ozera."

Getting Christian away from Lissa was going to be no easy task. I slipped into Lissa's head when Mikhail left with my orders to find Christian. I was surprised to find that they were not together. Instead, Lissa was with Adrian. And, I realized with a lurch of the stomach, Dimitri. Oh God.

"How could anybody have gotten her stake?" Adrian wondered out loud. They were sitting in Lissa's room. Well, Lissa and Adrian were sitting. Dimitri stood against the wall in typical guardian stance, as if he were guarding these two moroi on a lunch date. Even safe within the wards of the court, and in Lissa's room, he looked like he was slightly on edge. A swift, sidelong glance at Adrian confirmed my thoughts. He was unnerved by Adrian's presence.

"Easily." Dimitri said calmly. "At court we are protected by wards. We never have any fear of them being crossed. With wards and guardians, it would seem we do not need that extra measure of security. It would be very easy to break into a room." Adrian looked at him mildly, but did not seem to resent his presence.

"But why?" Lissa asked. I noticed her for the first time since being in her head, and it was like she had been crying. She was drained and exhausted, feeling similar to the way she had after she had staked Dimitri and freed him from his Strigoi state.

"So that it would direct all suspicion to Rose." This time it was Adrian who had the answer. "If all the fingers are pointing the other way, it would be much easier to get away with murder."

Lissa looked at him in shock. "Are you implying that the queen's murderer might still be on the grounds?" It was not that the thought hadn't occurred to her already. But voicing the idea was much more brazen.

"We know it wasn't a Strigoi." Said Dimitri.

"How can we be sure?" Asked Lissa. "Maybe a human broke the wards and there are strigoi waiting to descend upon us."

"Even if that were true, which I highly doubt, strigoi can't touch stakes." Lissa looked at Adrian in a new light. She had known that, of course. It was common knowledge that stakes and wards were both charged with the four magical elements that moroi could control, with spirit being the only one not included since it was still widely unheard of. Lissa's mind was just a little further back, hanging onto something Dimitri had said. She looked at him slowly, as though confused by something.

"You said it would be very easy to break into one of these rooms?"

"With the proper equipment."

"But not the queens, surely." Lissa said, playing into his game.

"Of course not. They wouldn't let just anybody in the room." Adrian said dismissively. He looked slightly offended that Lissa might be implying Tatiana hadn't been careful enough in choosing her guard.

"Which means it was somebody the queen knew." Said Dimitri drily. The thought of a traitor on that level was something that struck a chord with his guardian instincts, and with his loyalty to the crown.

"Not necessarily." Said Lissa quietly. Her mind was reeling. Dimitri looked confused, and it was so out of place on that God-like face that I felt momentarily surprised.

"But you've just said it yourself; the queen's guards wouldn't let anybody in unless they had Queen Tatiana's permission, or if they knew them well enough, like another royal." Lissa looked at him dead-pan, and Dimitri nearly scoffed at what she was suggesting.

"You suspect another royal killed the queen?"

"It's possible. Maybe somebody wanted to advance their own gain. It's not an unheard of idea or anything. Power can corrupt people."

"Even if it was a royal," Dimitri's tone left no room for doubt that he thought otherwise, they wouldn't just be let in without a guard. Only an Ivashkov would." He glanced at Adrian apologetically.

Adrian had been quiet and I had almost forgotten his presence. He didn't seem to hear what Dimitri had said.

"Well, it certainly wasn't an Ivashkov." Lissa said certainly. Though she had never met Adrian's father, she was definitely right. Nathan had cowered in his aunt's presence.

"Who would be dumb enough to kill the queen?" Dimitri muttered to himself. "It's a kamikaze mission. Suicide."

"Unless you aren't planning on getting caught, because you aren't the one who really did it." Both Lissa and Dimitri looked at Adrian in confusion.

"Are you talking about Rose?"

"No. " Adrian said dismissively, waving his hand. "I heard Damon Tarus saying how convenient it was for the guards not to remember anything about the night."

"You think the guards are responsible?" Now Dimitri looked mad. He took personal offense against the comment. I too felt indignant.

"No. I think the guardians were compelled."

Dimitri calmed visibly, but it was his turn to be dismissive. "Guardians can't be that easily compelled. Not the queen's guardians. They are specifically trained to control their mind under compulsion. Besides, it would take strong compulsion. Nobody is capable of enough compulsion to control all of the queen's guardians at once."

"Yes, they are." Adrian was looking at Lissa. Dimitri's face crumpled, and I think he would have laughed if the situation had not been so perilous.

"Princess Vasilisa Dragomir? You think she did it."

Adrian looked at Dimitri like he was an idiot. "No," he said coolly. "Of course she didn't do it. But she is capable of doing it."

I could feel Lissa's confusion through the bond. She was capable of some heavy duty compulsion…she had lots of practice. After all, she had broken three of us into Tarasov prison, and broken another person out. And with that knowledge, she grew cold. She had used a very hefty sum of compulsion to break Victor Dashkov out of prison…an amount of compulsion that was unprecedented in most Moroi. It was an amount of compulsion that only a spirit user could wield.

The connection sparked in her mind at the same time that the answer flooded into me. Lissa looked up at Adrian. She didn't need to speak, because he could tell from that single look that she understood. But shock numbed her mind, along with the realization that perhaps she was responsible for the queen's death, if only inadvertently. "Robert."