Chapter 1 – An Arranged Marriage

Rose's POV

"Well why not?" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I could hear the screeching as my voice raised a couple of octaves, the way it always did when I got emotional.

"It is not a lady's place to fight Strigoi! Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. You know that!" My mother said back. Unlike me, my mother wasn't shouting. She hadn't risen to the bait, though I could see her aggravation brewing.

"It's not fair! It's not my fault that queen bitch is afraid of breaking a nail. If I want to become a guardian, I should be able to!" I yelled. I could feel a burning in the back of my throat, alerting me that if I didn't calm down, I would start crying.

"It's not your place! There aren't enough guardians as it is and if you forgo your responsibility of having children, you are contributing to the downfall of the moroi. You are supposed to stay at home and raise your children. Everyone has a duty and this is ours! Accept it Rosemarie," my mother bit out.

I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth before I spoke. "Screw duty! I want to be a guardian. My duty is to the moroi world. My duty is to kill Strigoi!" I said angrily. I was so tired of having my life planned out for me. I was constantly told that my responsibility was to have children. I didn't want children – didn't think I ever would. Growing up with four younger brothers had given me a taste of the responsibilities of being a mother and I didn't care for it. My youngest brother would turn six soon. I had practically raised him and while I loved him with all my heart, it hadn't been for me. Not in the slightest.

"Where did I go wrong with you?" She asked as she shook her head.

I bit back the answer I was going to say. If I insulted her, she would just send me to my room and get back to planning this ridiculous wedding.

"Is it so wrong that I would want to make our world a better place? If women want to fight, why shouldn't we? You said so yourself that there aren't enough guardians. Not allowing women to fight isn't going to solve anything. It's only limiting those that can be on the battlefield," I said stubbornly.

This was an old argument. I was one of eight children, and I was the only girl, talk about unfair. When I was younger, I trained with my brothers. I thought that if I worked hard enough, I would be able to do the same thing that they were doing. The day I found out that I would never be a guardian, the life I had imagined for myself cracked. I was still determined and I could still see most of that future, but I knew it wasn't going to be the same future I had been dreaming of. Now there would be obstacles.

Against my mother's wishes, my older brothers continued to train me. We used to sneak out to the barn to practice. My brothers didn't necessarily understand me, but they loved me enough to help me. When my older brothers turned of age, they went away to school to train to be proper guardians. I stayed at home and trained with my younger brothers. When my older brothers came home on school breaks, they would teach me the moves they learned while at school.

I picked up the techniques quickly and I could easily take on any of my brothers. I was a natural fighter. But according to Queen Tatiana, a world at war is no place for a lady. The thing is, I don't want to be a lady. I've spent countless days wishing I had been born a boy so I would have a right to fight, to defend. How anyone could be happy sitting at home having children was beyond my understanding. It isn't fair that women don't have a say in their lives. If we want to, we should be allowed to fight.

"I'm so sick and tired of being told who I'm meant to be and how I'm meant to live my life," I shouted.

You okay? I hear screaming. I heard a voice say in my head and I groaned.

I live Eaton town, Indiana. Population 1,805. Half of our population is moroi, the other half dhampirs. The only humans here are the feeders for the moroi families. We were a small town and everyone lived very close to one another. Close enough that my best friend could hear the argument I was having with my mother.

Lissa and I had an interesting relationship. She had been my best friend since I was a little girl. We were seated next to each other in school with all of the other five year olds cluttered around us. We started getting paired together and eventually our beautiful friendship formed.

A little over a year ago, on the day Lissa turned fifteen, I went out to dinner with her and her family to celebrate her birthday. Despite the fact that they were a powerful royal family, her parents and brother still treated me like family. While we were on the way home, we were hit by a drunk driver. I don't remember most of the details, but when I woke up, I was in a hospital bed and I was told I was lucky to have survived.

It took me several days to realize that something odd was happening to me. It first happened at the funeral for Lissa's parents and brother. I felt a wave of sorrow wash over me and suddenly I was in Lissa's head. I was able to see her thoughts. I saw through her eyes as she turned to look at me, desperately in need of comfort. It was only when her sorrow faded and a deep concern replaced it that I managed to return to my own body.

About three months after this strange bond between us had formed, Lissa was kidnapped. Because Lissa had no living family, she stayed with the Victor Dashkov. He was practically an uncle to her. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw his face through the bond.

I alerted the guardians that staffed our police headquarters. At first they did not take my allegations seriously. However, when they searched Victor's house and saw signs of struggle, they finally believed me.

It was through the bond that I learned that what we had was a bond and that Lissa specialized in a special magic called spirit. We still barely understood what was happening to us, but at least we had a name for it.

Victor was arrested and Lissa had been staying with an elderly moroi couple ever since. They were extremely oblivious, so Lissa practically lived by herself.

"Why is that so wrong?" I whispered, being mindful of the fact that Lissa would be listening.

"It's not wrong to want to make a difference, but you are trying to make it better in the wrong way," my mother said gently. It almost seemed like she cared, but I was able to see behind her façade. "You are supposed to settle down and marry."

"I don't want to get married!" I told her. Even if I wasn't only sixteen, I wouldn't want to get married. I wanted to do other things with my life. "I want to be a guardian."

"What's wrong with Adrian? He's a lovely moroi man. You two would be good for one another," my mother insisted. That's what started this whole argument. The stupid arranged marriage. Adrian was a moroi who was three years older than me. I almost felt bad, because I knew he had true feelings for me, but I did not return those feelings. Plus, Adrian was an asshole. He went about displaying his feelings all the wrong way. And when he was drunk, which was always, he knew no boundaries.

I thought the whole tradition of marrying moroi was ridiculous anyway. There was once a time where dhampir moroi relationships were pretty much unheard of. Now, it is practically law that those matches occur.

"I'm only sixteen," I told her annoyed.

"I was younger than you are now when I had your brother," she pointed out.

"I'm not you mom! And I wouldn't want to be! I am not okay with having my life planned out for me. I do not want to marry Adrian. I want to marry someone I love," I told her. It wasn't exactly true. I couldn't really picture myself falling head over heels in love with anyone, not when I had moroi to protect and strigoi to kill. "I don't want to spend my life popping out children. I want to spend it killing Strigoi and defending moroi!"

"And tell me Rosemarie. What moroi would feel safe with you as a guardian?" My mother asked me angrily.

"Lissa," I told her through gritted teeth. Lissa's parents had once told me that they wished I was a boy, because they couldn't think of anyone better to protect Lissa. especially now that we had this strange bond, I knew I could protect her.

The second time I had gotten sucked into her head was a little after our bond had formed. Lissa was really upset about her parents and she ran away. I woke up in the middle of the night and I could see dusty old boxes that I had definitely never seen before. I could feel the depression and anguish crushing me. It had taken me several minutes to pull myself out of her head. I had wracked my brain, trying to figure out where she could be. I kept get flashes from her and eventually I figured it out. She had gone to the attic of the church chapel. When I got there, I was faced with an awful sight. She had cut herself. When I promised not to tell, Lissa told me everything about how she had been feeling. Since then, whenever Lissa thinks she can't hold it in anymore, she sends me a message through our bond. My resolve to become her guardian had deepened then. I knew I would be able to protect her from herself too. Too many guardians are under the impression that strigoi are the only monsters out there, but I knew better. I knew sometimes the most dangerous monsters were the ones we kept hidden inside.

My mother rolled her eyes at me again. "Even if you were allowed to be a guardian, there is no way they would let you be a guardian to the Dragomir Princess!" My mother said harshly. "The last Dragomir deserves the best guardian she can get."

I sighed. I was beginning to feel like a broken record. I had one last chance to try to make her understand. "Regardless of whether I become a guardian or not, I am not. I repeat I am not marrying Adrian." I told her emotionlessly. I head meant to make one final argument, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"You will marry Adrian. You two are getting married in three days. This is your life Rosemarie. You better accept it!" My mother said threateningly.

I stomped away. There was no way I marrying Adrian. I had given it my all, but my mother was just as stubborn as I was. I couldn't just sit around and watch my life go by without a say in anything.

I slammed my door behind me. I knew my mother wouldn't check on me for a couple of hours, so I moved quickly. I filled a small duffle bag with a few of my possessions that I couldn't make myself part with. I took a picture of my youngest brother. He was smiling up at the camera, his missing front teeth accentuated as he stuck his tongue through the gap. I took the locket Lissa had gotten me for my fifteenth birthday, back before anything was actually complicated. And I took a picture frame that I kept hidden in my sock drawer.

I opened my window and sat on the sill as I did one last assessment of my bedroom, making sure I didn't leave anything essential behind. Confident that I hadn't, I carefully scaled the wall and jumped the last couple of feet to the soft ground below.

I looked back at the house that had been my home for the last sixteen years. I felt a pang of sorrow for the pain I would be causing my brothers. I wished I could say goodbye, but I knew if I did I would ever leave.

I forced myself to walk away towards the center of town. I was going to make my own life.