Rose: from Janine's POV. Just something I quickly cam up a while ago. OH, Richelle Mead owns the characters and the speech I used at the end is directly taken from Spirit Bound which she owns too. See what you think...

My daughter was leaning against the wall of the cabin preparing herself for her trial. I knew that as soon as she saw me she'd ask questions. There was no doubt she thought I wouldn't turn up. I sighed at the lack of relationship we had. I hadn't been around to watch her grow up which I regretted but Spokane and after she came back from Siberia had changed that and thankfully lifted the tension between us.

The antagonism that had been there was mostly my fault for not being there for her. I tried to fix it during Christmas break but she's too much like me sometimes. We both have strong opinions and aren't afraid to stand up for what we believe in. The only difference is that I wait until the correct moment to argue with someone.

As I walked towards her I couldn't help but feel proud. She was going to be the guardian of the last Dragomir and she'd do it with diligence and the self assured ease she carried around with her. She'd made slips in the past and, God, I'd worried about her. I'd been disappointed and angry with her but no one could deny that her experiences had made her a better guardian. She was more aware of the dangers surrounding Vasilisa and she knew what the outside world was really like. She had a lot to thank Dimitri for too. If it weren't for him she wouldn't be where she was today.

I didn't however doubt that she would have got there by herself in time. She was a natural guardian with a firm passion for what she does. Everyone who saw her felt the confidence radiating out of her. She could do the job. She knew she could. Spokane had already demonstrated that. She didn't do everything she could have, she shouldn't have gone in the first place, but then, she's just a child. She wouldn't make the same mistake again and it was better that she made the mistakes now.

I could tell that she was nervous for her trials – she would be making an error in judgement if she wasn't. But those nerves would give her strength. Underneath the nerves was a sense of anticipation and pride. She knew she'd done a good job in getting so far with her two illicit escapes from the academy, and she deserved to be proud of herself. The other students looked up to her as an example and so they should – to an extent. She still needed to continue learning how to rein in her temper at times and they knew what aspect of her past and decisions made to ignore. As long as they could sort the good from the bad they'd picked a good role model.

Beneath the façade of concentration I knew she was missing Dimitri. Was still hurting from killing him, saving him. I only knew some of her pain from leaving Abe but at least I knew he was still alive but Rose… I hoped she would find some strength in her memories of him.

She still hadn't noticed me, wrapped up in her own thoughts which no doubt flew to Dimitri and wishing he were here. She'd cried on my shoulder when she told me what happened in Siberia. How she'd locked her heart away for ever. Killed the man she loved. Thinking of it made me want to cry for her. She didn't need that. Not today anyway.

"Are you meditating?" I asked lightly.

She opened her eyes no doubt astonished to see me here. I wished she'd have more faith in me but her surprise made it hard to berate her even just a little bit.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" she asked.

I could see that she was glad to see me and I smiled slightly and put a hand on my hip.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't come and watch you?"