I woke early. It wasn't so strange for that to happen these days. My days were filled with classes and teenage drama, so the morning was the only time I really got to myself. I cherished the time I had before the academy woke up. I could pretty much do whatever I wanted, and I wanted nothing more than to run.

I pulled myself from the warmth of my bed and changed into a pair of running shorts and a tank top before running out the door. The cool air slapped against my bare skin as soon as I left the accommodation building, but I didn't mind. It was only autumn – as they call it here – and the temperatures never got as low as I'd grown up with.

My feet crunched against the gravel of the path as I headed towards the running field. My earphones were deep within my ears, a song about lost love reverberated through my skull. My steps were in perfect time to the beat, but the words stung. The words caused my heart to break and sink even lower in my chest.

It had been almost five years, yet the pain was as raw as if it had only happened only yesterday. I'd spent five years on the other side of the world hoping – wishing – it would get easier. I thought my love for him would eventually fade, just as his love for me had done. But I guess I wasn't that lucky. I still loved him with every fibre of my being, no matter how much those four soul-shattering words still hurt.

I picked up my pace as I felt the tears threatening to spill. Physical exertion was my only friend. I'd tried getting drunk so another man could be in my bed, but he hadn't even made it past the front door. I'd tried talking about it with someone I didn't know, but their psycho-analysis had only pissed me off. I'd even tried everything in my power to just not think about it, but his memory always wound its way into my mind. So now I ran – usually for hours – until I felt I had some level of control over my emotions.

My feet hit the ground hard and fast as I pushed myself harder. It didn't make sense that running would allow me the peace I needed from the shadow of my past. It was the exact thing Dimitri had made me do when he'd begun mentoring me. It's all he'd let me do for weeks. I hated it at first, but then he'd finally explained why running was so important. He'd told me why I needed to keep up my stamina in order to be the great guardian I'd longed to be.

So no, it made no sense whatsoever that running helped me when beating the shit out of a punching bag wouldn't. It made so sense why doing the very thing that brought me closer to him once upon a time would help when drinking myself into oblivion never did. But it did help. So I ran…and ran…until Dimitri was the furthest thing from my mind.

I started heading back to my room, pushing myself into a sprint on the final path. I was so caught up in how my body was reacting to the pressure I placed it under that I didn't see anything out of the ordinary until I was sprawled across the dirt. I pushed myself to my feet instantly, dropping easily into a defensive stance. Despite the amount of energy I'd just expended I was more than ready to protect myself. I didn't even stop to consider that the sun was still shinning.

I somewhat relaxed as I saw Guardian Nichols in front of me. His hands busied themselves over the length of his body as he attempted to rid his clothes of the dirt they were now stained with.

"What the hell Rose?" he snapped.

"Could ask you the same thing," I replied as I rolled my eyes. He was still trying to get the dirt off his pants.

"I'm the one you just balled over," he accused.

"Ever heard of staying out of the way of a woman on a mission?" I asked with a bitter smile. "If not, you just have, so maybe you can heed the warning now."

Guardian Nichols had been one of the first people I'd met when I'd started at the academy. He had seemed nice. He'd taken it upon himself to welcome me, give me the tour of the grounds and each of the buildings, but little did I know he wasn't doing it just because he was a good guy. The niceties ceased when I got on his bad side.

I guess rejection can do that to a man.

"And what's the mission?" he bit back. "Seeing how many decent people you can plough over before the day actually starts?"

"Oh get over yourself," I said as I turned my back to him.

I jogged back to my building, but made sure I didn't lose myself in the rhythm. That was no easy feat given the anger that bubbled inside me from the altercation with Sam. I wish he didn't get under my skin as much as he did. I knew he did only because of the open wounds that wouldn't seal. He was just another reminder that no matter what I tried, I just couldn't get over Dimitri.

The shower did little to help my mood. It didn't matter how long I stayed under the hot stream of water, anger still flowed through me, aching to be released. With a twist of the shower nob the water hit my skin harder, attempting to unknot muscles that were as stubborn as me.

Eventually I gave up. I couldn't stay in the shower all day – unfortunately – when I had classes. I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a sports shirt before heading to the staff cafeteria for breakfast.

I'd been hired at the academy two months before its doors had opened for the first time. My initial position had been as a guardian. I patrolled the wards and occasionally escorted moroi into town when they had appointments. It was a far cry form being my dream job, I was even further from being the great guardian I'd dreamed I'd be, but I didn't complain. The worst part was that nothing I did occupied my mind enough to keep unwanted thoughts out. As I patrolled the wards and dormitories my mind would always wander. Of course I kept the majority of my mind on my job, but healing wasn't possible when Dimitri crept into my mind at every available opportunity.

Two years after I started one of the novice instructors left the academy, leaving a position that needed to be filled immediately. While I had no experience in the role I offered to stand in while they worked through the process of hiring a new instructor. Two and a half years later I'm still waiting for my replacement. I'm not complaining by any means. I love my job. I love the fact that I'm training the future of guardians. And leading classes all day leaves a lot less time for my thoughts to be invaded.

The academy is the first of it's kind. The academy as no affiliation with the royal court, and neither do the staff. That's not why I applied for the job of course. I was intrigued by the way teaching was approached at the academy. It was different to any other academy in the world, mainly because they didn't require royal permission to do what they wanted to do.

Defensive and offensive magic was taught to moroi as soon as they came into their element. If the moroi or their parents didn't wish for their child to learn those skills – which had never happened – they would attend a different class. By teaching the moroi students to defend themselves it set them up with a higher survival rate than moroi who didn't learn those skill. Moroi also took physical education classes which taught them self defence and worked on their magical stamina.

The novice dhampirs were taught how to use stakes much younger than St Vladimir's had allowed us. Once the novice's were certified to use the stakes they were permitted to carry them around the campus. This had been hard for me to begin with, I mean to see armed sixteen year olds walking around the campus was unnerving. But when I really thought about it, it held logic. If anything happened on the academy, there was more defence, and it also had the novice's tackling the responsibility at the academy instead of just being thrown out into the real world.

It made me wonder if Mason, Eddie and I had been armed when we'd been held by the strigoi if the outcome would have been different. The only weapon I'd had was a dull sword. If I'd had a stake would I have been able to save Mason?

I entered the cafeteria and headed straight for the hot food. My run always left me in desperate need of food, and bacon and eggs always filled that void. I piled my plate high and grabbed a donut before heading to an empty table. I would normally sit with someone at meals, but my anger was on a lose leash and I didn't want to let it loose on someone who didn't deserve it.

"Have you heard about the staff meeting Guardian Hathaway?" I was asked as I piled more bacon in my mouth.

I glanced up to see Harrison standing in front of me, one of the moroi teachers. "No, I haven't. When is it?" I asked once I'd swallowed my mouthful.

"Tomorrow afternoon," he said. "Everyone has to attend."

It wasn't strange for staff meetings to be called at short notice, it happened all the time, mainly because we didn't have weekly meetings to begin with. What was strange was that everyone would be attending. Normally the moroi teachers met separately. There wasn't much need for us to meet altogether unless there was a major issue.

I hadn't heard of anything happening lately. The last time a full staff meeting had been called it had been because of a group of moroi were using magic outside of class. While the moroi teachers had dealt with it, they needed the guardians to be filled in on the situation so we could keep an eye out for any group looking suspicious.

"Any idea what it's about?" I asked as I swirled scrambled eggs around on my plate.

"Word is getting around about a royal visit," he said with a laugh. "Like any royals would want to visit this academy. We do everything they hate, and there's nothing they can do to change it."

He was right, everything at the academy was just about the polar opposite of any of the academies around the world. And there was nothing that could be done about it either. The academy had been set up outside the jurisdiction of court for that exact reason. We received no funding or help from the rest of the moroi society, and we sure as hell had never accepted any help from court.

But still, just the thought of a royal visit had my nerves on edge. Surely Tatiana wouldn't want to come all the way over here, I told myself. It didn't help though. I knew if Tatiana wanted something, she would go to great lengths to get it. Including travelling to the other side of the world.

"I'll believe it when I see it," I told him nonchalantly. "I've met the Queen before, I don't think she'd want to come here."

"The old Queen you mean?" he asked. As he saw my confusion he continued. "Queen Ivashkov retired about a year ago."

"Oh," I muttered. I'd stayed far away from everything that had anything to do with court, so it was news to me that Tatiana had retired. "Who did she name as her successor?"

"Some young Princess that apparently showed a lot of promise," he explained. "I can't think of the name. Isn't one of the usual royal families."

"Dragomir?" I asked, hoping I was wrong.

"Yeah, that's it," he confirmed. "Vasilisa Dragomir."

My stomach sank as her name echoed in my mind. I hadn't been pulled into my bond mate's head for a long time. When I left court I had worked hard to build up my mental strength so I could block her. I'd become so good at it that even at the most emotional times she wasn't able to have any grab on me.

So I had absolutely no idea that she had become Queen of the moroi. It didn't surprise me though, and it cemented even more that I was right to leave. With me around Vasilisa wouldn't have succeeded anywhere near this much. My reputation had hung over her like a hangman's noose.

"Well see you at the meeting," Harrison said as he waved over his shoulder.

"Yeah…can't wait," I mumbled, suddenly wishing I would be swallowed alive.