BABES. I am back and proud to present: Chapter 1 of Let Your Heart Lead The Way! This is the Vampire Academy/Selection set fic, and I hope you all enjoy it! Now, I'm off to go work on the pilot chapter to Working With Broken Wings, the Hunger Games fic. Let me know what y'all think!

~DA2014

Let Your Heart Lead The Way

Chapter 1

"With Princess Rosemarie's Birthday Bash quickly approaching, it's no wonder the nation is in a tizzy! Our precious princess is coming of age, and being the only heir born to our beloved King Ibrahim and the late Queen Janine, it will come as no surprise that the beginning stages of her very own Selection are in the works!"

While Vasilisa Dragomir's voice floated from the screen during an episode of The Dhampir Report, Dimitri labored away, scrubbing the barn floors, after having cleaned the dung from all the stalls. Dimitri quietly listened, not that he cared. At the ripe age of 24, her was very nearly out of age range to enter the Princess' Selection. Had he been born a few short months sooner, then he would be out, be he hadn't, so he wasn't.

Dimitri, in the Caste of Six, labored his days away, working for any payment he could get. His mother, Olena, could commonly be found at any home in the Baia Provence, sewing and mending whatever fabrics needed fixing, or cleaning whatever was set out for her, but more commonly, you would find her in a family's kitchen, cooking and preparing for the family's next party. Olena Belikova worked wonders in a kitchen, and it showed in her cooking. Of course, having 5 children of her own, and 2 grandchildren and her own mother in the same house, Olena had to cook.

Dimitri was the oldest of Olena's five children, at 24, and by far the largest of her babies. Standing at 6'7", his shoulder length brown hair was fastened back with the one leather hair tie he owned. It had been a gift to him from Yeva on his 18th birthday. His chocolate brown eyes danced around the barn, taking in every detail they could. His broad shoulders and well defined muscles made Dimitri an appealing choice for the harder labors, such as working with the livestock.

When Dimitri managed to have a day off, which wasn't often as it was, he tended to work as hard as he could to make himself more appealing to employers in any way he could. And, he did that by working with the horses. His Mama had read many western novels, but only in secret, for King Gregory had forbade them during his regime many years ago, to him as a boy and thus his love for the creature had been planted. The older he got, and the more he worked with them, the more majestic and wondrous the animal seemed, and his love for them only continued to blossom.

As for his siblings, Dimitri had 1 brother and 3 sisters.

Adam, his brother, was two years younger, 22, working for the palace guard. Most of his paychecks were sent home to help the family. Karolina, who was 21, was married and had two children of her own by now, Paul and Zoya, so her own paychecks were helping her family. Sonya, 19, was saving her paychecks to buy her way into being a Five, so she could sing and paint without ridicule. The youngest sister, Viktoria, was 17, and just getting ready to finish her home-schooling, before she entered the work force full-time. Her small part-time job, helping at the library as a secretary, wasn't much pay, and she was using it to help the family. Olena and Yeva were both getting disability paychecks for having worked their life away and serving the royal family.

So, with this news of Princess Rose's own Selection just now being announced, Dimitri knew the nation would soon be cast into a flurry of applications, hopeful men wanting to claim the throne, and a single man who had wanted nothing more than to see the princess again.

Dimitri's mother had been a faithful royal maid when he was a young lad, and he had often spent many of his days helping his mother with her laborious duties. One day while he was with her, a rebel force had attacked. Olena immediately picked up her young son, who was 5 at the time, and started running for a secret room. The Queen had been in the Women's Room with the young princess, who had only been a year old, and she had run into the hall, trying to get to a hidden pathway. Unfortunately, the rebels had rounded the corner at the time and the Queen had been shot , but as she fell, she hid her child under her, so the rebels couldn't find her and kill her too. Olena, having hid Dimitri under a table before seeking temporary refuge in an alcove not far away, witnessed the entire thing. As soon as the rebels had continued on, Olena ran for the Queen.

Janine, who was quickly bleeding out, looked up at Olena and requested she take Rose to the Safe Room. Olena, being loyal to the beloved Queen, immediately grabbed the wailing baby from the Queen's arms, who then thanked Olena with her last words, and ran for her son. She proceeded to get her own son, who took the princess' small form into his own arms before his mother picked them both up, and ran to find a hidden passage down to the Safe Room.

Just as Olena was reaching the bottom of the staircase, the guards were going to close the doors, where they would remain closed until the attack was over.

"Wait! I have the princess!" Olena yelled, before tugging Dimitri's hand and pulling him closer.

King Abe, who had been worrying for his wife and daughter, was at the doors in an instant. He took his daughter into his arms, where she immediately began to quiet down. As a gesture of thanks, he allowed Olena and a young Dimitri refuge in the Safe Room. Dimitri refused to leave the king's side, for he had an attachment to the youthful princess, until he knew she would be okay.

Abe, needing to comfort a visiting diplomat, and his subjects, let the young boy hold his daughter while he went to discuss matters, and apologize profusely, with the Dragomir family. Dimitri sat at the base of the King's throne and held the tiny baby. He rocked her side to side, and he sang soft lullabies to the princess until her eyes drifted shut and her cries ceased. The entire time, Abe kept a watchful eye on the boy who held his daughter, and he watched as his heir held tightly to Dimitri's finger, showing no signs of letting go, even in sleep. When Olena had finished her duties of tending to the wounded, she joined her son and held him. Dimitri's eyes never drifted away from the princess, even when his mother and the King approached him.

When all was said and done, the King and Olena each knew that somehow, their children had formed a bond. Dimitri held the sleeping princess in his arms until the attack ended and it was declared safe for all to leave the room, and the princess clutched tightly to his finger.

As the years went on, Dimitri and Rose alike endured nightmares of the event. Only, Rose could never remember the brown eyed angel who held her in a dark time, and Dimitri thought of her every waking moment, hoping to one day return to her.

There it is! Leave me a review with your thoughts, and I just might update this one first!

And, I thank you tremendously for all the support you have given me!

~DA2014