I drove slowly as the snow was falling, dotting my windshield with tiny frozen crystals. My heart pounded as I drove up to the gates. I rolled my window down and watched the damphir guard walk up to my window. "Miss. Sage?"

"Yes."

"The queen has requested your presence in her quarters immediately."

Wait, what? "Okay. Thank you." He signaled for the other damphir in the station to open the gates with a waving motion. I hit the gas and drove into the parking lot, parked, and got out. As my feet hit the ground, sinking into soft snow, I shivered. Why, of all places, did they have to hold the coronation here?

Even with my velvet dress, boots, tights, and heavy coat I felt as though I would freeze. The doors were guarded, but as I approached, the guards just nodded at me and opened the doors. The inside was a world warmer, and also very, very quiet. I walked down the long hallway, hoping the soon-to-be queen's room would have a sign on it or something. Thanks to my habit of getting lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice that someone was there until I ran right smack dab into them. "Watch out, pencil."

I turned as the person headed in the opposite direction. "Pencil?"

"Yeah, aren't you alchemists supposed to be stiff as hell?" The—very gorgeous—moroi boy half-accused.

Before aI could think of a comeback, he had rounded a corner and was gone. I shook my head an continued on, up many flights of stairs and dwindling ramps. In the middle of walking through my tenth hallway, a pale, thin arm stuck out and yanked me into the room before I even had time to scream. Lissa Dragomir smiled at me. "Sorry about that."

"About the heart attack? Don't worry about it." Her hand was still on my arm, her skin cooler than mine and not just because of the chill. I looked down at it, and after a second she jerked her hand back. "Sorry about that, too. But the reason I wanted to meet with you was—you protect moroi sometimes, to an extent—right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I have an assignment for you."

The grand hall was filled with people of all ages, but mostly older. I shifted awkwardly in my seat. I felt like I was sitting in someone else's seat, being in the front. An arm was thrown around my shoulders and someone sighed in the now occupied seat next to me. "So, you're my baby-sitter, pencil? At least this time my cousin chose a hot one." I picked up his arm by the wrist and tee it off of my shoulder and at him. He winced as he smacked himself in the chest. "Ouch. Using my own body against me, princess. That's low."

"Why can't you just use my name? I do have one, you know."

"Well, I don't know it, so…speak puppy speak."

"My name is Megan. How about you, Spike?"

"I like brownie better—wait. Spike?"

"You called me a puppy. So I called you a classic dog name."

"You're a feisty brownie."

"I'm done having this conversation."

"Well, I'm not."

He didn't have a chance to annoy me further, because at that moment the ceremony started. All the traditional words were said, and then one of the royal servants brought over the big, glistening diamond crown. The crown was set on Lissa's head, making her eyes seem brighter than earlier. At that moment, when everyone stood up to clap, the doors burst open and the flood of strigoi headed straight for Lissa, her cousin, Jill (whom I'd just met maybe five minutes ago) and their family. And then, well…all hell sort of broke out.