I rushed over to Lissa and Christian's house the next morning, after thoroughly checking the bond to make sure they were both fully clothed, I walked straight through the front door.
"Congratulations!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I walked in, bottle of champagne in hand, they were both cuddled up on the sofa, Lissa sprung up to her feet as she saw me and threw her arms around me.
Sparky approached us, the usual smirk plastered onto his pale face. "I know it's not unheard of for you to be drinking in the morning, Rosie, but a bottle of champagne is a bit classy for 10 in the morning isn't it?" His words were true, I had found myself drinking in the mornings on more than a few occasions, but that was years ago, and only with Adrian's encouragement. Not my best moment, I know.
I untangled myself from Lissa's arms and threw them around Christian instead; I was just as surprised by my actions as he was. After a few seconds of hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me. "You did good, fire crotch." I said quietly before stepping away from him.
"Anyway, the champagne isn't for right now, just whenever you want it, we need to celebrate!" I exclaimed.
"I'm glad you don't want it right now Rose, I was actually about to call you over. Tatiana has invited me over for a meeting of some sort, I hope you don't mind but I thought you could come, I could really use the moral support." She gave me a sheepish smile, as if I had anything better to do.
"Of course, Liss. When are we leaving?" I asked as I put the bottle of champagne in the fridge of the adjoining kitchen.
My best friend glanced at the silver watch gracing her wrist and looked back up at me. "Now actually, if that's ok?"
"Sure, beats hanging around here with Sparky anyway." I said loud enough for her new fiancé to hear.
"Get out of my house, Rose." He replied with a grin on his face that told me he didn't real mean it.
"All right, all right, I'm going!" I called as Lissa and I walked out of the door after she pecked him on the lips.
My eyes scanned the surrounding area as we walked down the path. I knew it was unlikely that there would be any threats around Court, but it was instinctive for me to look out for any possible dangers, no matter how safe the place claimed to be.
Lissa chatted animatedly during the whole 15 minute walk towards the Queens palace. "I have no idea what the Queen could want me for. But you'll stay with me won't you Rose?" She asked. I was about to interrupt her and tell her there was no way I would be allowed in there with her, but she already knew that. "I mean in here." She said, tapping her head. "Through the bond."
"Of course, Liss, always." I assured her.
The guardians posted outside the main doors let us straight in, I nodded my recognition and thanks as we walked past, they nodded back.
Although we all acted sensible and professional while on duty, I had actually become friends with many of the Court's guardians, and I was actually quite a respected member of the Guardian community now, although we had only lived here a week, I had come to recognise many of the Guardians during our many visits back here over the years.
One of the Guardians escorted us to the room in which Lissa would be meeting with Her Majesty. The royal building always took my breath away when we were summoned here, which didn't happen often at all. Everything about the building was grand and pristine, and also very expensively made, no doubt.
The Queen answered the door herself after the Guardian knocked lightly on the ornate door. I didn't stand next to Lissa as she knocked, instead I placed myself by the wall to the left of the door, chin raised, hands clasped behind my back, the typical Guardians stance. I of course had no intention of joining Lissa during the meeting; Guardians aren't invited to that kind of thing.
"Ah, Vasilisa. It's so good to see you again." The Queens overly polite voice drifted to my ears.
I saw Lissa politely curtsey from the corner of my eye and had to suppress a smile, she was so very royal.
I saw the Queens head pop round the corner of the doorframe, looking right in my direction, my shoulders tensed on their own accord.
"Oh Rosemarie, I thought you might be accompanying Vasilisa. Would you join us?" I turned my head slightly to look at her directly, was this some sort of joke? I had no idea what to do.
The Queen had a surprisingly pleasant smile on her face, to which I found myself smiling back. "Are you sure... Your Majesty?" I asked, they tried to hide it, but I could see the surprise on the other Guardians faces that were stationed outside the room.
"Of course, it would be my pleasure." She said.
I nodded and realised I hadn't even bowed to her yet. I quickly bended at the waist, having no idea whether now was the best time to do so. Her smile only widened as she gestured for Lissa and I to follow her into the room she had just come from. I threw a glance over my shoulder to the other Guardians, as if to say 'what the fuck is going on?' The guardians replied by attempting to hide their smiles and a discreet shrug of their shoulders.
I scanned the room as we walked in, there were 4 of the Queens personal Guardians lining the walls, their eyes remained looking forward, seeing and yet not seeing at the same time.
"Please, take a seat." The Queen said, gesturing to the plush sofa opposite her own. She poured us both a cup of tea. That's right, The Queen, the actual Queen, just poured me, Rose Hathaway, a cup of tea.
"Thank you." Lissa and I said in turn.
"So, how are you both settling in to life at Court?" She asked rather pleasantly after taking a sip from her own china cup.
"Very well thank you, everyone has been so welcoming." Lissa said with a perfect smile on her face.
"And you, Miss Hathaway?" She said, diverting her gaze to me.
"Great, thank you. I'm enjoying my shifts around Court." I replied, trying to make my voice sound as nice and calm as possible.
"I'm glad to hear it, I've heard you've been doing well, not that I expected anything less." Jeez, why was she being so nice?
"And how is Mr Ozera doing?" Panic shot through the bond so suddenly the teacup in my hand jolted.
'Rose! Do I tell her that he proposed?!' Lissa practically shouted down the bond. People would be finding out soon enough, I suppose the Queen may as well hear it straight from the horse's mouth.
Stupid one way bond, I couldn't even tell Liss that obviously she should tell her, so I took things into my own hands. "He's fine. In fact, Lis- Vasilisa, has some exciting news."
Lissa sent me a panicked look, to which I sent her a reassuring one back, before she faced the Queen once again. "Yes, very exciting news. Christian proposed to me yesterday, and I said yes!" She exclaimed, she couldn't keep the smile off her face at the end of the sentence, she was simply radiant.
"Congratulations, I am incredibly happy for the both of you." She said as she took Lissa's hand and carefully studied the ring. "It's beautiful." She commented.
I was pleasantly surprised at how un-snobby the Queen was being. I had never particularly liked the woman, but on the past few occasions that I had seen her, she had been nothing but nice towards me.
The rest of the meeting went by rather uneventfully; I rarely contributed to the conversation, making me wonder why the Queen wanted me here in the first place. However I did catch her eye a few times throughout the meeting, she seemed to be studying me rather carefully, and she simply gave me a knowing look and continued on with the conversation.
I was becoming rather weary by the end of the meeting, and was more than ready to leave when we finally said goodbye to Her Majesty.
On the way back home, Lissa went over literally every word the Queen said, as well as scrutinising the way she said it and what it could mean. "Jeez Liss, calm down. She's probably just spending more time with you so she can groom you into being a good little royal."
Christian was nowhere in sight when we got back to their house, Lissa popped open the bottle of champagne soon after we entered the house and poured us both a generous glass. I took the liberty of proposing a toast, even though it was just the two of us. "To you and Christian." I said as we clinked our glasses together and took a sip. The bubbles fizzled down my throat in a way that reminded me just how expensive that bottle of champagne was.
"Now that I've got you here, and there's champagne, I was hoping I could ask you something." Lissa said after a few moments of comfortable silence.
"Of course, you should know by now that you can ask me anything, Liss."
"Well, you're not only my best friend Rose, but you're my sister too, and I was hoping that you would do me the honour of being my maid of honour?" She asked with a massive grin on her beautiful face.
I suddenly turned very un-Rose like and actually screamed. "Oh my God! Of course I will Lissa! Thank you so much!" I jumped up and pulled her into my arms. Before I knew it there were tears streaming down my face, and the same was happening to her.
"I'm so proud of you, Liss. I love you." I said as I finally let her out of my embrace.
"I love you too, I couldn't think of anyone better to be my maid of honour."
"This is going to be the best wedding ever!" I yelled.
"I'm glad you think so, because I also have some kind of bad news." She continued slowly. Oh no, this did not sound good.
"Go on, out with it already."
"Well, um, Christian called Tasha to tell her about the engagement, and she kind of insisted on visiting court to celebrate and help plan the wedding. And although she didn't mention him, I can't see that she would come without him." She didn't need to say who he was. We had barely spoken his name in four years and we sure as hell weren't going to start now.
I stared at her, unblinking, for a moment as my mind took me back to that awful time four years ago, when he left and took my heart and soul with me. Although we never spoke about it, we all know how much I changed after that.
I was less carefree and more stoic now. Not only had my mind changed, but the trauma changed my body too. I kept my hair cut short and my body became leaner and even more toned as I ate less and trained more. For some time the bags under my eyes were unavoidable and my cheekbones stuck out like a sore thumb.
Over the years I had returned to my old self a little more, but I still wasn't the same, I wasn't sure I ever would be the same again.
I realised I hadn't said anything in several minutes and cleared my throat. I grabbed my champagne glass and downed the rest of its contents. "Of course they'll be coming; it hadn't even crossed my mind. But it won't be a problem; I can stay out of their way." I tried to brush it off, I didn't want Lissa to be worrying about me while she was planning for her big day, this was about her, not me. They come first.
We carried on drinking after that until the bottle was empty. It was then that Christian came home and I quickly excused myself, making an excuse that I was tired and should be going to bed, of course I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. After all, it wouldn't be the first time I've had a sleepless night due to a certain heartbreaking Russian.
There we have Chapter 2! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I definitely enjoyed writing it, I have sooooo much in store for this story, and I can't wait for the drama to start! I just wanted to thank everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed the story already, I appreciate every single one of you, it really means so much to me. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, I really hope you enjoyed it, thank you for reading!