A/N: I think this is one of the longest chapters I've ever written, but I'm okay with that! Let me know what your thoughts are.

/

Having ushered the girls back to the cars, I had them and another two Guardians ride with me. I also had Reynolds, the only other Guardian in the group with more than two molnija marks, sit in between the girls in the back seat, so that they were less likely to try anything. I snuck glances at them both through the mirror from time to time, and though she looked as if she were going to pass out any moment, Hathaway stayed looking alert, and pissed. At one point, I saw Vasilisa trying to hide a grin as she glanced out of her tinted window. Rosemarie, on the other side of the vehicle, staring straight ahead, had cracked a smile seemingly in response. The car was completely silent; I hadn't even turned on the radio. What were they amused by?

Rosemarie had snickered, whispering a "shut up" in Vasilisa's direction. And yet, they hadn't said a word to each other. It was strange, and stayed on my mind the entire drive to the airport. As soon as we all loaded back onto the Academy's private plane, the girls bee-lined for two seats in the very back, away from everyone. Though we were on a plane, in the sky, I wouldn't put it past them to still plan some sort of absurd escape.

"Yeah," I said, regarding them skeptically. "Don't let them talk to each other," I said to the group of Guardians, pointing at the girls. "Five minutes together, and they'll come up with an escape plan."

Based on the nasty look Rosemarie shot in my direction, I knew I had hit it on the head. I assigned Reynolds to sit with her, while I took up a spot beside my charge. As Reynolds led Hathaway away from the Princess, a pathetic look flashed across Vasilisa's face. She stared silently, desperately after Rosemarie's turned back, and I watched in astonishment as Hathaway stiffened in response. She turned her head just slightly, and said so lowly I didn't think any of the other Guardians heard, "Of course, Liss."

I'd heard stories in Russia, a long time ago—my grandmother had told them to me, her wispy voice always amazing me with its mysticism. Stories of the best, most loyal Guardians, attached to their Moroi on literally psychic levels. I remembered being small, eyes wide as I sat at her feet, hopeful that one day I would be the best of Guardians—that I would have that sort of mind-to-mind bond with my Moroi. I'd disregarded the stories as just that years later, telling myself that the only things it took to be the best Guardian were loyalty, and skill.

But now, watching these two, I reconsidered.

About thirty minutes before the plane landed, I left my place beside Vasilisa, asking her if there was anything she needed first. She looked up with her wide, fearful jade green eyes, and shook her head. I nodded back, restraining my sigh, and motioned for Reynolds to switch places with me. I hoped Vasilisa wouldn't be afraid of me forever; I knew I was big, and tall, and intimidating, but I was her Guardian now, and she needed to trust me eventually.

I sat beside Rosemarie, and I caught a glimpse of the dark circles under her eyes. She seemed to be feeling better than when we'd first caught them on the street, but still clearly not great. Despite myself, I felt slightly sorry for the girl; Kirova wasn't going to go easy on her once we returned to the Academy.

Noticing me beside her, she huffed and turned very pointedly away from me to stare out the window of the plane. I raised my eyebrows with humor at her turned back, knowing she wouldn't see the small lapse in my mask. Several heavy moments of silence passed between us, and while I'd come back there completely set on interrogating her on the possible existence of a bond, something completely different came out of my mouth. It was something that had been on my mind, nonetheless.

"Were you really going to attack all of us?" Was her determination to protect Vasilisa really so strong? I'd never seen a novice so young who was already so dedicated to their duty. And if there was some sort of bond between them, I wondered if that somehow drew her to the Princess, made her more inclined than she normally would have been to keep her safe.

I didn't voice any of the questions pressing against my brain, and Rosemarie failed to answer my first question, either way. "Doing that…protecting her like that—it was very brave." I tried again. I was speaking the truth. Rosemarie knew she'd missed years of training, and that she was clearly outnumbered, and yet she'd thrown herself into the line of fire anyway. If I'd been someone else, someone crueler, she might have gotten seriously hurt in her already incapacitated state. "Stupid, but still brave. Why did you even try it?"

For a second, I thought she might continue to ignore my presence, but amazingly—she turned in her seat, a calm, even look on her shapely face. I saw as she brushed her hair away from her eyes, the bite on her neck had started to heal, leaving two unsettling red scars on her otherwise smooth skin. Rosemarie made direct eye contact with me for the first time, and I saw something honest flare within their dark depths. I stifled a small gasp at the directness of her stare, and the way it made my heart jump with surprise.

"Because I'm her guardian." She said levelly, and then turned back towards the window, seeming to get lost in thought. I sat for a minute, perhaps slightly dumbfounded, and then roused myself, going back to sit next to Vasilisa.

As we pulled up to St. Vladimir's, I pulled my phone from my pocket just before we reached the gates and called Kirova's office.

I waited for her to finish her stiff introduction of, "St. Vladimir's Academy. Headmistress Kirova speaking," before I spoke.

"Headmistress, this is Guardian Belikov. We have the girls; we are outside the Academy's gates."

There was a bit of a stunned silence on the other end, before the Headmistress breathed out a sigh. "Very well. Bring them in through the commons." I could hear the smirk in the woman's voice, before she promptly hung up on me.

It was evening—early in the Moroi day—when we passed through the gates. As we walked across campus towards the commons, I let myself marvel again at the beauty of the mountains rising in the distance like peaceful giants. The red of the sunset was just fading into the sky, and I longed for the warmth of it suddenly, like a homesickness. I heard soft footsteps behind me, and Rosemarie, her hair bouncing on her shoulders, jogged up to my side.

"Hey, Comrade." She chirped. Definitely feeling better, then.

I didn't look at her, so she wouldn't see the amusement I knew flashed across my face. "You want to talk now?" I asked indifferently, remembering her silence on the plane.

Taking it as rhetorical, she asked a different question. "Are you taking us to Kirova?"

Obviously, I am, I thought to myself.

"Headmistress Kirova," I corrected. God, was she really so blatant with her disrespect? An old, hidden part of me found that slightly…admirable, and funny. But mostly, mild disapproval coursed through me. I glanced down and caught Rose rolling her eyes in Vasilisa's direction, as if she'd said something similar to what I was thinking. But she hadn't. Once again, I felt suspicion coat my senses. There was surely something off between the two girls, there was no denying it.

"Headmistress. Whatever," Rose continued. "She's still a self-righteous old bit—"

She cut herself off as I swung the door to the commons wide open, and the girls were escorted in with us. Immediately, she turned a fierce, mortified glare on us. The commons were full with students dining on their breakfast, and as soon as they caught sight of the Princess and Rose, they went absolutely silent. It was slightly eerie, the way their eyes followed the girls as we made our way toward Kirova's office, blank and wide. Most kids had stopped mid-chew. I kept my gaze as blank as a guardian's should be, and didn't dare chance a look down at Rose. Though somehow, I had a feeling she wasn't cowering from their attention in the slightest.

As we entered the office of Headmistress Kirova, both of them let out an audible sigh of relief, and most of the guardians having accompanied me on the mission left. I noticed Guardian Petrov—Alberta already standing against the back wall of the office. She must have wanted to be here for Rose's trial, of sorts.

She pointedly raised her eyebrows as the girls took their seats, and I just nodded back to her, not sure exactly what the look was supposed to mean. Before the Headmistress could begin her reaming, a soft voice spoke from the corner of the room.

"Vasilisa." Prince Victor Dashkov murmured, sounding gentle and tired. He looked worse than I'd ever seen him, his skin a dull gray color, with the consistency of elastic. His hands shook as Vasilisa hugged him. He was only around forty, and looked like he was in his eighties, due to the effects of his disease. It was a sad thing to watch, a person slowly withering from the inside out. Vasilisa rushed forward to throw her arms around him.

"Uncle," she whispered, tightening her grip around his shoulders.

I knew that the Dashkovs and Dragomirs were in no way actually related; but the royals used familial terms very freely.

An expression of relief crossed his face. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you safe, Vasilisa." He sighed, comfortingly patting her back. His gaze slid slowly towards Rose, who stiffened slightly when it landed on her. "And you too, Rose." He added.

I saw Rose nod stiffly, and I suddenly wondered if there would be anyone truly relieved to see Rose safe after her reappearance. I'd heard stories of her mother, Janine Hathaway, but I didn't know if the older Hathaway was the traditional loving, motherly type. I glanced at Alberta, and supposed she was the closest thing to a worried family member that Rose had here.

Shortly thereafter, the Headmistress began her lecture, and near the middle of it, I swear my eyes would have been bulging from my head if I didn't have to keep my neutral expression in place. She was very good at yelling. Thinking back to Rose's stuffed file, I had to give a little respect to her, having presumably suffered years of these kinds of long tirades. From the vacant expression on her face as she gazed out of the window, I knew she was familiar with this setting.

Then it shifted to Rose. "You, Miss Hathaway, broke the most sacred promise among our kind: the promise of a guardian to protect a Moroi. It is a great trust. A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the princess away from here. The Strigoi would love to finish off the Dragomirs; you nearly enabled them to do it."

I felt my jaw working, knew my eyes were narrowing on the Headmistress. I understood the need for discipline, but blaming this entirely on Rose? Might have been a bit of a stretch.

"Rose didn't kidnap me." Vasilisa defended. "I wanted to go. Don't blame her."

Headmistress Kirova make a tsking noise, and paced her office, back and forth. In the moment, she looked and sounded like an old cartoon villain, and her sharp, bird-like features didn't help her case.

Still, hoping she'd say something helpful, I listened to her next words.

"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one orchestrating the entire plan, for all I know, but it was her responsibility to make sure you didn't carry it out. If she'd done her duty, she would have notified someone. If she'd done her duty, she would have kept you safe."

Something about what she'd just said made me think of Alberta's words before I'd gotten on the plane to get the girls from Portland. Something about Rose always having a reason. And there had to be a reason. With how protective she was over Vasilisa, she wouldn't have taken the risk of removing her from the safety of the Academy unless she felt she had to, unless something had gone wrong. I was suddenly sure of it.

I glanced over, and found Alberta's eyes on me, as if she knew what I was thinking. Our eyes held for a moment. The sound of Rose's outburst caused both of us to flinch away from our staring. "I did do my duty!" she snapped, jumping from her chair in outrage. "I did keep her safe! I kept her safe when none of you"—she made an all-encompassing gesture with her hands— "could do it. I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren't going to."

I did what I had to do.

Oh, definitely. There was definitely a real, valid motive behind their escape. My eyes were trained intently on the two women—one was only a girl, I reminded myself, though she didn't seem like it—glaring at each other across the desk.

"Miss Hathaway," Kirova's voice was deadly in how blank it was. "Forgive me if I fail to see the logic of how taking her out of a heavily guarded, magically secured environment is protecting her. Unless there's something you aren't telling us?"

Rose was silent.

"I see. Well then. By my estimation, the only reason you left—aside from the novelty of it, no doubt—was to avoid the consequences of that horrible, destructive stunt you pulled just before your disappearance."

The novelty of it? Was she missing the point that much?

"No, that's not—" Rose protested.

"And that only makes my decision so much easier. As a Moroi, the princess must continue on here at the Academy for her own safety, but we have no such obligations to you. You will be sent away as soon as possible."

"I…what?" Rose gasped.

No.

It was the only prominent word in my mind. No, Rose Hathaway was not being sent away. No way. I didn't understand how Kirova was being so single-minded. It seemed less like she was trying to get to the root of the problem here, and more like she had some sort of vendetta against Hathaway. She hadn't even attempted to pursue the conversation, when she knew the girls weren't telling the whole truth about why they'd run away. And that, to me, was selfish of her. It showed that her compassion for Vasilisa wasn't as outstanding as she would like to make it appear.

Vasilisa flew out of her chair. "You can't do that! She's my guardian." she yelled.

"She is no such thing." Kirova replied. "Particularly since she isn't even a guardian at all. She's still a novice."

"But my parents—"

"I know what your parents wanted, God rest their souls, but things have changed. Miss Hathaway is expendable. She doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and she will leave."

The indifference in her tone made something inside me squirm. Expendable. It made me think of how lowly some Moroi thought of us Dhampir.

Rose didn't seem to be able to believe what she was hearing, either. "Where are you going to send me? To my mom in Nepal? Did she even know I was gone? Or maybe you'll send me off to my father?"

She took a breath, and when she spoke again, I had to wonder what went on in her mind behind the snappish comments, for her voice to turn so cold. "Or maybe you're going to try to send me off to be a blood whore. Try that and we'll be gone by the end of the day."

Strangest thing was, even standing there, ready to stop her from escaping, I believed from her tone that she would somehow find a way free again if she really wanted to.

"Miss Hathaway," Kirova hissed, resembling a snake. "you are out of line."

There was a silence in the room, and I knew it was now or never. There was only one weapon I had in my arsenal, but I had to use it, as unproven as it was. Rose Hathaway was too interesting for her to leave.

"They have a bond." I said, and let it sit in the stagnant air. All eyes swiveled to me, and I met Rose's, which were churning like two pools of oil. In that split second, I knew my suspicions were true. "Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don't you?"

Kirova's eyes slid from the girls and back to me several times before she spoke. "No…that's impossible. That hasn't happened in centuries."

Then don't you think it was about time for it to happen again? I thought, but restrained myself from snapping back at her.

"It's obvious. I suspected it as soon as I started watching them." But then, I was more observant than most.

I was still staring into Rose's eyes, I realized. She averted her gaze from mine.

"This is a gift," Prince Victor murmured, still sitting in the corner. "A rare and wonderful thing."

At least someone was on my side. "The best guardians had that bond," I boasted, remembering Babushka's voice as she lilted over the words. "In the stories."

Rage flashed in Kirova's eyes. She didn't want there to be a reason Rose should stay. "Stories that are centuries old. Surely you aren't suggesting we let her stay at the Academy after everything she's done?"

Yes, I was.

I shrugged, trying to seem as casual and indifferent as possible. I've often found that when people think you don't care; they listen more rationally to what you have to say. "She may be wild and disrespectful, but—"

"Wild and disrespectful? Who are you, anyway? Outsourced help?" Rose exclaimed wildly and disrespectfully, giving us an example.

"Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now," snapped Kirova, though she looked as if she might be regretting the decision, slightly. "Her sanctioned guardian."

"You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?" she asked. I would have been offended, but her voice didn't convey any sort of disgust. I could see that it was just her quick wit, and her desire to be the princess's sole protector which made her ladle out insults as if they were coins to the penniless.

The Headmistress turned to me in exasperation, throwing her hands into the air. It would have been a funny image had I been on the outside looking in. "You see? Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and very raw potential in the world can't make up for that. A guardian without discipline is worse than no guardian."

I knew Kirova just really didn't want to try. I wondered why'd she'd put herself in the schooling system if she wasn't able to spot potential, and help someone work towards it. The girl was only seventeen, for God's sake. I'd met guardians my age and older who still had no sense of discipline. And she was right on that part; lack of discipline would get a guardian killed.

"So teach her discipline." I said boldly. "Classes just started. Put her back in and get her training again."

"Impossible." She shot it down. "She'll be hopelessly behind her peers."

Rose glanced up from examining her nails, looking scandalized. "No, I won't."

Neither of us acknowledged her. "Then give her extra training sessions." I said, exasperated. This was my last chance at keeping her here. If Kirova didn't accept this one, I wasn't sure what I could say.

"Who's going to put in the extra time? You?" Kirova demanded, sending me a challenging stare.

"Well, that's not what I—" I paused. I hadn't thought of that. Could I put in the extra time? Yes, I knew I could. It wasn't like I did much of anything in my spare time other than train and read, anyway. The question was, would I? I'd never mentored anybody before, and at twenty-four I still felt like I hadn't learned nearly enough to be the person someone else looked up to.

Looking as if she knew she would win, Kirova crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes. That's what I thought."

I glanced at Rose, and then at Vasilisa beside her. Both stared at me with hope kindling in their eyes. Yes, the reason I'd started this argument was for Rose's benefit, but what about the princess's? Looking at them now, I knew that if Rose were to be taken away from her, it wouldn't be something Vasilisa would heal from. And I wasn't sure how a psychic bond worked, but I imagined the existence of such a thing would just make it all the more difficult on both of them. Vasilisa was my charge, and it was my duty to protect her, not just physically, but also emotionally. So, no, whatever doubts I had in myself, I had to take on Rose as my student. It was me, protecting my charge, after all.

"Yes." I said, and saw the Headmistress's expression falter. "I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra lessons along with her normal ones."

"And then what?" She was fuming, not having gotten her way. "She goes unpunished?"

I'd never said that. Though I suddenly had the feeling that the training I would put her through would be punishment enough.

"Find some other way to punish her. Guardian numbers have gone down too much to risk losing another. A girl, in particular."

Kirova was sullen and silent a moment, staring out the windows, which showed nothing but the consuming night outside.

"I'm inclined to agree with Guardian Belikov. Sending Rose away would be a shame, a waste of talent." Said Victor Dashkov from his corner.

He caught my eye, too swiftly for the others to see, for me to even register if it actually happened or not. And he winked at me, as if he were in on some secret with me. I averted my gaze from his.

"Please, Ms. Kirova. Let Rose stay." Lissa pleaded, her voice sweet as drizzled honey.

Finally, the Headmistress turned from the window with a defeated sigh. "If Miss Hathaway stays, here is how it will be." She turned, addressing Rose. "Your continued enrollment at St. Vladimir's is strictly probationary. Step out of line once, and you're gone. You will attend all classes and required trainings for novices your age. You will also train with Guardian Belikov in every spare moment you have—before and after classes. Other than that, you are banned from all social activities, except meals, and will stay in your dorm. Fail to comply with any of this, and you will be sent…away."

Don't be smart, don't be smart, don't be smart, I chanted in my head, silently willing it towards her.

Rose gave a harsh, brackish laugh. "Banned from all social activities?" She parroted. "Are you trying to keep us apart?" she nodded towards Vasilisa. "Afraid we'll run away again?"

I nearly slammed my head into the wall.

"I'm taking precautions," Kirova replied coolly. "As I'm sure you recall; you were never properly punished for destroying school property. You have a lot to make up for. You are being offered a very generous deal. I suggest you don't let your attitude endanger it." This was one thing I agreed with Kirova on, completely.

And this was the attitude I'd be spending my mornings and evenings with, I realized with a slight sense of dread. What had I gotten myself into? I stared at the back of Rose's head, and the long, silky-looking dark hair that fanned over her shoulders made her look more innocent from the back than she did in the front. She was fiery, for sure. Alberta had gotten that part right. But she was crazily determined, and protective as well, so I supposed Alberta had been right on all accounts. Rose looked back at me, and met my eyes. I held her stare, not sure what it was she was looking for there.

Apparently finding it, she turned back to Kirova. She exhaled heavily, and glanced up at the Headmistress. "Fine." She said. "I accept."

And those words very well may have been the beginning of the end for me.