Chapter 3

I woke up a few hours later. Surprisingly, no strigoi encounters tonight. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed so I will not have to deal with them while on my trip. Now that the Court knows that I'm not the killer anymore, the least I can do is relax a little bit. I'm sure Abe will be calling me soon to tell me to go back, but I can't. Not yet anyway and I cannot ask for anyone's help either. I know this is my journey; the Queen put me on this journey to help Lissa. I have to succeed otherwise she will never have her place in politics. She may never have the chance of becoming Queen either.

I finally decided to change into a different outfit and decided to head off. I should be able to get to Kansas by the end of today if I drive straight through. Hopefully, they have taken all the wanted pictures of me off by now, not that I do not like my new makeover. One day when I return, I'll have to thank all my friends for their support, but that day will not come soon. I have decided that after my mission of finding Lissa's family, I will not return to Court. I will travel and see the world before returning. I'll do some hunting, meet new people and maybe even fall in love. I cannot bring myself to go back even for Lissa or Dimitri. They have lives without me now and I just don't belong there anymore. I've been driving for 8 hours straight already and I'm tired. I need gas and some snacks and decided to stop for a little while. I stopped at a gas station with a diner next to it. I decided to go eat before I starve myself to death. I asked for a private booth and ordered my food. I also asked for a pitcher of water and asked not to be disturbed. They probably think I'm crazy or something, but I don't want to be disturbed when I go into Lissa's mind. I relax and find myself looking through her eyes.

"What do you mean Abe that Rose is gone?" Lissa sounded hysterical. Abe was pacing back and forth in front of Lissa, Christian, Adrian, Mia, Eddie, my other and Dimitri. "What I mean is that Rose has been gone for a few days. I helped her escape and I found a double to take her place. The person in prison waiting to be released is not Rose, but you will have to act like it is Rose. I haven't heard from Rose, but I know she is as safe as anyone can be. She's been in contact with one of my contacts and that's all I know. I will not contact her to give her location up. I know they have declared Rose free of all charges but if strigoi or humans knows she's out there, they still might be after her so we'll have to keep playing with her double until further notice."

Lissa watches Abe pacing back and forth while everyone is just speechless. "How did Rose get out?" I noticed that everyone was quite curious as well and Abe jumped into the gory details. Nothing really happened and I just walked out the front door. Everyone was in awe and it finally clicked to Lissa, "Ambrose was the person who helped Rose. That's why you hired him to be your assistance. Rose was planning on this from the start – but what is so important that she will not tell us what's going on. She's free now so it shouldn't matter."

Abe told them about a letter I had given him. He did not go into specifics and said the Queen had one last important mission for me. It told me to trust few with this information, as the future depends on it. I'm glad he didn't tell them what it stated, but I would have liked to have them with me. He turned to Adrian and said, "Rose asked me to do something for her and I have. She is blocking your dreamwalks so you will not be able to visit her until she wants you to. Lissa, Rose wants you to stay safe, please don't do anything rational. Dimitri, she wants you to watch over Lissa and Christian. She trusts you will take care of them. She loves you all, but she doesn't want any of you to look for her." Abe looks at my mother and they both get up and start leaving together. I think my mother already knows what's going on because my father will not be able to keep this from her, especially when she gives off those murderous glares. As my parents are leaving the apartment, my dad turns to Lissa and Adrian, "Princess and Lord Ivashkov, I don't know if Rose told you or not, but Mark and Oskana are here to visit. She may have mentioned meeting a spirit user in Russia? They will be here for a few days yet, so if you want to meet them, they are in guest housing. Please see them before they leave. Janine and I will be leaving for Russia in a couple of days as well. Janine has accepted my offer to become my guardian and so we probably will not see you guys for a while. If you hear from Rose, please let us know." They left shortly after bidding farewell to everyone.

Liss and Adrian looked at each other and agreed they wanted to meet Mark and Oskana. Everyone but Dimitri was going to go over to their apartment for dinner. Everyone went their own separate ways and I came back to my mind. I had been mindlessly eating my food while in Lissa's head. I have to get going soon. I quickly finish my food, paid the bill and got moving. I drove for another 8 hours before I became exhausted. I decided that I should snack and if I can keep going for another 3-4 hours, I can get to Kansas sooner. I've been munching on just about everything to keep my mind from thinking too much. I also changed the tempo of my music so they are fast paced that will keep me from falling asleep. After 3 and ½ hours, I finally make it to the border of Kansas. I decided to look for a nice motel so I can crash. I'm in luck because I actually see a nice hotel. Who knew there would be a moroi hotel in the middle of nowhere? I guess it's not unexpected because of the places like St. Vladimir and the Royal Court were in the middle of nowhere too. I pull up to the hotel, it's very posh and I get a room. I look at the documentation I have, it appears my name is Rosemarie Mazur. My dad didn't change anything about me at all. He just changed my last name. I requested a room and finally settled into my hotel room. Since the hotel was surrounded with wards, I wasn't on guard all the time. I kept my stake with me the whole time, but was more reluctant to grab a drink and have dinner in the dining hall. It was nighttime now so Strigoi would be lurking around. Especially with a place like this, they would expect Moroi to be walking in and out all sorts of the night. I decided to play it safe and keep indoors all night. After dinner, I headed back to my room to get a goodnight's sleep before the rest of my adventure.