~Rose~
Lissa and I'd continued playing pretend, during our journey to the royal palace. We'd reminisced about all the good times we'd had, as we checked in at Embersia City Hall. We'd daydreamed about making something of ourselves, as we boarded and sat in an OLTRAK train. We'd claimed we were headed to the best place on earth, as the landscape changed before our eyes.
But now, the pretending was over and reality began.
The bedrooms for the Fairest of All contestants weren't fancy. Five, wooden pieces of furniture were all that occupied the area: a closet, bed, desk, chair, and dresser. Nothing decorated the glaring, white walls. There were no plants to freshen the still air. The only thing that lessened the bleakness of my room was the sunlight that poured through the window.
I hauled my luggage onto the twin-sized bed, which shook and creaked from the weight. Unpacking all my belongings didn't take long, since I had only brought three dresses; shoes; bras and underwear; pajamas and toiletries. I went to place my sleepwear and undergarments in the dresser, but it was dusty, so I had to wipe it with my hands first. After that, I hung up my gowns and placed my shoes in the closet then organized my toiletries on the dresser's surface.
Because Queen Natasha hadn't specified when we'd start cleaning, after she called all the girls' names, I decided to gaze outside. The forests of Emory, Olestra's woodland state, stretched out under the sun and looked like a gleaming, green ocean. The trees stood sturdy and tall, as they surrounded the sloping hills the royal palace sat upon. It was totally different from Hesperia's clay mountains, cactuses, and dry earth. But it was still beautiful.
A knock suddenly sounded on the door, and I averted my gaze from the window, mildly annoyed at having my peace shattered. I wondered, "Who is it?" and slowly headed toward the barrier that separated me and the stranger. Hopefully, I didn't sound bothered.
"Housekeeping." The deep, masculine voice seemed to filter through the door and wrap around me like an embrace. Its slight, Russian accent made my heart dance within my chest, and the impulse to just run over and open the door flooded me.
I gave into it and found myself face to face with a handsome, royal guard. "You're not housekeeping," I said. "You're a guardian. What are you doing here? How do you even know I'm staying here?"
"Her Majesty ordered some guardians to deliver uniforms to the contestants. We were told where your rooms were located, and I was given your dress," he answered professionally, completely ignoring my attitude. "You're Rosemarie Hathaway, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, but I prefer to go by Rose." He returned my gesture then handed me the attire I was subjected to wear in between the beauty assessments. "What's your name?"
"Dimitri Belikov." An attractive name for an attractive man. Figures.
"Nice to meet you. How old are you?" I didn't know why I asked, but I just had to know.
He seemed a little thrown off by that question, yet he still answered. "Likewise, and I'm twenty-five." Not too much older, but older enough. Why did I even care, though? It wasn't like I could date him.
I held up the dress and frowned. It was ragged and faded, with loose threads hanging from the ankle-length, brown skirt. The bodice was black and white, while the sleeves were long and in all white. A couple patches were on the dress. It was so unappealing. "This is…lovely," I said, afraid to vocalize what I truly thought.
Dimitri wasn't fooled. "Queen Natasha has her reasons for choosing that kind of clothing." Even though it was natural for him to defend the woman he served, I was still mad. She didn't deserve support.
"Yeah, because me and the other contestants are going to be working like a bunch of goddamn servants." He narrowed his gaze at my inappropriateness, and I immediately corrected myself. "I'm sorry I said that, sir. It was wrong of me. Please don't tell Her Majesty," I pleaded. I was already going to be in the danger zone, by drawing away attention from Lissa. My situation didn't need to be worsened.
As those bottomless eyes stared at me, I couldn't help but think Dimitri was going to rat me out. All this time seemed to pass us by, and I played with the sides of my shorts to distract myself. But the silence kept persisting, and I didn't know how much more of it I could take.
Thankfully, I didn't have to ponder too long. "I won't tell her," he finally said. If I wasn't mistaken, there was the tiniest smile pulling at his lips. His soft, shapely, and inviting lips.
"Really?" Why wasn't he reporting what I'd said?
Dimitri nodded. "Really. You have my word."
My eyes widened, as gratitude flowed into me. I offered a grin. "Thank you. I appreciate it."
"You're welcome." He cleared his throat then fell back into guardian mode. His ghost of a smile disappeared, and I found myself missing it. "Queen Natasha wants you to get dressed immediately. I'm supposed to take you to Human Resources."
"Human Resources?" Dimitri made it sound like I was an employee about to be punished by the company she worked for. Though, the punishment part was very accurate.
He nodded again. "Fairest of All contestants must have trackers, during their time here. It's protocol."
My heart came to a halt. Her Majesty always had trackers injected into the twelve girls that were chosen for the event, every year. They provided her access to contestants' locations, beauty levels, mobility, and productivity. Getting rid of them was a huge hassle, since they were embedded in the skin, but someone had probably succeeded in deactivating them before.
Someone who had gotten caught and was now rotting in prison or a grave.
"All right. I'll get changed," I said, breaking out of my unnerving thoughts.
"You've five minutes. I'll be waiting outside."
As soon as Dimitri left the room, I quickly shed my shorts and t-shirt then put on the peasant dress. It was itchy, but it fit perfectly, so the outfit wasn't entirely bad. I took out my ponytail and wrapped my hair into a neat bun, applied some lip gloss, then walked out the door.
Right when I shut it, he immediately chastised me. "You shouldn't have put that on."
"You mean the lip gloss?" He nodded, and I swatted a hand and began walking through the ornate hallways. Dimitri fell into step beside me. "Wearing some isn't going to make me drop dead gorgeous, especially in this dress."
I wanted him to say that it absolutely would, but he replied differently. I tried not to be disappointed. "It doesn't matter. Queen Natasha will notice, and she's not going to approve. You need to behave accordingly."
A retort almost flew out of my mouth, but I suddenly recalled Mia Rinaldi, my former schoolmate at Embersia Academy, practically getting yelled at by Her Majesty for only holding her head high. If she had gotten upset about that, then she'd surely have issues with me wearing makeup outside of the beauty assessments.
Dimitri was right. I had to be careful and avoid breaking any rules, whether spoken or unspoken. Especially since I was planning on steering Queen Natasha's attention away from Lissa.
I wiped off the lip gloss then questioned, "Why are you telling me this? Aren't you the enemy?" We were now descending the winding staircase. Everything around us shimmered and shone with color. If only I could have that in my prison cell of a room.
"Working for the queen doesn't mean I'm against you, Rose." He sounded matter-of-fact, but I swore I could hear pain in his voice. Before I had the chance to ask about that, Dimitri added, "It doesn't mean I'm your ally, either."
My brows furrowed. "What do you—"
Human Resources abruptly came into view and put my asking on hold. The rest of the Fairest of All contestants stood in a single-file line outside the gray door, clad in the same dress as me. They stirred in their places, and fear and anxiety erupted inside me, as I remembered the trackers. The long and sharp needle that would pierce my arm.
The world suddenly began to sway, and I felt myself losing balance. Though, it was swiftly restored by Dimitri's steady hand. "Rose, are you okay?"
I blinked vigorously and focused on the warmth of his touch. "Yeah, I'm fine." I tried to go stand in line, but his grip prevented me from doing so. I met his gaze. "You can let go. Really, I'm okay."
His dark brown eyes stared at me for several moments, trying to decide if I was telling the truth or not. While there was nothing romantic about this, it seemed like we were frozen in time and in our own, little world. Like no else mattered but us.
Dimitri's eventual nod ended the trance, and he abandoned me to go stand with his colleagues. I tried to ignore the coldness his absence wrought and joined the line of contestants. My stomach churned, as I waited for my name to be called, and blood pounded in my ears.
Why was waiting such torture?
A few minutes passed, until I heard: "Rosemarie Hathaway."
I gulped and shuffled over to the woman who stood in the doorway. She was in her late twenties and dressed in a white lab coat, with a blouse and slacks underneath. "Hello," I said, forcing a smile onto my face.
"Good afternoon, Rosemarie." She led me inside Human Resources, which looked like a laboratory instead of an office. The walls were white and gray, and a sterile scent hung in the air. Fluorescent lights glared from above, and multiple stations with their own sets of equipment and chairs were aligned in a row, occupied by other contestants receiving shots.
We sat down at an empty station, and the woman introduced herself. "I'm Dr. Olendzki and will be administering your shot today. Which arm do you want the tracker injected into?"
"The left one," I said, my voice slightly shaking.
Dr. Olendzki chuckled, as she pulled down the collar of my dress and sterilized my upper arm. "There's no need to be scared, Rosemarie. Getting a shot is quick and easy. You'll hardly know it's even happening." She got the syringe, which was as long and sharp as I'd predicted, and made sure everything was all right with it before injecting me.
The needle penetrated my skin, and I bit my lip and withheld a jerk as a tear escaped my eye. Pressure replaced the pain, while the tracker was being transmitted. But after a few moments, the pain returned when she removed the needle and discarded it in a waste bin.
"See, that wasn't so bad," Dr. Olendzki said, placing a bandage over my wound. She smiled and displayed two rows of pearly-white teeth. "We're all done here, Rosemarie. Don't tamper with the injection site or worry about inflammation that lasts a few days."
I faked a smile again. "Okay. Thank you."
"You're very welcome."
As soon as those words left her mouth, I exited Human Resources. It felt nice to be out of that sterile, plain room and in the grand hallway with fresh air. I went to stand beside Lissa, who was leaning against a wall. "Hey," I greeted. "How did your shot go?"
Her jade-green eyes brightened at the sight of me but dimmed a little at my question. "Okay, I guess." She rubbed her wound then looked around at everyone before closing some distance between us. Her voice was barely a whisper. "I hate this place. Everything that's done in here is awful, and everyone scares me."
I nodded and adopted her volume, clasping our hands tightly. "I feel the same way, except for one thing."
Her blond brows furrowed. "What is it?"
"The guardians. They don't seem that scary."
"Are you kidding me?" Lissa shivered and closed her eyes, then reopened them after regaining composure. "Ethan Moore, the guardian who brought me my uniform and escorted me here, freaked me out. He was so dark and serious and intimidating. I couldn't wait to get away from him."
I understood what she was getting at. Palace guardians were indeed edgy and fierce. They could do great damage, when times called for it. However, Dimitri hadn't struck me as a chilling person. He struck me as dutiful and accomplished, and I found his lethalness charming. He had seemed to carry it in an admirable way, and I had enjoyed being in his presence.
Had he enjoyed being in mine…?
I didn't allow myself to dwell on that thought, even though I wanted to. Instead, I told Lissa, "I had Dimitri Belikov. He wasn't as bad."
"Really?" Her eyes were wide, and she sounded like she didn't believe me.
I recalled my interaction with him and nodded. A smile slowly crept onto my face. "Really."
Author's Note
What you think of Rose's impressions of Dimitri and Tasha, interaction with Dimitri, and thoughts on the things that go on at the royal palace? Let me know in a review! More character appearances, parallels, and Rose and Dimitri's strategies for helping Lissa and Vika are on the way.
Thank you so much for the reviews! They warm my heart, and I'm glad that you're all enjoying everything so far.
Vocabulary: "OLTRAK" is based off "AMTRAK," an American railroad corporation that provides transportation for the U.S. and three cities in Canada.
P.S. I've been watching a lot of Richelle Mead interviews lately, and it got me thinking: When did you guys start reading the VA series and why? I was 11, when I began reading the books. I was so captivated by Romitri and the world-building, that I'd read during any free moment I had. I even woke up in the middle of the night and read by phone light for hours. My parents actually caught me in bed, fast asleep, with BP next to me. So, I was BANNED from the series because they were age-inappropriate, at that time. I finally got back to the books in ninth grade and resumed BP, then read the remaining novels. VA was so addicting, but so worth it!
Until next time...