When we landed – 12 hours ahead of schedule – Stevens ran ahead to alert the Headmistress of our early arrival. It was breakfast time so I wanted to make sure Kurova had a few minutes to prepare herself. There were a few things that would require sorting out now the girls were back and none of them were easy. The others flicked their eyes to me before we exited, waiting my direction. A mere second of thought had me weigh options and decide we'd go straight through the middle of campus. One reason was because it was the shortest route to her office which left less time for unexpected trouble between here and there. Another reason was it would be good for the student body to see the two girls returned and safe, not beaten or pregnant or turned or any of the other speculated rumors that still fluttered through the school after all this time.

Actually, as we walked another reason came to mind; there was a chance that starting to assimilate the girls back into the school right away would slightly lessen Kurova's options on any major consequences she chose to dole out. She was Headmistress and they had some severely poor choices to account for, but Alberta had pulled me aside before we left and told me in hushed tones that anything I could do to make this go smoothly would be appreciated. She felt that Kurova had developed an especially negative opinion of Janine's daughter over the years and might possibly be inclined to overstep her bounds a little bit in regards to punishing her. And Janine was very well known in our world and her opinion very much respected – Alberta felt that if Kurova went too far Janine had the power to influence enough other people's opinions about this school to affect enrollment, which was already down because there were simply less Dhampires being sent for training now (a growing concern across the world, not just our one little school).

So Alberta had asked me to look out for Janine's daughter during this transition back. I'd listened to her, and trusted her judgment, but felt that it was maybe a little unwarranted. Still, it seemed wise to start establishing their return to the student body now.

Before we'd finished crossing the front lawn, Rose was running up and calling to me.

"Dimitri! Wait up!" Dimitri? First name only? I winced. I had a bad feeling about the potential antagonizing for this meeting. It was extremely presumptive and demeaning in our culture to use a first or last name with no title in front of it without being granted permission first. Even ruder if that person was an elder or superior rather than a peer. Rose had caught up to me and jogged at my elbow in order to keep up with my longer strides.

"Now you want to talk?" I responded. It wasn't necessary to goad her about refusing to talk to me on the plane, but I was irritated that she'd gone straight to using my first name. I wasn't going to establish a pattern 2 hours into our meeting where we did things on her terms. She had an unaccountable disregard for authority and I wasn't in the mood to indulge it.

"Are you taking us to Kurova?" She asked me now, ignoring my statement completely. She sounded angry and anxious now. Well. She had to know it wouldn't be a pleasant social call type of visit.

"Headmistress Kurova," I corrected in my sternest voice, hoping she'd get the hint.

"Headmistress Kurova," Rose amended, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. She's still a self-righteous bi-"she stopped suddenly, words, footsteps, breathing, all, before finishing her thought. Good God, this girl sought out trouble. Maybe Alberta had read the Rose/Kurova situation more accurately than I'd given her credit for.

I glanced back at her prepared to take an arm and force her to keep walking if needed. Her face showed absolute disbelief. And again, I saw a touch of that uncertainty, that almost fear.

"We're going through the dining hall?" she asked incredulous. It was full to the brim with students, teachers and other Guardians. Loud noises were coming through the closed doors we stood in front of. Laughter, talking, dishes and glasses clanking, the sizzle of more food being brought out. Rose stared at it all with dread and then suddenly looked worried and glanced at the Princess, who was now right behind us with all the other Guardians in tow. I glanced back and saw Vasalissa was ghostly white and looked terrified and overwhelmed. Rose reached out and squeezed her hand tight and held it so, looking unwaveringly at her, offering solidarity and support until Vasalissa nodded at her, then let go. Again I found myself satisfied with what I saw. A real Guardian moment: looking after her friends emotional well-being, patiently, insistently, not just her physical well-being.

I made a quick scan of the other Guardian faces, and they were all standing in a phalanx around the girls like they should have been. I nodded at them and we went in. Walking through all those students, the sight of us all brought the noise level down to almost nothing, but before we'd reached the other side of the hall it was back up to almost double what it had been before. Vasalissa was cringing noticeably and Rose was marching right beside her, shoulders squared, chest out and massive smile glued to her face, her eyes challenging everyone she made contact with to do or say anything she didn't like. I suspected she was just as overwhelmed as Vasalissa, but she would be damned if she showed it. Brazenness was apparently another main component in her personal makeup. The more I observed, the more I wondered what kind of Guardian Rose would make, if this raw, unfocused potential could be brought to heel and properly trained. There was so much potential there, and the Bond – it was mind-blowing to think the sort of Guardian she could be for Vasalissa one day. But right now it was only potential, and very angry potential at that.

I kept a very brisk pace to our destination and once we were all outside the office, I mentally prepared for an ugly battle. I knocked on the door, then put my head in and saw both Kurova and Alberta inside. I made a slight head incline to Alberta, hoping she'd be able to interpret the caution I was trying to convey with no face muscles, and then made eye contact with Kurova.

"We have them Headmistress Kurova. Whenever you want to see them."

Her face was dark with anger, Alberta's smooth, polished stone, designed to be in the background and then I saw Victor Dashkov sitting in a side armchair looking anxious in a happy way. This was slightly unusual because he was Royal and normally at court, not involved in anything at the school. But he'd come last night to visit with his daughter today and had apparently heard the news of our return. Kurova couldn't really tell a Royal no if he want to be here for this – which she clearly resented – but it was odd that he would want t be here. He wasn't related to either girl very closely. A second cousin of some sort to the Princess I thought. So, another unknown in this equation.

Kurova was tart with her reply. "Bring them in then." I bowed to her and stepped back, holding the door wide opened now and telling two of the Guardians to stay outside the door once we went in. The others waited until the girls were inside and I'd nodded my dismissal as I closed the office door before they left. Alton and Stevens stayed one on each side of the door in case they were needed.

I settled against the wall next to Alberta, right behind the two chairs with the runaways in them, and got comfortable. Alberta's micro expression told me we'd be here a while. She stood discreetly behind Rose and I wondered for a second if this was maybe to quiet her with a hand over her mouth if needed. But that was ridiculous, it wouldn't happen. But Alberta was very wary of what was going to happen here and I took my cue from her. She'd worked at St. Vladimir's for 15 years, and known Kurova when they were both kids in school themselves. She knew her, knew this school, and knew Rose and Vasalissa. I respected Alberta a lot and she was clearly proficient in her job as Head of the Guardians but over the last 6 months I'd also seen what an accurate weathervane she made for anything happening around here.

Meanwhile, Victor was hugging Vasalissa and talking to both of them in a very warm and familiar tone. As I listened to him and the Princess talk, I understood his request to be here. Alberta's eyes were on Kurova though and when I glanced that way I was surprised by the growing anger on the woman's face at having to wait to start the discipline for their offense, and possibly angry that her feelings were being upstaged by such obvious delight by the two Moroi's.

It wasn't long before she called everyone's attention back. I was curious to see her plan here to deal with this. There obviously had to be consequences for running away but what exactly? It didn't happen often. In my school in Siberia a large part of the punishment would have been corporal, coupled with the most distasteful menial labor they could find. But Americans as a rule didn't do corporal punishment.

Kurova was delivering a very charged lecture to both of them. Vasalissa looked at her lap, clearly uncomfortable with anyone being angry with her while Rose looked angry and annoyed. When Kurova mentioned the expense of sending a team in to bring them back Rose started putting in her two cents. Then Kurova mentioned me, and Rose exploded.

"Who the hell is he? Cheap foreign labor?" well. Guess she was still angry with me. She'd turned in her seat and was giving me a death glare, but like the ones earlier, I brushed it off.

"He is Princess Vasalissa's official Guardian, Ms. Hathaway. Not you. You're not a Guardian at all." He tone was dismissive, designed to belittle Rose. I felt a little bad for her. What Kurova said was true, but very harsh.

And now she was bearing down on Vasalissa in particular, telling her exactly why she was wrong to leave the Academy. But not placing blame on her, I noticed suddenly. Not one bit of it. I started to frown and then schooled my face to stillness. Rose looked like she was zoned out, clearly adept at this point in her life to letting lectures slide off her like water on a duck. No doubt she'd been through hundreds of these things since being enrolled here in pre-school.

But her attention returned to its full effect once Kurova turned on her a minute later, accusing her of putting a Moroi, and not just any Moroi but the last Dragomir in danger for fun. Even though every adult in the room knew this was true, Rose looked beyond outraged, and personally offended at the idea that anyone could think she'd do that, rather than be angry at being lectured. And as she argued louder and louder with Kurova about whether she'd been wrong or not, I saw my suspicion had been right Kurova only held Rose responsible for their leaving. Vasalissa tried to cut in and take some of the blame and Kurova stopped her cold.

"A real Guardian wouldn't allow their charge to do something so reckless, no matter what their Moroi wanted," she said firmly, shooting daggers at Rose with her eyes. "Especially the last of a Royal line. If Ms. Hathaway was the Guardian for you she claimed to be, she would have taken your concerns to me."

Alberta set her lips into a thin line. She didn't like the direction this was going any more than I did. I felt this was an unfair view to make in this situation. Maybe if the two were 30…but when they'd left they'd barely been 15. How fair was it really to expect Rose to shoulder the entire responsibility for this?

I resisted the urge to say anything though. It wasn't my place, really. I was Vasalissa's Guardian, but I was still the new guy here. The only power I had was in regards to the Princess, not to discipline them. I watched the argument continue and was struck again by how different the two girls were. Vasalissa had taken her lecture in quiet submissiveness while Rose had lit up like a bonfire at the opening line and now was letting loose with her opinion, punching her statements with many colorful swear words. Alberta and I had both winced at the first one before we got ourselves braced, and they kept coming. Rose simply refused to admit her wrong doing, despite neither girl being able or willing to articulate what the hell they'd been so afraid of in the first place, and instead stood up for her belief that she had, impossibly, taken the safer course of action for Vasalissa.

We watched the words fly between the two, the Dhampir girl in hastily thrown on, worn out old jeans and hoodie that had seen better days and the carefully put together, not-a-hair-out-of-place, fully grown Moroi woman and sleek business formal clothes. Bother their faces were by now red with exertion, emotional and verbal. I saw Alberta's forhead wrinkle the tiniest bit in a carefully concealed frown as she watched the verbal tennis match continue to play out. We'd been here for over 45 minutes already and were no closer to a resolution. Victor sat calmly in his seat, a pleasant expression on his face, which struck me as kind of odd, but then he wasn't a Guardian. He had no responsibility here for the outcome.

Suddenly Kurova had had enough and broke into Roses' tirade, telling her she was no longer allowed to be a student at the school. She sounded both completely serious and slightly gleeful. Alberta's eyes widened a fraction and she went tense. This was what she'd been afraid of, I realized suddenly. There was total, shocked silence in the room for half a second, then all hell broke loose.

Both girls exploded in protests, Vasalissa almost hysterical and Rose in complete shock and disbelief. Victor had lost the amused smile and was frowning heavily now and leaning forward in his seat, getting ready to put his thoughts in the mix. Alberta had also opened her mouth and was saying something to Kurova, who was ignoring everybody and continuing on with what she was saying.

I stood there in shock, the only one not speaking. In truth, I wondered what could be said. It wasn't an entirely unjustified move by Kurova, although I felt certain her reasons were more personal the more I watched rather than professional. Rose was not a star student and had purposely taken a Moroi out of safety and run away with her, effectively kidnapping her instead of guarding her, even if it had been welcome by said Moroi. Any Headmistress of any school would find that inexcusable. There was nothing to save Rose except looking sorry like Vasalissa had. And she hadn't.

But now her eyes were looking around – I thought for Alberta – to ask for help, but they passed right by her and found mine. And held. And, shockingly, they begged. They begged me with complete desperation to stop her, somehow, from being sent away. Not sent away from the school, but from being sent away from her Moroi. The one she so desperately wanted to protect. Her fingers on the hand closest to Vasalissa twitched and then clenched the arm of the chair she was in, as if she thought holding on to her friend would somehow keep her from being sent away from her. Watching her, and the agony on her face, my heart ached. I thought about Ivan, about how devastated I'd been when I heard the news. I hadn't been there, and he'd died. And I firmly believed that if it had me there that day, rather than Olenz, he would have lived. I had failed him with my absence. I was supposed to be there to protect him and I hadn't been. And he'd died. Rose was terrified of the same thing happening to her friend if she was forced to leave. There seemed to be no evidence that this was true, but she believed it with everything she had. They both did.

I'd wanted to wait to fully confirm this before I brought it up. Probably only to Alberta. But this was all there was to save her.

"They have a Bond." I said the words clearly, toning my voice to carry over the others without being too loud or aggressive. Calm. Authoritative. Sure. It was a gamble, but I didn't think it was much of one.

Total silence fell. Alberta was watching me with a frown that meant she was thinking about something. Victor was leaning forward…expectant? And excited, I thought. Eyes shining with excitement. Rose and Vasalissa were staring, faces a blend of shock and fear. Rose threw in some of that patented anger she carried around for good measure. Kurova looked completely caught off guard, then angry as well. She was the first to speak – and deny it.

"That's impossible," she said flatly. "No one has heard of one in centuries." It was a reactive statement, out before she'd even thought to say it. Well, I'd wanted to wait for some kind of hard proof, but here I was, jumping in feet first, all because those eyes had begged me for my help. Mine, not Alberta's, or even Victor's – and that would have made the most sense for her here because he was a well-known favorite of the Queen. While I was merely the 'cheap, foreign labor' sent to steal them away from their makeshift home and bring them back here. She'd refused to talk to me or even really look at me the whole way back. What had possessed her just then to look to me for help? I suddenly really, really wanted to know. Lucky guess? Instinct? Some impossibly small observation she'd made that had her think I might do it?

My thoughts were spinning out of control, too fast for me to keep up with and everyone was staring at me, waiting for my next words. Rose was staring at me. The room felt like it was shrinking. But my face displayed none of it. Smooth like river polished stone, my mentor had always told me. Display nothing of what you think or feel. I had been grateful many times for this lesson she'd pounded into my thoughts and body. Now was definitely one of those times.

"It's obvious," I heard myself saying, my confidence leaving no room for argument. "I noticed it within moments of observing them." It wasn't actually that quick, but for now all I had were a few vague seconds here and there. Nothing solid. No proof. I had to make up for it with confidence – or the girls had to confirm it! And like the sun coming out after a bad storm, my thoughts stilled and I knew I had my answer. I continued on seamlessly.

"Rose knows what Vasalissa is thinking and feeling. Don't you Rose?"

At the sound of her name we locked eyes again. This was it. Either she'd take my hint, and the lifeline I'd thrown her, and confirm it…or she'd completely take me by surprise and do the opposite. I realized suddenly wouldn't be surprised by either one. Clearly they'd kept it a secret until now. But she's asked me for help and Id thrown her the only rope there was. Surely she'd be smart enough to grab it?

She did. Her face was a thunderstorm of clouds and she was now glaring at her lap. If I was right, then she was probably listening to what Vasalissa was thinking right now before saying anything. I looked over at her, and Vasalissa looked as though she was becoming ok with the idea. She looked anxiously at Rose, clearly wondering if this would allow her to stay. Kurova was also looking at Rose, but not in a friendly way. Alberta was a statue and staring into space. Victor was leaning forward on his cane, looking…hungry, of all things. How strange. He was waiting for Roses' confirmation. We all were.

'Come on Rose,' I thought.

"Ms. Hathaway –" Kurova started. It seemed to kick start something inside Rose because without a second of warm up she switched seamlessly from refusing to speak to full on battle mode. She sat up straight and looked Kurova dead on.

"Yes, ok? Yes, we have a Bond. I can hear and feel was Lissa feels, but not the way around. Its one-way."

Really? One-way? I hadn't expected that. The stories had never specified really, so I'd always assumed it was a two way street.

Kurova didn't look convinced. She looked at Vasalissa. "Ms Dragomir –"

But Vasalissa was nodding. "It's true. It's been that way for a while, but we kept it a secret." Kurova looked about ready to call all three of us liars but then help came unexpectedly from the left.

"Oh, my dears, what a marvelous, precious gift!" Victor Dashkov clapped his hands delightedly. "The stories are full of legends about this!"

"Yes. Stories." Kurova all but snarled.

"History," I corrected firmly. "They are our histories, not fairy tales. And in them, all the best Guardians had them."

And then we were off. Kurova, I and Victor Dashkov going to bat for our respective beliefs on this matter while the girls watched, their heads (or eyes, in Alberta's case) followed the fast paced trajectory of our words.

Now I was supporting our 'fairy tale' with other, more solid facts: girls were rarely trained to be Guardians and it would be a travesty if we sent one away that was already here. Her training prior to leaving showed lots of potential. She was Vasalissa's age so was a perfect match to be her Guardian after graduation, provided she could catch up in time.

Victor was nodding along and verbally agreeing, subtly lending the influence of his nobility and name to my statements, while bringing up his own research into Bonds between the Guardians and Moroi of our past, giving multiple examples of how Bonded pairs had been saved from hopeless situations because of this unique connection. None were recent of course, but he also pointed out that we didn't know what made Bonds happen, and it was entirely possible that there were other out there who like Rose and Vasalissa had simply chosen to keep it a secret.

And Kurova repeatedly brought up Roses' past disturbances and the running away.

"She is too undisciplined to ever be a Guardian!" she snapped. I was losing patience now, feeling like we'd gone around the same circle of arguments at least 3 times by now.

"Then teach her discipline," I said, getting testy myself. In Siberia we handled kids like Rose very differently, and as such, they never got as bad as her. My own opinion of Rose based on her records and what I'd seen, was that she was spoiled. Not in the sense that Royals are, but she acted out because the consequences for it never outweighed the fun of living it up. And instead of trying a different method of punishing her, the school had kept doing the same thing that hadn't worked before. I felt like this was a problem with 's as a whole, and possibly all American schools, rather than a problem with Rose per se. And some general irritation at the way things were done here was starting to surface. I got a warning look from Alberta and took a deep breath to calm down.

"And the class time she's missed? Two years!" Kurova really was a broken record.

"Then tutor her!" I snapped, still trying to calm back down. But in Siberia things were just so different. They had a separate section of staff just to tutor any student who underperformed in any area until they could meet expectations again. It was done immediately after every quarter so they wouldn't get too far behind, and because the students knew to expect it, there was no stigma associated with it like there was here. "Have someone work with her, before and after classes until she catches up. Her record shows she shouldn't have a problem with that." Honestly, you would think I was asking to send Rose to the moon in a milk crate.

"And who's going to put in those extra hours? You?" Kurova's voice was biting and sarcastic. And it brought me up short.

"Well, I – that's not what I meant –" I felt a rare moment of uncertainty. I'd never taught anyone. Not really. A few tips here and there to my younger sister, or fellow classmate. Ivan, when he'd asked. But even then, we'd both agreed only a few weeks in that it was best to stop. A whole year? With the responsibility to make up 2 years of curriculum? Where did someone even start with that?

Kurova scoffed at me now. "That's what I thought." And the satisfied way she said that felt like I'd been slapped by a Strigoi. I knew I'd just lost major ground in my argument because Id hesitated. Because I'd been afraid. And now Rose, who hadn't made eye contact with me since I'd brought up the Bond half an hour ago was watching me again – they both were – pleading coming from Vasalissa's eyes and downright panic and dismay from Roses'. She knew I'd just lost ground too and was back to imagining being sent away. The desperate glance she gave in Vasalissa's direction before looking back at me stabbed me painfully in the heart. And now her eyes were burning into mine fiercely, even as her hand twitched again, even her subconscious wanting to grab onto Vasalissa, to physically tie herself to the Moroi she'd sworn her life to at the thought of being made to leave.

And Ivan's voice spoke to me, a piece of an old memory.

'You're not afraid of anything'.

'I'm afraid of this'.

'Is it really fear though? Or just feeling uncertain of the outcome?'

'Is there a difference?' I'd asked the question bitterly. But Ivan had remained calm and answered with serious thought like always. It was his best quality, the way he took any question I asked of him seriously. A quality I'd hoped to one day emulate.

'I think there is a great deal of difference. One is… paralyzing. And based on knowledge of bad things happening in the past. The other is… human. A tearing of the heart and mind between what you want and what you know. And the sadness that accompanies anytime you have to choose between them. But it's not paralyzing the way fear is. It's only a transition in time. It will always pass, no matter what you do or don't do, where fear does not always go. And has no facts to be based on – just ideas about the future.'

It had been one of those moments where Ivan had changed me for the better. And now I spoke to Kurova but kept my eyes on Rose.

"I will train her." Her shoulders slumped a minute in relief, then she squared them again. I'd interrupted Kurova so I spoke again, this time with my eyes on her. "I will train Rose."

Kurova's mouth opened in shock. And she grasped at whatever argument she had left that Victor and I had not already beaten. "And what about the consequences for leaving? For damaging school property? There has to be punishment for that!"

In my periphery I saw Vasalissa flinch at the mention of damaging school property. But not Rose. It was odd enough to catch my attention, but not enough for me to dwell on now. We still weren't completely in the clear here. And I was rapidly losing the energy for much more of this.

"Find some other way to punish her." My tone was almost black now and I knew my control was slipping. My control – Ivan's gift to me. The old me was fighting hard but I breathed slowly through my nose, forcing my heart rate back down. Vasalissa was speaking to Kurova now and Victor Dashkov was leaning forward again, looking ready to speak up also. Kurova looked like she wasn't being moved.

Ivan's voice came again to my mind. 'Stay calm, Dimitri, old friend. They have no power over you if you stay calm'. Another memory. Or a piece of one. God, there were so many. My chest was tight and at the same time felt like a huge hole was ever expanding inside it.

And then, finally, just when I'd about given up, Kurova broke. She laid out the strict terms on which Rose would be allowed to stay. They were restricting, to say the least, and Rose was angry again – no surprise – but we'd done everything we could. Alberta had verified that she'd count my sessions with Rose as credit for the missing years. Victor had added credibility to the Bond. Now it was up to Rose. Kurova wouldn't keep the offer open much longer.

Rose glared around at all of us, and caught my eyes again. It seemed accidental this time but it held. Silently I tried to talk to her with just our gaze. 'Take the deal. Don't be stupid. This is the last chance you'll get'. Her face showed puzzlement and then with a sigh, resignation. I felt myself relax finally and glanced at the clock again. Two and half hours. It felt like years. Rose looked back at Kurova and when she spoke her voice was the quietest it had been the whole time I knew her.

"OK."

'Atta girl,' Ivan's voice said.