Disclaimer: Again I do not own the dialogue from VA, or the characters. That is given to Ms. Richelle Mead.
Chapter 4:
I walked around the campus, patrolling even though I wasn't on duty. It was somewhat warm tonight, I wonder what the later A.M. hours would feel like. I missed the sun. It's not the same in the night. That's why I always request the "night" shift. Seeing as how the princess was back, however, I was told to watch over her and Rose to assure they didn't make another getaway any time soon. So I was stuck patrolling in the "day". The literal daytime reminded me of home. Montana wasn't such a far cry from Siberia. Homesickness twisted in my gut. I was always scolded by my mother and sisters for not visiting more often, but I had decided that I had to do my job and protect Moroi. Well that's what I say anyways. I think, secretly, that if I do go home I won't want to come back. I kept up with them. Well, most of the time.
I shifted my attention to the commons. I was a little hungry and I needed to distract myself from home. Food works. I got an apple, seeing as how training dhampirs inhale most of the food.
"Dimitri!" Alberta called as she jogged up next to me.
"Yeah?"
"Kirova wanted me to tell you to watch Rose. Just in case she tries anything."
"Why? I've already been signed up for early morning and after school practices with her." I sounded a little snarky, I'm not going to lie. Alberta just chuckled lightly.
"Rose is not that bad, I promise. She's devoted and I think you two will work well together. In a way she's kind of like you. She'll grow on you." And with that Alberta left. I realized I wasn't being so fair when I was talking about Rose. I was being a little bias because of the way she had treated me earlier. Than again, I don't think I'd be in such a good mood either if I hadn't slept in 24 hours, got beat up in training, and publicly humiliated in just one morning. I wasn't going to coddle her though. She had to take training seriously. Hell, she had to take me seriously.
The bell rang signaling the end of fifth period. Which means I had three free periods until I had to do the after school training with Rose. Sure, Kirova told me to watch her, but I decided that I'd wait until tomorrow to start that. It's not that I didn't want to watch her. I found it entertaining the way she easily fraternized with the other novices. And I liked the way she carried herself. She reminded me of her mother, well just the way she acted. I wonder if that was what Janine Hathaway was once like. I almost laughed. A rebellious Janine, was not easily comprehendible. They didn't look anything alike though. Rose had the long dark hair and the exotic looks I guessed she inherited from her father.
All this thinking about Rose brought that pang of sympathy back. I thought back to how both Kirova and Stan said that Rose was being extremely selfish. I had the feeling though that when it came to Lissa, selfishness wasn't in Rose's nature. And Lissa being stalked wasn't so absurd. She was the last Dragomir, which made her extremely valuable.
My mind was pulled back into the throws of reality when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. Guardians were trained for that kind of reaction. I eased when I saw it was just Victor Dashkov and his daughter Natalie. I had a gut feeling that something was amiss when it came to Victor Dashkov. He didn't set right with me. He had a deeply rooted mischievious look. I tried to shake it off, but whenever he was around I had a bad feeling there was a double meaning to his actions.
"Guardian Belikov!" Victor waved over to me, beckoning me forward. I moved steadily to where he stood with his daughter.
She was short for a Moroi, but she had their slim figure. She was peeking around her father's should, almost cowering. She had the jade green eyes that she shared with her father and Lissa, but instead of the pale blonde hair, she had long, inky black hair. She reminded me of a child. She had that wide-eyed innocent look, and looked completely clueless, even though she was the same age as Lissa and Rose.
"I wanted to say before I left," Victor smiled kindly, "that I appreciate you watching over Vasilisa. And I wish you the best of luck with Rosemarie. She's a nice girl, even though she has a somewhat tough exterior. I also wanted to thank you for agreeing to mentor her. It means a lot to Vasilisa so it means a lot to me. Joined at the hip those two." He smiled, slightly amused. "I'm sure you know of the accident that took Vasilisa's family."
"Yes, quite a tragedy. Rose and Princess Vasilisa were the only survivors." I nodded. He was rambling. But he was royal and to just leave would be extremely disrespectful, even if I didn't like the guy.
"Well, I read the reports and judging from where Rosemarie had been sitting, she shouldn't have lived either. She and Vasilisa are both extremely lucky to be alive." The bell rang marking the end of seventh period.
"I'm sorry, I'm probably keeping you from practice preparations aren't I? Well, I'm off anyways. I hope Rosemarie doesn't cause you too much trouble." Victor smiled slyly, nodding his goodbye, and sauntering away with his daughter in tow.
That was…weird. I shook it off and started towards my room to pick up a few things for practice. Why would Victor Dashkov tell me about that? Was there a point or was he simply trailing off? I had no idea. But what he said was a little disturbing. Rose should've died? I wondered if maybe he had read a few faulty reports.
I went to the guardians' gym, flipping on a couple lights. I decided to give her some weight reps, trying to go as easy as I could. But I couldn't go to easy. This was conditioning after all. And if this was too hard for her, well it was her fault she didn't stay in shape over these past few years. I set some workout clothes for her outside the locker room. I seriously doubted she would want to keep exercising in the jeans and t-shirt she'd been wearing all day. The bell rang again, marking the end of eighth period. I decided I'd give Rose a few minutes to make the trek over here.
After five minutes she still hadn't shown. Either she decided ditching was a good idea and she'd get away with it or she simply forgot. I hoped it was the latter but who knows with Rose Hathaway. I left, setting across campus to find her. I eventually did. She was talking quietly to Lissa. I didn't catch the last bit but whatever she said Lissa nodded to.
"Rose?" She and Lissa looked at me. Rose was a little startled. "You're late for practice," I continued, holding an even tone. I turned to look at Lissa giving her a nod. "Princess." With that, both Rose and I turned to walk back to the gym. I heard her stop. I turned to see what she was doing. She just stood there, face slack, eyes glazed over as if she was zoning out.
"Rose, are you alright?" I asked. No answer.
You know how hard it is to get into the mindset of a guy? Well it's not so hard, but I really want to do a good job with telling this through Dimitri. I'm sorry I haven't put a whole lot of his thoughts and feelings into the last few chapters but, he does a lot of dialogue in the first three. Anywho, I hope you liked this chapter and I will most likely update tomorrow night. Thanks for all the reviews so far. It really means a lot. I mean you have no idea.
Emma
