The gathering was one of status, considering the royal Moroi I was in company with. Christian Ozera, his girlfriend Vasilisa Dragomir and the queen's very own nephew, Adrian Ivashkov. Nevertheless, my attention was adsorbed by the sole person of low social class in the room.

She looked even more blazing now than she had in the gym this morning. She looked like a lady, mature and stunning in the tight, knee-length burgundy dress she was wearing. The long hair that had been tied up in a bun this morning, was now falling down her back. Her appearance was more stunning than should be allowed, resembling a desert princess more than a simple Dhampir. Her mouth did not synchronize with her attire though.

"Dimitri?" she said, mirroring my surprise as she saw me lean against the counter. Then she turned to Tasha with a fearful voice. "We aren't having borscht tonight, right?"

The Ivashkov-guy poked Rose teasingly in her side before placing his arm around her waist. "And I thought you weren't afraid of anything."

Tasha ignored him and reassured the girl with a smile. "Dimka is just here to look pretty. I've cooked it all by myself—with no Russian influences or whatsoever." She directed her gaze at me, her dark brows forming a questioning frown. "I was not aware you two had already met, though."

"I returned her to St. Vladimir's last year," I explained shortly. "Together with princess Vasilisa Dragomir." I turned to the princess, making a bow for her.

"You may quit the formalities," she spoke gallantly. "We're in a friendly company. You can call me Lissa."

I nodded at her before turning my attention to the dark haired boy on her arm. I wondered whether I should approach him in the traditional way, just like I had done with Lissa, but he already came up to me before I could. He stuck his hand out to me which I shook.

"Dimitri," he said. "I'm glad to finally meet the guy who makes my aunt happy."

I smiled at him. "Likewise, Christian. Tasha keeps telling me all these stories about you."

He gazed at his aunt. "That actually terrifies me."

She grinned. "Only the good ones."

We let go of each other whereupon I turned to the last person in the room, the tall Moroi guy at Rose's side. I had never met him, though I had heard plenty about him. He was Adrian Ivashkov, the queen's nephew and the most desired bachelor at Court. Or he used to be, since he now seemed to be involved with Rose. Nevertheless, he had a reputation—one containing girls, parties and alcohol. In fact, I even detected a hint of cigarette smell around him right now.

He eyed me without amusement and I decided that the formal introduction would serve its purpose, so I bowed for him.

"Lord Ivashkov," I said. "It's an honor to be in your presence."

He only nodded and did not even bother to use my title. "Thank you, Belikov," he said coldly.

The tone had been put.

"Rose and Adrian," Tasha began when the first dish had been served. "To what do I owe this pleasure to have you as my guests tonight?"

Rose and Adrian shared a look of mischief, upon which Rose took the lead. "Lissa informed us that you were having dinner tonight and since I really loved hanging out with you this Christmas, I could not miss out on this."

Tasha had told me she had visited Christian at St. Vladimir's during the holiday period. It made sense that Rose had also been a part of it.

Adrian cleared his throat. "Rose also needed an excuse to ditch her parents."

His brutal act of honesty got him a glare from his girlfriend. However, Tasha took no offence and was rather concerned.

"What about the parents?" she asked them, genuinely curious. "I met Janine just the other day."

Rose's mother, Janine Hathaway, was known as one of the best Guardians alive. She was serving a Szcelsky lord—one of Maryse's uncles—for almost two decades now. She was known to be dedicated with a creative mind, having navigated several rescue missions. I had the honor to meet her once and I had to say, she was hard to forget. Even though I had at least two heads on her, she was one of the most intimidating people I had ever met. Looking at Rose now, I wondered what result a mother like her would have on her child.

"She and Abe wanted to have dinner with us." Rose spoke the words as if they were venom. "They wanted to get to know the boyfriend."

"What's wrong with that?" Tasha asked her. "Isn't it a good thing that she's interested? She appeared enthusiastic about it when I spoke to her."

Enthusiasm was not necessarily a mood that I would ever ascribe to Guardian Hathaway, going by the impression I had gotten from her. Apparently, neither did Rose.

"Enthusiastic? That does not sound like her…"

"I think Rose is a bit traumatized by our previous Meet-the-Parents dinner," interrupted Adrian.

Rose gave him a look. "More like Meet-the-Family. Even Queen Tatiana showed up."

"Your favorite," Lissa added with a smirk. Apparently, I had not been wrong detecting a resentment towards the queen with Rose. I myself had no time to have strong opinions about the regime, although I did find that the queen could make some progressive changes concerning the Moroi protection. Tasha, however, was one of the radicals.

"Queen Tatiana…" mused Tasha. "That must have been quite a dinner." The tone of her voice made clear that it was in the negative sense.

"Yeah she's lovely," Adrian replied as if he was unaware of the negative tension. "She's my favorite aunt so I always love having her around. I can't say I'm that involved with the politics, though."

"But some things must slip through, right? When you're having dinner with such a politically important family…" said Tasha.

Adrian shrugged. "Not really—or I just ignore them and focus on my drinks." He took a big sip from his red wine to illustrate his point. "However, I do recall a debate about spirit."

I myself had never heard of something called spirit—except for the strong liquor. Glancing around the table, I appeared to be the only ignorant one.

"They want to make it globally known?" Tasha asked him.

"That's pretty much what the debate is about. It would help a lot of people if it weren't a secret since you could heal so many illnesses…"

"But where would you stop?" Lissa added. "We would be playing god."

Christian grabbed the princesses hand protectively. "Like I would let them use you as a tool."

"I'm sorry," I began, "but what is this spirit, exactly?"

"The fifth element of Moroi magic," Adrian spoke.

"But there are only four," I countered, utterly confused. It had been drilled that Moroi only possessed four types of magic: earth, air, fire and water. Their possession of magic was what made them so attractive for Strigoi. Never had I heard of a fifth…

As if on cue, everyone at the table shook their heads.

"Spirit is the psychic element," Rose began. "Lissa and Adrian both master it. It enables you to walk dreams, see auras and heal injuries. It's what created the bond." She tapped against her temple.

One of the things I had noticed while returning Lissa and Rose to St. Vladimir's was the mental bond they shared. I had never met anyone with such a connection before. I had heard about it in legends. The best guardians in history were the ones who were bonded to their Moroi, since they were aware of the other's mental state. A bond like they had enabled them to share thoughts and feelings, as far as I knew.

"Adrian is getting better at healing," Lissa said. "Auras and dreams are still a bit troubling for me, though."

I gazed at Tasha. Had she known about this amazing ability all along?

Tasha cleared her throat. "Talking about the bond… Are you nervous for the assignments, Rose? I assume you're getting Lissa anyway."

I saw Adrian take another long gulp of his wine when his girlfriend replied.

"If it were only that easy."

"Why not?" Tasha asked with surprise. "You had the best results of your fellow novices. They would be mad if they denied your talent."

Christian chuckled in his seat. "Those are probably the only good marks on her record," he commented. It earned him a fury-filled glare from all the women at the table.

"Well, I have to admit that it wouldn't be the first mad thing the government has done," Tasha said before turning to Adrian. "No offence to you."

"None-taken," he said. "I'm politically neutral."

"I agree," Lissa told Tasha. "Rose is part of me. She knows me and my feelings… She's already saved my life so many times."

"She kept you alive while being on the road for two years," I said, finally joining the conversation. "Of course she would make a great Guardian." I felt Rose's eyes on me and I replied to her gaze while finishing my point. "It would be a waste to put someone like that away with filing."

"They wouldn't do that, right?" Lissa asked me, looking at me like a child who could not believe Santa Clause did not exist. I got the idea that she had not even considered such a fate a possibility for her friend. "Rose must be out in the field. Even if it's not with me."

I hated to destroy her hope. No matter how much I believed in Rose, Court was a different deal. Luckily, Rose relieved me from shattering the princess's faith by doing it herself.

"Runaways aren't exactly in demand," Rose said. "When no Moroi are asking for me, it could well be."

"That would be awful," Tasha said. She placed her hand on my arm as if she was asking me for permission. "I could sign in a request for you." She told the Dhampir.

Rose frowned at her in utter confusion. "I thought you didn't want a Guardian."

Tasha simply shrugged. "I could make an exception for you. Besides, if a Guardian would fit me it would definitely be you."

Rose blushed and looked down on her empty plate. I felt touched by Tasha's kind gesture, as well as overcome by a selfish feeling of anxiety. I wanted Rose to be a Guardian and Tasha would be great for her. I could definitely tell that Rose looked up to her. But for some reason I could not quite grasp, I did not want her to become my girlfriend's Guardian.

She stood up to get the dessert while I continued my questioning about spirit. When she came back with the tiramisu, I would swear that Rose's jaw dropped in amazement. She ended up with the biggest piece, endeavoring it with pleasure. Eventually, when dessert was done, Lissa and Adrian began demonstrating their magic on two of Tasha's dying plants. Lissa made the plant grow into maturity while Adrian merely accomplished to make the brown leafs turn green. Nevertheless, I was impressed.

"Don't overdo yourself with the magic. You can only handle so much," I overheard Rose telling Lissa.

"Don't worry. I've got this," the princess reassured her.

Rose was not content with the reply, but did not push it. She turned to Tasha. "If you don't mind, I'm going to lie down for a moment."

Tasha nodded in approval and I watched Rose make her way to the living room, taking place on the couch while keeping a watchful eye on our gathering.

I shared a look with my girlfriend for approval. "Should I go to her?"

Tasha nodded indifferently. "Go ahead."

I left the table and headed towards the kitchen to boil some water before going over to the woman on the couch, placing a hot cup of tea on the table in front of her. "Everything alright?" I asked her while taking place on the armchair across from her.

She rose, adjusting to a more formal position as if I had caught her by surprise. "It's just the bond," she said, fixing her gaze on Lissa. "Spirit has its costs on her—"

"—and therefore on you," I finished her sentence.

She glanced at me, the corners of her lips curling up into a mischievous smile. "You're a quick learner, Comrade."

I shrugged, feeling the need to change the subject due to shyness. "I made you some tea," I said while pointing at the cup in front of her. "I hope you like jasmine."

She bowed forward to add both the two sugar cubes I had placed next to the cup of the hot drink. She had one hell of a sweet tooth. Then she picked it up, stirring the content with a spoon. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem."

She blew on the hot water, making steam come off. "I didn't know you were dating Christian's aunt. For how long have you two been a thing?"

I leant back in the chair. "Almost two months, I think. We've only become serious very recently." Recently as in tonight, I thought.

"Well, congratulations," she said casually. "Tasha's really great."

I smiled at her. "She is," I agreed, my eyes falling on my lover at the dinner table. She looked happy, laughing at some joke with her cousin. A pang went through my chest. She deserved a family—a big one. I fell short on that point, since I was giving my life to Ivan and not to her. Even though it was possible for Moroi and Dhampirs to have children together, I was not sure if I even dared to raise a family with my profession—or to raise one with her. To keep my mind at ease, I had to remind myself that it was still too early for those thoughts.

I turned to the girl next to me. "I did not think you were dating Adrian Ivashkov, though."

She raised her eyebrows at me—both ones. "Then you must be the only one," she said. "Some think I'm already pregnant with his love child." She made an ugly face while pronouncing the word 'love child', for as far as her pretty face could ever be ugly.

"I've heard those rumors too," I had to admit. "I just know better than to believe all the gossip around Court."

She offered me a glance, one of pleasant surprise I believe. Unfortunately, it did not stay on her face long on enough for me to identify it, since her boyfriend came joining us.

Apparently, he had been promoted from wine to whisky. He set his glass down on the table, next to where I had placed Rose's cup of tea. He took place beside Rose, wrapping his arm around her waist, meanwhile watching me with narrow eyes. He was claiming his territory.

He nuzzled with his nose in her hair. "How about we'll give the united family some privacy and get some quality time of our own?"

Rose glanced from Adrian to me, as if she were assessing the situation. "We can't just leave," she told him.

"Of course we can," he said. "We crashed the party, we can also leave it. Besides…" he left a trail on her knee, "… you've got a big day tomorrow and I think you need some relaxation."

She gazed at him. "Let me first tell the others goodbye."

And so she did.

Author's note

Hello beauties!

Thanks for sticking with me! I just completed an exam yesterday, so I immediately returned to writing after that, wanting to deliver a new chapter to you. The next few weeks are going to be very chaotic for me since I've got more exams and a music gig coming up, but I promise I'll be working on the next chapter whenever I can. I hope you like this one! Please review, I'd love to hear from you :)

Much love!

(the characters belong to Richelle Mead)