St. Vladimir's Academy, Montana

11 1/2 Months Ago

Tasha: Age 28

December

I looked around excitedly, looking for Christian.

"AUNT TASHA!" Christian yelled running toward me.

"CHRISTIAN!" I yelled back hugging him tightly.

He laughed lightly. I pulled back and my eyes widened slightly at seeing Princess Dragomir. Yes, Christian had told me he was dating her. But, it was one thing to hear about him dating her. It was another to see it.

"Hello, Lady Ozera." she said politely smiling.

I laughed slightly, "Please, call me Tasha."

"Lissa." she said politely.

I shook her hand happily.

"Christian's been so excited to see you." she said, "He hasn't stopped talking about it since you called."

I smiled back at my nephew. He had picked up my bags and his cheeks were slightly pink.

"Oh, really?" I said, a teasing tone to my voice.

"No." he said obnoxiously.

I shook my head and followed as he walked passed me. We moved quickly and apparently Christian hadn't explained anything to Lissa.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"There's an old cabin in the woods. When I visit I always stay there."

"Why? Royals usually stay in Guest Housing."

"Do you really need to ask?" I said amused.

She blushed brightly, "I'm sorry, Tasha. I forgot the scar was even there."

"It's fine, Lissa. It happens."

Finally, we got to the cabin and I sighed, "God, I have a lot of cleaning to do."

"Do you want some help, Aunt Tasha? I could skip school today and help you out."

"I'm fine. You need your education, Christian. Get to class and stay there."

He rolled his eyes.

"See you after school?" I said ignoring his eye rolling.

"Yes."


I spent most of the day cleaning. It was a calming experience. Yes, it was work, but I didn't mind. It felt nice to have something to do. I'd go out of my mind if I just laid around all day. A knock jolted me out of my quiet day. I looked up and pulled off my rubber gloves then walked toward the door.

"DIMKA!" I said happily, once the door opened.

"Hello, Tasha. I heard you were here. I just stopped by to see how you're doing." he said with an easy smile.

"Come in," I said stepping away from the door.

He walked in and looked around. He whistled, impressed.

"You've done a lot."

"Yeah, I have." I looked around with a smile.

"Tasha, you shouldn't let them force you to stay in this little cabin."

"I'm not. It's just easier this way, Dimka. Yes, it would be nice not having to worry about keeping the fire going and a hot meal from the kitchen, but this is okay. I'd really rather be here than be a specitical out there."

He chuckled. God, that chuckle wrapped itself around me and felt like a warm blanket.

"That's what I love about you, Tasha. You aren't lavish. You're just comfortable."

It was my turn to laugh then. "Are we talking about the same person here? Because I definitely enjoy some lavish comforts."

"Well, you don't overwhelm yourself like some." he said smiling.

"Remember Victoria Voda?" I said with a smirk.

"Oh, don't remind me! Remember the day Andrew accidentally spilled guacamole on her shoes?"

"How could I not!?" I cried happily, "OMG! MY NEW GUCCI SHOES!"

We laughed.

"It's great to see you again, Dimka." I said putting my hand on his arm. Yes, I was flirting.

He smiled tenderly at me, but it wasn't the look I'd been expecting. Usually when I flirted he flirted back.

"I missed you, too, Tasha."

He looked down at his watch, "I'm sorry. I have to get to my scheduled practice. Mind you, Rose would prefer it if I were late. But, that's just not how I work."

"Rose Hathaway?" I asked curious.

"Yes, she's my newest student."

"Christian has told me a lot about her. She sounds like a handful, but a great Guardian in training."

"She is," he said sounding fond, "She's a fast learner and you're right, she is a handful."

I chuckled, "I usually am right. Well, hey, there's a pond close by. I'm going to go ice skating in a while if you want to join."

He smiled, "I'll think about it. Goodbye, Tasha."

He left and I sighed. God, why did he have to look so deliciously roguish? Why did I have to be attracted to someone almost four years younger than me?


God, I knew there was a reason I loved Montana in the winter. I looked around at the pond and put on the skates. I was gliding around the beautiful frozen pond lost in the beauty of the moment. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't worrying. I was just letting all the nature and fresh air sink into me. I don't know how long I had been skating, but I was so relaxed.

"AUNT TASHA!"

Andddddd... there goes my relaxation. I skated back to the bank and smiled at Christian and Lissa.

"Hello, you two. How was school?" I asked smiling.

"Great." Lissa replied with a grin.

"Whatever." Christian said plopping down.

I rolled my eyes as he began to put on his skate.

"This is so beautiful! I didn't know this was here!" Lissa said, sounding awed.

"No one does. Students aren't allowed out here." Christian said from the ground.

"But, I'm not a student and my lodgings are here so they can't say anything. And I won't tell if you guys want to join me on the ice." I chimed in.

I left them to their cuteness. And began skating again.

"ROSE!" Lissa's voice rang out a while later.

I turned and could see Dimitri with a gorgeous brunette. I couldn't believe that she was a high school girl. She and Dimitri walked and talked as though they were close friends rather than mentor and student. I skated over follow Christian and stopped beside him.

"You bringing party crashers, Dimka?" I said playfully.

He laughed, "It's impossible to keep Rose away from places she shouldn't be. She always finds them eventually."

I grinned, flipping my hair over my shoulder. I knew how much he liked hair. Not to mention it was obscuring my vision. I then turned my gaze onto the young woman beside Dimitri and smiled.

"Tasha Ozera," I said reaching to shake her hand, "I"ve heard a lot about you, Rose."

Man, if looks could kill! The look she shot Christian was scary and amusing all at the same time.

I laughed, "Don't worry, it was all good."

"No, it wasn't." Christian inserted real quickly, being rude as usual.

I shook my head exasperated, "Honestly, I don't know where he got such horrible social skills. He didn't learn them from me."

From her expression I could deduce she was thinking that, that was obvious.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Rose asked.

"I wanted to spend some time with these two," I said motioning to Christian and Lissa, "But, I don't really like hanging around the school itself. They aren't always hospitable..."

At first I saw confusion on her face, then realization. And then she just looked uncomfortable for a second.

"Because...because of what happened?"

I shrugged, "That's the way it is."

Standing there I began realizing how cold I was. I rubbed my hands together as I watched my breath make a frosty cloud in front of my face.

"But lets not stand out here, not when we can build a fire inside."

I moved ahead and walked toward the cabin. Everyone trailed in behind me and I instantly went to the fireplace and added another log to the blazing fire. I watched as they all sat down around the fire. I quickly grabbed marshmallows and forks so we could cook them over the flames. Man, did I ever mention how much I love winter?

Dimitri and I instantly fell into that easy way of talking that we had. We instantly jumped back into our reminiscing.

"Oh, please! And Jordan Spacks quit being William Lazar's Guardian right in front of all those people because he was a homophobe!"

Dimitri laughed, "I don't quite remember it that way."

"I do. I will never forget how red Will's face was!"

"So, are you coming on the ski trip?" Rose interrupted then.

I nodded turning my attention back to her. I yelled and stretched. Man, I was so tired. Today had been a long day.

"I haven't been skiing in ages. No time. Been saving all my vacation for this."

"Vacation?" Rose asked obviously confused, "Do you have...a job?"

"Sadly, yes," I said with a smile. I loved my job, "I teach martial arts classes."

She stared at me in astonishment. I kind of wanted to ask her why she was looking at me like that, but I let it slide. It was a common thing for dhampirs to be shocked about a Moroi learning to fight.

"What do you think, Rose?" Christian asked amused, "Think you could take her?"

"Hard to say," She said sounding impressed.

I grinned, "You're being modest. I've seen what you guys can do. This is just a hobby I picked up."

"Now you're being modest," Dimitri said with a chuckle, "You could teach half the classes around here."

I tried not to blush at his compliment, "No likely. It'd be pretty embarrassing to be beaten up by a bunch of teenagers."

"I don't think that'd happen. I seem to remember you doing some damage to Neil Szelsky."

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Dimitri to bring up that incident.

"Throwing my drink in his face wasn't actually damage; unless you consider the damage it did to his suit. And we all know how he is about his clothes."

We laughed.

"Did you start learning to fight before or after that happened to your face?" Rose asked without thinking.

"Rose!" Lissa hissed.

I wasn't upset. This was a normal question. I looked at her thoughtfully.

"After," I said looking her in the eye, I wasn't embarrassed about my fighting, "How much do you know?"

"The basics." she said glancing at Christian.

I nodded.

"I knew ... I knew what Lucas and Moira had become, but that still didn't prepare me. Mentally, physically, or emotionally. I think if I had to live through it again, I still wouldn't be ready. But after that night, I looked at myself, figuratively, and realized how defenseless I was. I'd spent my whole life expecting guardians to protect me and take care of me. And that's not to say the guardians aren't capable. Like I said, you could probably take me in a fight. But they, Lucas and Moira, cut down our two guardians before we realized what had happened. I stalled them from taking Christian, but just barely. If the others hadn't shown up, I'd be dead, and he'd," I stopped my emotions being too much, "I decided that I didn't want to die that way, not without putting up a real fight and doing everything I could to protect myself and those I love. So I learned all sorts of self-defense. And after a while, I didn't really, uh, fit in so well with high society around here. So I moved to Minneapolis and made a living from teaching others."

"Anyway," I said jumping into a new topic. I really didn't like remembering what had happened.

Between Dimitri and myself we had a lot of fodder and gossip for the kids about many of our friends and acquaintances. After a while I looked at my watch.

"Where's the best place a girl can go shopping around here?" I asked.

"Missoula." Lissa and Rose said in unison.

Why did it have to be so far away! Why did I get so far behind on Christmas shopping! I sighed.

"That's a couple hours away, but if I leave soon, I can probably still get in some time before the stores close. I'm hopelessly behind in Christmas shopping."

Rose groaned at that, "I'd kill to go shopping."

"Me, too." Lissa chimed.

"Maybe we could sneak along..." Rose said giving Dimitri a hopeful look.

"No," he said shooting her down immediately.

I yawned again, "I'll have to grab some coffee, so I don't sleep on the drive in."

"Can't one of your guardians drive for you?"

I shook my head, "I don't have any."

"Don't have any..." she sounded confused again, "You don't have guardians?"

"Nope?"

"But that's not possible! You're royal. You should have at least one. Two, really."

I was amused. Rose had this fire in her to fight things that weren't right. She reminded me of a less tamed Dimka. She wanted what was right and what was just. Anything less was unacceptable. I knew there was I reason I liked her.

"The Ozeras aren't exactly first in line when guardians get assigned," said Christian bitterly. "Ever since...my parents died...there's kind of been a shortage."

"But that's not fair. They can't punish you for what your parents did." Rose said angrily.

"It's not punishment, Rose. It's just...a rearranging of priorities." I said putting it in more agreeable terms.

"They're leaving you defenseless. You can't go out there by yourself!"

"I'm not defenseless, Rose. I've told you that. And if I really wanted a guardian, I could make a nuisance of myself, but it's a lot of hassle. I'm fine for now."

Dimitri looked at me, "You want me to go with you?"

"And keep you up all night? I wouldn't do that to you, Dimka." I said with a shake of my head. Come on? I've been going shopping by myself for years. I don't need someone watching me twenty-four seven.

"He doesn't mind," Rose said speaking for Dimitri.

"I really don't." he replied looking at Rose.

I hesitated, but then realized. This was another chance to be alone with Dimka. "All right. But we should probably go soon."

Dimitri and I discussed our travel plans then everyone left.


Dimitri and I laughed and flirted as we shopped. I could see how people looked at us. I knew that we looked like a young couple in love. It wasn't hard to deduce really with the flirting and chatting we were doing. I smiled at Dimitri as we drove back to the school.

"Dimka..."

"Yes?"

"You do know...that I am interested in you. Right?"

"You've made that clear, Tasha."

I nodded, "I just want to make sure you know."

"I do."

"And?"

"And I'll think about it.

I knew that was all I could ask for. Dimitri wasn't someone you could push or someone who makes rash decisions. I let it go and opened up a more light topic simply enjoying his prescence.


"The Court should be aware that Mr. Petrochelli is not a credible witness. He was paid off by Lady Daniella Ivashkov to state what time he saw Lord Adrian Ivashkov, thereby lying to the court." My lawyer said.

"The Court recognizes this indescration, Mr. Graham. Let's continue." Lissa said.

"Thank you, your majesty. Mr. Petrochelli who approached you the night of Queen Tatiana's death?"

"A man with hands that were extremely damaged."

"What did he look like?"

"Um, I don't remember. He wasn't really a man who had a face that I could distinguish from the dozen's of faces I see on a daily basis."

"What did he say to you?"

"All he said was "Is Rose Hathaway here? I told him that she'd come home while I was cleaning up. I didn't know if she was still there because I hadn't seen her since she entered the bedroom. Then he asked if anyone had been with her. At that point Lord Ivashkov had not been there and I told the man that she was alone when I had seen her."

"And you didn't question why he'd be asking for this information?"

"When I asked him why the man didn't reply."

"What did he do?"

"He handed me ten grand and said that there would be another ten put into my bank account if I said I saw when Guardian Hathaway entered her room."

"And you took the money?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I needed it. My daughter has a rare disease and she needed medical treatment."

The lawyer nodded.

"Mr. Petrochelli, did you at anytime see Miss Ozera with the man who approached you about Guardian Hathway's presences?"

"Once."

"When?"

"The day before he approached me."

"What were they doing?"

"It looked like they were arguing."

"How can you be sure it was them?"

"Miss Ozera walked passed me when she left."

I shook my head. Man, slip up after slip up just kept coming into light. This was such a terrible idea. I should have planned better.