In this chapter and the next, it will merge slightly with Spirit Bound, so there will be a lot of passages more or less directly from the book, so DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SPIRIT BOUND…UNLESS YOU COUNT THE COPY ON MY BOOKSHELF.
Chapter 6
The next day was fun. Lissa and I went to see Paul—as promised—and spent the day with him and Viktoria. We spent some time with the other Belikovs, but I avoided Yeva, luckily.
"Hey, Paul," I said as I arrived at Olena and Karolina's room; I'd just walked straight in since I could hear him asking about me. "How's it going?" I leaned down to his height to hug him. He wrapped his arms around my neck and I stood straight as I realised he wasn't going to let go any time soon.
"You came!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, I did. I said I would. I brought Lissa, too."
"Lissa!" he yelled. She took him from me to hug him, but couldn't hold his weight like I could, so set him on the ground. "Come see my bedroom." He grabbed both of our hands and started dragging us towards a room. The door was towards the back left hand corner or the room. He pulled us inside and closed the door.
"Wow, Paul, it's a great room!" I said as enthusiastically as I could; it wasn't all that great—pretty bare—but I'm guessing that the thing that excited him was the super-king-sized bed. I sat down on the bed and Paul climbed up next to me.
"I know, right? And the bed's humungous!"
"I know; it's way bigger than my bed."
"Lissa, do you have a big bed?"
"I do, but it isn't as big as your bed. Do you have a big bed at home, too?"
"No, it's only tiny," he had a really disgruntled look on his face.
"Hey," I said, trying to cheer him up. "Do you want me to take you down to the Gym?"
"Can I use the machines?"
"If you're a good boy."
"Yeah!" he screamed and ran back out into the living area telling everyone that I was taking him to the gym. "Auntie Vika, will you come, too?"
Viktoria looked at me and I nodded, answering her silent question. "Yeah, of course I will."
"Yeah!"
We spent most of the rest of the day in the gym. We did, of course, leave for lunch, but Paul loved it in there. It's just like any other gym that you could expect to see in a town. There was all the regular machines and weights, but there was an entire room floored with sparring mats and then about four normal gyms spread across the senior campus. They were where Dimitri and I used to practise. There were rafters around eight feet from the ground where punching bags and practise dummies hung from. I strung a couple up and let Paul "stake" them. Truthfully, I held the hand that had the stake in and put the force behind it, while also juggling him to keep him at my height.
"Mama, babushka, today I staked a Strigoi!" he yelled in his normal, over-excited tone.
"I swear it was not a Strigoi. It was a practise dummy and I held him so he couldn't get hurt. I would never let him be hurt." I said as Karolina turned to me with a glare. Her face softened slightly as I said this, but I could tell she wasn't happy I'd allowed her son to play with a stake.
It was almost dinnertime, so I kneeled down in front of Paul to speak to him. "Paul, I have to go and get my dinner, but then I have to go to bed, so I won't be able to come see you later."
"Why?" he asked, pouting. He looked so cute when he did that.
"Because tomorrow, I'm going to be a guardian. You can go see me fight tomorrow with your Auntie Vika and your Uncle Dimka's coming here tomorrow, too, so that'll be fun for you, right."
"Right." He agreed. "Auntie Roza, how do you know Uncle Dimka?"
"He was my teacher."
"Then why isn't he here now?" I shot Viktoria a look as she snickered.
"He went on a vacation for a little while to see his friend Tasha." I had to grit my teeth to stop the flow of profanities that usually followed her name. the rest of his sisters snickered as I tried to find a way to explain to a ten-year-old that his uncle slept with a minor and was suspended for it…without actually saying that.
"Okay. But I will get to see you tomorrow, won't I?"
"Yes. Night, Paul." I said and then hugged him and kissed him on the forehead.
"It isn't bed time, though."
"It is for me. Goodnight, Paul."
"Night, Auntie Roza." As I left the room, I said goodnight to everyone else.
"Aw, he's so sweet." Lissa commented as we made our way to the cafeteria. "I think he's got a bit of a crush on you, Rose."
"Yeah. It's so cute."
I leaned against one of the barrack walls and watched those around me. It appeared that I had been one of the last to show up, and I wondered if people had lost money betting on me. Some of my class mates whispered in clusters. Some were doing stretches and warm-up exercises. Others stood with instructors who had been mentors. Those teachers spoke intently to their students, giving last minute words of advice. I kept hearing words like focus and calm down. That was how i'd always imagined this day: Dimitri standing beside me, whispering words of encouragement.
"Don't worry, comrade." I'd tell him, "I can do this blindfolded. Hell, maybe I actually will. Do you have something I can use? If you're nice to me, I'll even let you tie it on." And maybe even help take it off later considering we've already slept together.
He'd chuckle and shake his head exasperatedly. "Rose, I swear, sometimes it feels like every day with you is my own personal trial." But he'd smile anyway, and it would be nice. And it would be enough to give me the encouragement I needed to head toward the field and get through the tests.
I leaned back against the wall and thought of his smile, his eyes, his laugh—
"Are you meditating?"
I opened my eyes and looked in the direction the voice had come from. "Mom? What are you doing here?" she had left about a week ago to return to her charge.
"Do you honestly think I wouldn't come to watch you?"
"I don't know," I admitted, feeling kind of guilty for doubting her. She and I hadn't had that much contact over the years, and it was only recent events—most of them bad—that had begun to reestablish out connection. Most of the time, I still didn't know how to feel about her. I oscillated between a little girl's need for her absent mother and a teenager's resentment over abandonment. I also wasn't entirely sure if I'd forgiven her for the time she "accidentally" punched me in the face during a mock fight. "I figured you'd have, you know, more important things to do."
"There's no way I could miss this." She inclined her head toward the stands, making her auburn curls sway. "Neither could your father." I turned to see if I could see him from where I stood. I could. "He'll be happy you made it on time," my mother said as I watched him from where I stood. "He's running some big wager on whether you'd show. He put his money on you, if that makes you feel any better."
"Of course. Of course he'd be the bookie behind the pool. I should have known as soon as—is he talking to Adrian?"
Yup. Sitting on the other side of Abe was Adrian Ivashkov. Adrian was a royal Moroi—and another spirit user like Lissa. He was crazy about me (and often just crazy) ever since we first met, but I'd only had eyes for Dimitri.
"That can't be good." Adrian was also a money man. He had his share of a fortune and I'm guessing he and Abe conjured up the bet between them and others joined in. That really would not shock me. He probably had hundreds of dollars in it.
Just then I heard my name announced and the crowd went silent. I noticed Dimitri sitting down beside Viktoria and Paul moving over to his lap.
"Rosemarie Hathaway." Alberta's voice boomed and echoed through the stands. I made my way towards the open space where I would face my final trial.
"Good luck." My mother whispered from behind me.
My trials were a blur.
You'd think, seeing as they were the most important part of my education at St Vladimir's, that I'd remember everything in perfect, crystalline detail. Yet my earlier thoughts were kind of realised. How could these measure up to what I'd already faced? How could these mock fights compare to a mob of Strigoi descending on the school? I'd had to stand against overwhelming odds, not knowing if those I loved were alive or dead.
Not that I meant to make light of the trials. They were serious. Novices failed them all the time, and I refused to be one of them. I was attacked on all sides, by guardians who'd been fighting and defending Moroi since before I was born. The arena wasn't flat, which complicated everything. They'd filled it with contraptions and obstacles, beams and steps that tested my balance—including a rickety bridge with only rope rails for support. Every step made the entire bridge swing and shake, and holes showed where my former classmates had (unfortunately for them) found weak spots.
You know how it goes; this is exactly the same as in the book, so I can't be bothered to write it all out.
When it was over, I stood in the middle of the field, panting and waiting for another attack. The crowds in stands went wild and I realised that I had finished and I had got them all. Mom came rushing over to me. She hugged me tightly and congratulated me as Alberta came over at a more leisurely pace. I returned her embrace, slightly shocked that she was the one to initiate it for a change.
"You did it, Rose," she whispered in my ear. I smiled; this was probably the only time she'd ever congratulated me on anything.
"Was that it?" I asked. She laughed and pulled back to see my face.
"You were out there for over an hour, Rose," she laughed. "You did amazing."
"Well," Alberta said from behind me, "I think it's safe to say you passed this one, Rose. Although, there was never any question about it."
"Thank you." I said before mom showed me off the field. Alberta called up the next novice to take the test as the other guardians wondered how they were going to fix the bridge. Oops. Well, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
When we made it off the field, Dimitri was waiting for me. Mom glared at him for a moment before walking away without a fight. I turned to him. He looked so proud of me.
"Hey," I said. He walked over and wound his arms around my waist and pressed his lips to mine. "It's nice to see you too."
"It's very nice to see you." He murmured. I laughed softly at the undertone of longing in his voice.
"I have missed you so much." He kissed me again and I reached up and put my arms around his neck. "But," I pecked his lips once more before I pulled away and said, "I have to go and get my promise mark right now, but I will see you…later." I gave him a sly smile before walking away, making sure to swing my hips more than usual.
I can't think of anything to write. It's more or less the same as in Spirit Bound but with Dimitri as Roses boyfriend instead of Adrian, so just read this part of the book because there's no point in me copying it all out. Sorry I made you wait for so long.
