Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy.


Ch. 9 Solution

I woke up the way I had fallen asleep, still curled up in Dimitri's arms. The sun was very faintly peeking over the horizon in the distance.

I stretched a little, and the memories of our lovemaking last night raced through my mind. My cheeks grew warm from remembering.

Then I realized the time and sat up in my bed, looking over my bare shoulder at Dimitri. He was already awake, and his eyes were warm with affection as our eyes met.

"Do you have to go so soon?" I asked, realizing my voice was full of heartache and loss just at the thought of him leaving. I didn't want him to leave me. A bird chirped in the trees near my balcony. "It isn't yet sunrise. The sound was the nightingale."

"It was the lark, not the nightingale that sings at night," Dimitri whispered anxiously, turning his head to look out the window. "Look at the light in the east. The night has ended. If I want to live, I must leave. If I stay, I'll surely die."

"That light isn't daylight," I murmured, laying my head on his chest. "It's still night. Stay with me a little longer."

"If that's how you want it…" he murmured, his lips at my neck. Before I knew what had happened, I was under him, our bodies pressed tight against each other. He pinned my wrists up above my head and gave me a long, languorous kiss.

I kissed him back eagerly before he broke away. I was surprised to feel lust and desire pooling in a very low area on my body. "I'm happy, if that's what you want. I'll pretend that it's still night. I won't go to St. Petersburg. I'll stay as long as you want me to, Roza. Perhaps we could continue more of what happened last night…"

I shivered in pleasure at the suggestiveness in his words and kissed him. If he stayed, we could kiss, make love, hold each other…

Then I remembered how dangerous it was for him and stopped kissing him. "What's wrong, Roza?" he asked, his voice soft.

"You have to go," I whispered. "You can't stay here! It's becoming day outside. The sun is coming up over the horizon. If you're caught with me…" Outside, the sun's rays were getting brighter and brighter. If only the sun didn't have to rise, I thought bitterly.

Dimitri kissed my lips very briefly before he was out of bed, retrieving his clothes and putting them back on. I got out of my bed and found a nightgown in my wardrobe and slipped it on.

There was a knock on the door. The bond told me it was Lissa, which relieved me. Everyone's beginning to wake, she said, and I was surprised to hear how sleepy she sounded, even in her thoughts. Be careful, and look out.

I dug deeper into her thoughts, and found that she'd been talking with Christian on her balcony last night. It reminded me of when Dimitri and I had first spoken of our love for each other the same night we had met. No wonder she was exhausted…

Dimitri then slipped out onto the balcony and I followed him, our hands entwined. "And now I must be gone," he whispered, letting go of his hand to stroke my cheek. "Give me a kiss before we have to bide each other farewell."

I tilted my head up for him, and he kissed my lips hard, almost ferociously. My lips felt like they would be bruised from the forcefulness of his kiss, but I didn't care. I slid my arms around his neck as we kissed, our lips hot on each other's. Our kiss gradually softened until it was a gentle coaxing of our tongues. Although the kiss was gentler it still held the same intensity and passion of our earlier kiss.

I broke away from him, gasping from the intensity of our kissing. Our gaze locked for a moment and then he hopped over the balcony and scaled his way down the wall.

"Are you gone so soon?" I called softly down to him, sorrow piercing through my heart. He was now on the ground, looking up at me. "Write to me every day. Every day will seem like a lifetime until we meet again."

"Farewell, Roza," he whispered, his words carrying to me. "I will write you every day that I can."

"Will we ever meet again?" I murmured. With the queen so intent on having Dimitri killed for avenging his fight with Adrian…it could very well be many months, maybe even years before we could meet again.

"We will," Dimitri assured me. "We will pull through this together, and our love will be stronger."

I wish I could be hopeful as him, but I suspected he was acting so for my sake. I had a horrible feeling that something bad would happen to both of us. I could see that he was thinking the same thing, by looking into his eyes.

"Goodbye, goodbye," he whispered before he turned and ran. I watched him leave until the trees and gardens hid him from sight.

I knew that St. Petersburg was quite a distance from Moscow – about three days away. It wasn't nearly as far as where the Belikovs' home town was – Baia. From what I understood of their origins, Olena– Dimitri's mother – had been living modestly in Baia until Lord Andrei Belikov had passed through, courted her, and married her. The four children that resulted from the union had mostly been raised in Baia until Lord Belikov's death. He had died a few years after his youngest daughter, Viktoria, was born.

I wondered why Dimitri hadn't gone back to Baia, where he'd been raised most of his life. I stared moodily out of my balcony as the sun began to rise.

Then I understood. Because Dimitri had mainly grown up in Baia, it would be the first place guardians and hunting parties would look for him. Admittedly, it was at least a week's ride from here, but it was a likely place. St. Petersburg was a less likely place for Dimitri to hide, and there were less Moroi and dhampirs there.

There was a knock on my door and I whirled around. "Rose? Are you awake?" my mother called. Why is she up so early? I wondered uneasily. Most of us here don't wake till nine in the morning.

"I just woke up," I answered, walking to the door and unlocking it. Mother stood there in her nightgown and dressing robe. My unease grew at her appearance. Why would Mother be here so early, and in her nightgown?

"Your father and I have… interesting news," she said, pushing away a strand of her unruly red curls. There was a bite to the word "interesting."

"What is it?" I asked politely.

"Get dressed, and come to the parlor," she replied before she swept away.

I threw on a simple shift before racing down to the parlor. Father and Mother were already there, waiting for me.

When I was seated in my seat, Mother looked over at Father. There was a strange, unsettled feeling simmering in the air. "Abe, will you tell her, or shall I?"

"I will," Father boomed. He turned to face me. "Rosemarie, in the aftermath of the attack on your fiancée… in three days' time, you will be married to Lord Ivashkov, with a wedding befitting that of a princess and a wife of an Ivashkov."

Absolute horror filled my heart. I couldn't move, and I couldn't speak. I would be married to Adrian Ivashkov. In three days.

"Why?" I gasped out.

Father didn't sound pleased. "Why not? The sooner you get married the better! And send a message to those damn Belikovs that neither we nor the Ivashkovs are to be trifled with."

"No!" I shouted, springing to my feet. "I will not be Adrian's bride. We have been engaged for these past few months, yet he has never courted me. A prospective fiancée is supposed to court his beloved before they are to be wed. I won't marry yet."

"How can you refuse to marry him?" Father thundered, his face becoming angrier and angrier. "Aren't you proud of being wed to someone of your high class and status? As a princess, you have a duty to marry, and marry well. You are unworthy of Adrian Ivashkov!"

Fear pulsed through my veins, but I had to continue. I couldn't give in. I met my father's eyes – exactly like mine – coolly. "I am thankful that you have endeavored to get me a wealthy, respectable husband. But I can't marry him. I can't marry a man who is so different from me, and such-"

"What is this?" Father bellowed, springing to his feet as I had. "You are a spoiled girl, and I have always coddled your spoiled ways. Get yourself ready for the church to marry Adrian Ivashkov. If you don't go of your own accord, I will drag you on your knees there! You worthless, disgraceful girl!"

I stared up in him in shock. I had always been his precious treasure, the heiress, his jewel. And he was flinging such hurtful insults at me, his only daughter .

I knelt before him and bowed my head. I had no choice. I wanted to scream and yell my defiance, but I understood that wasn't the way to get him to listen to me. "Father, please listen to me!"

"Why should I?" Father demanded, glaring down at where I knelt. "Marry Adrian in two days or you can't look upon my face again. Don't say anything to me!" He turned to Mother, who was staring at him in absolute dismay. "When she was born, we thought that she was a blessing from heaven. In truth, we were cursed with an ungrateful wretch! All my life, I have trained her to be the princess and have searched for a well-off man to marry her to. He would take care of her for me when I am gone. Adrian is wealthy, an important royal, handsome – any woman would be a fool not to marry him. And yet this fool of a girl says she won't get married because she doesn't love him."

He wheeled on me, his face full of disgust and fury. I shrank back, a bit frightened by the depth of his rage. "If you won't marry him, you are banished from my house! You can't live here, and you'll be disowned. If you want to stay, you will marry Adrian. If you won't, you will be thrown out on the streets and I will never take you back. I won't take back my word."

I rose to my feet as he stalked out of the room, muttering several curses in Turkish. I turned to my mother, begging her with my eyes. Maybe she could save me. "Don't throw me out! Can't you delay this wedding for a week?"

Mother held her hand up, her face full of exhaustion and submission. She had accepted Father's choice, as much as she disliked it. I remembered her suggestion of perhaps finding peace with the Belikovs. "I can't do anything more, Rose. I tried talking him out of it, but your father is a stubborn man. It's up to you, to make your choice." She turned and walked out of the room.

I sank to my knees in utter disbelief. I had two options – marry Adrian, or be disowned. And yet, I was already a wife, and had consummated my marriage. What am I to do? I wondered with despair. I didn't want to marry Adrian at any costs… and yet, if I was disowned….

Lissa rushed into the room in a blur of violet skirts. "What happened?" she asked, wrapping her arms around me. "I heard shouting."

I couldn't hold it back any longer, and a few tears trickled down my cheek. I related the entire story of what had happened just moments earlier before she walked in.

Her pale green eyes were wide with sympathy for me, and anger at my father. How can he force his only daughter to marry? she asked.

I shook my head, and looked down. "He must be serious about proving our power and status over the Belikovs," I said bitterly.

He always was serious. If we could find the root of this long-seated quarrel, it would help! Or revealing you're married to Dimitri, Lissa said.

I laid my head on one of the cushions and sighed. "I don't have a choice. You've been looking for ages, Liss. There's nothing. It's like someone deliberately wanted to keep the Mazurs and Belikovs from making peace."

Lissa's eyes widened, and she had an idea. Rose, what if that's the reason no one knows the cause of the feud? Someone wanted to keep the Mazurs and Belikovs fighting so there'd be no peace.

I sat up, and stared at her. "That sounds like a plausible explanation…but why?"

The Mazurs and Belikovs are both powerful clans, Lissa said. Some of the monarchs from the thirteenth century have come from the Mazurs and Belikovs. They were very powerful and wise. Maybe someone figured if they kept you and the Belikovs apart, there would be no chance of another ruler from either of your families.

I had to admit, that was a pretty smart theory. "But again – why?" I glanced over my shoulder and lowered my voice to a whisper. "And could the queen be aware of this?"

"I doubt it," Lissa said softly, "but you never know." She was far more trusting of Queen Tatiana than I was.

I rose from my lounging position. "I need to see Friar James."

Lissa tilted her head quizzically. Why?

"I need to speak with him at once."


I knocked frantically on the door to Friar James's chapel. He opened the door, and motioned me in.

"What brings you to my chapel so early in the morning?" he asked politely.

"Friar, I'm already married to Dimitri, but my parents want to force me to marry Adrian – um, Lord Ivashkov – in three days," I quickly explained. "If I don't do as they say, I will be disowned!"

James raised his eyebrows as we walked down the aisle between the rows of seats. "That's quite a situation you have there."

"I won't break my vows to my husband," I said. "I'll do anything to keep from being married to Adrian. If I have to, I will kill myself." I had a silver stake in my bedroom. Silver stakes were the only way to kill Strigoi because they were charmed with the four elements – water, fire, earth, and air. It would kill me too, but it wouldn't impact me as badly as a Strigoi.

"Don't talk of killing yourself," James cautioned, but I wanted to do something. My impulsive nature wanted to do anything other than sit and wait to be married. I wouldn't take this quietly. If I was to be disowned, then so be it. My parents couldn't dictate who I could marry, and they certainly couldn't dictate my heart.

He walked over to a small box lying on the altar, and pulled out a small vial. He walked back to where I still stood by the seats, and offered me the vial.

"What is it?" I asked, feeling unease as I peered at the contents. The liquid was completely clear, with a slight glint to the liquid. A chill went down my spine.

"It's a poison that will stop your breathing and heartbeat-" James began.

I gasped in horror, and backed away from him. Is he a murderer? "Are you trying to kill me?" I burst out, reaching for the silver dagger I had concealed on my arm. Why?

"Wait!" James pleaded. "Why would I kill you, Princess Mazur? I would be killed too."

That briefly stopped me, but I remained wary. "Then what are you attempting to do?"

"Go home, and tell your parents that you have agreed to marry Adrian. Take the potion in two nights' time, the night before your wedding to Adrian. It will make you appear dead, but you will be in a drug-induced coma. You will seem dead to everyone, including your family and Adrian. However, this will put you to sleep for two whole days. On the morning of the third day, you will wake. I will send a message to Dimitri – in St. Petersburg – and he will take you away from here for a little while. But you must have courage and strength," James said.

I gazed at the vial he held, a million thoughts running through my head. This plan is crazy, I thought. Coming from me, that was a truly scary thought. But...if I don't follow through, I won't ever see Dimitri again... I then took the vial and curtsied to him. "Love will give me strength. Thank you, Friar."

I slipped the vial under my cloak and departed.


Author's note: This chapter is a bit shorter than I had hoped to make, but I didn't want to rush. I had wanted to end the story in the next chapter, but it would be too rushed. Admittedly this last scene sounds a bit rushed... Review and enjoy (not necessarily in that order) :D