VA isn't mine sadly …

R-pov

"That one is perfect!"

"We are not leaving without it!" Rufus groaned and leaned back on the chair he had found while I was in the dressing room. To my surprise he did come personally to help me shop. I told him he could have just sent me off with Lissa and a credit card but apparently, he "had seen Princess Dragomir's definition of appropriate dresses" and thought he better see to it himself. He regretted that decision quickly.

"It is skimpy." He noted grumpily. Lissa gasped outraged as she completely disagreed.

"It is fabulous! Besides I have seen royal moroi in worse, including your wife!" She scolded to which he just sighed.

"It is not the dress, it is her figure. I don't mean to discriminate but a moroi chest wouldn't show that kind of cleavage." Lissa scoffed.

"That is what is so brilliant about it! Look how it hugs her curves! She looks like a goddess!" I laughed and felt myself blush a little as I gazed back at myself in the mirror. It was a black tight fitting dress. It reminded me of the one I wore at the school dance as it had the same style in neckline but cut off midthigh where a layer of thick lace covered down to my knee. Most perfectly was that it had a slit up to my upper thigh giving me room to move. I looked back at Rufus.

"Like I said – we are not leaving without it." I told him sternly and he sighed and pulled out his card in defeat. Lissa cheered happily and I rolled my eyes and chuckled under my breath as I pulled the curtain, and changed back into the black tank top and the wrapskirt Lissa had insisted on lending me, as it would be easier to get on and off. Turns out she was right, not that I would admit it.

"So where to?" I asked Lissa as we stepped out with yet another collection of bags. We had been to all my favorite shops, and most of Lissa's and I was lost for new ideas. Apparently so was she, because she actually looked at Rufus for help.

"I think we have covered the basics and most of the party clothes?" Rufus just chuckled and shook his head.

"We still need dresses. The ones we have bought are fine for normal parties but she will need more formal ones."

"I am right here guys!" I pointed with as much hand has I could due to excessive amount of bags. Rufus just looked at me.

"You will need more formal dresses." He stated and I rolled my eyes.

"So- where to?" I repeated but he didn't answer. Instead he speeded up his walk, indicating for us to follow. He lead us to an expensive looking dress shop, one of those with ten different designer brands that could be altered if you had the money.

A saleswoman greeted us with a huge smile that I was pretty sure widened when she saw the amount of bags we were already carrying. Lissa had suggested letting the guardians carry some of them but I declined. They were here as security, not servants. So, we each had our arms full, including Rufus much to his dismay.

"Hello, how can I help you?" She asked looking between us trying to figure out where to put her main attention. Rufus stepped forward and held his arm out towards me.

"This young woman needs dresses, lots of them, I am sure that is something you can help with?" She nodded eagerly.

"Yes of course! How many are we looking at?" She asked looking at Rufus who was clearly holding the wallet. He shrugged.

"Ten to Twenty? Just show us what you can do." She nodded eagerly and turned to me.

"If you follow me to the dressing room I'll get you some dresses to try. You can leave your bags here." She instructed and held out her hand towards a small group of chairs and a sofa which Lissa and Rufus dumped down on exhausted. I put my bags down and followed her to the dressing room. She gave me a silk robe and told me to sit on the chair.

"So, do you have any preferences in colors or shapes?" I considered briefly.

"Nothing pink, or orange, or lime, and I need to be able to move so nothing tight fitting either." She nodded seriously and skipped off to collect something for me to try while I changed. She came back with ten different dresses, all long and heavy looking. I didn't tell her but they were all a no, I couldn't fight in any of them. Which is what I told Rufus when I showed them the first one.

"Do I need to point it out or can you see it?" They both looked at me completely oblivious. I sighed and pulled at the material.

"I can't fight in this! I need pants or at least a short dress."

"You can't wear pants or short dresses! There is a certain etiquette!" Rufus insisted and I crossed my arms over my chest looking at him challengly.

"Well unless etiquette is to let you get killed then I am voting veto." Just then the sales woman came back with another load of dresses.

"Is there a problem?" she asked wearily. I sighed and turned to her.

"I can't move in these. I need to be able to jump a fence or make a round kick without warning." She looked at me weirdly but then looked at my dress thoughtfully. I think she just concluded it was another weird costumer request.

"I have some dresses that can be altered so the skirt is removable." She informed me thoughtfully, starting to go around me for a better look at the dress I was wearing. At last she just turned and motioned with a finger for me to follow. I pulled up the skirt and went after.

She did actually have some dresses that fit the critea. They were all with a formfitting bodice and a long skirt that started at the waist.

"We can alter it so the skirt is a wrap skirt and you would be able to tear it off in a moment. Then with some spandex pants underneath you would be ready to go." She told me as she showed me how to do it in the mirror. I looked at the collection of dresses she had brought. They were nice, different clear colors of blue, green, red and a few black ones. Most of them had a corset bodice which wasn't ideal but it was better than a long skirt.

We were almost trough, with only one left. It was a Bordeaux red dress with a full skirt. Beautiful, and impossible to move in.

"That one, that is your dress!" Rufus actually stood up and applauded. I wrinkled my nose and pulled at the fabric.

"I doubt it can be made with a removable skirt." I looked at the sales woman who shook her head. I turned back to Rufus and raised both eyebrows.

"It is out." I stated, pulling up the fabric to go back in but Lissa stopped me.

"Oh no you are getting that!" I crossed my arm above my chest.

"Liss, it is not even a discussion. I can't fight, I am not buying." She pouted but gave in and let me pass. I quickly changed back into my own clothes and went out to see Rufus signing off some papers.

"So I guess we will just need to visit a sport store for some spandex pants and an accessory store and then we should be done." I announced, feeling rather worn out after two hour of trying on expensive dresses.

"Actually I took the liberty of picking out jewelry while you were changing, they will be delivered along with your dresses next week." Rufus informed me while swiping his card.

"Oh." Was all I could say as I shot Lissa a worried look. Don't worry, I watched him. He actually knows a lot about fashion choices. She told me over the bond which calmed my nerves a little.

"Well then I guess it is just the spandex pants." Rufus nodded but I could see how exhausted he was.

"We can just pick something my size, I don't need to try it." I tried to comfort him but Lissa cut in.

"Uhm, I might have send a guardian to do that while you tried dresses. Five pairs is enough right?" I nodded stunned that they had already planned ahead.

"Well then let's get home." I stated but Rufus shook his head.

"No, now we eat, then we head back." He grumbled and I felt like some of his exhaustion might be hunger. So, we found the best thing in the mall which was Omally's and got burgers before heading back. I sat with Lissa in the back with her near guard while Rufus sat front with another guardian that we had borrowed for the day so I could try clothes. Tatianna had insisted on appointing two of her own guards as I was traveling with both a princess and a prince, and they were behind us in another car with Lissa's far guard.

"I feel like we got some good stuff today." Lissa yawned as she leaned on my shoulder. I ran my fingers over her hair and reached out to her mind. It felt weird, unnatural even. It wasn't that I hadn't been in her head over the last couple of year, for periods of time I had probably lived her life more than my own. But being in her mind while staying connected to my own, that was new. It was so easy, to sometimes just disappear completely into her mind and forget about my own reality that I hadn't bothered staying aware of my surroundings. Now as I sat there with her head on my shoulder, I was reading her mind, but not disappearing into it. She felt at ease. Our small amounts of quality time had eased her concerns about our friendship. Her thoughts wandered as well as mine to the last time it had been like this. Last time was at the academy, when Victor had bought the necklace for me. We had just been silly naïve teenagers then. Now we were grownups, with real jobs and responsibility. But sitting there in the backseat, off duty with her hair spilling all over my jacket it was so easy to forget. I zoned in to hear the conversation with the guardian at the gate.

"Okay so I just need you to sign in, I think something went wrong when you- oh hey Rose!" I grinned and straightened up in my seat when I saw a familiar face leaning in the window grinning at me.

"Hey Eddie! I didn't know you were at court?" Last time I had seen him had been in the hospital but we didn't get to talk.

"Just here a few days on business, I had a meeting with Gaurdian Croft and Gaurdian Mecury and the academy didn't need me back before next week so I am around till then."

"Nice, St. Andrews right?" He grinned.

"Yeah, didn't know you knew." I shrugged while blinking slowly.

"Gotta have an eye on your people right?" He shook his head but still wore his grin.

"Yes, you gotta. And now I am having an eye on you going into court. See you around Rose!"

"See you around Eddie!" I laughed as he pulled away from the car and let us trough.

The guard drove us all the way to Rufus house, and I couldn't help but feel weird as we drove over the brickstonestreet that usually only carried feet. I jumped out first and helped Lissa out next.

"Christian! Come over here and help." She exclaimed, having spotted Christian walking towards us before I did. I mentally cursed myself for not being aware, although I wasn't on duty.

"Did you guys buy the entire mall?" He asked snarkily when he saw the bags in the trunk.

"One would think so, but there were in fact things in the stores that Rose didn't try, believe it or not." Rufus stated monotonous.

"I am going to bed, it is late, I trust you to do the same as soon as the things are put away." He said directed and me and I just nodded and let him skip off. I strongly suspected he was going to see a feeder instead but didn't comment. I preferred not to watch, still feeling those unwanted feelings of excitement and jealousy when I saw fangs sink into the soft skin. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the mentalpicture. I saw a guardian follow him, and as I assumed they didn't go into the house but went off to somewhere else. Christian helped with the bags and Gaudian Smith took off as soon as she knew we had everything.

The door to Rufus house was almost always open. I think it was part of his career or maybe they just didn't bother locking doors at court where everyone knew each other. His housekeeper of course saw to everyone entering anyway so I guess he wasn't worried about people breaking in. She looked at us a little blurry eyed and asked if we wanted tea when we had put the bags away. We kindly rejected and she looked relieved and went back to bed. We skipped up the stairs to my room and I unlocked the door letting them in.

"You can just place the bags in the chair I'll put them away later." Christian didn't need to be told twice and practically dumped the bags in the chair then looked around.

"You were right – it is a nice room." He commented. Lissa nodded in agreement though more interested in the closet than he.

"Has Rufus had female guardians before? This closet is designed for big evening gowns." She commented. I shrugged.

"Probably, maybe it is just a standard thing?" She frowned slightly and I didn't need the bond to tell what she was thinking – it was not a standard thing - but then she turned around with a bright smile.

"We should go, let you get some sleep." Christian nodded and turned from the window to go give me a hug. I tried not to show my discomfort at his embrace. I was okay with hugging people, not so much with being hugged. Fortunately, he let go quickly and he and Lissa said their goodbyes before he followed her home, followed closely by guardian Canavan. I watched them leave from the window then slumped back on the bed. I felt much safer here than in the guest building. I had received a folder with information on the house when I took up the assignment. Rufus was paranoid, so the house held a ridiculous amount of extra safety measures. An alarm system for when then door was locked and extra timers for certain rooms like his office, along with extra safes and panic rooms hidden in walls and behind paintings. I strongly suspected there was more than the file showed but hadn't had time to investigate. Since the strigoi started breaking wards he had extra put up around his house to make an extra safe zone, along with an escape route from the basement. The place was a fortress. The only thing that could touch me here was the living and even that was questionable. They had spared away the extra guard for most royals and instead installed a surveillance system so anyone breaking in would trick a silent alarm, making four on guard guardians storm in within a minute while also setting off my alarm clock so I would be notified even if it was in the other end of the house. No one could touch me here and even if they managed to break in I would have an escape route easily planned. Even crazy stalker exs can't break through.