Chapter 12
2 years later
Adrian POV
Things certainly had changed since I first met Dri, I didn't expect she would want to join the family I had made after leaving her mother in Australia all those years ago but she had proved me wrong by accepting not only Ellie but her younger brothers Nate and Matt. She hated to admit how much she loved her brothers but I could see that she adored them.
I knew what she was like at school when she was in Melbourne, she was regularly in trouble and that was part of the reason she was pushed from home to home. I was proud with how well she had fitted in at St Vladimir's she had made some friends and even got over her fears of the Moroi. At first I wasn't too sure about her private sessions with Guardian Anastas but he had grown on me. In fact he had visited my office a number of times with concerns about her.
Somewhere along the way she had made a new friend, Stefan and he opened the novice world for both Dri and Emily showing them the party scene and both of them had taken to it easy enough. Ever since then she had been in and out of detention or suicide runs with Anastas. I had no problem with any of her friends, in fact I was glad she had made some amazing friends. Yes there were times I wished she stayed out of trouble but then my own mother reminds me of my time at school and I wanted to kick myself. She had gotten her behaviour from me and I only hoped that the boys would stay out of trouble as well.
Aside from her being in trouble regularly I was proud of what she was accomplishing during her classes, she was still behind on her novice classes compared to her classmates but she had caught up and I was proud that she was sticking to it. What shocked me the most was the fact that the same girl who tried to get out of maths in her freshman year was now excelling in the said class.
But her last party at the academy was bad, it was almost Alberta's last straw. In fact the students that were caught, both Moroi and dhampirs, were put on three week long suspension. It was huge gossip floating around the campus and most of the stories were about what everyone thought actually happened at the party. I think it was only the students that were at the party knew exactly what happened and they were keeping it to themselves.
Dri had been back at Court for Christmas break for a week now and I had no idea what to do with her for punishment, this was too far and I know both Alberta and Anastas had given her a lecture. I know I can't really lecture her on what she shouldn't be doing during her school time, I was much worse at her age but the only thing that stopped me from grounding her and not allowing her to see her friends was the fact that aside from the trouble she was causing she was at least keeping her grades up.
"Honey, you're thinking to hard about this" I looked up and found Ellie standing in the doorway to the bathroom. We were about to go to bed and as always she knew what was troubling me. She was the one that helped keep the Spirit at bay and she was my light in a dark room.
"I don't know what to do with her. Alberta said this was huge there were so many students at the cabin, they were risking crossing the wards. I know the academy hasn't been attacked in years but what if there are Strigoi lurking around in hopes of some idiot crossing the wards?"
"But nothing happened, they were all fine. You know Alberta has to punish them, you don't have to punish Dri but you do need to talk to her about what happened"
"I feel like I need to punish her though, this was huge Ellie"
"Then if you're that confused call Rose before she gets on her plane tomorrow, I'm sure both her and Dimitri will be able to help you"
I didn't say anything else, Ellie was right. Even if I couldn't come up with a punishment they should both be able to help me, if Rose couldn't then Dimitri definitely would be able to.
The following morning I was on the phone waiting for Rose to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Rose, it's Adrian. Do you have a minute? I need some advice"
"What did Dri do wrong this time?" I laughed at her response, she always knew when something happened to Dri. Considering what happened when Rose and Dri first met I'm glad they were able to get passed it, it gave Dri someone older she could trust that knew what it was like to grow up as a dhampir.
"I'm assuming you heard about the party at St Vladimir's for her birthday"
"I heard of a party there and a number of both Moroi and dhampirs were caught but I didn't know it was for her birthday "
"It was, I know Alberta and Anastas have spoken to her but I feel like I need to do something to make her realise how much of a big deal this is"
"I've got no clue, you know punishment isn't my sort of thing but I can speak to Dimitri and see what he comes up with?"
"That would be great Rose. Let me know when you can and enjoy the rest of your holiday"
"I will and thanks"
After that I hung up the phone, I had no idea when Rose would get back to me. I knew they both had to get on a plane later on, so they could either get back to me before they got on the plane or once they were back at Court.
A few days later I knew Rose and Dimitri had arrived back at Court but I had yet to hear from them. I don't know if they were still trying to come up with an idea of punishment for me or if they just hadn't had the time.
I was sitting in my office at Court going over my class plans for the new term when I heard someone enter the house. I figured it would just be Dri returning from Emily's. I had let her go and see Emily under the pretence that Emily's mother would be home and she could keep an eye on both girls.
"Adrian?" That wasn't Dri's voice, it was Rose's. I pushed away from my desk and left my office in search of Rose. She most likely went straight for the kitchen in search of food and I was correct I did find her. In fact she was sitting on the kitchen counter eating a bag of chips.
"Dri won't be happy if you eat all her chips" Rose shrugged before jumping off the counter.
"I'm the reason she got addicted to these anyway"
"I know and both Ellie and myself blame you every day for it, sometimes I really hate how you two got close"
"It could be worse"
"I don't even want to think about that, have you come up with a punishment idea?"
"We have, well it was more Dimitri's idea. She still hasn't really grasped what will happen once she becomes a guardian, he thought if she shadowed me for a day while I shadowed Lissa for the day" this was a bad idea, those two got along and I could see the two of them making jokes when they didn't have to concentrate
"You know that isn't punishment, you two get along"
"I will make sure she sees the point behind it all, before it even begins she will have to spar against both of us. Then the next day she will again spar against us and then follow Dimitri around"
"What if that doesn't take? I know she has tried really hard at catching up and keeping up with her classes but I still have no idea if she will become a guardian"
"If she still hasn't gotten the idea of what this all means then I will ask Eddie to join us for a third day of sparring and then she can follow him around. He and Jill are arriving tomorrow"
"What's the point of the sparring?"
"In classes she spars one on one same with her private sessions with Anastas. This will show how hard it can be sparring against multiple people. As for shadowing us it shows different aspects of what could be required. I will show her what it means to be a Royal Guardian, Dimitri will show her what is involved for a regular Guardian and Eddie will show her what is involved with being a Prince/Princess' Guardian"
"I'm still a little hesitant about this, what if after those three days nothing sinks in Rose?"
"You underestimate her, she might surprise you" I was a little suspicious about how well it would work but I agreed with the idea anyway.
It was after dinner when I decided to go and tell Dri about her punishment. I stopped in her door way just as her phone beeped, I watched as her smile grew as she was reading the message.
"Good message?" I didn't even have to ask who it was from, after a while I learnt Jason had a different smile to the rest of her friends.
"Yeah it's just from Jason, he's going camping with some friends. He made this joke about stealing me away from you for Christmas so I could go with him" I tried not to show the disgust on my face, I hated that he was older than her. I also knew he had been bugging her about where she was currently living but at least she kept her promise by not telling him she was in America.
"Should I be worried about something going on between the two of you? He's what, two years older then you"
"Nope, we're just friends. Speaking of friends can I please go and spend New Year's Eve at Stefan's?" I didn't know how I felt about that, she was in trouble and she knew it.
"No way, you're in big trouble"
"You haven't even said anything about that so I figured I was off the hook" she grinned at me, I knew she wasn't trying to convince me of anything since she grinned. It's when she smiles I know she really wants something.
"You think that's how it works in this house?"
"Well technically I don't live here, I spent most of the year at the academy. I spend like 10 weeks total here while 42 are at the academy, roughly 80% of the time at the Academy compared to the 20% here at Court. That's a big difference, you spend just as much time at the Academy as I do"
"Don't be smart. Who would have thought the girl who didn't want to take maths in freshman year was now excelling in the subject"
"Don't start on that"
"What I'm proud of your accomplishments at St Vladimir's and how quickly you caught up with everyone" I walked over and took a seat at her desk.
"Nikolaus says there's still heaps to catch up on" I knew she hated that she was still behind in her novice studies but she had done remarkably well to catch up to the level she was at.
"That wouldn't surprise me but you have done well either way"
"So I'm not in trouble" she grinned again, I couldn't believe she actually thought she wouldn't be in trouble.
"Not a chance, in fact. I have an idea for your punishment" I began explaining the punishment to her.
