~ Chapter 12 ~

The next week was filled with congratulations, squeals from Lissa every time she saw me, and the judgmental stares of Moroi who apparently did not think I deserved to be happy. I didn't care how anyone reacted. I was euphoric. I lost no time in finding opportunities to call Dimitri my fiancé to anyone who would listen. "My fiancé is cooking dinner tonight", "my fiancé taught me that move", "my fiancé is on duty." It's a miracle no one snapped at me about how annoying I was being.

Finally, it was the night before we were leaving for Siberia. Dimitri and I were on our way to go tell my mom about our engagement. I had told nearly everyone, but I hadn't seen my mother yet. I wasn't sure if word had reached her – I hoped it hadn't. I didn't think she would forgive me if she found out about this from someone else. I was fidgeting nervously as we walked up to her door in guest housing while her Moroi was visiting Court. I hadn't talked to my mom since I yelled at her before my graduation party. Not that she didn't deserve the silent treatment, but I wanted her to be part of my wedding and I knew I needed to make amends now.

I knocked on her door, praying she was alone. As it turned out, she was. She opened the door and looked at me shocked. "Rose?" She asked, unsure of herself. She looked between me and Dimitri, and I briefly wondered who looked more terrified.

"Can I come in?" I asked her, trying not to sound bitchy. I reminded myself I was here to make amends, and really I had had more than enough time to get over it.

"Oh, yes of course," she said stepping aside so me and Dimitri could come in. She led us to the living room. She sat down stiffly in one of the chairs. Dimitri and I sat side by side on the couch. We glanced at one another, and I realized the responsibility of telling her was going to fall on me.

"Mom we have some... good news for you," I told her hesitantly. I doubted she would consider this good news, but I hoped if I presented it like that she would be less upset. I could see her trying to figure out what it was, but she couldn't think of what it could be. I decided to come right out and tell her. "Dimitri proposed to me," I said showing her the ring.

She was quiet for a long time. I glanced at Dimitri concerned. He looked back unsure of what to do. Finally she spoke, "You're sure that this is what you want to do?"

I looked up at her with certainty in my eyes. "With all my heart," I told her. I left no room for doubt that I meant my words.

She nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" I asked her shocked.

"What else do you want me to say?" She asked me with a small smile. "You're an adult now and as much as I wish I could control you, I can't."

I just looked at her shocked. She got up and affectionately touched my shoulder. It was more than I had hoped for. She looked genuinely happy for me even if she didn't necessarily agree with my decisions. "Help me plan my wedding?" I asked her hopefully. She looked at me, her eyes widening. She had about as much experience planning a wedding as I did. "Lissa wants to help to. I need someone to reign her in." I didn't know where this came from, but I suddenly felt an insatiable need for her to be truly part of this. We had never had a typical mother daughter relationship, but we had been on the mend.

"I… Are you sure?" She asked uncertainly. There were no classes on wedding planning and somehow I felt like she would feel more comfortable battling Strigoi than planning a wedding.

"I'm sure," I confirmed. "I know you don't agree with this, but I want you to be a part of it. I haven't been the best daughter and I've made my opinions of your parental style clear, but I want to move past that. You've done so much to support me lately and I haven't thanked you for it. Not once. You were there for me with Mason and after the attack on the school and even for my trials. Consider this my way of saying thank you." considering how out of her element she would be with this stuff, it was a poor way to repay her; however, I meant what I said. I got so caught up with suddenly meeting my father that I stopped recognizing how drastically different she was treating me. She had moved past the image she had of me being reckless and immature. I could move past the grudge I held about her letting the Academy raise me.

If I didn't know better, I would say she teared up at that. "I'm going to go find Vasilisa," she said to me. That was a dismissal if I ever heard one.

After she left us standing in her room, I glanced at Dimitri. "Does that mean yes?" I asked uncertainly.

Dimitri chuckled and nodded. We both felt awkward standing in her bedroom without her so we quickly left. The sun would be rising soon and we decided to take a walk around Court before we retired to our apartment. We had walked for over an hour, musing about how easy that had been. Moroi were settling in for sleep so the Court had quieted down and we were subjected to less judgmental glares than usual.

I grabbed Dimitri's hand when I saw a shadow enter the queens' chambers. They would have to get around the guards, but there was a tingle in my stomach that told me all was not well. My gut instinct told me I should follow them. I paused and glanced at Dimitri. He nodded already knowing what I was going to do. He ran off to alert Hans that there might be a threat. I hoped I was overreacting as I followed the path of the shadow. As I neared the queen's chambers, I found only one guardian with a goofy smile on his face standing outside.

"Did you just let someone in?" I asked.

"Yep," he answered without hesitation.

"Why?" I asked incredulously.

"Because they asked me to," he said as if it were the most obvious reason in the world. I felt a little nauseous as I realized the implications of what he had said. It was a Moroi who had entered Tatiana's bedroom.

Déjà vu. I was instantly brought back to that moment at the ski lodge when Mia had used compulsion on a guardian to get her, Mason, and Eddie out of the boundaries of the lodge. Except this person hadn't used compulsion to go on some vigilante quest. I had no idea what their intentions were, but something was wrong.

He let me go on in without any questions. The queen should have at least four guardians outside her chambers, I wondered if someone had used compulsion on them too or if they had just gotten lucky. I was hoping that maybe Adrian was sneaking into her room to surprise her with something – maybe it was her birthday or the anniversary of their first cigarette together. Even as I had those hopes, I knew that whatever waited behind the door was not Tatiana's friend.

The shadow was actually someone dressed all in black. They were holding a stake and were standing over Tatiana. I realized they were going to kill her. I did not hesitate.

"Tatiana! Roll!" I yelled as I ran to her attacker. Tatiana woke up and rolled over just in time to avoid the stake. She didn't know what the danger was, but she had responded to the fear and authority in my voice. It's no secret that I don't like the queen and that she doesn't like me, particularly after she passed the age decree. Sending dhampirs out when their sixteen is a suicide mission. But as much as I disagreed with her, I didn't want to see her dead. I could see Tatiana scramble out of bed. Then she froze as she watched me approach her attacker.

I lunged at the Moroi. We were in the shadows so I couldn't see their face. I grabbed the hand that held the stake. In the split second before it fell to the ground I noticed something and it made me freeze with shock. "That's my stake," I said confused. In retrospect, that shouldn't be the most surprising thing that happened that night, but my brain fixated on it, trying to understand how this came to be. My eyes widened as I realized that someone would have had to take it from my apartment. No one had broken in – we would have noticed that. This was someone I knew.

I pushed the Moroi back. Hard. That's when the hood of her sweatshirt fell down and I saw her face. My blood went an icy cold. I was looking at Tasha Ozera. My hesitation was all she needed to break away and scoop up my stake. I could hear footsteps coming towards us as I grabbed her again. I just needed to keep her from Tatiana until the guardians arrived. "Why do you have my stake?" I asked her determined to get answers.

"After I stake the queen, everyone will think that you did it. They'll find your stake with your fingerprints. I'll get rid of you once and for all," she told me. I noticed then that she was wearing gloves.

"I'll tell them the truth or Tatiana will," I warned her.

"Tatiana's not going to be alive to tell the truth. Who do you think they're going to believe? A reckless dhampir or a Royal Moroi?" She asked me mockingly. I knew she was right. Despite the great things I had done recently, I still had a reputation for acting without thinking and doing things I shouldn't. but murder? Would anyone really believe I was capable of murder? Yes, I realized. Between Tasha's claim that it was me and all of the evidence she had built up, they would believe I was capable of murdering the queen.

"What did I ever do to you?" I asked, trying to avoid her swipes with the stake. It wasn't easy. Tasha was well trained. Most Moroi wouldn't have been a match for me, but after Christian's parents turned Strigoi, Tasha had trained so she would never be defenseless again. People started to enter the chambers, but I didn't pay any attention to them. Tasha and I were wrestling and I needed to focus on that. She was thrashing around so much I was having difficulty maintaining my hold on her.

"You took away Dimka," she told me narrowing her eyes. "We could have had a future together. I could have given him the thing he wanted the most: a family. He could have children with me. Something he can never have with you." The venom in her voice was obvious. "I kept thinking that he would get over it, but then he proposed to you and I knew the only way we could be together is if you are out of the way."

That distracted me and she was able to push me off her. The guardians grabbed me, assuming I was the one that had attacked an innocent Moroi. I struggled against them. Tasha must have looked like a hero to them. She looked like she stopped me from killing the queen.

Tasha picked up the stake and I knew what she was going to do. I glanced towards Tatiana where she stood frozen and unable to move. She was in the same position she had been in since she got out of bed. Tasha moved right in front of her, pretending to try to comfort her. The guardians couldn't see the stake, but I could. I broke free of my captors and got in between Tatiana and Tasha just in time for Tasha to push her stake through my stomach. I heard someone crying my name. The last thing I saw before the blackness engulfed me was the face of an angel… no of a God.