Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

I regret having to post such a chapter on Christmas but the story must go on, right?!

I hope you enjoy this chapter...as much as you can, anyway :p

Rose

"Princess?" The guard before me stuttered when I pulled the shawl away, revealing my face from my face. "You-"

I held up a hand, glancing between the two guards at the northern gate of the palace. "Let me through."

With a deep bow, the guards opened the gate for me.

Heads turned as I made my way to Nakshatra, Sydney a silent shadow behind me.

It was quite clear that everyone knew of my disappearance.

I was accustomed to being stared at, of course, but this was the first time I was uncertain about the consequences of my actions. My family, I could handle but Dimitri-?

Pushing away the impending sense of doom, I paused and looked at the people staring at me. They mainly consisted of guards and staff employed at the Palace, mixed with occasional secretaries of state and maybe even a few ministers and high lords. Unlike some countries, we didn't open the royal palace to the public.

But I had bigger worries to deal with at the moment. So, I forced a smirk onto my face and injected false confidence into my voice. "I hope you all didn't miss me too much. Now that I'm back, life can now go back to normal, yes?"

Almost everyone in my range of sight smiled, either in amusement or exasperation. If they didn't approve, no one had the guts to say it to my face.

"Chop, chop, people!" I clapped my hands. "Off you go now."

They scattered quickly, almost afraid that I'd punish those lingering. It often made me sad how much power I had over them. I wanted to be respected, yes but not feared. Never feared. But unfortunately, people never seemed to be able to shake off their nervousness when around royalty.

"Go home, Sydney." I told her as I began walking towards the Nakshatra. "You've been a massive help today. But now, you need to rest."

Sydney hesitated. "Will you be okay, Rose?"

I tried to smile. "Of course."

It had to be okay. I was just doing my duty, wasn't I?

"There you are!" My mother's angry voice was loud enough to scare away the flock of pigeons nesting on the huge oak tree next to the Nakshatra.

The little, angry, red haired mother of mine stood at the doorway, reminding me of the Dimitri's first night in Loha, when I'd dragged him to Nakshatra.

Dimitri.

Taking a deep breath, I calmly walked past my mother and into the building. Whatever she wanted to say, she could say it like a civilized person.

"Don't disrespect me, young lady." Janine's voice was low and deadly but I ignored her, walking into my living room where my father was waiting.

His face was blank but his eyes were sharp as they watched me take a seat across him.

I made sure to maintain the same blankness on my face when my mother stormed into the room behind me.

"I cannot believe you!" were her first words. "Deliberately disobeying protocol, gallivanting across the countryside, tricking the guards, disobeying your parents...do you want me to go on?"

"I'm sorry, mother." I forced out, the words leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I was not sorry, not at all. But I needed to calm her down. "There was a reason-"

"-I don't care," she shrieked, balling her hands. Dad didn't say a word, watching us quietly. "I don't care for your silly reasons. What was it this time, Rose? Bored of the palace? Did you want to escape your responsibilities? Or perhaps you wanted to escape the engagement itself?"

"What?" I asked her, shocked. I knew she'd be angry, yes but not so...unreasonable.

"I had a doubt from day one," she continued. "I couldn't believe you agreed to the engagement so easily. Now I know. You wanted the Belikovs to break off the engagement, didn't you? You wanted to show them how wild you are, how...how disrespectful. How unfit you are to be the queen of Russovia. You did this to sully your reputation, did you not? Or do you have an affair with some poor farmer's boy?"

"Enough!" I shouted, my own temper now inflamed. I didn't know when I'd leapt to my feet. "I will not hear anymore of this nonsense!"

"Nonsense-?" Janine sputtered but I cut her off.

"You've exceeded your own limits this time." I said, disgusted. "You always complain about my behavior, mum, but you are a thousand times worse than I'll ever be."

Barely sparing a glance at my father, I marched out of the room, desperately trying to control the urge to hit something. How could she say all those things? Affair with a farmer? Those were the words of a mad woman, not the words of a mother. Did she even know-

My mind blanked for a second as my feet came to a standstill. Subconsciously I'd walked into my backyard which had always been my place of sanctuary.

But now, it wasn't much of a sanctuary as it was a battleground.

For there was a person waiting for me in the backyard.

His back was turned to me but I knew who it was, the one person I really did not want to see at this moment.

"Dimitri," I breathed, a swarm of emotions rising within me at the sight of my future husband. Anger was the predominant emotion after my encounter with my mother. But mixed with that anger was sorrow, for the Ransham couple and for the implications this could have on my relationship with the man standing before me.

Dimitri turned to face me slowly, his posture rigid and hard.

"You're back," he said without any emotion.

His face was blank, not a good sign. His jaw muscle twitched as he crossed his arms; the free strands of hair that lay on his cheek did nothing soften the hard look he was giving me.

I exhaled and forced myself to move forward, towards him.

I wouldn't be intimidated. I wasn't at fault here. Sure, I did defy protocol and yes, I regret that I broke a promise to him but I had to do it.

I could never turn away from my duty.

"You don't regret it, do you?" Dimitri asked me suddenly, eyes narrowing as they took in my expression.

"I don't." I replied firmly. "I'd do it again if I had to."

He nodded slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I'm sorry that I thought I knew you. I thought I understood you. It seems I was wrong."

"What are you-" My voice faltered when he held up his hand to stop my words. His face was still impassive.

"You broke your promise to me," he said calmly but I could hear an undertone of anger. And that, well, that made me angry.

First my mother, now him.

Everyone seemed to be angry with me without even asking me why I did it. Why did they not care to check if their anger was justified?

I'd expected it from my mother but Dimitri-?

Like he'd said, I thought he did know me, that he understood me because at some level, he was the same as me.

If he did understand me, why wasn't he bothering to ask for an explanation? Shouldn't he be able to understand that I'd done all this for a reason?

I must have imagined our easy rapport then. The connection between us must not have been strong, the shared sense of duty felt only from my side.

He didn't know me at all.

I couldn't say why this revelation was so painful but it was. I'd thought that I'd finally met someone who could understand me but no.

"I'm done," I told him, my voice nearly breaking. A sea of sadness seemed to be churning inside me. I felt lost. "I'm done trying to explain. You seem so hell bent on fixing the blame on me-"

"-That's because you are to blame, Rose!" He nearly shouted, eyes flashing in anger.

I jumped, taking a small step back. I'd never seen Dimitri angry. He was always calm, always the voice of reason. Now, he was anything but that. "You took off without telling anybody," he continued, his eyes locked with mine. "Despite the threat to your life, you left without so much as a warning. And that's not even the worst part."

I looked at him silently, alarmed by the emotions playing on his handsome face. Dimitri was always in control, always reigning back his emotions. But now, his anger preceded everything.

"What's worse is that I believed you," he told me, voice suddenly soft. I couldn't decide what was worse: his anger or his weary tone. "I believed you despite knowing how much you hated being restricted to the grounds. I wanted to believe that you were capable of keeping your word."

I felt my eyes sting with tears which I desperately tried to hold. He was right. I had broken my promise. But why couldn't he understand?

Why not give me a chance to explain?

"I wanted to believe you would know the meaning of restraint," he went on. "For restraint is one of the most important qualities of a ruler. If you still insist on pulling childish stunts like this-"

"Wait a minute," I interrupted him, the inferno of anger igniting again. "You cannot accuse me of being childish. Not when-"

"-not when what, Rose?" he asked me impatiently. "Not when you decided to wander the countryside without informing anyone?"

Each word hurt but it was swallowed by massive flames of anger.

I glared at him. "I had a reason for doing so. But you don't want to hear it, do you? That's fine. But don't you dare accuse me of being childish! Not when you don't know why I did it, why I had to do it. You have no idea what drives me, what makes me me."

"You're right," he agreed, backing up a few paces. "I really don't know you-"

"-you don't." I confirmed, my voice hard as I desperately tried to hold back my anger...and escalating sorrow. "So don't lecture me on what's right and what's wrong."

"Yes, because you clearly can tell right from wrong," he retorted. "Rose, what are you trying to prove? That you did the right thing by defying protocol and breaking promises?"

"I'm trying to prove that I know what I'm doing!" I shouted; all the anger, fear, sorrow and frustration coming out of me. "I know what I did, damn it! That's what none of you understand. But I had to do it. I had to. I thought that, of all people, you would be willing to listen. But no! You're so fixated on seeing things from your point of view that you don't want to hear anything from me. And I'm not going to stand here and give an explanation when it isn't welcome."

For the second time that day, I turned away from an argument. But unlike with my mother, I wasn't left fuming.

I was left empty.

Traasa

Two men crouched in a dusty and abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Navera: the sleepy town bordering the city of Gayodha.

"We are running out of ammunition," said one of the men, rubbing his thick brown beard. His eyes were fixed on a fatal wound his blond partner had acquired when trying to escape the city guards of Gayodha.

"We just have to survive the night," the bearded man continued when his blond companion didn't reply. "At nightfall, we can sneak out of Loha under the cover of the Farishta forest."

The blond man nodded as he held a piece of cloth to his wound to stem the blood flow. "The bosses will be pleased with our work."

The bearded man smiled. "Yes, they'll be very pleased. No one has been able to bypass the Lohan border security before. No one had the guts to blast a bomb in Loha before us. But we did it. Gayodha will not recover from the shock. Hell, the entire Loha will not be recovering soon."

"I hope we've scared Belikov for good," the blond man said. "He should be scared, that coward! Now he'll know how powerful we are. Soon, he'll be forced to surrender Russovia to us."

"We'll bring the royalty to their knees," the bearded man said with a grin.

Just as the blond man was about to speak, they heard the sounds of cars pulling up outside their warehouse. Rapid footsteps were heard all around them and some on the cracked roof of the small warehouse.

"This is it," the bearded man said, grasping his companion's shoulder. "Heaven awaits us. Farewell, dear friend."

"Farewell, my brother," the blond man said, embracing his companion. "We're really lucky. A martyr's death is a privilege accorded to a few. See you in heaven."

As the front and the back door of the warehouse were burst open, the Lohan army men spilled into the warehouse with their guns raised.

"Avasha Kekudha!"

With that mighty cry, the two traasa militants bit into the rings on their fingers, tearing the fake cover and exposing the deadly piece of cyanide which they proceeded to swallow just as the Lohan guards reached them.

With a bite of cyanide, the two militants responsible for blasting a bomb in the town of Gayodha passed away from the mortal world.

The next day - - the day before the engagement

Rose

"You look like a queen," Lissa told me proudly as we looked at my reflection in the floor length mirror.

I tried to smile as I smoothed the fabric of my gown. Any other time, I'd be happy to be clad in this gorgeous emerald masterpiece of a gown.

Bold patterns of black diamond decorated the transparent lace of emerald cloth covering my arms. At the shoulders, the lace coalesced into a thick emerald strap resting below my throat. The gown itself started just above my breasts, dipping low enough to hint at the swell but staying respectable. The emerald silk hugged my body smoothly till mid-thigh. From there, the silk faded into the same transparent emerald lace with black diamonds that covered my arms, forming the rest of the gown and brushing the floor such that my legs were shrouded in it.

It was classy but sexy. Which was why I'd chosen it to make my initial impression on my future family.

"Green signifies freshness-" Lissa said in an off hand tone as she curled my hair. "-and youth...and vitality."

I snorted. "What are you getting at?"

Lissa didn't answer immediately, intent on curling my hair to perfection and pinning it up in a loose bun. She left a few curled strands free to frame my face. My handmaidens scurried about, each intent on helping me get ready. One sprayed sweet perfume on me as another laid black stilettos at my feet. Yet another maid brought a set of emerald drop earrings. I'd decided against wearing any jewelry other than earrings and my tiara.

Tonight was the pre-engagement party of sorts, a get-together arranged for both the Mazur and Belikov family members who'd arrived for the engagement. It meant that I had to stick with Dimitri for the evening, pretending like everything was fine. That we were fine.

"Maybe-" Lissa started, frowning as she arranged my hair in an elegant bun. "Maybe you can see this as a fresh start. Forget whatever happened between you and Dimitri."

"Fat chance," I snapped, my mood getting the best out of me.

Lissa's hurt jade eyes stared into my dull ones in the mirror.

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Liss. Look, I don't want to talk about it-"

"So you're not going to tell me what exactly happened?" Lissa asked, her tone hard. "What was so important that you had to rush out of the palace without telling anyone?"

"It's not her fault," said a quiet voice from behind us.

Sydney stood there with the box holding the tiara I'd requested. She met Lissa's eyes calmly before taking a step forward. "She'll tell you when she'd ready to."

Sydney's calming words had the opposite effect on Lissa who narrowed her eyes.

"You knew?" She asked Sydney, her tone accusatory.

I sighed, turning back to the mirror. There was no reasoning with Lissa when she got like this.

I missed Neal. He would listen to me.

Sydney didn't flinch under Lissa's glare. "Yes, I did. It was my fault that Rose had to leave the palace. But it was for a very good reason."

Lissa's eyes went from Sydney to me and back again.

"Would you care to tell me what it was?" Lissa asked her sarcastically.

"No," Sydney said calmly. She ignored Lissa's incredulous stare as she handed me the box. "Your mother wanted you to wear your official tiara but I told her you requested for this one."

Looking up into Sydney's hazel eyes, I tried to wordlessly apologize for Lissa's behavior.

Sydney gave me a small smile in acknowledgment and left the room.

"I'd rather not talk." I told Lissa sternly, sensing that she wanted to speak.

She turned her glare at me but I didn't budge. With a quiet huff, she went back to fixing my hair and I turned back to the mirror, staring at my dull eyes.

This wouldn't do. I had to put on a mask of happiness for the party. God knew the kind of gossip my gloominess might generate. No, no one could know what I was actually feeling.

I was ashamed to admit that I'd shed a few tears after my confrontation with Dimitri. It had been a moment of weakness but I was determined to not let it happen again.

I could not and would not be weak.

Dimitri's words played again and again in my mind. The more I thought about it, the angrier I felt. I didn't know who I was angry with: Dimitri, my parents, traasa, this betrothal or myself.

But feeling angry was better than the awful empty feeling that crept up on me sometimes.

The truth was that I missed Dimitri. I'd only stumbled upon this revelation a few hours ago when I was working out at the gym. We'd trained together for nearly two weeks now and suddenly he wasn't there anymore.

I missed him a lot.

For the hundredth time since out fight yesterday, I checked my phone for any messages or missed calls from him.

Nothing.

"Stay still," Lissa told me in a clipped tone as she set the emerald tiara carefully on top of my hair.

"Yes, Your Majesty." I said sarcastically, tired of her attitude. "Your wish is my command."

Was it so hard to see that I had too much on my plate right now to deal with her? Yes, I admit that I should have told her everything but it was too much for me to digest in the first place. I couldn't bring myself to speak about it. It was too soon.

Lissa huffed at my reply and strode away once she finished her work.

I didn't care. Much.

"Princess?" One of my maids approached me as I watched Lissa leave the room. "You have a guest."

I frowned. "Who is it?"

The maid smiled slightly. "He told me not to tell you."

Having no mood to deal with anything but knowing that I had no choice, I instructed the maid to direct my mysterious guest to the living room.

Surveying my appearance for the last time, I walked downstairs in a daze, trying to imagine an evening with an angry Dimitri beside me.

I wasn't prepared to see the person waiting for me in the living me, not prepared to come face to face with that cheeky, devil-may-care grin etched on the handsome contours of his face.

"Hello, Little Warrior." He said with a twinkle in his emerald green eyes that perfectly matched my dress.

Adrian Ivashkov.

AN: So, we had a fight that I really want to re-write and a glimpse of the aftermath. Without giving away too much, I'll just say that I'm very very excited to share the next few chapters! Brace yourself for some...angst, jealousy and partaay! ;)

I'm really sorry about the quality of this chapter and for any/all mistakes!

I hope you all have a happy Christmas with your family and friends. I don't celebrate but I can see why this festival is so cherished :) I wish you all loads of joy, love, peace and prosperity! Enjoy :)