Chapter 26: My Best Friend is a Princess?

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy

Thanks for all the positive reviews and encouragement. I'm so glad you like my story. A few notes. Rose is definitely not done making Dimitri's life a living hell. She will eventually run into some family members. Dimitri is going to have a plan and yes Tasha is going to rear her ugly head lol! Don't worry, don't I always have a plan? We will also hear more from Abe, Adrian and the girls back in Chicago. Also, she has suffered a huge betrayal and it isn't realistic that she would get over it in a few chapters. He's going to have to work hard to earn back her love and trust and who knows if it will happen before she gets the chance to run! Remember I believe in happy endings, but how I get there is never pleasant=) Also Rose isn't just pissed, she's heartbroken.

LPOV

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Let me get this straight," I said.

"Rose, my pen-pal since I was eight is really the Princess of Turkey and Dimitri, her boyfriend is the crown Prince of Russia. You must think I'm pretty dense to believe that line of bull," I said extremely put off by Christian's strange behavior.

"It's true, you can google it," he said handing me his phone.

"I thought your phone didn't work," I said eying him with my hands on my hips.

"I lied because your friends found out the truth," he admitted.

Over the next minute and a half, I browsed websites like Google, Wikipedia and Bing finding hundreds of articles and pictures of my best friend and Dimitri who were indeed both who Christian said they were.

"Holy shit this is awesome!" I cried. "My best friend is a Princess!" I couldn't think of anything more fun than that.

"And she's marrying a Prince, that is just my fairytale come true. Are you royal too?" I asked my eyes widening at the fact that my boyfriend might be a prince in disguise.

"Calm down, and no I'm not royal. I'm Dimitri's royal advisor, but I do not come from royal lineage."

My face fell, but that was okay. I still knew two royals and that was really exciting. I couldn't help but wonder what a royal wedding was going to be like.

"Oh my God, I'm maid of honor at a royal wedding," I squealed. "I have to call Rose. This is so fantastic. Why didn't she tell me?" My excitement began to wane as I wondered why Rose had kept her royalty a secret.

"Why didn't she tell me?" I asked again this time in a serious tone.

"There isn't an easy way to say this, so I'm just going to come out with it. Please just promise to listen until I finish," he said making me sit down. I was beginning to get a little nervous.

"He what?" I screeched as he told me that Rose hadn't known Dimitri was a prince and he had tricker her into falling in love with her before kidnapping her and bringing her to Russia against her will.

"Calm down, she's fine," he said and I was angry that he would just brush off his abhorrent behavior so casually.

"Fine! You think she's going to be fine when she realizes who he is and that he's working for her father. The whole point of her coming to Chicago was to avoid that exact marriage. What makes you think she'll be okay? On top of that, he's kidnapped her and taken her halfway around the world. What is wrong with you people?" I cried trying to get as far away from him as humanly possible.

"Liss, he loves her, the way I love you and he didn't kidnap her, she's an adult."

I rolled my eyes at his idiocy. "Kidnapping, abduction, it's the same thing. I want to talk to her!" I screeched dialing her number with his phone.

"Her phone won't work in Russia. Let's go to the airport and we can call when it's morning there. It's the middle of the night."

"If you think I'm going anywhere with you, the you are out of your mind."

"Liss, I'm not going to hurt you," he said stepping forward.

"Don't take another step. You dropped my phone in the toilet on purpose didn't you?" I accused.

"Yes, but.."

"But what? You've been lying for months, what's the say that you won't just keep lying and drag me off to God knows where."

"Liss you know me. I love you. I would never do that."

"Then how could he? He said he loved her. How could he do that to her? She's probably so scared. I should be with her. She shouldn't be going through this alone."

"She's a princess Lissa. She knows the drill. She has to marry a royal and let's face it, she could have done far worse than Dimitri. The other guy her father had in mind is twenty years older and a creep. He's only interested in her title and making an alliance with her father.

Dimitri loves her more than life itself. He would do anything for her and cares about her future happiness. I'm not saying what he did was right, but at least this way she got to fall in love the normal way and get to know him. Usually you meet three days before the wedding and say I do. Trust me, she has it a lot better than most girls in her position."

"But she doesn't want this! She wants to be free," I argued.

"You're right, but unfortunately you can't always get what you want in life. She was born a princess and for her that means making a profitable alliance for her country. It's a sacrifice, but that's the way it is in their world. He loves her. He's not going to let anything bad happen to her."

"I just want to talk to her. She must be upset."

"You can talk to her soon, I promise, but right now it's late there. Let's just go to the airport so we don't miss our flight."

"Flight to where?" I asked wondering if he was being truthful.

"Chicago, I promise," he said with sincerity.

I nodded finally trusting that he was telling me the truth. We sat at the airport and my stomach was in knots as Christian spoke with Dimitri.

"Her phone doesn't work there, but Dimitri says he's going to work on it."

"Why doesn't he just hand her the phone?" I asked anxiously.

"Well if I had my guess, Rose is not currently speaking with him let alone in the same room. From the way it sounded she's definitely pissed."

"With good reason," I muttered entirely pissed off myself. I wanted to talk to Rose and if Christian didn't make it happen soon, he was going to find himself in the same position as Dimitri.

RPOV

"Rose, are you sure you don't want to eat?"

I loved Alberta with all my heart, but if the woman tried to force feed me one more time, I was going to kill her.

"I told you for the last time, I don't want any. It's probably poisoned," I said turning up my nose at whatever was under the silver platter Dimitri had sent over.

She sighed and ate her portion of the meal while I sat stationary in bed not having the energy to move.

The truth was, while I was angry, a bigger part of me was devastated. Two days ago, I was in Paris with my best friend and engaged to the man I loved. I had an apartment, a job and my freedom. Now, I was engaged to a man I didn't know, a prisoner within the walls of a castle with nothing to do but stare at the wall and would probably never see my friends again.

The man I loved had broken my heart with lies and deceit and I couldn't help how I felt. He had betrayed me in the worst ways and there wasn't any way for him to make up for it. I told him before we made love, not to hurt me and he promised.

"He promised he wouldn't hurt me," I whispered hot tears forming in my eyes. For the most part, I hadn't cried, but it seemed as if that were about to change. A river of tears streamed constantly from my eyes for what seemed like hours and Alberta comforted me by holding me in her arms and rocking me back and forth like when I was a child.

"It just hurts so bad," I cried clutching my heart as sobs wracked my body.

"I know my darling. I know," she said rubbing my back in a slow circular motion.

I wanted Lissa to be here, but I was scared that after Christian told her about my lies, she would hate me. Add having all your friends mad at you to the list of things in my life that sucked.

After I was all cried out, I decided that I at least needed to use the bathroom so I got up and started towards the door. I didn't make it two feet without becoming dizzy and losing my balance nearly toppling over in the process.

"If you would eat something, you wouldn't be so dizzy," Alberta tisked.

I looked under the platter and wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"No thanks, besides, I'm on a hunger strike," I said dragging myself to use the facilities.

"That's new," she muttered. "I've never seen you refuse food before."

"Well get used to it, because until he agrees to release me from this engagement, I am not eating!"

It wasn't easy to sleep on an empty stomach and I tossed and turned all night before giving up. I was still lying in the same position when there was a knock at the door.

"It's Mason. Can I come in?" he asked.

"Whatever, I don't care," I called.

"Have you even moved from that spot?" he asked raising his eyebrow at me.

"Haven't needed to."
"Well this might cheer you up," he said holding up a small brown bag.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Dimitri went out and got it special for you," he said handing it to me.

"If it's from him, I don't want it," I said tossing it on the floor.

"Woah, be careful it's breakable," he said rushing to pick it up.

"What is it?" I asked in a bored tone.

"Open it and find out."

"Fine, but if I hate whatever it is, you tell him I never opened it," I said putting my hand in the bag.

My eyes widened in disbelief as my hand closed around a brand new cell phone. It looked just like my old one with the same cover and all.

"This one works here," he said. "I've already programmed all of your contacts into it. "Here's the charger."

"He's letting me use the phone?" I asked bewildered.

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Prisoners are usually on phone restriction."

"Rose, you know you aren't a prisoner. The only thing that stops you from leaving this room is you. There are no guards outside your door and it isn't locked from the outside. You are the one who is making this your prison." In a way I knew he was right, but I didn't want anything from Dimitri. I didn't want him to be all nice to me. Hating him was easier when he was being a jerk. That's the way it was with my father.

"How did Jill take it?" I asked curious as to how my friends were dealing with my lies.

"She was pissed, but not at you. She's deciding on whether or not she can continue talking to me," he said sounding depressed.

"I thought you were going to fly back to see her."

"She doesn't want to see me," he responded.

"The hell she doesn't. The girl is just being stubborn. Go see her. It will work out," I encouraged.

"So does that mean you're just being stubborn and you're going to work things out with Dimitri?" he asked.

I shook my head. "That isn't an option. I don't want to be the Queen of Russia. I want a normal life. He can't give me that. Plus, I won't be able to forgive his lies."

"You know that's half the reason your father planned this the way he did. He wanted you to meet him and fall in the love normal way."

"Right, the normal way means getting your heart broken into a million pieces after finding out that yoru entire relationship was a lie and a set-up by yoru father?" I snorted.

"Sometimes it does," he said. "No one is safe from heartbreak. It's a part of life for everyone no matter their social status. It doesn't mean you can't work past it and start over."

"You don't get it. You never will. You chose to be with Jill. You love her and she loves you and that's it. There's no bottom line. You didn't take money from her father to trick her into marrying you. You aren't forcing her into a life she despises. You two are free to make your own choices. You don't know how lucky you are."

"I think it's the other way around Rose. He loves 's a lot more than I can say for any other royal marriage out there. You do have a choice. You can choose to hate him forever and live a miserable life based on hatred and distrust or you can choose to hear him out and let him make amends so you can start fresh and live a happy life filled with love."

"I just can't," I told him. "It's just not an option."

"Suit yourself. You know you should really get out of here. The gardens are beautiful and there's a lot to explore. You could still avoid him and not stay in here all day."

"Why bother? If you've seen one palace you've seen them all. Stupid gardens, tapestries, libraries and all that crap. I'd trade it all to be sitting in a crappy studio apartment in the middle of August with no air conditioning."

"That sounds pleasant."

"Plus, he wants me to come out and meet his family and I'm not doing that, so my other option is to stay in here."

"I guess. Are you going to call Lissa? Jill says she's going nuts."

I shrugged. "What good will that do me? She can't help me now. No one can."

After he left I sat contemplating what to do with my new phone. Bashing it to pieces with a blunt object and sending it back to him would definitely send the message I wanted, but as I held it in my hand my urge to talk to Lissa overpowered it. She deserved an explanation from me. She had been my best friend for the longest time and I owed her a lot.

The line rang twice before she picked up.

"Rose?" she questioned.

"Hey, it's me," I said tears pricking my eyes at the sound of her voice.

"Oh my God, I was so worried about you. How are you? Is everything okay? Do you want me to call the police?" I had to laugh a little at the absurdity of her calling the police.

"Liss, Dimitri is the future King, no cop will come and arrest him. He owns them," I sniffed.

"Well I can kick him where it hurts with my steel toed cowboy boots if you want," she offered.

"Thanks, I have half a mind to do the same."

"Are you really okay?" she asked.

"I'm going to be fine. I knew this day would come. I just didn't expect to be fooled like this."

"Rose, I'm so sorry. I didn't even suspect. He seemed so genuine in his feelings."

"He's a good liar and apparently so am I. I'm so sorry for lying to you. You're the best and only friend I've had my entire life. I hope you can forgive me someday."

"What are you kidding?" she asked and my hopes fell.

"You're already forgiven. I know why you had to lie and no one is mad at you."

"Really?" I asked wondering how she could give her forgiveness so willingly when I couldn't even look at Dimitri let alone forgive him.

"Really everyone has been really worried. We love you and we're behind you one hundred and ten percent and if you want us to come organize an escape we'll do whatever it takes."

"You guys are the best," I told her. "I'm so lucky to have such good friends," I choked out between sobs.

"Why are you crying? Did he do something? Did he lock you up? How did you get a phone?"

"He hasn't locked me up and he bought me the phone."

"So are you going to forgive him?" she asked timidly. "I mean you love him and all right?"

"I don't know anymore. Nothing in my life has been real. It's all been a lie. How could I ever know if I loved him when I didn't even know who he was?"

"Well you know now. Do you think you love him?" she asked.

"All I've seen of his true persona is that he lied to me over and over and over and tricked me and then hauled me off against my will. How could I love him?" I cried in exasperation.

"I'm sorry Rose, I can't even begin to know what you're feeling. I'm really angry at Christian for being in on the whole scheme."

"Are you going to stay with him?" I asked.

"I don't know. I want to forgive him and I think I can in time, but he lives in Russia and I live here. It's going to be difficult. One of us is going to have to move and I don't know how I feel about that. Besides he lied to you too. If you don't want me to see him again, I won't."

"What, no that's stupid. If you love him, you should see him. Don't worry about me. My fate was decided at birth. Yours doesn't have to be. You should do whatever your heart truly desires, but thanks for the loyalty. It's rare to find and you're a great friend.

We spoke for a few more minutes before promising to talk again tomorrow which meant I would have to keep the phone. I'm sure Dimitri would read that as a sign that I was forgiving him, but he would just have to be disappointed.

OPOV

I hated to face the facts, but my son had been lying to me since he returned home. He'd never lied to me before and it was hard for me to comprehend why he would lie about something so important. Although after the disappearing act he'd pulled this past year, I shouldn't be surprised. I was beginning to doubt that he had actually secured and alliance with Turkey. I was afraid he was refraining from introducing us to his fiancée and from announcing it in the press because he was having a hard time convincing King Mazur to make the deal. Ibrahim Mazur was a very stubborn man who had a very strained relationship with Russia when my husband was King. I found it hard to believe that he would suddenly agree to whatever arrangement my son was asking.

In fact, what shocked me the most was that Dimka had taken the initiative to make an alliance with Turkey. He hadn't seemed interested in making one last year and he'd seemed even less likely to take a bride and now here he was campaigning for both. I thought for sure he would come to me only days before his coronation and ask me to find a woman for him. I'd been counting on Princess Ozera as my first choice. Something seemed off. He claimed he's in love with this girl, but he didn't seem happy, in fact he seemed almost melancholy. And the fact that she'd yet to make an appearance perturbed me.

I decided to take things into my own hands and find out what my son was up to.

Uh oh! Olena is catching on that something isn't right. What do you think? Also why hasn't Adrian tried to contact her? Review please and let me know what you think will happen next.