I am doubly sorry for the very late update, guys, but school (as usual) has been a bitch. My mom restricts me from using my laptop on weekdays, and as you probably know, I can't update without it. From now, on, I'll be updating once (or twice, at most) a week, just like I did before. I will do my best to update as often as I can, but being in junior high is not easy when you have something else to think about. I HOPE y'all understand my dilemma here.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter. (I know it's short, so sue me.)

Chapter Thirty-four

Truth Be Told

It wasn't until a few hours later that Lissa and Mia decided to crash in my already-crashed room. And—I don't know why—with a half-drunk, and half-sober Adrian in tow. I had already cleaned up most of my room, but it was still visibly wrecked. (I had wiped away Kathy's atrocious I'm still here message on the mirror, and had thrown away about half the stuff in the room.) Or as they would say in the some part in a country I know: Giagian ug bagyo. In English, it literally meant "passed by a storm" but it was just the dialect's expression of saying that one place was a total catastrophe. Per se, my room looked bad. Very.

For once, I considered letting the beans spill on purpose, but the look on Mia and Lissa's faces told me that (maybe) telling them about the whole damn truth wouldn't be so necessary.

They already know, was the whisper inside my head. I momentarily felt guilty for keeping such a thing from them, but I took comfort from my reason as to why I kept it from them in the first place.

"I—" I stopped, as Mia held up her hand. I was supposed to say: I know what you're going to say and how you'll feel, but please do understand that I did it to keep all your pretty white asses safe. Dignity and spunk was never a good combo for the Slayer, but it was for Rose Hathaway. Dignity and spunk, too, were the best combo if you didn't want any of your friend(s) mad at you for the moment, but in my case, it was a lose-lose situation. Mia—even my (note the possessive pronoun) dainty Lissa—looked grimly serious.

"Save it." snapped Mia.

I clenched my jaw to stop a come-back, and invited them in. Integrity is the treasure to one's soul, as my sensei would likely say to me if I behave not so nicely. Mia entered silently, but there was an air of importance and dignity, with Lissa and a leery Ivashkov heir flanking. Mia whirled back to look at me almost dramatically. Her porcelain doll features were contorted in expressions that I couldn't decipher—or even begin to understand. Behind her, Lissa was looking at me in a way that almost made my resolve waver, and Adrian just looked—I dunno—gleeful, I guess, if you consider being half-drunk with both caffeine and alcohol was the effect.

"A little birdie told me you threw off a murderous witch off the ship before she could mess with your mind by means of your mother." Sarcasm, sarcasm, Mia, didn't anyone tell you not to be so bold to the famed Slayer?

What Mia said wasn't what I expected, but I knew that I should have expected this one. Although what Mia and Lissa felt were reasonable, I still felt angry. Either to myself, them, to Kathy, or to the little birdie, namely Drake or Graceling.

My words came out hard and clipped. "I'm sorry, but it was just for the best."

Mia snorted a loud, frustrated sound. "I thought we—Lissa and I—were your friends!" she practically roared the last word, her face flushed in anger. "Rose," said Mia, a hint of exasperation in her tone. "I thought we have been through this. You need to trust us. We're best of friends, and they help—or just try to!—if their friend is in trouble! What you did—"

"Was necessary, for the time being." I cut-off, my words still clipped. I ignored Adrian, and looked at Mia and Lissa, back and forth. "You have to understand that there are some things that I can't tell you. Ever." The words came out as a weary whisper, but I was sure they could hear it.

It was Lissa's time to say something. "We could've helped, Rose, even if—"

"Can't you see?" I wasn't proud at how desperate I sounded, but it would help them understand why I did what I did. "That's why I didn't tell you! The situation meant life or death—you would've came in here to try to bust me out of this mess, but look at me." I gestured to myself, eyes blood-shot and clothes soaked with blood (the wounds already healed on their own, but the small crescent cuts Kathy made on my arm were still there, albeit faint). Then, I gestured to my room. "Look at the room. I could have avoided making such a wreck, because I'm the damned Slayer!"

I took a deep, calming breath and leaned back on the wall. It was like the world was swaying, and the world's problems were weighing down on my shoulders. My legs nearly gave out, but I held on to them. "I'm the damned Slayer." I repeated. "And I can't even stop her." A sob, and then the most embarrassing break-down of my life happened.

*Later*

"We're sorry," said Lissa softly, moving a strand of my hair out of my face and then tucking it behind my ear. She gave me a watery smile. "Sorry about everything."

It was about half an hour later that I stopped crying, and Lissa and Mia had persuaded me to move to another room. I was in another room (in courtesy of Adrian Ivashkov), and I was lying down on my stomach with my palms on my cheeks like a little girl. I was tired—more tired than I could ever imagine—but, I kept my eyes open because Lissa looked so…so…beautiful. It was like she had a faint golden glow outlining her, and on the crown of her head was something halo-ish, but wasn't quite that.

I was about to say something sentimental, but stopped myself, and asked a random question instead. "Why's Adrian with us?"

Suddenly, the glowing light that outlined Lissa's form seemed to darken with her expression. Mia, too, I could feel behind me, stiffened. My drowsiness faded, as I smelled something they were not telling me. Adrian, who probably heard his name mentioned, looked up from the book he was reading. It surprised me that Adrian looked quite upset that he was brought up—or something along those lines.

"What is it?" I demanded, now alert and wide awake.

Lissa pursed her lips, and her pale green eyes looked like they were about to shed priceless tears. "It's nothing." she said unconvincingly.

"To hell it's nothing!" I boomed. In a speed that nothing could compare, I was up and five feet away from the bed. "Tell me."

"It might upset you." was Lissa said.

I resisted the urge to snort. "I've been through worse, if you haven't noticed."

"No," said Adrian. I didn't look at him. "No, Rose, it's true. If we tell you, this would only upset you further, and it will probably drive you into insanity." His words held truth in them, but the insanity part was kind of pushing it.

"Tell me." I compelled to nobody in particular, but the one who answered wasn't the one I expected to answer.

"The Queen wants the Slayer's head on a plate." Mia answered, her tone held incredulity and surprise. "Did you use compulsion?" she asked.

I ignored her, and sat down on the nearest chair. "Why does this all have to unveil now?"

"Only the future holds the truth." Adrian surprised me by answering, his tone slightly lost.

"And only the truth holds the answer." I continued, my tone slightly lost, too. "Sucks to be me."

All three people in the room turned to look at me.

"That's all you can say when there's a bounty for your pretty head—complete with hair and done-brows?"

I looked at them. "What? You want me to wallow in self-pity or something? I'm sorry, but I'm done being a damsel a while ago." I said and crossed my legs. "Why do they want me dead, anyway?"

"The court has been keeping these to themselves for a long time, but Adrian here—being drunk, spoiled-Queen's-nephew, and infatuated with you and all—blurted out that Royal Moroi Guards were sent away to search for the Slayer or the Slayer's whereabouts. Even Guardians on campus duty are assigned to keep track of the Slayer. Royal Moroi on committees are even hell-bent on searching for the Slayer, Rose. That's what scares me, why many significant Royal Moroi are working so hard just to find the Slayer." Lissa said, and then both she and Mia looked at Adrian as if he had the answer.

In fact, Adrian had it, and he wasn't so glad about selling it out.

"It's this crazy poetic prophecy my aunt's obsessed on. She said that it was written by the First Moroi—which is quite self-explanatory, if you were wondering what that means." Adrian got a crumpled paper on his jacket pocket and tossed it to me.

The fruit of two different trees

One pure and unadulterated

And two tainted and verboten

The child of whom you know as Slayer

Shalt put the world in silence

The poetic prophecy wasn't what I was expecting. I had expected to read complicated words, or misspelled words, but the poem was fairly modern. And it pointed right at me, too. I didn't know who my mother was, but I knew that she was a good person, so she may be a good candidate for being an opposite of the tainted and verboten—namely, my father (whoever he was).

And put the world in silence? What did that mean? I'll end the world? Take over the world? Or destroy the world like in 2012?

"Okay…" I said, and tossed the paper to Mia and Lissa for them to read. "Isn't it great that I'm going to end the world?"

*Next day*

"Money does wonders." I said as I strolled past my old room, that was now being fixed by, I noticed, novices and a few guardians. "I wonder how Adrian get s all of them." I wondered out loud. It was now early in the afternoon, and the sun was up and the tide was high, unlike yesterday's gloomy weather.

Mason was there, working in my room, fixing my—insert embarrassed grin there—chopped vanity table. He was shirtless—not that in surprised me—and his chest gleamed with sweat from the hot day. He ran his fingers through his hair, and looked up as if he felt that someone (me) was watching him.

I raised my hand and waggled my fingers at him. "Hey, Lover Boy." I called, and leaned back on the cruise's railing.

He squinted, and put a hand above his brows as if to oversee something. "Rose?" he called, unsure.

I stepped out of the sun's glare and onto a more suitable spot where Mason could see me without frying his pupils. "That's Rosemarie to you."

He smiled. "Glad to see that you're up. I haven't seen you after you made your dramatic exit yesterday." He told me, and then looked at my chopped vanity table. "Adrian Ivashkov is a dangerous man when he's drunk."

My cover story about my room was that Adrian was drunk and…er, well, you know what happens when people are drunk, and probably high from clove cigarettes.

"And high," I added cheerily.

"Yeah," he grumbled something unintelligible. "Hey, Belikov was looking for you earlier today, and he came in here just a while ago." Mason told me. "Why does he always need to talk to you, anyway? I mean, I know that he's your mentor and all, but why the rush?"

I shrugged, feigning innocence. "Maybe he needs more white tea?"

"Huh, guess so." Mason shrugged and went back to his work. "Anyway, he didn't say anything after that. Such a cryptic guy, wonder how he does when he makes socializing a normal thing."

That was the last thing I heard from Mason before I fled away to find that infuriating Russian. Luckily, he wasn't hard to find. He was in a sun-deck, gazing on the blue waves and horizon. I didn't know why the place was empty, but it was just us. Maybe it was just how the sun played with his features or how the wind fluttered his longish dark hair, but he looked like the most beautiful thing in the world right now. But he only had to ruin it by saying "Slayer."

"There's a bounty for your head. Why did you seek me, even though you know that I know who you are?"

I stepped so I was just standing beside him. "Would you tell?" I asked.

He stared off, and said nothing.

"Because if you would, I'd just respect that. Tell the Queen about me, but leave my friends alone." Selfless, selfless. That was never my forte, but it sounded like I had been selfless for all my life. Although, deep inside, I knew that those words were unnecessary.

"I thought you knew me better than that." He said, and looked at me in the eyes. The impact of it was so incredible, it hurt. His dark brown eyes glittered like the night sky when he looked at the glittering sea, but when he looked at me…it was just—amazing.

I didn't look away, but gave a twitch on my lips. "Geez, I don't think I even know myself anymore." I said dryly.

Dimitri raised his hand to put a stray lock of my hair behind my ear, as cliché as it sounds. When his hand was free, he brushed his thumb on my cheekbone, and I closed my eyes, savoring the sense of warmth and happiness that bubbled inside me when he touched me. He cupped my cheek, and I leaned against it.

Love. I never understood that before—even after my mom. Yes, I loved my mother, but she was only a phantom in my life, a memory to savor, but Dimitri was a true person. He was Dimitri Belikov, flesh and blood. And I felt something for him. Something that overwhelmed me, but comforted me at the same time. I loved Dimitri. God only knows what will happen if he takes back what he said before about him being in love with his student.

"I'm never going to put your life at risk, Roza. No matter what." He said finally.

His words made no sense first, but when it sunk in, tears pricked my eyes, but I held them back. I knew enough of proscription not to cry. And I was getting to emotional. If there were any proscription hormones, I would have blamed them.

He had my face between his hands, and my cold face warmed. I looked up at him, so very happy. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. When he spoke, his breath was hot and tantalizing.

"Whoever or whatever you are, it doesn't matter to me. What matters most is that you are my Roza." He gave in and gave me a kiss that made me feel like I was flying. I was elated, I was hopeful, and I was in love, and being loved. I couldn't imagine how life could get any better—Slayer-wise.

When we broke away, he leaned his forehead against mine, his breathing ragged. "I love you, Roza, and that's why I have to do what I have to do now."

I swear I could see Dimitri's eyes glitter with tears, but maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part. He closed his eyes, and kissed my forehead before he silently walked away, leaving me behind again. But before he could go, he whispered, "Goodbye," and I was just left there confused.

Oh, no! What's Dimitri going to do?

Darn it! So, how's this chapter? Tell me about it in a review!

Love lots,

Kate

Xx

P.S. I had no time to check grammars and spellings and I know full well that my English is far from perfect, so…yeah. G'night to me.