Since we'd gotten back on the road, neither of us had really said much. I think we were both feeling the effects of a last night's drinking, and lack of sleep. We stopped for food, and took a few bathroom stops, but about four hours into today's ride, I noticed my surroundings were starting to look familiar.

"Are we almost there?" I asked. He nodded.

"About another hour ride. How did you know?"

"We drove to court from St. Vladimirs with Lissa's parents once. I guess I remember it from then, because the only other time I've been at court was with-." I cut myself off. He just nodded, and didn't push me to say anything else. I watched out the window as we passed different places, trying to remember if I'd been there. It wasn't long before we pulled up the courts gates. Adrian spoke to the guardians and they opened the gates. Adrian called another group of guardians to take our stuff to his room.

"Are we staying long?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Just overnight." He promised, wrapping his arm around my waist as we walked inside. He escorted me upstairs into a part of court I'd never been in. "So, there's someone I want you to meet."

"Who?" I asked, giving him a look.

"My aunt." He said. It took me a few seconds to register who it was he was referring too.

"The queen?" I asked. I shook my head. "Oh no… that's not happening. She doesn't like me. She never liked me after what happened with Lissa. I heard all of the stuff she said."

"But you've never actually met her. I think she'll like you." He told me. I rolled my eyes.

"Adrian, don't make me do this." I begged. He just nodded.

"Alright. If you don't want to, I understand." He said. He then started escorting me away from where we were headed.

"Damn you and your reverse psychology, Adrian." I snapped.

"When she finds out you're here, she's going to want to meet you anyway." He informed me.

"Might as well get it over with." I followed him through a large set of French doors and into a large room. I soon figured out that this was the throne room.

"Hello Tatiana." He said. When she came into view it was easy to see that they were related. They looked a lot alike.

"Adrian… I heard you were back. Didn't actually believe it, since you come and go so much."

"All you have to do is say you miss me. I mean, I can't blame you. I'd miss me too." I rolled my eyes at how he regarded her.

"Who is this?" She asked, motioning to me.

"Rose Hathaway." Adrian told her. I stepped forward and bowed.

"Your majesty." I said. She turned back to Adrian.

"I caught word she'd disappeared from Belikov's estate. Shouldn't have expected anything less, Adrian. Are you eloping?" She asked. I coughed and started laughing.

"It isn't anything like that your majesty." I said. Adrian smirked.

"Nope, not this time." He said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Then what exactly are you doing?" Tatiana asked. Adrian opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off.

"I had a lot of problems with the novices there, and I got sick of them. I decided that I would leave until it was time for me to go back to the academy, so I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. Adrian offered to accompany me."

"Of course he did." She muttered. She looked between Adrian and me. "Does Guardian Belikov know where you two are?"

"No, he doesn't. We aren't staying anyways. Just for tonight." He informed her. Somehow, I felt this information shouldn't have been said out loud. I felt like Tatiana was plotting something, and I had a feeling it would end badly. Regardless, I pushed the feeling away.

"I take it your staying in your room this evening then." Tatiana said. He nodded.

"Yes… and I promise to behave." He told her. It was obvious she knew of her nephew's reputation with women. When we left, I just had this really weird feeling about her. I wasn't sure what it was, but Adrian sensed my unease as we walked into his room. It looked the same as it had when I left Court the last time, even though I didn't want to think about everything that happened the last time I was here.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just weird being back here without-." I stopped. It was easy to make up lies with Adrian, because he never pushed me to talk about anything that had to do with Dimitri. He just nodded.

"So, you know to make yourself at home. We'll probably head out in the morning. Where too, I don't really know, but we'll figure it out." He said.

"We can't go too far. You have to remember, I have to go back to Lissa eventually." I told him. He just nodded.

"I know that." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice. We hung out in his room, but neither of us really said much. He poured himself a few drinks, and offered me one, but when I refused he slowed down. A few hours later, I told him I was going to go down to the gym and get a work out in since I wouldn't be training for another month. He offered to go with me, but I told him no. I knew the gym wouldn't be his scene anyway. Regardless, he argued, but I still refused. When I got to the gym, I pulled out one of the dummies and slipped the gloves on, taking out all of my frustrations on it. The gloves were holding me back, so I took them off, and started in on it again. My knuckles became raw, but I didn't let it stop me. When I finally stopped, I ran on the treadmill. I wasn't sure how long I'd been down here when I heard the door open, and in walked Guardian Young. I hadn't known he'd left the estate, much less that he'd come here.

"Rose?"

"Guardian Young? What are you doing here?" I asked. He chuckled.

"I could ask you the same question. I caught wind that you'd run off again, but I didn't believe it." I smiled.

"Well, believe it. What brought you to court? I didn't even know you left the estate." I felt sort of bad that I hadn't even checked on him after Landon's memorial service.

"I didn't have anything to do there, and I just felt kind of useless. Atleast here I was put to work. It isn't very much, but it keeps me from sitting around." He told me. He then walked over to me. "So, what brings you to court?"

"Just a stop. I'm leaving in the morning." I told him.

"Where are you going?" He asked me.

"I don't know yet. Where ever I end up, I guess. I have a little less than a month until they'll let me back into the academy, so I figured I'd just move around until then."

"Why'd you leave?" He asked. I sighed.

"It's a long story… one that isn't exactly mine to tell. Let's just say things got a little heated, and I just got tired of dealing with it, so I left." I told him. It was the most I could say without lying to him. He just nodded.

"How'd you get here? I'm sure Dimitri didn't just arrange for you a ride and a flight." He said.

"Adrian brought me." I said, simply. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"How'd Dimitri take that?"

"He didn't like it so much." I admitted. I sighed. "Look, I really don't want to talk about this. I should probably go. I have to get up early tomorrow. Guardian Young, I'm asking you not to call him, or tell him where I am."

"Your secret's safe with me. I know you've been going through a lot since you got there. I don't blame you for running, to be honest." He admitted. It hit me hard when he said I was running, because I realized that was exactly what I was doing. I was running from things I didn't want to face, just like Dimitri said I was. I knew there was no going back now though. I'd made my choice. Odds are, he wouldn't take me back if I tried to go back to the estate. I nodded at Guardian Young once.

"Thanks." I said, before starting for the door.

"Good luck… with everything Hathaway." He said. I smiled at him slightly, before walking out and heading back to Adrian's room. When I got there, he was starting for the door.

"I got worried. I was afraid you weren't coming back." He said.

"How long have I been gone?" I asked.

"Four hours."

"Shit, I'm sorry. I had no idea I'd even been-." He cut me off, when he walked over to me, and grabbed my hands.

"What did you do?"

"I used one of the training dummies, and I felt like the gloves were holding me back, so I didn't use them, and well… this is what happens." I could tell he was going to try and heal me, but I pulled away from him.

"I'll be fine."

"Rose, don't start this now." He said. I sighed.

"Adrian, I just really want to feel normal right now, and healing on my own… that will make me feel semi-normal."

"Rose, come on." He said.

"I'll tell you what. I'll let you apply first aid. Will that make you feel better?" I asked. He sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." He said.

"But if you try and heal me while you're doing that, I won't hesitate to punch you in the face." I told him, smirking.

"No funny business. I got it." He said, before leading me into the bathroom, and applying medicine. He then wrapped my knuckles in gauze and taped them. They hurt, but it wasn't a pain I couldn't handle. When we were done, I changed into some comfortable clothes, and curled up on his couch. Adrian went and showered before coming back out in nothing but a pair of cotton sleep pants.

"Well, I'm going to head to bed. If you want to sleep in the bed, I can take the couch."

"I'm not going to kick you out of your bed, Adrian." I told him.

"If you want to sleep with me, that's fine too. I'm just giving you options here." He admitted. I got up.

"I'll sleep with you." I said. He just nodded and turned to go back into his bedroom. He had a king size bed, but I swear it was like two of them put together. He crawled in and I did the same. I curled up under the blankets, and got comfortable. The room fell into silence, but I had a question to ask.

"Adrian?" I whispered into the darkness. I saw him turn his head to look at me.

"Yeah?

"If… If I have nightmares again… will you make them go away, like last night?" I asked. I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke.

"Of course. If you need me, I'm right here." He said, patting my hand under the blankets. I just nodded.

"Thank you." I whispered. When I closed my eyes and fell asleep, I was extremely surprised when the nightmares didn't come. Adrian didn't have to manipulate my dreams, which was a plus. I knew it wore him out having to use spirit like that, even if it was in his sleep. I was happy to say I didn't dream at all, which was unusual under this kind of stress. I cuddled up closer next to Adrian, and let myself succumb to the blackness.