"Whoa! That's a big turnaround!" Eddie gasped. "What are you thinking?" Both he and Viktoria looked stunned, but Dimitri not so much.
"I'm not saying I won't, I'm just not 100% sure," Rose said defensively, looking at their surprised looks. Dimitri sat there stroking her arm, watching and saying nothing. "Well, Comrade? I suppose you have your two cents to say about this, too?"
"No. I know you haven't forgiven Lissa yet. I know you're worried about how she takes you for granted, you're concerned how being her Guardian might change things between you, you're apprehensive that between being her bondmate / best friend and Guardian you'd never get any downtime, you're freaked that if something happened and you couldn't save her that you'd be losing your best friend as well as your charge, and you're nervous that if you're her Guardian and I'm Christian's we still won't be together as much as you'd like."
"Know it all," Rose mumbled under her breath.
"Was there more to it?" Dimitri asked, looking at her with amusement.
"No, I think you covered it," Rose admitted.
"So what are you going to do?" Eddie asked. "You're going to have to talk to Lissa about it."
"I know," Rose said gloomily. "I've been putting it off. First I was just trying to get over the darkness, then I wanted to focus on Dimitri and me becoming a couple, and then the Abe and Adrian things happened. I figure once we know what's happening with our return to St. Vlad's I'll do it. I'd rather do it face to face if I can."
"What about you, Dimka? What do you want in an allocation?" Vika asked.
"I want to be with Rose. When she's happy, I'm happy," Dimitri said sagely.
"I want you to be satisfied with your allocation, too, though Comrade," Rose replied lovingly.
"And I will be. If it's Christian and college with you and Lissa, then I'll love it as long as we're together. If it's St. Basil's and teaching and coming home each weekend, I'll love that, too. As long as we're together then it's my dream allocation," Dimitri confessed, leaning in to give Rose a tender kiss.
"It's going to be a pity when Eddie goes back to St. Vlad's," Dimitri commented to Rose on Monday night. "Vika is really going to miss him."
After driving back to St. Basil's early on Monday morning, Eddie had again spent the day in the gym with Dimitri, starting with the Monday morning Senior Novice training session with Rose and Vika. The girls had headed off to their other classes while Eddie had again helped Dimitri with the smaller groups, and then they'd regrouped later in the afternoon for an after class private training session together before the four of them headed off to dinner.
Knowing she really had to call Lissa, and probably her mother, Rose had made her excuses to Vika and Eddie, and she and Dimitri had headed up to their room after their meal. Not that either Vika or Eddie looked too disappointed about it. In fact, Rose was confident they relished the alone time together. And apparently she wasn't the only one who thought so.
"Honestly Roza – how could you miss the two of them sneaking off to make out every chance they got over the weekend? And they danced almost every dance together on Friday night. They like one another!" he'd said, rolling his eyes at her lack of observance.
"Are you sure?" Rose said, managing to keep her voice perfectly impassive. "You're not worried about it?"
"Well, Nikolai was staring daggers at Eddie this morning so that kind of confirmed it, and I'm not at all worried Roza. Eddie's a nice guy. Stable, sensible and a good fighter. And Babushka likes him. He's a good match for Vika."
"Well fuck me," Rose muttered under her breath.
"Pardon?"
"I said wowee!" Rose lied, wondering where her real boyfriend was, and who had stolen him. "So are you going to let Eddie know you're ok with him dating Vika?" Rose asked, genuinely curious.
"Hell no!" Dimitri said. "The quickest way to kill any interest they have in one another is to let them know I'm ok with it. Sneaking around behind my back makes it much more exciting for them," Dimitri chuckled. "Vika will no doubt confide in you at some point, but if you want their romance to blossom, promise her you'll not say anything to me," he prompted.
"Ok, I'll do that," Rose solemnly agreed.
"It really is a pity he's returning to St. Vlad's," Dimitri ruminated. "I won't lie – I'm worried about the company Vika keeps here. That Inna is stupid and petty, and that's a dangerous combination. Viktoria needs to be focussing on her studies and upping her fighting skills and not wasting her time on people like Inna. Eddie isn't the sort to get distracted from his studies, no matter who he's dating. He's a good influence on her."
Rose agreed. Vika had already attended double the amount of private training sessions since Eddie had arrived. Of course, Rose completely understood how a hot handsome training companion could make getting up at 5.30 to train a bit more appealing. At St. Vlad's, most days the only thing that got her hauling her tired ass out of bed for their morning sessions was knowing she'd be seeing Dimitri.
"Do what you can to encourage them," he asked. "I know he's only here for another day or two, but if Vika is genuine about asking for an American allocation, she might be in the States in just a few months…"
"Yes you're right," Rose replied. "I'll do what I can. While you're interfering in your sisters' love lives, what's going on with Xander and Karolina? I'm not sure if it was just everything that went down with Adrian, but they seemed tense last weekend – but yesterday they were very loved up…?"
"Promise you won't say anything?" Dimitri asked, with a happy smile.
Rose nodded.
"You know when Xander was helping me chop wood on Sunday morning? Well, he asked my permission to speak to Karolina about his intentions. He wants to marry her."
"Ohh!" Rose squealed. "What did you say?! Tell me you said yes?"
"Of course I gave him my blessing," Dimitri assured Rose. "He already considers Zoya his own, and he's taken a wonderful interest in Paul, being that male role model I can't be when I'm away for years at a time. Xander was worried it could be some time before he'd be able to afford a deposit on a home for them, and he didn't want to stand in the way of Karo finding another suitable match in the meantime, so he wanted to talk to her about his hopes."
"Surely she'd be happy to wait? Knowing he was working towards it?"
"Yes, she would be. But I suggested to Xander he speak with Mama and Babushka about maybe moving in there with them. They need a man around the house, and it's not fair to expect Paul to step up – he's only ten. I'm rarely there, Vika will be leaving soon, and the formal dining room is never used so could be converted into a bedroom for them. It just seemed like it could solve a lot of problems."
"Did he seem willing?"
"It's hard to say. He was so nervous about asking me I don't think he'd thought much beyond that!"
"Nervous? Why was he nervous?"
"Well apparently Babushka told him she didn't approve of the match, and that he had to prove to her that he was worthy. And then she told him he'd have to convince me, too."
"Poor guy. I'm surprised he's not still running," Rose joked.
"Me too!" Dimitri smiled. "Honestly – if he's willing to take on Babushka and me, I think he must be pretty keen!"
"I hope it works out," Rose said sincerely. "Being in love with you makes me want everyone else to feel as happy as I do!"
"I know what you mean, milaya," he said, smacking her lightly on the bottom. "Now make your phone calls before we get distracted!"
Rose had only spoken to her mother once since she'd been away, but knowing Friday was her eighteenth, and that they had special plans Rose didn't want interrupted, she thought she'd call her mother tonight instead.
Rose wasn't avoiding her per se; she just didn't want to talk to Janine about what was going on between her and Dimitri, about Abe or about Adrian. So it really didn't leave a lot to discuss. And she didn't want to talk about Eddie, unless Janine raised it first, because she wasn't sure if Janine knew he was in Russia and if so what Alberta had told her about the reason why. Janine might already well know – but if so, Rose was going to wait for her to bring it up.
Holding the ringing phone against her ear, Rose was smiling at where Dimitri lay beside her on their bed jotting notes down for his small group training sessions for the week.
"Um? Hi, Mom, it's Rose! Is this a good time? It's what - 8 am there? Is your charge at dinner?"
"Hello, Rosemarie. Yes – I'm on my meal break, so I have a few minutes. How's everything?"
"Going, great Mom! Combat training over here is amazing! So much better than at St. Vlad's! I've learned the basics of Krav Maga, and it's awesome. Really worthwhile. Am thinking of studying it in more detail when I graduate. I find it's making me more creative and responsive with how I'm fighting."
"Yes – I've heard others say the same thing. What about your academic studies? How are they going?"
"Yeah, ok. There's a lot to be said for knowing hardly anyone here. LOTS of time to study!" Rose said, rolling her eyes at the raised eyebrow she was getting from Dimitri.
"You must be due to come home soon? Another couple of weeks?"
"Yeah. Got to check the terms on the ticket. Since I saw Munich as a stopover on the way here, I thought I might see if I can transit through a different city on the way back. Heavens knows if or when I'll get a chance to come back again, so I figured I might as well make the most of every moment here," Rose said honestly.
"How about Belikov? How he's going?"
"Yeah good, I think," Rose said noncommittally. "I know he's loving being so close to his family."
"Will he be coming back to the States when you do?"
"I don't think his plans are decided yet. I know they've offered to extend his position here for as long as he wants. I think he's giving careful consideration to staying."
"Yes, well I can imagine being near his family is appealing. So it's your birthday what – next week? What have you got planned?"
"Friday, actually, and not a lot. Some of the people here have got a surprise planned, but I have no idea what. No doubt Lissa is already planning something massive for when I get back to compensate!" Rose said, trying to steer the conversation in another direction.
"How is the Princess going?"
"Good. I'm about to ring her, actually. We talk every Monday night."
"What about her darkness? How's she managing?"
"Yeah, good. She's basically completely darkness free."
"And you?"
Gee thanks, Mom. Nice to know I come second!
"It's ok. There's still quite a bit there, but it's at manageable levels."
"Well that's good," Janine said, apparently running out of things to say.
"I should let you get back to your dinner. I'll let you know when I've confirmed my travel plans. Perhaps you can come to the academy for a weekend when I'm back, and we can catch up?"
"That sounds good," Janine said with relief, understanding the conversation to be nearly at an end and finding it every bit as hard work as Rose did.
"Alright, I'll see you soon then, bye Mom."
"Yes, see you, Rosemarie."
It wasn't until she'd hung up she realized her Mom hadn't wished her happy birthday.
"Well that was short and sweet," Dimitri said, his eyebrow raised.
"You know Mum," Rose laughed. "She was on her meal break." Rose wriggled towards Dimitri on the bed, looking to steal some kisses.
"Uh uh," Dimitri said, shaking his head and moving out of range. "You're not going to use me as an excuse to get out of ringing Lissa. Phone call first, then kisses."
Rose scrunched up her nose, pretending to consider. "Lots of kisses?" she negotiated.
"Lots and lots of kisses," Dimitri confirmed.
"You drive a hard bargain, Comrade," Rose laughed, dialing Lissa's number.
Picking up on the second ring, Lissa was in a good mood. She was gushing about the graduation dance she and Camille were organizing. They were trying to decide on a theme.
"I want it to be classy but still fun, but something everyone will go along with. Camille thought a James Bond or a Casino theme. I was thinking a masquerade ball or a Night in Paris theme. What do you think?"
"I think if you want everyone, including the Novices, to take part then make it something easy for them to join in. Not many Dhampir are going to have the money to afford a special outfit." Rose could almost feel Lissa tensing at the implied criticism, but hey – she asked! "But you know what could be good? You could do a bulk order of some generic masks for a masquerade ball, and then people could decorate them to match their own outfits? I mean the guys would probably just wear the plain black ones – but the masks are cheap enough and that way there's no excuse for anyone not to join in. The girls will probably decorate theirs to match what they're wearing, and most of the Moroi will order something expensive and fancy, but at least everyone could join in?"
"That's a brilliant idea!" Lissa enthused. "I didn't even think about money being an issue," she admitted ruefully.
"Well, the best thing about a masquerade ball is that you can wear whatever dress or suit you already have," Rose explained. "A Night in Paris is good for that reason, too. That's more about the decorations than how people have to dress."
"You're right. I like the masquerade ball idea better though," Lissa admitted.
"Yeah, me too," Rose said with a smile. Not that any mask would be sufficient to disguise her 6 foot 7 inch Russian God. Still, she didn't suppose she'd be taking him to the graduation dance anyway!
"So how's Guardian Belikov? Are you two still together?"
"Yep. He's lying next to me. He's doing his class schedules for the week. Say hi to Lissa, Dimitri."
"Hi Lissa," Dimitri said with a chuckle.
"Hello, Guard… I mean Dimitri…"
"She says hi back," Rose told Dimitri.
"So what are you doing for your birthday? Has he planned anything?" Lissa asked.
"Yeah! We're going to Novosibirsk for the weekend. We're leaving Friday morning on my actual birthday. We need to do some paperwork things like Dimitri needs to renew his drivers' license, then we'll go to lunch. At 2 pm we're checking in to a hotel, and Dimitri won't tell me what he's got planned for us after that! We'll be staying until Sunday morning, then we're heading to Baia for the night, and we'll come back to St. Basil's on Monday like we usually do."
"When are you flying home?"
"The plan is Thursday night, but we'll use the time before we check into the hotel on Friday to check out the flights and see if there's a better route on the way home or a better stopover."
"Makes sense. Hey, I forgot to ask you last time, why did you take the darkness?"
Damn! Rose had hoped she wouldn't remember to ask. "It's a long story, and I promise I'll tell you, but it's easier to do it in person, ok?"
"What aren't you telling me?" Lissa asked suspiciously.
"There is stuff I haven't told you, but I'll do it when I see you, I promise! Some of it is to do with things I've found out from the Spirit and shadow-kissed couple I met, so we really need to sit down together when I get back, and we'll spend the day going through it all, ok?"
"Ok," Lissa said, although Rose could hear her misgivings. "How's Eddie?"
"Good! We had a ball at the dance on Friday and then we took him to Baia on the weekend to stay with us at Dimitri's family house. It's been so nice to have someone from home here – it's made me so homesick, though!"
"Well, you'll be home soon," Lissa chirped.
"Yes, I will be! I'd better run. We're nearly at thirty minutes. I'll talk to you next Monday?"
"Sure thing! Happy birthday for Friday!"
"Thanks, Lissa! Love you! Bye!"
Hanging up, Rose turned to Dimitri. "I hate lying to her. What am I going to do if they won't give you an allocation at St. Vlad's?"
"We'll work it out, milaya. We've managed things this far. Now – I believe you were owed some kisses?" he said, putting his notepad on his bedside table and pulling her to him with a playful growl.
