"And why in the hell would I want to do that?" Rose said, angry that Adrian dared to ask, plus cursing Tasha who appeared and claimed Christian at just that moment, leaving her in the middle of the dancefloor with the Ivashkov Moroi Lord.

"Because it's your best friend's wedding and you don't want to ruin it by making a scene," Adrian replied, a smug look on his face. Rose looked around. Sure enough, people were watching their interaction with curiosity. The asshole was right! Rose wanted Lissa's wedding to go off without a hitch!

"Fine. One dance," she growled, putting her hand on Adrian's shoulder but keeping as much physical distance between them as possible. She didn't want to see him, let alone touch him!

"May I say how lovely you look tonight?" Adrian complimented, looking at Rose as though she were something he could eat. His breath smelling of cigarettes, but mostly scotch, it confirmed what Rose already suspected; Adrian was three sheets to the wind. "But you've always been lovely, haven't you, my little Dhampir?"

"I'm your little nothing," Rose growled, cussing her father for making her promise to dance with Adrian if he asked. "I've never been yours and I'll never be yours. I'm a happily married woman, thank you."

"Ahh yes. The Alpha cradle-snatcher. He couldn't even wait until you were legal to claim you. Tell me - does it get boring sitting around watching him flex his muscles? Does he even have to fight Strigoi, or does he just stand around uselessly looking scary!? I never thought you'd be the sort to settle for a brainless himbo…"

Rose snorted. Adrian knew nothing about Dimitri if he thought he was just a handsome face and a hot hot body. Her husband was devilishly smart, yet also kind. But more than anything, he was devoted to family. His and hers! He also played a fundamental role in Abe's business… Far from a himbo, while Adrian might assume he only had a Guardian role, Dimitri was being groomed to take over part of the business from Abe, and he'd already made a lot of money for the family.

If there was an indolent himbo in their circle of acquaintance, it was indisputably Adrian... Despite her absence from Court and the Moroi world, thanks to Lissa Rose knew all about Adrian's reputation and how he was becoming a bit of a joke. Once a covetable match, now Adrian was seen differently. Society matrons warned young Royal Moroi women they needed to find a husband, and quick, lest they end up with Adrian Ivashkov!

"You know, Rose… I'm much better connected than Belikov… I could give you so much. So much pleasure, too..."

"The only thing you can give me Dimitri can't is a trip to an STI clinic," Rose mocked. Moroi, and Dhampir, had high natural immunity to most infections—sexually transmitted ones included—however, Adrian's promiscuity put him at a higher risk of picking up something. Not that Rose ever intended to find out!

"You wound me," Adrian said, letting his hand slowly slip down her back until he was cupping her butt, squeezing it through the beaded fabric of her gown.

"Get your hand up where it belongs!" Rose growled. She'd put up with a dance, but she would not be groped!

"You know you want it," Adrian slurred, dancing them close to the edge of the dance floor where many Royal Moroi could see what he was doing to her. It was almost as though he wanted them to witness his debauchery.

"I want you to take your hand off my ass!" Rose snapped, loud enough to be overheard by several onlookers. "I am a married woman! It's bad enough I'm obliged to dance with you, but if you don't take your hands off me, I'll remind you I also trained to be a Guardian!"

"You wouldn't…" Adrian laughed. Two seconds later he found himself shoved face down onto a table, his cheek pressed onto a plate with some leftover asparagus and chicken breast as Rose twisted his arm up behind his back. Juniper and raspberry jus from the meal soaked into the pristine white collar of Adrian's starched dinner shirt, Rose suppressing a giggle as she observed this.

"Thank you for the dance, Lord Ivashkov," she said, aware of the many people at the table and those adjacent watching their interaction. "I understand you have a sordid reputation to maintain, but I do not appreciate your advances. Do not approach me again. Do not touch me. If you do, I promise you it will end worse than your face pressed into someone's leftovers!"

Rose loosened her grip on the incapacitated Royal Moroi Lord when Abe appeared at her side.

"Is everything all right, darling?" he asked, giving a toothy grin to their many onlookers.

"Perfectly fine, thank you, Dad," Rose replied, using the American term for father rather than the Turkish term she typically favored. "Lord Ivashkov forgot his manners," she added as she released her grip on him. "Yet again, he needed to reminding that a woman has the right to say no."

"Quite," Abe hissed, eyeing the disheveled Moroi Lord with distaste. Struggling to stand, and obviously intoxicated, his suit, shirt, and face were covered in sauce from the meal Rose had forced him into. "I'd advise you not to approach my daughter again," Abe addressed Adrian, his voice low yet able to be heard by numerous onlookers. "As she's already proven, Rose can protect herself…"

"I can approach anyone I fucking want," Adrian blurted, his words almost unintelligible. Swaying as he spoke, he was embarrassing himself. "She wants me!"

"You're revolting," Rose said to Adrian, taking her father's arm so he could lead her away. "I didn't want you four years ago, and I don't want you now! Stay away from me!"


Dimitri was pacing the corridor outside, fighting every instinct to go back inside the ballroom and rip Adrian Ivashkov limb from limb. Rage coursed through his veins the second he'd seen Adrian approach Rose on the dancefloor, and he knew if anything happened to his mate he would be unable to control himself, so as earlier demanded by Abe, he stepped out of the room.

"Abe won't let anything happen to her," Pavel said, trying to calm the younger Alpha down. He was a big guy, and they were fairly evenly matched, but Pavel hoped he wouldn't need to restrain his brother-in-law by force.

"I don't see why Rose should have to endure this," Dimitri growled, his hands balled into fists of rage.

"Abe needs Adrian to make an ass of himself, publicly. Since there's an already sympathetic sentiment about what happened with you and Rose, Zmey wants to remind Moroi how little Royal Moroi care about anyone that isn't one of them. Ivashkov will be inappropriate - he won't be able to help himself. Then Rose will have to put him in his place."

"But you don't understand! She's my mate!" Dimitri snapped, wondering whether Pavel would try to stop him if he charged back into the ballroom to deal with the situation himself. Even thinking about it was riling him up!

"I get it," Pavel replied. "I still tense up every time you hug Karolina—and she's your sister!"

Dimitri chuckled. He'd noticed Pavel's automatic reaction to another Alpha touching his mate. Ok. So maybe Pavel got it! "How's everything back home?" he asked, trying to distract himself from might be happening on the other side of the large gold-paneled doors they were standing beside.

"Fine when we left. Babushka decided she was unwell and took to her bed for a week a month or so back. She had everyone fussing over her."

"A new season of her favorite soap opera?" Dimitri asked, his lips twitching again despite himself.

"Сладкая жизнь," Pavel confirmed. How Olena never realized Yeva's occasional bouts of 'sickness' lined up with the DVD release of her favorite shows was a mystery since everyone else in the household knew. Not that Pavel, Karolina, Paul, and Zoya lived at the family home anymore. Pavel had purchased the lot beside the Belikovas', taking a year to build his family a large, well-appointed home of their own. With no fencing between the lots, Yeva had extended her fruit trees into their garden, so the whole space was now a massive playground for Zoya and Katya, Sonya's little girl.

"Mama's not overdoing it?"

"No worse than usual. She still insists on cooking for the family every Sunday." A bone of contention between the usually close mother and daughter, Karolina had hoped that now she had a home of her own, she could take over making the Sunday meal after church for the family. A kind offer generously meant, Olena had unequivocally refused without explanation, despite Pavel and Karolina being better situated to fund and host the weekly get together. Causing some unhappiness, and a few weeks where Karolina refused to attend lunch at her mother's home, eventually all reverted to the status quo.

"Every week she includes you and Rose in her prayers. She'd love you to visit again…" Pavel added.

"Mama would like us all to live at home forever," Dimitri said. Still—maybe once this was over another visit might be in order? Rose loved going there, especially playing with their nieces. Maybe seeing the dark-haired, dark-eyed girls again might open her up to a discussion about extending their own family from a duo to a trio?

"I'll talk to Roza about it," Dimitri said, his mind wandering back to his mate.

'You can come back in now,' Rose said through their bond, sounding rather smug.

"About fucking time!" Dimitri snapped, nodding to Pavel before nearly ripping the doors off their hinges to get back inside to his wife.

"Baby?" Dimitri asked when Abe led Rose back to their table.

"I want to shower in disinfectant, but I'm ok," Rose said with a sweet giggle, seating herself on Dimitri's lap and circling her arms around his neck. "He was sleazy and grabbed my ass."

"I'll punch the living fuck out of him," Dimitri growled. Even the thought of anyone touching his mate set him off. Tension was rolling off the devoted Alpha as Rose shared what occurred.

"I shoved his face into some leftovers," Rose said with a lilt to her voice. "Everyone nearby saw…"

"I'd rather they saw me rip his head off his shoulders," Dimitri grumbled, his voice petulant. Adrian had experienced a moment touching his wife's backside, no doubt enjoying the delectable swell where her thighs morphed into her ass. That was meant to be his alone!

"It's ok," Rose soothed, cuddling closer to her mate before starting a comforting purr. "He's revolting, and everyone who saw us tonight will see him for what he is."

"He touched you!" Dimitri growled, far from over it.

"For about half a second," Rose replied, her fingers stroking Dimitri's nape. "Let's have our dessert, then take me to dance… I want to spend the rest of the night wrapped in your arms!"


Abe watched Rose soothe Dimitri. He'd worried his usually calm son-in-law might explode when Ivashkov approached Rose, but the whole situation had been so inevitable, and necessary, it made sense to let it play out.

Amongst non-Royal Moroi, opinion about Rose and Dimitri was divided. The majority were sympathetic to their cause; however, some believed the duo brought it on themselves by wanting more than their station. Observing a married woman blatantly and indiscriminately groped by a Moroi Lord, and her forceful rebuff, promulgated the idea Royal Moroi were out of touch and considered themselves a right onto themselves! Some Royal Moroi might consider Adrian's action par for the course, but like Dhampir, other Moroi would find Adrian's actions entitled and offensive.

The fact that minutes later, Rose and Dimitri were back on the dancefloor, lovingly holding one another did not escape popular attention. Not immodest or close enough to cause censure, anyone who'd seen Rose with Adrian then Rose with Dimitri knew where the young Omega's affections lay!

"I'm still furious he touched you!" Dimitri grumbled, much calmer with his wife purring, wrapped securely in his arms.

"He's disgusting!" Rose agreed, nuzzling even closer to her Alpha husband. "The night is nearly over," she crooned. Several Guardians had escorted Adrian back to his suite, and Her Majesty and the Royal Council members did not seem to be aware of the fracas, so all was well. Lissa and Christian were about to say farewell. Gossip about Rose's reaction to Adrian seemed confined to titters at the non-Royal Moroi tables, so it was a good time for them to see the newlyweds off then retreat to their own quarters.

"Congratulations!" Rose squealed, engulfing Lissa in a hug as she wished her sister goodnight. "We're so happy for you!" Moving along to Christian, Rose pulled him close to her.

"Look after her," she ordered, her voice tight and hoarse, and filled with tension. "She's your wife now! You need to always put her first—even when others who love her can't."

Perplexed by Rose's words and tone, Christian tried to work out what she meant. But before he could give it any thought, Dimitri grasped his hand, shaking it and wishing them every luck. Tomorrow, Sunday, he and Lissa would spend the day alone and to themselves. But come Monday, Christian was going to determine exactly what Rose was talking about.


"Do I have to go this morning?" Lissa asked, curled up in bed with her new husband. They'd lived together and shared a bed throughout their time at Lehigh, but now she was officially a Mrs., Lissa would love to spend the day in bed.

"Yes, you have to go. You're the one who didn't want to start our honeymoon straight away - so that means it's a workday," Christian replied. The truth was, he had some surprises planned for their time in New Zealand, and he needed Lissa out of the way today so he could make the arrangements. "Besides you heard Her Majesty—she wants the entire Royal Council at today's meeting."

Lissa groaned. It was bad enough they had filled their wedding with Royal Council members and their family councils, but Tatiana had slipped from table to table requesting the Council members and seniors from each family attend today's Council meeting as there was something major she wanted to discuss.

"Up you get—you need to get ready. I'll take Castile and Ashford."

"You're going out?" Lissa asked, wondering what her new husband had planned for the day.

"Just for a little while. I want to pick up a lightweight tripod for the camera before our trip," Christian replied, omitting that this was just one of quite a few things he planned to buy today.

"Maybe we can meet up for lunch?" Lissa hopefully suggested climbing out of bed and slipping on a silky robe before she walked into the bathroom. Despite being lovers for years, she was still shy walking around naked in front of Christian.

"Maybe," Christian replied, with no optimism. Royal Council meetings usually went for hours.


The Royal Council chamber was more packed than Lissa had ever seen it. Taking the allocated 'Dragomir' seat, she smoothed wrinkles from the front of her tweed shift dress and matching grosgrain-trimmed jacket. She never knew what to wear to these meetings. Younger than most of the Council members by decades, she felt an obligation to look the part; hence today's conservative dress, nude kitten heels and Rhea's short three-strand 'day' pearls. She played with her shiny new wedding band as she looked around the room.

The viewing gallery was packed. Every seat taken, Guardians were standing against the walls and in the center aisle close to their charges. In the center of the front row sat Dimitri, obvious thanks to his size. Beside him sat Rose's father, although Lissa could not see Rose anywhere. Probably just as well, given Adrian was seated near the back of the gallery. Celeste mentioned an altercation had occurred between Rose and Adrian toward the end of the wedding reception. Neither she nor Christian had witnessed it, but since Rose and Dimitri only planned to visit Court for a few days, it made sense to keep her away from Adrian wherever possible.

Inside the main part of the chamber stood more Guardians. With so many Royal Moroi in the chamber and viewing gallery, they needed to stand somewhere! Lissa's eyes lit on Janine Hathaway as she stood at ease close to Lord Szelsky.

A hush fell over the room as Guardian Croft entered, standing to one side. This was the cue for everyone to stand as Queen Tatiana Ivashkov, first of her name, entered the chamber. Seating herself in the throne-like chair where she presided, she took her time settling herself and straightening her gown before nodding imperiously—the signal that everyone else could be seated.

In her opening remarks, Her Majesty welcomed the Royal Council, thanking them for their presence and for the presence of so many Royal family members in the chamber, today. She then congratulated Vasilisa on her wedding two days before, mentioning how very proud Eric and Rhea would have been.

Lissa's eyes dropped to where her hands were folded in her lap. She'd been thinking a lot about her family in the lead up to the wedding. Muttering the required thanks to Her Majesty's praise, Lissa sat and listened as Guardian Croft read the agenda aloud. The first three points were hardly contentious, so it wasn't until the fourth point on the agenda that Lissa sat up and paid attention. Because today the Royal Council would discuss and vote on whether to lower the Guardian graduation age to sixteen years.


"If you graduate sixteen-year-olds you might as well pin a death certificate on the front of their uniform at the same time!" Princess Ariana Szelsky said clearly. The older sister of Janine Hathaway's charge, she represented the Szelskys on the Royal Council. "I don't think Novices have even started training with a stake by then?!"

"They haven't," Lissa replied in a loud but firm voice. "Novices start using practice stakes in their Junior year. In their Senior year, they do more advanced weapons training. One in three Guardians will not survive their first encounter with a Strigoi. All this proposal will do is increase the number who die."

"Certain losses are inevitable," Prince Rufus Ivashkov conceded. "But in time with earlier, targeted training, the statistics will no doubt even out…"

"People," Lissa interrupted. "We're not talking about, statistics. We're discussing people! You are proposing to take away the last two years of someone else's childhood. A Novice can't drink at sixteen. They can't vote, either. Yet you're willing to graduate them, ready or not, to face almost certain death? Why is no one here representing their interests? If it's Dhampir Novices who are going to graduate early, surely they should have some input here?"

"That's all very well, Princess Dragomir," Rufus said with a thin veneer of civility. "But as you've already pointed out, they can't vote!"

"Because they're children!" Lissa replied heatedly. "Let's not forget that's what we're talking about here! Someone else's children. Other people's lives. If the Novices can't vote, then why not the Guardians? Surely they're better positioned than any of us to comment on what is and is not reasonable?"

"That's quite enough Princess Dragomir," Queen Tatiana snapped. "I think you forget yourself!" Lissa's words were teetering on the edge of sedition. "There's been enough discussion on this topic. Now it's time to vote. Because of the nature of this vote, I invoke secret ballot."

Voting was normally done via a simple show of hands, the result recorded in the Council ledger. A secret ballot was conducted differently. The Council secretary approached each Royal Council member, giving them one black and one white marble, each hidden in a small black leather cup. Once everyone including Tatiana had a set, the secretary announced that a white marble signaled a 'no' for the proposition at hand, a black marble 'yes.' She then walked around with what looked a lot like a church offering bag. The wooden neck just wide enough to conceal the voter's fingers, each Council member could drop their marble into the velvet bag without revealing how they'd voted.

The first two Royal Council members did just that. However, when it was Vasilisa's turn, she picked up the white marble, openly held it in her palm for all to see, then dropped it into the bag. Ariana Szelsky followed, doing exactly the same. No matter which way this vote went, everyone present would know the Szelsky and Dragomir families wanted no part of what was proposed.

All votes cast, the secretary stood at the front of the chamber and plucked the marbles from the crushed velvet pouch, placing them to be displayed on a grooved timber rod used for just this purpose. Five white, eight black.

"In the matter of the age decree to graduate Guardians at sixteen, the Royal Council has decided yes. The paperwork will be prepared, and the decree invoked immediately," Her Majesty declared.

And that's when Guardian Croft stepped forward, walking up to the dais where Tatiana was seated.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. You must come with me." A large number of Guardians around the room sprang forward, two each approaching and detaining each Royal Council member. At first, there was a stunned silence; then shouting as other Guardians, then Royal Moroi spectators reacted.

"Queen Tatiana Ivashkov," Croft shouted to be heard over the din, "I arrest you for gross breaches of the Moroi/Dhampir constitution. You and the Royal Council will be detained until further notice."