Here you go! Sorry for the delay. I hope that you are all staying safe and self-isolating (I know it's boring, but we just have to get through this time together). Here's a little something that hopefully makes it a bit more interesting!
Thank you again for your lovely comments.
Be safe and healthy xxx
Lissa glided gracefully towards the podium, her easy poise contrasting with the rigid alertness of every Guardian in the room. She reached the podium and gave a quick wave of her hand, signalling for all before her to rise from their bows. As she greeted the crowd every member of the Queen's Guard seemed to simultaneously tense, every muscle in our bodies twitching with anticipation as our eyes locked warily on the swarm of people surrounding the stage.
We'd begged Lissa not to make this announcement in public. Vlad knew how people were going to take it. But of course Lissa, being Lissa, had insisted that she would not hide from her people. They needed to hear this life-changing news, and they deserved to hear it from her directly.
"Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to listen to me today," Lissa began as the crowd settled around her. "I know it is rare that public announcements of this kind are made, but I consider it important to share this with you all. This news may be difficult for some of you to come to terms with, but if you will please refrain from speaking until I am finished, I will gladly answer any questions you may have."
The crowd seemed to buzz with anticipation. The nervous energy that was emanating from them was so strong that it seemed almost palpable in the air around them.
Lissa cleared her throat, glancing at the sheet in front of her before she cast her eyes to the crowd with steely determination.
"As many of you are aware, the Strigoi threat has grown to an unprecedented scale. The numbers are no longer something that we can ignore, and I'm afraid that we must learn new ways to defend ourselves in order to preserve our species. Two days ago, we employed such new tactics and successfully completed a top-secret mission in which we eliminated a nest of 196 Strigoi, the largest number we have ever seen."
There was a horrified murmur throughout the crowd as that information slowly sunk in. I could hear collective gasps and whispers running through the hall. 196 Strigoi? We're all doomed. That many? Were they close to here? I watched closely as they glanced anxiously at one another, their faces frozen in identical masks of dread.
Lissa held up her hand, silencing the gentle hum of nervous whispers.
"Whilst we have certainly never seen Strigoi work together on this scale, we were brave enough to employ a new tactic. As a result, we were able to complete this mission with no fatalities."
The crowd fell silent, the air seeming to leave the room as they stared at Lissa in disbelief. I shook my head, fighting a smile as I watched the pure bewilderment on everyone's faces. I had been the same when Dimitri had first told me. No fatalities? It seemed inconceivable in an attack of this scale. In an attack of any scale, having no fatalities was never a guarantee.
"How?" A Moroi finally gasped from the front row. "How is this possible?"
Lissa gave a small smile and I tensed, ready to intervene at the slightest sign of trouble.
"It is important to remember that the Strigoi have evolved," she started gently. "We thought it was important that we too learn to evolve." She took a deep breath, pushing her shoulders back and raising her voice as she declared, "That is why we sent, for every three Guardians, one fire using Moroi. This combined with Spirit users on the sidelines who were able to heal the critically injured made the mission a resounding success."
I scanned the crowd closely for any sign of contempt, my eyes focused on the Royal Moroi in particular. Most just stared at Lissa in disbelief, although some looked absolutely horrified by what she was suggesting.
"I understand that many of you may have concerns about what this means for the future," Lissa continued over the murmurs of shock from the crowd. "We cannot ignore the success of this mission and the lessons it stands to teach us about the way in which we operate. With the support of the Council, we have implemented a number of changes and rules that we feel best suit all people.
"As you all know, defensive magic classes are already mandatory in all schools. As a part of this new initiative, defensive magic classes will be mandatory for all Moroi, regardless of age or status. Offensive magic classes will also be made mandatory for all Moroi in schools, including training with their Dhampir classmates three times per week –"
"What!" someone cried in outrage. I looked around quickly until my eyes focused on a Royal Moroi, his face ballooning red and purple in rage under the harsh overhead lights. Myself and several other members of the Queen's Guard stepped forward, ready to intervene. Lissa held up her hand to us, ordering us to stand down.
"Sir," she reasoned politely, "I will have time for questions at the end, I promise. I understand that this is difficult but please let me finish before I address your concerns."
The Moroi said nothing further, but looked at Lissa murderously, his chest heaving in anger. I kept my eyes trained on him as Lissa continued.
"Thank you," she said. "So Moroi will train offensively with Dhampir as a part of their school curriculum, but this requirement will not continue past graduation. When a Moroi graduates, they may elect to no longer partake in offensive magic programmes. There will be no further requirements for them to ever partake in offensive magic if they do not wish to do so. However, they must continue to train themselves in defensive magic and will be required to use such skills to aid Guardians should a Strigoi attack take place. Any Moroi who knowingly and without lawful excuse refuses to use their magic to assist and protect other Dhampir and Moroi will find themselves guilty of recklessly endangering the life of another. Where a Moroi's unlawful refusal to assist in defending themselves and those around them results in death, that Moroi may be found guilty of recklessly causing the death of another."
I held my breath, every nerve in my body on high alert as I carefully studied the expressions of the Moroi surrounding the stage. Some looked shocked, but many looked outraged.
"I understand that this may come as a shock to many," Lissa continued over the angry murmurs bubbling around her, "but I hope that our unprecedented success combining offensive magic with Guardian capabilities will show you all that this is a necessary evolution in our society. Without such changes, I can honestly say that our future is in peril. We need to take these unprecedented steps to protect Guardian numbers and employ every tool necessary to diminish the Strigoi population. Thank you for your time and your attention, I will now take questions."
There was a moment of absolute stillness before a string of angry questions erupted from the crowd and were fired at Lissa. She held up her hand.
"One at a time please!" She urged, pointing towards one Moroi in particular. "What is your question, sir?"
The man stepped forward, raising his voice above the discontent rumblings around him. "How can you suggest putting Moroi on the front line?" he asked incredulously, shaking his head in frustration. "You're talking about putting our lives at risk! You're supposed to be our Queen and yet you send us off to fight the Strigoi like pigs for slaughter?"
"Thank you for raising that concern, Sir," Lissa replied loudly over the collective mumbles of agreement. "I will happily address it." I watched the crowd closely, my body buzzing with anticipation. This was a terrible idea.
"I care deeply for the lives of all my people. Please believe me when I promise that I would never purposefully endanger your lives. We believe that the measures the Counsil have decided to implement will actually save lives – both Moroi and Dhampir. Previously Moroi have been defenceless, reliant entirely on the abilities of the Guardians who so bravely and selflessly dedicate their lives to defending them. However, if Moroi intervened in attacks with either offensive or defensive magic, the odds are greatly shifted in our favour. Further, should a Moroi ever find themselves in a situation where their Guardians can no longer fight to protect them, they will have the skills and ability to defend themselves." When the angry murmurs continued throughout the crowd Lissa silenced them, holding her hand up as she pleaded. "I am not trying to force anyone into anything, we just want to give people the power to be able to defend themselves.
"But you're forcing us to engage in offensive magic!" An angry voice called from the crowd. "That has never been our way! We are a peaceful people."
Lissa nodded sagely in understanding. "Thank you for raising that point. I certainly agree that Moroi should not be forced into combative positions. Please understand that offensive magic beyond a school level is optional. We will not be sending any Moroi who is unwilling on missions to seek out Strigoi. What we are suggesting is that Moroi finally learn to make use of their abilities in the event of an attack. This will drastically decrease the number of deaths resulting from attacks and help maintain Guardian numbers."
I let out a shaky breath when that response seemed to fan out some of the anger in the room. There was a murmur of agreement from the Guardians who lined the walls, their expressions clearly working hard to remain in their usual impassive masks.
"But how can you guarantee that this isn't just the beginning?" Another Moroi cried. "How do we know that in another year you won't be training our children like the Dhampir, preparing them to be sent to battle?"
"Thank you for your question," Lissa replied earnestly. "I can assure you that no one, Dhampir and Moroi alike, will be sent on dangerous missions if it is not their wish to do so. For the vast majority of us, this will change very little, except that in the event of an attack a Moroi will assist in defending themselves and their friends. There is little I can do to prove this to you without the benefit of time, but I urge you to remember that I have always acted in the interests of us all. I take my duties very seriously and would never force people into such roles unwillingly, no matter what race they are. But it is time for the Moroi to make some changes and be willing to learn. Divided, the Strigoi will win this battle. But if we learn to stand together, we will be stronger than we've ever thought possible."
There was another moment of silence and I fought back a small smile as Dimitri's gaze met mine across the room.
"What if this doesn't work?" another voice cried. This voice sounded less angry than it did scared. "We've never tried anything like this before! What if Moroi simply aren't prepared for battle. What if we are needlessly dying?"
"Thank you, miss," Lissa said, smiling kindly in the woman's direction. "As I said, we expect that this approach will actually save Moroi and Dhampir lives. However, we have committed to completing a full-scale review of the statistics and are willing to hear back from members of the community one year after this programme's implementation. From there we will make any changes necessary to ensure we are all as safe as possible. I do, however, encourage everyone to come into this new phase with an open mind and to be as objective as possible when the time for review does come. Our goals are the same. We all want you and your children to be as safe as possible."
The questions continued on like this for another hour or so. Most of the questions were just variations of the same point. It came down to the simple point that the Moroi were scared. But Lissa did an excellent job of remaining patient and answering each question fully and sincerely.
We still had a long way to go, but honestly, we couldn't have dreamed for the reveal to the public to have gone any better.
I gave Lissa a subtle thumbs up from my place against the back wall when she finally answered the last question and graciously stepped down from the podium. She smiled at me, looking exhausted but radiating satisfaction at the same time. We'd worked so hard for this. Years of working and dreaming and disappointments and it had all finally come to fruition. I grinned back at her as she made her exit, flanked by the Royal Guard. I wasn't technical back on duty for another couple of days, but I had come to support Lissa and lend a hand if anything went wrong.
Dimitri gave a brief nod and small smile in my direction before he left with Christian. He hid it well, but I could tell he was ecstatic with today's outcome. Having seen the success of the mission first hand, he was more passionate than ever about Moroi using magic to defend themselves.
I sighed as I looked around the quickly emptying hall. Dimitri would still be another nine hours on his shift. Frankly, when I wasn't working or with Dimitri, I didn't know what to do with myself; but Lissa had insisted that I take the time off to heal after everything that had happened on the mission. As if sitting around thinking about it all day was any better, I thought to myself dryly.
I huffed again as I made my way back to the apartment, the door falling shut heavily behind me in the emptiness.
I flicked on the TV to drown out the silence and flopped heavily on the couch. I tried my hardest to focus on the mindless drama of whatever Real Housewives I was watching, but my mind kept turning in anxious circles. I couldn't believe that we had finally implemented offensive and defensive magic. It was something we had worked towards for so long, and now that it was finally here I didn't know how I felt about it. I was happy, obviously, but I was also worried for Lissa. I worried that this was something the royal Moroi would never come to terms with. I worried that another crazy fanatic like Tasha would come out of the woodworks and hurt her because they didn't like her politics.
I'd expressed these concerns to Lissa many times, but she was far more optimistic than me. It takes time to change people's hearts and minds, she had reassured me. Soon we'll get to the point where this is the new norm. It won't even be an issue once people see how many lives we can save. I sighed, my mind turning to the promise I had made to Dimitri before the mission. Could I really leave her at a time like this? A time where our world was changing so much and where so much was at stake?
I had to... I'd promised Dimitri. I'd even made an appointment to see her later today so that I couldn't chicken out. But as sure as I was that this was the right path for Dimitri and me, I was still absolutely dreading telling my best friend. I didn't even know where to begin to tell her that I was leaving her. I was her best friend, her family, and I had vowed to put her life above mine. Always. And even though I knew that Lissa loved me and wanted me to be happy, I couldn't shake the memory of the last time we had had a conversation like this.
You love him more than me.
I squeezed my eyes shut as the memory of her small broken voice filled my head and pierced through my chest.
Please, Rose. Please don't leave me.
I shook the memory from my head with a frustrated groan. Stop it, Rose! Stop freaking yourself out.
Things were different now. Lissa would understand.
She had to...
I hope that you enjoyed! What do you think of the new changes to their society?
I have just found out that work is reducing my hours because of this whole situation which is going to be tricky :( but on the bright side, I should hopefully have more time to write!
I hope that everyone is doing okay. Stay safe 3
