Next chapter is up! I've been getting lots more reviews and it's making me so happy! The motivation is real. Hopefully there should be another up tomorrow.


Nineteen

Christian

When we made ourselves go to breakfast the next morning, it was just as bad as I'd been expecting. People stared, pointed and whispered, and I felt Rose stiffen beside me every time it happened.

"It's okay," I told her. "It's not a big deal."

She shot daggers at everyone who stared too hard. "It is a big deal. I can't believe I was one of those judgemental wankers six months ago. I feel like such an arse."

I chuckled. "If you've reformed then I'm sure others can to."

"I feel like such a hypocrite for being as annoyed as I am by this. I know how it feels, though, so I don't understand how you look so calm about all of this."

I'd found myself feeling sorry for Rose when everyone had been calling her a blood whore, even if we hadn't gotten along back then. "I've gone my whole life with this," I said. "When I was with Lissa it calmed down a bit, I know, but I'm used to it. It was a hell of a lot worse when they first turned, and I was a lot younger. Nothing is going to be worse than that."

The guilt was clouded all over her face. "I'm such a bastard."

I sighed. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad. It's fine, really. I'm glad you're on my side now."

In the cafeteria we took a seat at Liss, Eddie and Adrian's table, and all said our hellos. It was the first time we'd seen Adrian in what felt like forever, and he sent a beaming smile in Rose's direction.

"How was your meeting with the Queen?" she asked Liss. "Anything interesting?"

"She's switched to Tasha's side. At least she has now you've gone in this defensive magic direction. It was a good plan."

"Yeah, I think she must have been mulling it over since I showed her the protection spell the night before. I just wish she hadn't made us give a demonstration." I rolled my eyes. That much attention was the last thing I ever wanted.

"It made the impact she needed, though," Adrian said. "My dad still hasn't shut up about it."

"I suppose it's worth it, then," Rose agreed in between mouthfuls of pancakes. "If the Queen is on our side then that's good. I guess the wheels are in motion to start actually doing something about the magic situation, then."

"I think that by the end of this week there will be, but I've got no idea how it's going to work. I guess it'll just be the people in St. Vlad's that start off with it. They're the ones who are going to need it in the immediate future." She looked down suddenly, and Rose's eyebrows shot up into her forehead.

"You should take her up on that offer," she said, staring Lissa down. "You should do it, one hundred percent."

Eddie, Adrian and I all looked between us, but neither made a move to explain what was going on.

"You know I can't do that," Lissa whispered. "I can't just run away, I'm not a coward."

"You're the last Dragomir, Liss. If the Queen is offering you an out, then you take it. You don't just sit around here waiting to get killed."

"But my magic could be useful when it happens. I can heal people."

"It's not going to be worth risking your life."

"You're my best friend, of course you're going to say that."

Rose massaged her temples. "Everyone would agree with me. Christian—" she turned to me "—the Queen has offered to take Liss to Court for the rest of the year, until this attack has happened. What do you think she should do?"

"You should leave, obviously," I said, not missing a beat. "Liss no one is going to think less of you for protecting your family line. You know how important that is."

Rose turned to Eddie and Adrian, who both nodded their agreement.

Liss looked like she'd already caved. She'd probably been looking for an excuse to take up the offer, anybody would have done, especially in her position. "Rose, would you come with me? Back to Court?"

"I couldn't Liss," Rose denied.

"You could. The Queen already approved it, I asked her during our meeting."

Rose shook her head, though. "No, I mean, I couldn't leave this place. I can help defend it, you know that. I'm staying here."

"Rose you're in just as much danger as I am. You need to come back to Court with me."

"You won't be alone; Adrian will be going with you. It's fine. You should go, but I need to stay."

"You should go, you know," I said, my heart constricting. All those visions I'd had when putting the protection spell on her, and they could all be wiped away if she accepted this help.

She stared me down. "I'm not leaving." Her eyes definitely weren't lying now; she had no intention of taking Lissa's offer. I opened my mouth to argue further, but she grimaced at me, and I shut it again.

I'd take up the argument with her again later.

"Rose, please," Lissa begged.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry Liss, but I need to be here. Besides, this is why I was assigned to Christian in the field experience, Alberta thinks that I can help when this attack comes, and she's right."

We were interrupted by a guy sidling up to our table. He must have been in the year below us, because I didn't recognise him. He cleared his throat when the weight of our gazes all settled on him. "Erm, Christian, right? I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

Rose narrowed her gaze at the boy, but I couldn't see anything that said he was here to do something bad. I hesitated. "Er, sure." I stood up and Rose joined me. "Be right back," I told the table.

We followed the boy out of the cafeteria into a quiet alcove. "I, erm, wanted to ask you something." He fumbled over his words, and Rose had relaxed now she knew he was more nervous than malicious. "It's about offensive magic. I'm a fire user too, and I wanted to learn."

My eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Of course! I've been listening in on the debates, and your Aunt is right. I don't understand what's wrong with everyone arguing against it. I just want to help. I've talked to a few friends about it, but no one else was willing to come and ask you. I just, I wanted to ask if you could teach us."

My automatic reaction was to deny him help, but I weighed the idea over in my mind. If it was just a small group, I could probably do something to help them. Besides, they were all so young they'd be locked up when the actual battle happened anyway. I looked to Rose. "Thoughts?" I asked her.

She grinned. "I think Kirova would hate it, and I'm always up for pissing Kirova off."

"Really?" The guy beamed at us. "My friends will be so excited."

"Look, this thing needs to stay quiet if it's going to happen," I told him. "Kirova wouldn't be keen on it, and I'm not looking to get into trouble, but someone needs to start teaching people. Meet me out by the lake tomorrow night after dinner, all right?"

He nodded. "Great. I'll see you then."

He left, and Rose went to return to the cafeteria, but I grabbed her arm. "Rose, you have to think about going to Court. At least consider it, please."

She stopped and sighed, looking up at me with those big brown eyes. "You know I can't do it Christian. I don't even want to. I want to stay here, with you, and make a stand. I'm not running away."

"You just told Lissa that it wouldn't be running away."

"Yeah, I just told the Royal Moroi who's the last of her line that it wouldn't be running away. I'm a Dhampir, this is what I was raised to do."

"Please," I was resorting to begging, but it was all I knew how to do. "I don't want you to die."

"I don't want to die, either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to Court." Her hand wrapped around my forearm. What would have normally been comforting only told me how much I had to lose. "If it wasn't your mum, coming here for you, I'd be telling Lissa to take you to Court, and I'd be coming with you. But you have to be here, and so I have to be here, too. I'm sorry."

She dropped my arm just as Lissa called our names from the entrance of the dinner hall. We went over, and I couldn't control my black expression. Rose shifted uncomfortably at the side of me. "What was that about?" Lissa asked, sending a wary look in my direction.

"Some kids want Christian to teach them offensive magic," she answered for me, so I didn't end up snapping at someone. "He said he would."

"That's good," Eddie said. "I just wish it wasn't left to another student to actually get things rolling."

"Yeah, but I guess it has to start somewhere," Rose replied. "Anyway, we have to get to class. Catch you guys later."

Adrian joined us, though, and his gaze was fixed on Rose. "Rose you have to go to Court," he said.

She bristled. "I've already made my final decision, I'm not leaving."

"You're not even a Guardian," Adrian hissed. "You're a student, a novice, you don't need to be here. This isn't your job."

"It doesn't matter if it's my job, it matters if I can help. You think I should run away when I can kill Strigoi? When I can help defend?"

Adrian stepped right in front of her and forced her to come to a standstill, gripping both her upper-arms. Normally I would have been ready to set him on fire, but today I had to agree with him. "You're being offered a get out of jail free card. Take it."

"He's right," I said, unable to stop myself. "You have to go to Court. Lissa needs you to be alive."

"Don't play that card on me," she accused, tears welling in her eyes, but not falling. "I'm not going, no matter what anyone says. Just accept it, and move on."

"You know that's not going to happen," I argued. "Just think about it. At least think about it."

"I have thought about it, and I've given my answer." She shook herself out of Adrian's grip. "We're going to be late for class Christian. Let's go."

Adrian and I shared a glance, and for the first time in forever, we agreed on something.

We had to get Rose on that plane to Court.