Considering how far behind I already was in school, I had vaguely hoped that I'd get let off the hook so I could figure out my circadian clock.
Without considering my opinion, everyone had figured getting me into classes as soon as possible was the best route. Forcing me to adapt to the time change, rather than wallow in it, would evidently do me the most good.
Altogether, the schedule I'd received wasn't too different from what I could have expected from St. Vladimir's.
1st Period Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques
2nd Period Bodyguard Theory and Protection 4
3rd Period Weight Training and Conditioning
4th Period Biology
Lunch
5th Period Advanced English Language Arts
6th Period Pre-Calculus
7th Period Moroi Culture Seminar
8th Period Mentorship
The major difference probably had to be a greater time allotment for practical training over the humanities. While a lot of us would likely follow our Moroi to college after graduation, there were some checks to coast us along in those settings. More important than ensuring our well-rounded education was refining us physically for our duty.
With my new schedule looming over me, I tried to stay positive about my prospects.
I was pleased that one of my classes was going to be plain old English. Surely, of any of my classes, that would be the easiest to get a hold of. Math would hopefully involve less technical language than written problem solving, which would be easier to adapt to than Biology. My only saving grace with the latter was that I loved biology. No doubt, Dimitri would come in handy there.
I was pleased to notice that Mentorship, which I would spend with the same man, was a part of the schedule. Hopefully it would serve as a place holder for my afternoon training with him.
As if sensing my thoughts, he chimed in. "We will be doing extra training on top of the allotted mentorship block."
I'll be damned.
Abe and Pavel bid us a good day, headed towards guest housing for rest I was oh-so envious of. Ivan likewise split off with Alexei, bound for whatever duties a teacher might have. That left me and Dimitri alone.
"Are you nervous?" he asked.
I caught my lip between my teeth for a moment. "A little. The whole translation thing is going to be hard to get ahold of, but at least I have English class."
"While you were on your way, we made sure to inform the faculty of the situation, so they're all well aware that you'll need some patience. I'll do my best to help you, we can probably pair up for partner drills in the course until you can get ahold of the language and feel comfortable enough to train with other students. Ivan is also a very capable teacher, you'll learn a lot with him.
"But I won't sugar coat it," he continued. Yikes. "I'm not going to go easy on you, and neither will the academy. If you want to be Princess Dragomir's guardian, you're going to have to show up."
"Lissa."
"Hmm?"
I fumbled, wondering where I was going with this, "Well, if you ever met her… she'd ask you to call her Lissa."
His eyes softened, nodding.
It was honestly humbling how willing they all were to help me, a hopeless stranger. I was about to remark as much when Dimitri stopped in front of what I could only assume was the gym door. They had allowed me to change into training clothes from my bags before everyone had gone their separate way. The brief moment of solitude had given me time to calm my nerves and prepare myself.
Dimitri tried to usher me in the door first, like a gentleman, but I insisted he lead the way if only so that he could take the brunt of the stares when we first entered.
Because we were entering the gym mid-class, the students were already paired up and practicing sparring. I watched a few of those in their pairs acting as Strigoi take some nasty hits when they got distracted at my entrance.
Like a ton of bricks, it hit me that I would be expected to show my combat technique off in front of the ever-curious cluster of eyes around us. So, imagine my surprise when, with a nod to the instructing guardian, Dimitri led me to a smaller gym off the side of the main practice area, where he slung his bag to the ground and moved to get some training mats.
I could hear the instructor behind us as the door closed, shouting "vozvrashchaysya k rabotye."
"He just told them to 'get back to work'," Dimitri translated, true to his job.
"I expected you to feed me to the dogs back there, Comrade," I remarked, throwing my hoodie to the ground and moving to help him.
He shot me a sidelong glance of amusement at my new nickname for him. I bet Alexei would get the real kick out of it.
"Ivan thought it would be kind to ease you into it… though only as far as being a public spectacle, not as far as training intensity. Believe it or not, we aren't trying to torture you here. There's no need for everyone to see you play catch up, especially if you're wanting to fly under the radar."
"Then we really aren't at St. Vladimir's," I remarked.
"No we are not. And on that note, I'd like to start with some basic form."
The respite of lunch couldn't have come sooner. Though Dimitri was doing a good job of subtly translating all my lessons to me over whispers in the back of the room and even had me with the regular novice rotation in weight training, this new method of learning was going to take some getting used to. Not to mention, I was getting my ass kicked. Dimitri wasn't joking when he said he wouldn't let me go easy… not with the weights I chose in conditioning, not with seeing my reps to the finish.
We waited for Ivan and Alexei just inside the cafeteria, where they emerged from behind a set of double doors off the main drag. With the way that Ivan was wiping his lips with a napkin, it was clear that those doors led to the feeder's room.
I gazed, wide-eyed at the doors, then stopped myself. I was going to make myself sick, thinking about the feeding with longing. I was not going there right now.
Alexei shot me a sympathetic smile, likely connecting the look on my face with the details he knew of my recent past.
I quickly averted my gaze, shifting to look around the cafeteria.
Ivan found an empty table while the rest of us went through the food line. When we all exited, we found him already joined by Viktoria.
"Vika," Dimitri said warmly, taking the seat next to her. "This is wonderful, you can formally meet Rose."
I settled across from him and smiled softly at Viktoria. After how I'd snapped at him yesterday, I wanted Dimitri to see me at least make a concerted effort to get to know her. "It's wonderful to meet you,"
"I couldn't wait to meet the talk of the town," she gushed.
I lifted my eyebrows, suddenly self-conscious.
"Oh no, nothing bad, Rose! It's just that, everyone is so curious about the new student who SOMEHOW got Dimka here to take on a trainee."
"I heard many students talking about it in class," Alexei confirmed. "The god finally found someone worthy."
"The god?" I asked, quirking the corner of my mouth up. "What's that all about."
"Everything thinks that Dimitri is some sort of mythical being," Alexei explained. "I'm still waiting for my own big bad nickname."
"Anyway," I huffed. "It's not like I earned you so much as I'm so desperately in need of help that they had to choose the best possible guardian so I could have at least a fighting chance at being half as good," I amended, ready with the self-deprecation.
Dimitri shakes his head stonily. He was more talkative around his friends and family that he had been all day. "We'll be able to get you to graduation ," he said simply.
"And with such a worthy charge, we know you'll rise to the occasion," Ivan chimed in.
I ducked my head under the semblance of praise, knowing I hadn't earned it yet.
"Who do you have in mind to guard, Rose?" Viktoria asked, shoveling some food into her mouth like a true dhampir. I can see Alexei next to me, attempting a similarly comical bite.
"Princess Vasilisa Dragomir," I admitted. With Dimitri as my mentor, she must know a few of the circumstances around my arrival, or she would at some point.
She was just as taken aback as I thought she would be. Woah seeming to be the only thing she can get out.
"What about you?" I countered. "Surely you have someone worthy in mind."
She scrunched her face, answering simply, "I'm not going to become a guardian."
I stopped mid-bite. "What do you mean?"
"Our babushka, Yeva, has very strong idea about gender norms," she clarified, shrugging.
Dimitri chimed in, "All of the women in our family have gone to school at St. Basil's but, upon graduation, return to our village to get jobs, raise families."
"It's pretty common as a track for dhampir here, we take similar training courses but don't get mentors and take more humanities, to prepare us for jobs in the outside world. But I think Yeva just believes it's best to use our skills to protect the community… not many people in it have the means to do so. My sisters and I can bridge that gap," Viktoria elaborated, proud of her own family's contributions
It hits me then. Dimitri's family, large as it is, must live in a dhampir commune. A community of non-guardian women and families that develop as a direct byproduct of Moroi visitors. Communities like these are pretty much the sole source of continued production of dhampirs. They're also exactly the kind of place I had always looked down upon, where I had made outlandish assumptions I would be sent upon getting kicked out of the academy, meant to spend the rest of my days as a blood whore to paying Moroi. Maybe it wasn't like that after all.
Deep in thought, the conversation veers in a different direction, Alexei telling some wild story, enrapturing Viktoria while her brother and Ivan rolled their eyes in response.
"Oh, Rose, Dimitri!" I turned to see Viktoria waving in excitement, leading her friend over with her to take the seat next to me.
"What are you doing in this class?" I asked curiously. It was seventh period and the Moroi culture seminar seemed like an easy excuse to relax and prepare for my upcoming mentorship block with Dimitri.
"At St. Basil's, the Moroi culture seminar is held with both of the upper years together. It's a chance for dhampirs and Moroi to come together and learn about society, about how we coexist. Usually, it's a lot of 'How to get by after graduation' stuff."
"Usually?"
She grinned at me impishly.
Beside me, Dimitri joined in the conversation. "Ivan is a new teacher this year, so he had quite the idea about what to teach."
I heard the man in question's voice from the front of the room, causing all the loud conversations to filter away.
"Settle down class," Dimitri whispered to me, translating Ivan's obvious motion of speaking up and over the class, commanding attention.
I tried to sound out what I had just heard for myself, though I figured it would be more worthwhile to get Ivan to write it down for me later. I had a feeling I would be hearing that more often than not in a school setting.
"So what is this semester's special topic," I asked Dimitri. The bastard had the nerve to just wink at me in return, turning in anticipation to the front of the room.
When Ivan spoke again, I got my answer in Dimitri's translation.
"Joint Moroi-guardian combat techniques."
Author's Note: I'm more than excited to get this chapter out in the world. Hope y'all are interested in what's to come!
