Rose's POV
The last three weeks of princess boot camp and taking bits of Lissa's darkness had finally made me break. I woke up on the floor near the toilet in my lavish bathroom, Dimitri's hand was on my forehead, "You have a fever." There was a towel under my head, some cold medicine left out on the counter, a glass of water lay shattered on the floor. I don't remember coming in here last night. An awful smell was coming from the toilet.
"You should sleep some more, in your bed. Can you stand?" My brain was too sluggish to process Dimitri's words and I stared at him like he had three heads. He sighed and all of the sudden the floor wasn't beneath me anymore. The world faded to black.
I woke up later in my plush bed. I still wasn't used to the softness of the fabrics, but I never wanted to get used to it. I never wanted to take it for granted. There was a bottle of water and a granola bar on my nightstand, Dimitri must have put those there, I couldn't help but smile to myself. I felt bad for him, I had been taking out all of my stress from princess training on him.
I had been forgetting to have meals, which was completely unlike me, and Dimitri was always there to remind me to eat something. My response was always to snap at him or ignore him. I chewed on the granola bar and thought of ways to apologize without making it sound like I was swallowing my pride. I couldn't think of anything.
The digital clock in my room told me I had a couple hours before I needed to actually get up, but I couldn't go back to sleep now. I felt sticky from sweat, my hair fell victim to my neck sweat. After a cool shower, I put on a green pencil skirt and white blouse.
Lissa had helped me buy clothes that were professional while still being cute. I put my hair in a bun tight enough that I would have a headache later, and slipped on black ballet flats( it was going to be a while before I complied to wearing heels).
I left my room to do some research on the computer in my office.
Dimitri was sitting on the couch in the living room reading a western. "Good evening princess, feeling any better?"
I groaned, "You know I hate it when you call me 'princess', right?" Just because it was true didn't mean I wanted to hear it all the time. He grinned, tossing the book on the coffee table, "Yeah, I know. But I like it." Dimitri has been driving me crazy for the last three weeks, he always says things when we're alone that could be flirtatious comments, but I'm just not sure.
I don't know which one will give me gray hairs first, Dimitri's semi-flirtatious comments or council meetings. Dimitri leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, "Seriously, Rose, how are you? I found you an hour ago asleep on the bathroom floor and all of yesterday's meals in the toilet." I put on my best nonchalant face, "I'm okay. I'm just stressed, you know? Sorry for being such a bitch to you these past weeks, by the way."
Dimitri shook his head, "Don't apologize. And you're not okay. Stress does crazy things to a person's physical health. Dhampirs don't get sick, Rose," Dimitri's forehead was bunched up in concern. "You need to see a doctor today." If there was one thing I wanted to change when becoming princess it was Dimitri's patronizing attitude toward me.
"Can't. Don't have time. There's a council meeting today on the age decree, again, and then Tatiana wants to speak privately with me. Again." This job, like guarding, was getting really damn redundant. The council meetings always had the same results: the same people would shout the same things and no one could ever agree and no laws would get changed.
"So tell the queen she's burning you out. You weren't raised to do this. She's making you take on too much at once." Dimitri obviously didn't understand the drive I felt to do a good job. I was going to make the dhampirs proud, I was going to put the conservative Moroi to shame. Things needed to change and I finally had a chance to do something about it. We could do more if Lissa was on the council, but the damn quorum law wouldn't let that happen.
He also didn't know I was taking the darkness from Lissa, for which I was grateful. Only Adrian would be able to detect it, and he hasn't been around for obvious reasons.
I shook my head, "You can't force me. Don't make me pull the princess card. I just need some DayQuil and Ibuprofen and I'll make it through the day." Dimitri gave me a hard look then picked up his book, ignoring me. Great, Rose, just go around pissing off those who're trying to help. I went into my office and shut the door. Pushing my feelings aside, I got to business.
Lissa would get her council seat if I had any say in the matter. Other than instructional meetings on being princess, the queen and I have been following a lead on an illegitimate Dragomir child. Apparently Eric Dragomir had an affair. At first I found it unbelievable. He was like a father to me, I couldn't see him doing that to Rhea. As much as I detested the idea, I spent a lot of my time looking for the child. Lissa didn't know yet, the queen thought it would only make matters worse if more people knew about it.
I never thought I would see the day that the queen and I would embark on a super secret adventure together, I didn't even like her that much. I was surprised to see the queen taking such an interest in Lissa's role in politics but I wasn't going to fight it. Tatiana told me she was trusting me with this information because she knew I wouldn't do anything to hurt Lissa, I would protect this secret like it was Lissa's own life. Tatiana wasn't wrong, Dimitri didn't even know, and he spent every second near me.
Tatiana was at a loss on how to get information on this child, but I had an inkling of where to start. I had been communicating with Sydney Sage through email for a couple days now, asking about alchemist records and such. She wasn't being very forthcoming. I put my face in my hands, I need Zmey. Abe would get Sydney to talk, the only problem was that I wasn't sure I could trust him. A knock on the office door made me look up. Dimitri took in the agonized look on my face and raised an eyebrow. I tried to mimic his ability to hide all emotions, to wipe my face clean of everything.
"Yeah?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Liar."
"I can't tell you yet, this is about my meetings with the queen, the one's which she won't let you in the room for." Dimitri pursed his lips, "Well… what she doesn't know won't hurt her." I laughed at his uncertain expression, "Woah, are you disobeying the queen? I never would have guessed, comrade. Isn't that, like, treachery in your book?" The nickname comrade didn't quite fit anymore, we weren't fighting alongside each other like we should have been. Dimitri shrugged glibly, "You know you can tell me anything. Maybe I can help." I sighed and waved him in, he sat in the only other chair in the room.
"I honestly don't think you'll be able to help, but I guess there's no point in hiding it from you." Dimitri still worshiped Lissa, it was adorable and annoying. I hate to admit that it made me jealous. He used to worship me. I took a deep breath and the words started to rush out of my mouth, "Eric, Lissa's dad, is rumoured to have had an affair a couple years after Lissa was born. The woman he was with got pregnant and went into hiding. The queen and I are trying to find the Dragomir baby so Lissa can have her vote on the council."
I don't know what kind of reaction I expected to get from Dimitri, but a simple "Okay," was not it. He almost sounded bored by the news. He left my office at that point, softly closing the door behind him. I shook my head in disbelief. Confusing, infuriating man.
Dimitri practically dragged me back to the suite. "You need to eat a real meal, not just stop at the coffee house for a donut. The queen can wait." I was surprised by the vehemence in his voice. I complied, admitting to myself that I was feeling a little faint. I sat at the breakfast bar complaining about the meeting and making wild gestures while Dimitri made me a sandwich. I bit back a couple jokes about a man working in the kitchen.
"They don't respect me! None of those old farts even consider my opinion even though I'm a dhampir. My opinion should matter most here!"
Dimitri nodded along, "I know, I was in there with you," he chuckled. "But it's like you said, they're all older and you're barely an adult. And yes, sadly I think they just don't care much about a dhampir's opinion. I also think Rufus has something against you being a woman, too. He doesn't seem to like any of the women on the council, including the queen."
Dimitri was right. The fact that he was here to validate my emotions made me calm down slightly. "It's going to be okay, Lissa will do the right thing once she can vote." Dimitri put a turkey sandwich in front of me. "Eat," he demanded. "Yes, sir," I mockingly saluted him.
I munched on the sandwich while I thought of ways to get Sydney to give me the information I needed. Going to my father would be the last resort.
I looked at the time on the stove, I almost couldn't swallow the last of my lunch, "I'm going to be late! Come on, we can power walk and make it to the tea parlor in time." I was late to meet with the queen once and she gave me a lecture on punctuality. I didn't want to hear it again. We left the palace housing building and made our way through the empty courtyard.
It was the middle of summer and everyone at court was inside to avoid the heat that remained in the air from the day before. It was only ten at night, the sun had barely set an hour ago. I wish the Moroi were more tolerant of the sun, I really missed seeing it and feeling it on my skin. I was walking at a brisk pace, not really paying attention to my surroundings. We were approaching the church when a figure stepped out from behind the northern church wall.
Out of instinct Dimitri stepped in front of me, stopping us from moving. One of his hands reached behind him to keep a hold on my hip. I stepped sideways, I didn't need a body shield and I didn't want to think of how his touch made me feel. Dimitri looked sideways at me before focusing on the approaching silhouette. Once they moved under the lamppost I could see it was Clare Steed, a guardian who works with Eddie guarding Matthew Drozdov.
"Hey Clare, are you alright? You don't look like yourself." She kept walking our way, her steps resembled a robot. "I'm fine. I just… I… I'm sorry." Her eyes were glossy, they weren't really seeing what was in front of them. Compulsion. There was a red stain on her shirt.
She was right in front of Dimitri now. I grabbed Dimitri's arm to pull him away but he didn't budge. Dimitri was tense and confused by her presence and manner, but he wasn't prepared for an attack from another guardian. Clare hesitated before taking a final step to Dimitri, closing the space between them.
Clare's stake was in her hands in a matter of seconds, there was already blood on the weapon as it sought out Dimitri. He jumped back in time to only receive a cut on his collarbone. Fear and anger swept through me making my guardian instincts kick in and put me into overdrive. The green skirt was tight on my thighs, making it hard to get a proper kick in. It didn't help that Dimitri pushed me out of the way, knocking me on my ass.
Clare pounced on Dimitri, he was too focused on positioning himself in front of me that she had the advantage. She managed to land a punch on Dimitri's face, making him take a step backward for balance. Only I was still on the ground directly behind Dimitri and he tripped over me. Clare didn't miss a beat and she jumped on top of him. She raised the stake. I threw myself at her with a warrior's cry as the stake drove down.
I heard the stake pierce skin and Dimitri cry out in agony, then go silent. Clare was underneath me now but I was too late, she killed Dimitri. I didn't even look over to where he lay next to us. I felt my blind rage bubbling to the surface.
I felt all of my love for Dimitri in that moment, regretting the chances I missed just because I had my head up my ass. She killed the man I love. I started hitting Clare, all of my pain and misery over losing Dimitri for the second time directed at her. Tears were blocking my vision which made it easier to attack Clare without thinking of her as a friend, or even as a person.
She fought back, her fingers on my face were reaching for my eyes. I restrained myself from punching her even more and I was able to get my hands around her neck. After a few moments of having to hear her make awful choking sounds her hands fell from my face and she stopped squirming underneath me. She was alive, for now. I didn't realize I was crying until the tears fell on my hands still wrapped around Clare's neck.
I released my hold on her. crawling over to Dimitri. I started weeping with relief, he had a pulse. He's not dead he's not dead he's not dead. He must have rolled over just in time for Clare to miss his heart. I could see his chest moving slightly. The stake was in his lower left abdomen, not lethal but he needed to get to a hospital immediately.
I reached into the pocket of his duster and pulled out his cell phone. I didn't have the guardian headquarters' number memorized and I prayed Dimitri had it saved to his contacts. I saw a contact labeled GH and hoped that was the right one.
No one answered. I called again, on the second ring there was a commotion from the courthouse, guardians swarmed out and started running toward us. Guardians from the palace housing building also came out at a full sprint. I dropped the phone and stood next to Dimitri, "I need help, bring a stretcher!" I shouted, a handful of guardians responded to my order and ran in the direction of the hospital. All of the others continued their run to me.
Once they reached the north and south side of the church I could see that these men and women were the queen's guardians. Something seriously wrong had to have happened for all of them to be coming from their separate posts. They took in the scene in front of them, determining who was the victim and who was the perpetrator. A couple guards approached Clare's unconscious body, one grabbed her ankles and the other hooked his arms under her armpits.
"What's going on?" I demanded. I was a princess now, they couldn't ignore me, "Where are you taking her?" As much as I hated Clare right now, I knew that she was under some sort of influence, she had tried to fight it. She shouldn't be punished… too much. The one who appeared to be the leader of the group, Daniel, nodded to the guards holding Clare. The guards started carrying her to the courthouse, where the prison cells were.
"Princess Hathaway, we need to move you to a secure location. Guardian Belikov will be taken care of. I will escort you to the palace housing building and we'll leave two guards with you. The court is under lockdown."
I didn't want to go back to the palace housing building, I wanted to go to the hospital with Dimitri. I narrowed my eyes at Daniel, "Guardian Brown, tell me what is going on right now." I put as much authority as I could into my voice, hoping he didn't hear how much it was shaking. Some more guards were making their way to us with a stretcher and a nurse.
"The queen is dead."