Rose's POV

I stared straight ahead of me outside the bedroom's only window, my head moving up and down with Dimitri's even breaths. I woke up ten minutes ago and saw the long shadows created by the buildings from the sunset. I tried my best to lay still and allow Dimitri to sleep longer but my stomach decided to become an orchestra. Dimitri groaned and his arms tightened around me, I wiggled around so that I could gaze at his face. His eyelids fluttered open and a smile played at the corners of his lips.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered. I leaned down and gave him a light peck on the lips, "Have you forgotten we live with vampires? It's evening." Dimitri's hands snaked up to cup my face, "We just woke up, we say 'good morning.'" He pulled my face down to his, our faces less than an inch apart. I studied his features, the lines under his eyes that weren't just from fatigue. I ran my fingers across his five o'clock stubble, wondering how I could make the pain go away. Not just his pain, but my pain too, along with Christian's.

Before I could ease any pain I had to cause more. I put Tasha in jail, I told Dimitri that his own father was responsible for my nightmares and now I was going to make sure Lissa became queen. I hated myself for what I was going to do today. It's for the better, I reminded myself. The dhampirs needed this, Lissa deserved this. I lost myself in thought staring at Dimitri's cheek, he brushed some hair behind my ear, "Are you okay?" he asked in a cautious tone.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Fine." I wouldn't let Dimitri walk on eggshells around me, I had to prove to him somehow that I wasn't fragile, that everything that happened to me hasn't broken me. "Are you?" I asked, careful to not use the same tentative tone as Dimitri. He shrugged and turned his head to look out the window, "I will be. As long as I have you by my side, I'll be perfect." Dimitri's eyes scanned my body, the duvet had been kicked off sometime while we slept.

I saw Dimitri's forlorn expression change to one of desire, "I'm back to being your guardian, and as your guardian, I must insist that this sleeping arrangement be permanent. So that I can keep an eye on you, of course."

I propped myself up on my elbow, laying sideways next to him. "You know you don't have to pretend to be okay around me, and your sex jokes are terrible when you're not really into it."

Dimitri's smile grew into something more genuine, "Sex joke?" He chuckled, shaking his head, "Rose, we haven't done anything besides kissing since we officially became a couple. You pushed me away last time I tried to get your clothes off, remember?" The new topic of conversation appealed to me much more than Tasha and Randall.

I ran my hand down his chest and stomach, stopping at the waistband of his sweatpants, I hooked my fingers in and tugged lightly, "Well, I'm not running away anytime soon, and I don't think anyone will walk in on us this time." I leaned in, bringing my lips close to his ear. "We have more than an hour before we actually have to get out of bed," I whispered suggestively.

My words sent us both over the edge, we knew that we weren't going to hold back this time. There wasn't any good reason we shouldn't do it right then and there. It felt so good to finally really be with Dimitri - no rules to break this time, no limitations.

I felt some of my grief fade away as our clothes came off and our bodies pressed against each other. Both of us gave in to the animal inside of us, biting and scratching each other in a frantic attempt to get our bodies closer together.

Once we couldn't get any closer we remained that way for a long time, my body moving in sync with his. We kept kissing, my lips to his lips, his lips to my collarbone and other, lower places. We continued with the kisses even though both of us were out of breath, leaving us panting and gasping in between moans.

Afterward, we lay in each other's embrace, covered in a sheen of sweat. My stomach growled at me but I ignored it, I had something much more important on my mind at the moment. I met Dimitri's lazy gaze and offered a devilish grin, "I need a shower. Join me?"

"Well, you certainly have a lot up your sleeve," Dimitri whispered to me as we made our way to Lissa's suite. She walked ahead of us with Christian, both of them pointedly ignoring me. Jill had been taken by Hans, hidden somewhere else for her own protection.

When we got to the ballroom early in the evening I sought out Adrian's father and requested to give a speech of my own. He reluctantly agreed, and I had the floor after Lissa's empowering speech. After I delivered the news of Jill's heredity the whole court started shouting. The vote was still being held today, though, only now Lissa's name was included on the ballot.

Lissa ducked out of the ballroom as soon as she could, I followed her out. The court seemed empty now, only because all of the residents and visitors were voting at the courthouse. Through the bond I could feel Lissa's discontent at being in the spotlight like this, let alone her mixed feelings at learning she has a sister.

Lissa flung the door to her suite open and went straight for the bathroom. Christian tried to follow her in but she slammed the door, I heard the click of the lock being set in place. I felt her let go of the control she had on her emotions and allowed herself to break down, I heard her sobs through the walls.

Dimitri closed the suite's door behind us. Christian turned around to glare at me, "What the fuck do you think you're doing Rose? What have you done to Lissa?" I sank into the couch, covering my face with my hands.

"I'm doing what's best for the dhampirs, and for Lissa," I mumbled, I couldn't even convince myself at this point. Suddenly my plans to make Lissa queen didn't seem that great.

Christian laughed without any humor, "No, Rose. You're doing what's best for you. You got rid of Tasha so that you could keep Dimitri all to yourself, and now you're going to have a queen that listens to you more than anyone else on the council." I put my hands down to look Christian in the face, but I didn't have it in me to correct him - part of me believed he was right. I recalled Randall's words, You'll be nothing, and when I give you back to the Moroi, they won't even want you.

Dimitri glared at Christian, "Don't you dare," he seethed, "You have absolutely no idea what Tasha has put Rose through, Tasha's even admitted to it! And Rose is doing what's best for the dhampirs. You don't know what some of the Moroi have planned for us, for the younger generations of guardians. Rose is protecting the dhampirs from enslavement."

The news of Tasha's confession resonated through me, had she confessed to killing the queen, too? Christian seemed surprised at Dimitri's outburst, my tall Russian was supposed to be the level headed one, after all. Christian shook his head, "I can't deal with either of you right now. You're both fucking insane."

Christian went into Lissa's bedroom and closed the door. I peeked into Lissa's mind to find her much calmer now. She was replaying the events of the last week, seeking reason in this chaos. I decided now was my best opportunity to talk to her, I got up from my seat and knocked on the bathroom door. Lissa's suite had one bathroom connected to the living room. I couldn't help but think of the new, lavish suite she would live in as queen.

I heard sniffling from the other side of the door, "Yes?" she asked. I leaned my forehead on the door, "Talk to me Liss. Tell me you hate me, I want to hear it all." I spoke earnestly, I could feel all of her rage for me so she might as well admit it to my face. I heard Lissa make a half-laugh-half-cry noise, "I don't hate you, Rose." The door opened a crack, I peeked through the small space.

"Yeah? That's good. We're supposed to be the fairy-tale princesses."

Lissa opened the door all the way and made her way for the tissues on the coffee table. "Well we can't be that if I'm going to be the queen," Lissa whispered. The muscles in her shoulders relaxed as I wrapped my arms around her. "I'm sorry, Liss. I thought it was a good idea," I muttered into her shoulder.

Lissa pushed me away, "A good idea! Rose, I'm eighteen. I haven't even been on the council as princess yet!" Lissa tugged on her golden hair, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What if I actually win the election?" she whispered in a panicked voice.

I grinned, "Then you'll be the best damn queen the Moroi and dhampirs have ever seen. I've got your back, Liss. Now please, tell me I made a good decision and not a typical Rose Hathaway impromptu decision."

Lissa dropped her hands, her mouth also dropped to gape at me, "Of course it was a typical Rose Hathaway stupid decision! But… it was also a good decision." Lissa shook her head, "That doesn't make sense, let me rephrase. You shouldn't have done it, but it was the right thing to do." She stepped forward and took me in her embrace.

"You better be there for me every step of the way, or you'll have hell to pay," Lissa warned in a serious voice. No mockery here, not with her emotions so strung out. Christian opened the bedroom door and took in the scene in front of him. His grimace slowly faded into something more calm and controlled, and completely fake. I imagined he wanted to set me on fire right then, and I wouldn't blame him if he did it.

Dimitri tensed up as Christian made his way to me and Lissa. I stepped away from Lissa and allowed Christian to put his arms around her in a comforting manner. I retreated to Dimitri and held his hand, "I want to stay here until we get the results from the election." Dimitri looked incredulously at me, "That could take hours, Rose. Did you see the line outside the courthouse?"

I shrugged. "Then let's go get something to eat and come back. I need to be with Lissa when we find out who the monarch is." Dimitri gave me a sultry look, "Do you think we have time for anything else after lunch?" His suggestive tone surprised me, he wasn't usually this forward. I lightly smacked his arm, "Now look who has things up his sleeve."

"I'm so glad you two are the picture of happiness, despite all of the people suffering around you," Christian remarked snidely. Dimitri lost all of his smolder to glare at Christian. He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off, "Don't. Let him be angry. He has every right."

Dimitri cut his gaze to me, "He shouldn't be angry at you. You don't deserve this." I felt Christian's eyes figuratively burning holes into me as I chose my next words carefully. "Let it go, Dimitri. If he wants to be angry with me, so be it." I decided to leave Tasha's name out of this little exchange, afraid that hearing her name would tip Christian over the edge.

I ignored Christian's eyes as I turned to face Lissa, "We'll be back soon, to give you some space," and Christian, too.

Dimitri and I went back to our suite to make lunch, none of the restaurants were open right now. Dimitri started rambling about Christian's behavior as he got out the bread and chicken. I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Dimitri, he doesn't want to believe anything I said about Tasha. Can you blame him? And we both know that you're not upset about Christian. We can't avoid the subject of your father forever. Let's just talk about it."

Dimitri dropped the plate he was holding, causing it to fracture and splay across the floor. Dimitri barely noticed, he looked at me with fury in his eyes, "Don't call him my father, Rose. He's nothing to me." I pursed my lips, I left my seat from the breakfast bar to pick up the larger chunks of plate from the floor.

"He is something to you. He's haunted you for a long time, Dimitri." I put the pieces of plate in the garbage and went to the closet in the kitchen to get the broom. "I'm over it, honestly," I lied. "Randall can't do anything to me now. Especially if I have you by my side." I handed Dimitri the broom and signaled for him to clean up his mess. I took over making the sandwiches for him as he swept.

"Roza, please stop lying to me. I can take the truth, but I can't stand not knowing what he really did to you. Just tell me. Please." he pleaded desperately. I put two plates on the breakfast bar and took the broom from Dimitri's white knuckled grip, "Sit down and eat."

Dimitri did as I said, "You can't avoid me by telling me what to do. 'Take your pants off. Eat a sandwich.' Taking care of me and offering me what men dream of won't distract me." My shoulders shook with laughter as I put the broom away. I joined him at the breakfast bar and took a huge bite of my sandwich. I chewed slowly as I thought of the right words to say, as I did I felt Dimitri's gaze on me.

I swallowed and jumped into the story, sugar-coated, of course. "Randall liked to play games with me. He used compulsion to learn more about you, about us. It was pure luck that he didn't learn you had been transformed, I needed him to believe that you were still a Strigoi. Once he knew enough about us-"

"How much is enough?"

"Huh?"

"How. Much. Is. Enough?"

"Everything. He knew everything up to my time in Russia. He used this information to mess with me, he would compel me to have morphed memories of you. Instead of a stolen kiss in the training room I remembered it as you being overly aggressive during the session, you hurting me a little bit here and there. He made small changes only in my memories of you, but these changes added up and kept building a resentment for you. Randall made me hate you while I was there. I guess it's really lucky that those altered memories were suppressed when I came back to Court. The worst thing he did to me physically was let me go a couple days at a time without food."

I stared at my sandwich for a long time. Neither of us said anything. I picked up my sandwich and took a bite, hoping Dimitri would say something. I couldn't take the silence any longer, "That's all he did, Dimitri. I promise. I only remember the false memories as what they are - fake, made up. Randall made a mistake when he was compelling me, and I pushed the fake memories back, even though he intended to make me hate you."

Dimitri sat motionless, his sandwich untouched. "You promise that's all he did to you?" he asked, disbelief lacing his voice. I tried to quirk my eyebrow up, but both eyebrows shot up at the same time.

"Yes."

Dimitri looked me in the eye, then. I could see the doubt clearly written on his face. "I can't believe that, Roza. You don't have to lie to protect me."

I sighed, my hands ran through my hair in a frustrated gesture. "God dammit, Dimitri! That's all he did! What do you want me to say? That he beat me senseless? That he hit me like he hit your mother? That he raped me and tried to take me away from you? Because he didn't. You beat the crap out of him when you were just a freaking child and you petrify that monster even though he's a Strigoi," I screamed loud enough to make Dimitri flinch, or maybe it was my rape comment that made him flinch.

He didn't respond. I huffed and pushed away from the counter.

I left the kitchen and went into Dimitri's room. In a blind rage I started haphazardly grabbing Dimitri's things and toting them over to my room. As long as I kept my hands busy I wouldn't punch a wall, or Dimitri.

I realize that being angry at him wasn't rational, but I couldn't help the fury that coursed through my veins from talking about Randall. What the hell Rose? You were able to keep calm last night, I thought. "Yeah, well. I can only hold it all in for so long," I muttered to myself.

Dimitri came and stood in the hallway between our bedroom doors and watched my progress as I moved his belongings to my, our, master room. "We should share the master, not the guest room," I explained as I passed him in the hallway. Dimitri nodded, still in a stupor from earlier, and joined me in moving his belongings. I guess neither of us were in the mood for what Dimitri suggested earlier.

We worked silently, grabbing handfuls of clothes and books to carry across the hall. I shoved my clothes aside to make room for Dimitri's things. I found it kind of funny, that even though I directed all of my anger at him I was currently moving him into my bedroom. We continued this easy distraction for at least an hour, a decent amount of sweat collected behind my neck. I tugged my hair into a sloppy ponytail as I studied Dimitri's figure. My blind rage had dulled to a miniscule amount of anger.

I walked over to him reading the back cover of one of the few books belonging to me and wrapped my arms around him from behind. Dimitri set the book down and twisted in my grip to face me. He returned the embrace, kissing the top of my head. Neither of us said anything, I couldn't seem to swallow my pride and apologize, but he wasn't about to admit fault either.

"We should go back to Lissa's," he murmured. We had only managed to move half of Dimitri's things over, but we needed to reorganize my things first to make room for the rest of his stuff. I tilted my head back to grimace at Dimitri, I hated leaving projects unfinished. Dimitri smoothed down my hair, tugging affectionately at my ponytail. "I don't want to talk about him anymore. I won't bring it up again," he said in a small voice.

I nodded firmly in agreement, "Deal." I leaned up on the tips of my toes and pressed my lips to his, "And I get it, don't apologize. I should be apologizing. I came back from my little field trip with Jailbait and a million problems."

Dimitri tightened his arms around me, rubbing his nose against mine, "Problems we can deal with. We've been through worse, Roza." My breath caught when he said my name barely above a whisper, yet it contained so much affection and love in that one word.

I reached behind me and grabbed one of Dimitri's hands, pulling myself out of his embrace. "Let's go to Lissa's now before the furniture starts begging me to move them." Dimitri laughed, a genuine sound of humor coming from him. I smiled at the ground, feeling better knowing that I could still make him laugh after a day like today.

We walked to Lissa's hand in hand. I checked in on Lissa through the bond, she felt anxious and overwhelmed, but also excited. That last one pleased me, perhaps I haven't ruined everyone's life in this last week. Dimitri and I made it to her door at the same time as Nathan Ivashkov. He pretended not to see us walk up to him as he knocked on Lissa's door.

Dimitri and I stood behind Nathan to witness him deliver the news to Lissa. Christian opened the door, he glared at the three of us before stepping away from the door and returning with a blonde angel. Lissa shook Nathan's hand in a professional manner, she had brushed her hair and fixed her makeup since the last time I saw her.

Nathan fixed his tie and spoke in a stiff voice, "Vasilisa Dragomir, it is with deep joy that I inform you that you have been chosen by the people to become our new monarch." The news didn't surprise me in the least, but I still gripped Dimitri's hand with excitement. Lissa smiled at Nathan. I admired her demeanor, she had only several hours to mentally prepare herself for being queen.

"Thank you, Lord Ivashkov. I will prepare for the public announcement tonight. The coronation will be later this week I expect?"

Nathan coughed, "Yes, well, as the council seems impatient to get things going again… Your coronation has been moved to tonight."