A week passed before I could properly speak with Rose again. Following her incident with the junior Moroi, Mia Rinaldi, she was put in some sort of suspension. She apparently wasn't allowed to meet up with her friends after class and had to instead go immediately to her room. She was nowhere happy with that, and she found ways of letting everybody know. Sharp responses, sarcasm, eyes rolling so hard, one would think that myth would actually come true and they would get stuck.
Her frustration came to a great point on Thursday in her sparring class. She was currently facing up against Eddie Castle. He was met with the brunt of her anger. Whereas she usually fared with strategic dodging, which helped preserve her energy, until her opponents had tired out and she could strike full force, she was currently on the offence. Her strikes came strong and fast, while she still managed to swiftly dodge his attacks. She had the whole gymnasium staring at her.
In all fairness to Eddie, he wasn't faring all too badly. He managed to get in more hits than Manson had the last time I saw them fight. Still, it was almost useless. Rose was unforgiving. Once Eddie was on the ground, she hadn't stopped. She sat on his lap, preparing her fist for another punch.
"Hathaway!" Guardian Emil yelled out.
"Rose, stop!" Mason followed. She somehow snapped out of it, hearing her friend's voice. She leaned back, still sitting in her friend's lap.
"Holy shit, Eddie. I'm so sorry," she began, but he just shook his head. "It's all in good fun, Rose. Don't worry. Now get off me, please?" he said, a bit of pain hiding in his voice.
She scrambled up and helped him out. He let out a groan. "Darn, girl, you're really going through something, aren't you?" he commented with a smile. She laughed nervously.
"Yeah, it's been a bit… shit," she responded. Mason walked up to them, with Emil quickly behind him.
"At least now your suspension should be over," her friend offered.
"I don't think so. What you did today was extremely irresponsible. You could have seriously hurt your classmate. You need to keep your head on while your fighting," Emil said, his arms crossed. Rose clenched her jaw.
"I will. I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to hurt Eddie too much. I promise I'll work on it, but please, don't give me another week of suspension, I'll lose my mind," she begged. Emil thought about it for a moment. "Fine. But I'll take that promise seriously. Understood."
"Understood."
The bell rang out. I quickly walked out of the gym, knowing damn well where I was heading right away. Today Rose displayed true raw skill, something she had been either hiding or never had a reason to show off, as she was already on top of her class. While she had her brutal and fast pace, she lacked discipline. Faring against her classmate was one thing, but going up against a professional guardian, not to mention Strigoi, was a different story. Her uncontrollable power could get her in more trouble than out of it.
"Damn, Mitya, what's up?" Yuri called out after me, as I passed him on my way to Alberta's office.
"Talk to you later, I have to see Petrov right now," I hurriedly said. I thought I heard him snicker behind me, but that didn't matter right now. I have arrived at my destination.
I impatiently knocked on the door in front of me. An engraved sign with the words Head Guardian Alberta Petrov stared back at me. As soon as I heard her say "Come in," I half barged in.
"I want to be Rose's mentor," I said in short breaths. I could barely keep down the excitement building up inside of me.
"Excuse me?" She gave me a curt look, pleading with me to slow down. She pointed to the chair in front of her but I declined by shaking my head. I was uncharacteristically excited. With all that newfound energy inside of me; I couldn't just sit down. I couldn't let it show and I was sure sitting down wouldn't help if my legs just kept on shaking anyway.
"Have you seen her in training? Specifically, when she's angry or really frustrated?" I asked. She leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on top of the desk in front of her. She rested her chin on top of her now entwined fingers. She looked up at me with professional curiosity.
"I've known her since she was an infant. So, yes. She gets wild and destroys everything in her way. It's hard to get her to stop," she answered.
"Am I right to guess her natural skill is what keeps her at the top of her class?"
"It's part of it. While she's already had incredible potential, she's also a quick learner, no matter how loud she may complain. I am afraid she often gets bored in class, as it's not challenging enough for her. However, she doesn't really possess any amount of -"
"- discipline," I cut her off, struggling to keep the grin off my face. She studied my expression for a moment. Then she straightened up in her seat. "And that's where you want to come in."
It wasn't a question, but I still answered. "I believe I can offer her both additional challenge and discipline. She's like an energy-fuelled puppy; she needs an opportunity to release it." There was also the matter of our future partnership. If we got to know each other and our fighting styles now, we would have an easier time in the future. It would also help solidify Rose's position as Lissa's guardian.
If Alberta found any amusement in my analogy, she didn't let me know. She sighed, leaning back in her seat. "Fine," she agreed. I let the grin I've been holding back display itself. "But," she continued, "only if Rose agrees. You need to ask her first, then you'll both need to sign a paper, making everything official. That will make you more responsible for her actions, maybe not officially, but definitely in the eyes of other guardians. Do you think you could handle that?"
I nodded firmly. "Yes. She's worth it." She returned the nod, agreeing with my sentiment.
"Of course, she would still need to attend her usually training. Your meetings would need to occur before and/or after usual school hours." Another nod. "Anything else?"
"That would be all for now."
"You are dismissed, Belikov." After a final nod, I made my way to the door. "Dimitri?" she called out when I was almost out. I just looked at her curiously, beckoning her to speak. "Thank you for giving her a chance. She deserves it." I smiled and left.
Yuri was leaning next to a wall as I came down the hall. "What was that all about?" he inquired when I came closer. I leaned on the wall next to him. "I might get to mentor Rose," I answered.
He looked at me with wide eyes and a shit-eating grin. "Really?" Then he laughed to himself. "Oh, so many people owe me money." It was my turn to be shocked.
"Excuse me?" I asked, surprise clear in my voice. He laughed again. "Oh c'mon. You know how nothing ever actually happens here. One day, this cool-as-ice new guardian arrives, stoic and silent. And then last week you defended dear old Rose," he nudged me in my ribs. I groaned and hid my face in the palms of my hands.
"How many bets about me do you have?"
"Right now? I think-"
"Two," finished Emil, who in all confusion I didn't notice come down the hall. "One," he raised his pointer finger, "will you become Rose's mentor. Some of us wanted to do "when" but not everybody agreed. And two," his lips stretched into a grin as he lifted another finger, "how long will you last." Yuri bent over in laughter next to me. I dismissed him.
"Where is Rose now?" I asked instead. Emil shrugged. "I had her clean up the equipment all by herself as punishment for today's antics. She should be about done with it by now," he explained looking at the watch on his wrist. I thanked him and left them both.
Where would Rose go, now that her suspension was over? She would probably want to meet up with Lissa. And where would she be at his moment? She seemed like a studious type; she might have been doing homework in the library. Thinking my theory was good enough, I made my way toward the main Academy building. Soon enough I saw Rose walking fast in front of me.
I called out her name, struggling to hide the first excitement I'd felt since losing Ivan. She stopped and turned to face me with a sarcastic expression. The wind blew her long hair around her like a dark halo. I caught up to her in a few swift moves. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Yes?" she asked, annoyed. By the way, her day went today, I wasn't surprised to find her in a bad mood. I could only hope my offer would cheer her up a bit.
"Have you ever considered having a mentor?" She raised her eyebrows. She scoffed and began to walk away. "You think I'm that bad?"
"No, not at all." I quickly followed after her. "Quite opposite actually. You are undeniably the best in class. It has been a while since I've seen a novice fight like you do."
Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you, Dimitri? I thought to myself.
She was facing away from me, looking head-on. "Then why do you think I would need a mentor?" she shot back without even glancing at me.
I sped up and stepped in front of her, making her stop. "Because you're bored. You rarely get a challenge. Today you got it because of how frustrated you were about the whole suspension debacle. Most of the time you put no effort into training. And while you do succeed now, it can be worse for you in the future." I tried to keep my voice neutral and calm, so as not to unnerve her even more.
"And you think you can provide me with a challenge?"
It was my turn to scoff. "Oh, I know, I can," I replied. It has been a long time since I've felt this confident. I wanted to be useful. And if that meant training this promising young guardian, so be it. "You want to be the Princesses' guardian, right?"
She nodded. "I will be," she said seriously.
"Then you need to be the best. Besides that, I am already her guardian. Training together could let us get used to each other. Get to know each other inside-out. That way we'll be prepared when we get to work together." She stared at me for a moment thinking it over. "You make a fair point. Alright, I'm in. When do we begin?"
"Well..." That's where the controversial part came in. I quickly recapped what Alberta had told me about meeting outside of her usual class hours. "Do you think you could manage that?" I firmly asked in the end. She sighed.
"Fine, yes," she agreed. I could feel the grin I'd been holding back spread across my face. "Great! Tomorrow, an hour before your first period?" She nodded. "You'll just need to sign a paper to make it an official mentorship. But we can do that tomorrow morning, alright?"
"Yes, okay?" she tried and failed, to hide her growing smile.
"Great." l extended my hand towards her. "I can't wait to work with you, novice Hathaway."
She stared at my hand for a moment, confused. Then she took it into hers. "Guardian Belikov," she just added as we shook on it. That was probably the first (and possibly the last) time I've heard her use my official title. I let go of her warm hand.
"See you tomorrow," I said and made my way back to my room. I only took a few steps when she caught my wrist and stopped me. I turned back, looking down at her. I leaned my head slightly and lifted my eyebrow in curiosity (and amusement). "Thank you," she said, barely loud enough for me to hear. This wasn't a side of her I've seen before, calmer and… nicer. Was she usually just compensating for her actual confidence by lashing out? I was not so sure anymore. I smiled and nodded in understanding. She nodded back, let go of my arm and walked away.
I was almost done setting things up when Rose entered the gym. She let out a long yawn. "You know, Comrade, I didn't know that waking up just an hour earlier would feel this bad." l just hummed in response. In all honestly, I'd expected her to be even moodier than this.
"You'll start with a ten-minute run. Then we'll move on to weight training, and do some sparring if you'll still be in the mood, but we can save that for the later meeting," l explained, without turning to her.
With a "yessir," I heard her walk out to the stadium. After setting everything up, I was still left with a few minutes, so I pulled a Western out of my bag, sat down against the wall and continued reading, where I left off a couple of nights ago. Soon enough Rose came back in, all out of breath and glistening with sweat. She stomped closer to me, where I put her bag, pulled out her water bottle and drank a few long sips from it.
"So, you'll just lay here while I do all the work?" she remarked, breathing heavily. She wiped her face with a towel she'd brought. Her eyes glanced up my torso, following the three deep jagged scars that were poking out of my workout tank top. A sad frown crossed her face for a moment.
I stood up, abandoning my book on the floor. I gestured to the weights I'd prepared earlier.
"C'mon."
We got to work, mostly doing so in a comfortable silence aside from some corrections and improvements I pointed out and her occasional sarcastic comment.
"You up for some sparring?" l asked Rose, after throwing her towel at her. She grinned. "Of course. That's the main event, isn't it?"
We stood opposite of each other, both in embracing for the impact that was to follow. Her grin had disappeared; there was only focus left on her face. Her brows furrowed, eyes narrowed ask they looked for a sign of movement, trying to predict my next move.
I struck first, launching at her with all my speed. Her eyes flew open as she barely moved out of the way. She readjusted her stance and struck back at me. I dodged easily. We continued like that for a while, striking and dodging, slowly running out of breath. While she never managed to land a hit on me, I was still massively impressed by her. She managed to dodge more hits, than I thought she would. We began to run out of time so we stopped sooner than either of us wanted.
"Your bond with Princes Vasilisa," began as she helped me put everything away.
"Ah, yes, the thing that makes me so special," she said sarcastically. "Any questions? As a future co-guardian, of course."
"You have explained some aspects of it. Feeling her emotions, going "into" her head..." I trailed off.
"It sounds intrusive, doesn't it?" she suggested. I shrugged and put away the last of the weights. "I just wonder what an effect must that have on your mental health. Being a teenager is hard enough, dealing with your own emotions and mood swings influenced by your hormones. To have to feel another person's? It must be a lot."
Rose just stared at me in shock for a moment. She tried to break the tension with a laugh as she looked away. "This is the most you've said to me in the last forty-five minutes," she mused. She sighed and leaned on the wall beside me. "You know, this is probably the first time somebody has actually considered how I feel about this bond."
"And how do you feel?" She paused for a bit.
"I love Lissa, I can't wait to be her guardian. I want to spend my life protecting hers. I am prepared to die for her. It's just that…" she glanced back at me. "I'm beginning to realise how much my life isn't really mine. Being a guardian alone is giving away your future for somebody else. But being bonded to her... Sometimes I feel like I'm giving my own identity away. I'm often overwhelmed with her emotions, her wants." Silence fell over us. I grinned.
"I think this is the most you've ever talked to me in one go," I tried to lighten the mood. She laughed, an honest laugh this time.
"I wasn't always like this, you know?" She glanced away, grinning at the memory. "While most of my teachers have always seen me as the troublemaker, I used to be more, I don't know, alive? Relaxed? Now I'm just tired all the time. And angry. I'm just so angry."
"Because of the bond?"
She nodded. "That and the whole Dashkov situation from last year. It served as a wakeup call."
"I get that." Her eyes glanced over my scars again, before meeting mine. "Do they hurt?" she asked gently after a moment.
"Not as much anymore," I answered in a whisper. Dhampirs healed fast. Most of the time we weren't left with any marks indicating we were ever hurt. That goes to show how deep the wound had gone. The scars themselves didn't hurt but what they meant did. Losing Ivan, failing as a guardian, as a friend. And for some reason the queen herself still wanted me to guard the last remaining Dragomir.
"You know, you were a legend here," Rose said, breaking the silence. "Every novice was excited when we heard the rumours of you coming to the academy. Having the honour of sparring with you, let alone being mentored by the famous Dimitri Belikov. God, Mason is going to be so jealous!" she laughed. I couldn't help but smile myself. "You're still a God to us," she said sincerely.
"Thank you, Rose. Now you should pack up and get ready for class," I changed the subject. Her words warmed my heart up just a bit too much. "I'll see you this afternoon and we can sign those papers as well."
She smiled and nodded. "Deal. Do svidanya, Comrade."
