TWO

Christian

Christian pushed his spoon through his yogurt, not eating it.

"It's not a big deal," Liss said, not even putting on the impression she was eating hers. Her eyes bored into him, and he forced himself to look at her.

"It is a big deal. What I'm telling you is that it's a big deal to me."

"It's never more than a couple of hours, maximum."

He hated having to have this conversation with her. The last thing he wanted was to cause arguments, but this had been eating away at him since, and during, the ski lodge, and he couldn't keep ignoring it. The last couple of times he'd tried to bring it up, she'd dismissed it like this, too.

"Being part of royal life is an entire lifestyle, even if we're not constantly around them all the time. It's not just the balls and dinners and networking that I have an issue with."

"Christian." She gripped his hands, and his face softened. Sometimes he wondered if she was using compulsion on him. His resolve crumbled a little. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with her, even if the second they weren't in each other's company, the doubts came flooding back. "We'll still be going to college, we'll still live on our own. You don't have to come to all the dinners and events. Just some of them. Just accept that they're going to be part of my life."

"Okay," he said. The cafeteria was the last place for this conversation anyway, really.

Right now he was happy to just have her hand warm and small on his, and her sweet affectionate smile directed at him.

His emotions had always been chaotic, but Liss had managed to calm him down, to stop him being so reckless, to show him that he didn't always have to be on the defensive. These notes from his mom, or from someone pretending to be his mom, had threatened all of that.

He didn't want to go back to being someone who lashed out at everyone, or someone that people hurled abuse at for no reason. Lissa protected him from all of that.

So they might not have exactly the same goals in life. They could get past it. He could get past it.

Eddie and Rose came in then, and that cut the conversation short anyway. Christian knew that Rose would be with Lissa, and that was good for all of them.

So he was surprised when they both approached the table. They'd given Eddie to him? Maybe they were taking the threats more seriously than he thought. He supposed asking him to keep it a secret showed they were scared in the first place.

It had been easier than he thought. Liss would only worry, and he didn't want the sympathy that would come along with it. He was expecting Guardian Petrov to call him in at some point and explain it was some royal kid who thought he was being funny and it had been resolved. Liss had enough on her plate without his issues.

If he was being honest with himself, he mostly didn't want the fuss.

Rose sat beside him. "Looks like we're stuck with each other for six weeks," she said, gesturing to the packet on the table, his own picture looking up at him.

"Wow," he said, genuinely surprised. "Really?"

"Yup."

"No amount of convincing by Rose would get Alberta to change her mind," Eddie said, putting his own packet on the table. "You've got me, I'm afraid," he said to Liss.

Liss was visibly disappointed, and she pressed her hands to her cheeks though they weren't flushed. "Sorry Eddie, don't take my disappointment personally. I'd just been expecting Rose."

Eddie laughed. "Don't worry about it. It is what it is."

Christian was still looking at the packet, and glanced at Rose.

She gave him the slightest nod. So, she knew. He wondered what she thought. How credible she thought it might be.

Still, if he was going to get stuck with a guardian during the field experience, he couldn't complain about Rose. They'd probably get on each other's nerves, but he hoped it would be good-natured. Things had changed since they'd first returned to St. Vlad's.

"Still, it's strange," Liss said. "That they wouldn't give me to you. This would be the perfect trial run."

"Alberta said I should practice with a Moroi I don't have a bond with, as a learning experience." She rolled her eyes, and looked at Christian. "Alberta also gave you permission to tell her the real reason. Or, at least I told her I'd be doing it regardless."

He felt a rush of irritation. She could have at least given him some warning before expecting him to tell Liss. He had essentially been lying to her for two weeks, after all, and now she was throwing him under the bus in the middle of the cafeteria.

Maybe it wouldn't be entirely good-natured after all.

Lissa frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's nothing," Christian dismissed. "I'm sure it's going to be nothing, but Kirova told me I couldn't tell anyone about it, not even you." He glared at Rose. "I have no idea she was going to give me Rose during the field experience because of it. Someone has been sending me pictures of my mom with threats."

"What?"

"It's nothing serious," he downplayed again. "Someone is just playing games. Probably for the obvious reasons. They'll find out who and it'll be over with."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"I wanted to, they told me I couldn't. Honestly, if I thought it was a big deal I wouldn't have listened to them." He squeezed her hand. "I'm sure it's just someone trying to mess with me."

"I think so too," Rose said. "There's nothing to suggest otherwise, but you can see why Kirova would want to keep it quiet."

"Yeah," Lissa slumped in her seat. She was going to be stung by the fact he hadn't told her for a while, and he regretted having taken the coward's way out and assuming it would all just be swept under the rug. "Still, who would do something like that? It's horrible." She reached forward and picked up the packet, looking at photocopies of the pictures and note. She visibly shivered. "That's so scary."

"How would someone even get these?" Eddie asked.

He shrugged. "There's always someone who knows someone else who can get things. Probably they're from a newspaper or something. I didn't exactly keep up with the press at the time."

"Well I'm glad that Rose is going to be your guardian until they figure it out," Lissa said, squeezing his hand once more and then putting the photos back into the bag. "She's not going to let anything happen, whether these are serious threats or not."

Christian was sure he saw Rose's expression dim a little. He wouldn't be surprised if her confidence had taken a hit after what had happened in Spokane. They were all still recovering, and none of them talked about it.

Sometimes he woke up breathing hard and so thirsty for blood it was like he was right there back in the basement.

Rose had lost a friend and although he hadn't seen her upset, she was definitely different. Less bubbly, less witty and sarcastic. He didn't see as much of her, either. She seemed to be training constantly.

Not that he minded having more time with Liss to himself, but it was clear it had all affected her, maybe the most of all.

Having her with him constantly for the six weeks of the field experience was probably going to either make or break their tenuous friendship. All he knew was that his best bet was to stay out of her business. Asking her about Spokane wasn't going to go down well, and he had no desire to talk about his own experiences, either.