A/N: Hey there, all you lovely people. For once in my writing career, I am actually on time with an update. I promised myself I would have another chapter done and up by the start of next week, and viola ! Here we have it. I suppose I should be thankful that my muse did not decide to leave me hanging again, because that is one scary thing. You know that time when all you want to do is write and yet, the words keep escaping you ? That is not fun. At all. In fact, I think that would be one of my worst fears, but uhm. We aren't here talking about me or my fears. We are here for a new updated chapter, which is fully edited, by the way, and for you to see what circumstances Rose has coming for her next. So, let's see what's Ambrose's upto with visiting Rose, and I, for one, will see you at the bottom.
DISCLAIMER: All the characters are the sole property of Richelle Mead, and no infringement is intended on my part.
"Wow. You look like hell." He said laconically, looking me up and down. I had to hand it to him, he surmised me pretty well; the only problem being I couldn't figure out what he was doing here, outside my door. Raising a perfect eyebrow, he gestured towards me, "Are you going to keep me standing here, or are you going to invite me in ?" Flushing, I motioned him inside, covertly looking around. I didn't know what he was doing here, but I suspected this wasn't just a friendly drop-by. Not that anyone ever did that with me, I thought bitterly.
I could see Ambrose looking around him in interest, though I wonder what he thought of the bare walls and lack of personality and personal touches in here. Sitting on the fairly well-used couch and facing me, Ambrose was suddenly serious. I'd always seen him with a smile on his face and an easy joviality, but now there was none of it; he almost looked sympathetic. I idly wondered if he'd heard about the Dimitri fiasco too. "Not to be rude or anything, but what brought you here ?" I asked.
He smiled lightly, "The Queen." He said. "She wants to see you." I was surprised. Anytime the Queen had wanted an audience with me in the past, it was because of something or the other that had gone wrong on my end. But I hadn't done anything now, and I suspected if Tatiana wanted to be across any details of Dimitri's restoration, she'd have called on Lissa. Another thing that struck me was the fact it was Ambrose and not a Guardian who was relaying this message. There was something here I wasn't yet catching. Seeing my speculative look, Ambrose hastened to explain.
"Now, I know what you're thinking. Normally a Guardian would escort you, but that's only when Tatiana wants an official meeting. In this case, however, she was very clear in her instructions; nobody is to know she wants to see you, and this is to be kept off the logs too, which is where I come in." He said seriously. "I'll escort you there, but we must go right now. She says it's really important." I could see he meant it, and if the Queen asked to be seen in a private meeting without anyone knowing, there had to be something extremely serious going on. Decided, I nodded to Ambrose, mentally sighing at the way I couldn't even get myself alone enough to nurse my broken spirit.
"What do you think she could want with me ?" I wondered, almost not realizing I'd said that aloud until Ambrose replied with a covert look at me. "Could be something about that Age Decree ?" He seemed to be amused at the idea. Yeah, I aim to please. My very public retaliation at the open court discussion for the Age Decree that would enable the Moroi to send dhampir children to their very early deaths had become the high-talk of Court. We soon reached the palace, but I noted we weren't approaching the main entrance. Made sense; however, when we did reach the area leading upto where I knew the main floor was, I started getting nervous. This visit was clearly meant to be kept secret, but there could surely have been better ways to enter the palace unseen than the very abandoned wooden stairs that led us through the ground floor pantry, through the side corridors of the kitchen and up an unused and dark flight of steps, into a deserted sun-room to the western side of the building. I hoped I wasn't getting myself into a lot of trouble by following Ambrose without any real explanation. After all, I was here purely because of his word, and nothing else.
Decorated like all of the palace with luxurious settings and the best of furniture, the sun-room was, as the name suggested, a room where the Moroi could enjoy the sun through the tinted glass windows and skylights if they so wished. However, as it was, no Moroi willingly wanted anything to do with the sun. And yet, this room perfectly portrayed the basic difference between the two species of my world; well, the two living species of my world. The Moroi splurged their opulent wealth on things extravagant and useless to them, while the Dhampir barely earned enough to survive, let alone afford any sort of luxuries, not even that of calling their life their own. I shook my head; I had to stop doing this, stop looking around me and finding reasons to blame for my life being the way it was. I soon became aware of Ambrose leading me to sit on the couch. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal a casually dressed Queen Tatiana, followed by a near guard, whom she directed to remain standing outside.
Being at the position that I was sitting in, I was obscured by the huge wing-backed chair opposite me, but as Tatiana entered, both Ambrose and I stood up, he nodding his head at the Guardian, who silently nodded back and closed the door after him. I turned to face Tatiana, bowing a curtsy in greeting before standing straight and stiff, hands clasped at the back in the standard Guardian posture. "Your Majesty." This was a bit different for me; I hadn't had occasion to be much of a Guardian in the past few weeks I had been an actual promised one, but I supposed this meeting heralded something important for me, and I didn't want to give Tatiana reasons more than she already had to doubt my abilities.
"Guardian Hathaway." She nodded back, settling into the wing-backed chair while motioning me to sit on the couch, Ambrose seating himself beside me. "I'm sure you're wondering about the circumstances of this meeting." She started. Understatement of the century. "We've heard your comments upon the recent bill passed by the council." So this was indeed about the Age Decree, though from her tone, it was hard to guess if this discussion would wrought good or bad upon me. I should avert my eyes or something, but the way the council had manipulated my situation to exemplify and justify their outrageous ideologies still made me see red. Tatiana continued. "The council believes you to be causing intentional trouble with the law," she said, motioning with her hands, "so they suggested you be stopped." Her face was impassive, and it took me a moment to realize there was a threat veiled in there. Stopped. Stopped, how ? I was aware of the Queen looking to make me nervous, so with much more effort than I cared to admit, I channelled my inner Lissa, schooling my face into a polite mask of diplomacy. "I assure your majesty I intended no trouble." I said, not wanting to say much more before I knew all her cards.
Tatiana made a non-committal gesture before continuing. "Your intentions were seen clearly by most of the Court, Guardian Hathaway." She said, her eyebrow raised slightly. "However, that is not the concern of our discussion today. I would like you to answer a few questions regarding your time back at St. Vladimir's Academy."
To say I was concerned would be the worst lie of my life; I was within the crisis of freaking out in about the next second. Was this about Dimitri ? About us back at the Academy ? How did she know about that ? We had been so careful, him all but denying his feelings towards me, pushing me away, not wanting to act on our connection lest somebody should suspect something, and here I was, the Queen wanting to know about something back at the Academy. But, wait. She hadn't specified anything; it wouldn't do to reveal anything in my panic, in the very vague hope that this was about something else and not what I so dreadfully suspected. I schooled my already hard face into a cool mask, waiting for Tatiana to continue. "It is in our knowledge that you were personally mentored at the Academy ?" She asked finally.
I mentally sighed. Though I got the sense she was starting out simple to lull me into a false sense of security, I appreciated the small comfort it was; despite how difficult it made the simple act of breathing. "Yes, Your Majesty. By Guardian Belikov." I hoped my face did not reveal how painful it was to say his name; my chest constricting at the thought of his most recent words to me. Love fades. Mine has. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, already more than ready to bolt out the door.
Tatiana nodded. "And it was during that time you successfully completed the two years of training you missed during the time spent away from the Academy ?" I had to wonder where she was going with this; a simple yes would suffice, but my mouth chose that moment to run from me again. "Like I said, I had an exceptional mentor, a person who has been nothing but a constant service to the Moroi society with abilities that far surpass any I have ever seen, and one you've been ignoring and disregarding." Why was I doing this ? Everything hurt with each thought of him, and yet, I was a glutton for punishment. "Lissa restored Dimitri back from Strigoi using Spirit, an element about which not much is known, and yet, we've seen it performing miracles. I am living proof. Your Majesty." I added as an afterthought. I couldn't be sure, but there was amusement in Tatiana's eyes at the end of my spiel.
"Yes, I am aware, Guardian Hathaway." I could swear she was laughing at me. And why was I doing this anyway ? Lissa was already pushing for Dimitri to be reinstated as a Guardian; I didn't need to put in my two cents. "I am also aware" Tatiana continued, "that you dropped out of the Academy, on the day of your eighteenth birthday, if I am correct ?" She was the picture of perfect, polite diplomacy and imperious judgement. I was not going to avert my eyes. "Yes, Your Majesty."
"To hunt for a non-existent cure, as then supposed, Guardian Hathaway ?" An eyebrow-raise followed again. I swallowed; how was I to answer this ? Tell the Queen about an illicit romance between my mentor and me ? It sounded so dirty when thought about like that. What I had with Dimitri was much more than just a romp between the sheets, more than a run-of-the-mill love affair, possibly much more than love itself, but I couldn't possibly explain all of that to her. So I opted to stay silent.
"Whatever your reasons, it cannot be denied that you did find a cure to restore an evil we have struggled with for centuries, and your work demands to be acknowledged." I must have looked as surprised as I felt, for Tatiana paused to give me a small smirk. "I would like to extend an offer to you, if you should so choose to accept it." She said formally. If I was surprised earlier, I was stunned now. An offer from the Queen ? My mind raced, raising various scenarios in the depths of my thoughts; most of which heralded the possibility of finding myself placed as far away and as remotely as possible away from Court. And Lissa.
My apprehension must have made me lose a few seconds of clarity, for the moment I became aware of my surroundings again, the Queen was saying, "I would like for you to take up a position as primary Guardian to Adrian."
Okay. That was not something I was expecting. At all. After the way I'd always been treated by Tatiana, I never could imagine her turning the tables like that. She'd never approved of me as Adrian's girlfriend, even demanded I leave him alone as it hurt his social status to be associated with a lowly dhampir like me. Besides, I could not be Adrian's Guardian. I was meant to be with Lissa. My trial-score allowed me for it, the bond practically demanded for it. So, why was I having this conversation ? I opened my mouth to refuse the offer as politely as I could, but she raised her hand to stop me before I could get a word out.
"I know I asked you to stay away from him, and I maintain that. You aren't good enough for him." Well, that was a great sentiment. "But my offer is more than just the position as Adrian's Guardian." She sighed. "I debated whether you were likely for this task, but you've proved you have a penchant for seemingly impossible things. So, here we are." She said, adjusting herself in her chair. "You were right about Spirit being an unexplored element, and what we've seen it amounting to, a few of the Council believe has merit to be researched further. However, many oppose it just as strongly, which is why this mission will need to be covert." As expected, she didn't wait for me to even think about refusing to accept altogether, because why would a dhampir not jump on the chance to make nice with the Queen ? I kept quiet as she continued. "I expect your discretion to be at par with the sensitivity of the issue, Guardian Hathaway. This is a great opportunity, one that will allow for our world to know more about things that have the power to wrought change in our world." Here she looked at me with eyes so shrewd, I could feel my entire being scrutinised.
I couldn't help but see the appeal of her offer. I would be away from Court, if I was following right, and there would be no one I knew but Adrian with me, which was admittedly better than me being around either one of the two people who meant more than myself to me, but who couldn't stand the sight of me. My heart ached at the thought of leaving behind the two parts of my very soul, but like I'd known with Dimitri back at the Church, this going around in circles was leading me nowhere. I was stuck at Court, forced to do a job that was a waste of all my training, suffocating with each day that passed and got me nowhere close to where I desperately wanted to be. Back in Dimitri's arms. The best I could do right now was offer us both some distance. We both needed some time to heal on our own before we could be ready to find our way back to each other again. All of this rushed through my head at alarming speed, followed by another thought. "Does Adrian know about any of this ?" I asked, forgetting myself for a moment. Tatiana scoffed.
"Of course. He wouldn't have you being sent off alone; it was his idea to make you his Guardian. I objected at first, but his arguments to the contrary were exceptionally well-placed. So, Guardian Hathaway, I need to know if you accept this offer; it is imperative I know your answer before I reveal any further details." She said as she settled back into the cushions.
My fingers dug into the plush leather of the couch I'd been sitting on throughout this meeting, seemingly offering me the anchor I needed to hold myself together before I took the plunge that I felt as deep inside my heart as any knife I had yet to encounter. Swallowing around the lump of distress I could feel forming in my throat, I replied, "I accept."
So ? What did you think ? Was it up to par with your expectations ? Did I live up to them ? I urge you all to let me know what you think of this in the reviews section, because that is the one thing keeping me motivated, i assure you. I love hearing from my readers, all of them. See you, hopefully, next week, I'll try my best.
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Ahluwalia Kaur
