2 years ago
"Morning Liss," Rose chirped as she strode into their private rooms of the palace.
"You're cheery today," Lissa groaned from under the covers, hiding under there to keep the light Rose had flipped on from irritating her sleepy eyes.
"I feel good about today I guess," Rose said, flinging back the covers and revealing her wriggling best friend.
"Go and feel good about the day somewhere else," Lissa whined, pulling a pillow over her head.
"Oh, how our roles have switched," Rose sang as she headed out of the room. "It used to be you waking me up early".
"Yes, it did," Lissa scowled. "And I seem to remember you throwing several different objects at me. Now, if you don't leave me alone for another half an hour, I will consider repeating your behaviour, then you can see how you like it".
"I'm going, I'm going," Rose giggled, backing through the door with her hands raised in the air. "I'll go and see how Christian is doing with breakfast."
"So what've we got on today?" Rose asked, mouth full of scrambled eggs that Christian had piled onto her plate.
"I need to prep for an important meeting about taxes this morning," Lissa replied
Rose groaned under her breath at the realisation she would have to guard that meeting.
"As well as some other paperwork that I need to finish, and then we have the meeting all afternoon. If all goes well, it should finish pretty early. We could watch a movie afterwards until the end of your shift if you'd like?"
Rose immediately perked up at the idea of an early finish, whilst she would still have to stay until her shift finished, a movie with Lissa made it feel like they were just hanging out, just as she had always dreamed about whilst still at the academy.
"Sounds good," she smiled. "What are you and Dimitri up to today?" she asked, turning to Christian who was also shovelling eggs into his mouth.
Their shifts had been timed so that they started an hour apart when they were both guarding on the same day. They'd found that it gave each of them an hour by themselves either before they started work or once they'd finished. Both Rose and Dimitri valued alone time and this strategy had become essential after a few bad arguments in their first few years of guarding together.
Whilst the old problems of guarding together would always be there, the board had deemed that there was no problem if everyone was on court. Most moroi didn't even have guards whilst on court, and so Rose and Dimitri spent most of their days together, making the need for an hour or two alone even more important to keep a healthy relationship.
"I have to go and get fitted for a new suit that Lissa is making me wear to some sort of event, and then I have a few other errands to run around court," Christian grumbled, scowling as he imagined the sort of suit he would have to wear. He thought that he was very lenient, that he would make an effort and even wore a tie, but Lissa was taking things to the next level for this ball. It had taken some very hot persuasion on her part to make him agree, and honestly, when she did that thing with her mouth, he would agree to anything.
"What a good housewife you make," Rose teased, feeling thrilled as Christian shot her a glare.
"Come on Rose," Lissa sighed standing up from the table. "I don't want you undoing all my hard work and making him refuse to go to this fitting.
"Hey, I have my own mind you know?" Christian exclaimed as Rose stood to join Lissa.
The giggles erupting from the girls showed how ridiculous they thought that statement was.
The morning passed quickly and before long Rose and Lissa, along with the Royal Guard following behind, were heading to the meeting.
"Let's create a code," Rose whispered as they walked through the lavish green corridors. "If you cough three times in a row, I will create some security drill that gets us out of there".
"And what if I actually have a coughing fit?" Lissa giggled.
"Then we just get out there a bit early," Rose told her, a serious expression on her face.
Lissa sighed loudly. "As much as I would love to get out of this meeting, I really need to get it done. If we don't discuss this now, we will just have to do it next week. I really don't think it will take long".
Rose groaned dramatically, making Lissa giggle again. "Fine," she said, "but your going to book manicures for us tomorrow as an apology".
"An apology for making you do your job?" Lissa teased, elbowing her friend in the ribs, making Rose's scowl deepen as she rubbed her side.
"Whatever, I'm clearly just the help," she grunted.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Lissa laughed, pausing outside the door they would be going into.
Realising they had arrived, Rose shifted from a friend into protector as she prepared to greet a small army of strigoi waiting on the other side of the door. Upon opening the said door, and deciding that the coast was clear, Rose beckoned Lissa in and stood silently against the wall, directly behind Lissa as other royals strode into the room ready for the meeting.
Two hours later, and Rose realised that Lissa's promise of a quick meeting was just not going to be happening as she watched a grey-haired man's face get redder and redder as he argued that non-royal moroi should have to pay just as much tax as royals regardless of their income.
"But they are living on the same court, they have access to the same services, they even see the same damn feeders as we do!" he screamed.
Sighing for the hundredth time, Lissa began to explain again.
"Look Martin, I respect your view, I really do, but it just isn't fair. We cannot ask people who make half the amount of money that you do pay the same amount in taxes. They couldn't afford it."
"But..."
Just as Martin launched into his next argument, a man lurched through the door making all the guardians positioned around the room leap into action until they recognised the pin badge identifying him as a palace worker.
Everyone looked at the pale, sweating man in surprise as he opened and closed his mouth, trying to get words out.
"I... We need the queen to come to the main meeting room," he stammered after a few seconds.
"She is busy," Rose replied cooley, not liking the mans demanding tone.
"You don't understand," the man whispered. "She has to come, the queen has to come to the main meeting room now. Quickly."
The royals in the meeting looked around at each other, eyes bright with the gossip and drama that was unfolding around them.
Rose and Lissa, however, wore worried expressions on their faces. They both knew how rare it was for the queen to be told to go anywhere, let alone be told to go there quickly. Something bad must have happened, and something really bad for this type of summoning.
"Someone will be in contact with you all to reconvene at a later time," Lissa said quietly, standing up and giving Rose a small nod that let her know she would be going with this man to see what the problem was.
The Royal Guards shifted their at ease stanse into one ready to follow the queen in one united movement, and once Rose had positioned herself in front of Lissa the guards got into formation behind her.
The usual protocol around the palace was that the guards would stay a meter or two behind Rose and Lissa, still close enough to respond to any threat, but far enough away to give some privacy, with Rose being there as a head royal guard to be the first to respond to any attack. Now, however, with the unknown threat that Lissa was going to deal with. the guards fanned out around the queen in a formation that would be used when travelling outside of court, yet it brought comfort to Lissa as she headed out of the room, mind whirling with all the possibilities of problems she could be going to deal with.
Never once did the real problem cross her mind.
"Your majesty," said a short moroi man as he rushed up to Lissa who was approaching the main meeting room. "I am so sorry to call you out of your meeting, but something has happened". He rushed his words and there was a panicked look in his eyes. "Come in, come in," he urged.
Never once had Lissa been 'urged' anywhere since she had been coronated.
Inside the room, sat around the large, mahogany table, was a representative of each royal family, as well as the selected non-royal advisors and dhampir representatives that Lissa had instated a few years into her reign. A few of the members looked disgruntled as if they had been brought away from some business with very little notice. To have them all here emphasised the importance of whatever was about to be said.
"Your majesty," Hans Croft said, nodding respectfully at her before meeting the eyes of each royal guard. Guardian Croft had retired a few years ago, but Lissa had asked if he would stay on as an advisor. Rose still didn't know exactly what he did, there were still a few state secrets that being head royal guardian didn't let you into, but he popped up now and again, usually when there was some serious threat to Lissa or the moroi.
"I'm sorry to have had to bring you all here at such short notice," Hans said, addressing all seated at the table as he moved to stand at the opposite end to Lissa, "but there is a serious threat to our whole culture."
The whole room stood still as people awaited the full story, no one even breathing.
"My sources have confirmed that there will be a leak to the humans about the strigoi".
The room stopped for a few seconds, mouthes hanging open as moroi and dhampir alike digested the words.
Another few seconds later, it erupted.
"What do you mean a leak?" screamed a man, standing up and pressing his large hands into the table.
"Isn't that what the alchemists are for?" shrieked the short-haired royal.
Hans merely stood, arms folded across his chest, and waited for the noise to die down. Once people realised they wouldn't get any more information until they were silent, the chatter quickly died.
"Now I don't know any details yet, a few of my sources have gone silent, but that is to be expected in a situation like this. The human world will be waking up soon, and the major story on all their newspapers, on their news reports, will be about strigoi".
"What damage control is to be done?" Lissa asked quietly, her smooth voice gliding above the whispering of all others in the room.
"Very little at this moment your majesty," Hans replied bluntly. "We have to be careful. If we speak out to the humans, educating them, then we reveal our society and that is something that we need to think very carefully about before doing. The alchemists are trying to handle the situation at the minute, but even they need to be careful about how they come off. The reveal of a secret society whose sole purpose is to cover things up will not be well received, even if they are human".
"But they need to be told," Rose blurted, standing forwards from her position behind Lissa. "The humans need to be educated about the strigoi, about how to stay safe, and even how to kill them".
"Yes," agreed Hans, a wry look on his face as he addressed Rose, against protocol. "Yes need to be told how to protect themselves, but then they could find out about the chance of immortality, and we already know how humans view that. Or the high that comes with a strigoi bite. And if they find these things out, what stops them from interrogating those who gave them the new information, and finding out about us, about our society that has been hidden from them for hundreds of years."
And so the debate raged on with ever-increasing frustration and anger until Lissa could take no more.
"Enough," she sighed, no one paying attention. "Enough," she screamed, standing to her feet and rubbing her face with her hands. "Enough talk on this. Nothing is getting done".
The room fell silent as everyone looked at her once again.
Sitting down, she regained her composure.
"As far as we see it, Guardian Croft, there is nothing to be done with the humans now, and until we get more information, we will refrain from arguing over this".
The use of the royal 'we' set the tone that her words were final, that there was no debate.
"I will address those on court this evening," she said to a nearby secretary. "Please arrange for this to happen at 8 am, an hour before the human broadcasting is due. Guardian Croft, I would like you to update me whenever you hear anything new, and I would also like to speak with you each morning and evening until this problem is resolved. That is all".
Advisors gathered their belongings and filtered out, Rose giving a silent command to the royal guards to wait outside the room, and soon Lissa and Rose were the only two left in there.
"So," Rose whispered, sitting down next to her best friend. "That certainly made our afternoon more interesting". As usual, she was trying to lighten the mood again, not liking to see Lissa like this.
"Yeah," Lissa sighed, feeling the weight of her world on her shoulders. "I need to write my speech".
Understanding that she didn't want to speak, without even needing the old bond, Rose stood and went to the door.
"Can you send in the speech team please?" she asked the closest guardian who nodded and hurried away.
"Will you extend your shift so you can be with me this evening?" Lissa asked once Rose returned, her voice small and scared.
"Of course," Rose assured, resting her tanned hand on Lissa's pale arm.
The small smile she gave showed Rose how much she appreciated the small gesture that made her feel strong again.
"Go home now, get some rest," Lissa whispered. "It could be a really long evening".
Rose nodded and moved to the door.
"Oh, and Rose," Lissa interrupted. "Can you get someone to find Christian, and ask him to come in here?"
"Sure," Rose smiled back. "You can do this Liss."
"You home?" Rose called as she walked through the front door of the small house she shared with Dimitri, but she already knew the answer from the smell of bread wafting from the kitchen.
"Yes," came Dimitri's faintly Russian voice. "The bread is still hot, if you're quick you might get a piece before I eat it all".
Dropping her things at the door, Rose rushed into the kitchen to see Dimitri holding out a thickly buttered piece of black bread.
"Mhm," she moaned as she took a huge bite of the slice. "I knew there was a reason I keep you around".
"And here I was thinking you kept me around for my bedroom skills," Dimitri teased.
"That too". Rose gave him a wink before sighing as she settled onto a kitchen chair. "There's something I need to tell you. You might need to sit down".
"Sure," Dimitri said, sinking into the chair opposite. "What's up".
"Lissa was pulled into a meeting today, with all the advisors and officials. Hans got some intel". She paused and took a deep breath before speaking the words that were going to change their world in a few hours. "The humans have found out about strigoi. It's going to be on their news tonight".
Dimitri's face gave nothing away as he digested the news and thought about it. "And what is Lissa going to do?" he asked.
Rose wasn't surprised he showed no emotion, Dimitri was just like that when faced with a crisis like this. He simply thought that there was no need for worrying, for anything but rational information and problem-solving.
"She's going to give an address this evening before the news goes public, shes asked me to be there and Christian will probably be there too".
"Sure," Dimitri confirmed, before softly clasping her hand in his.
"Don't worry Rosa, things like this often find ways to fix themselves".
"Even something this big?" Rose asked in a vulnerable voice, only letting her guard down around this man.
"Yes," he confirmed before moving to a seat next to her and pulling her onto his lap. "Everything will be ok".
"Are you ready?" Rose asked Lissa as they stood behind the thin curtain barrier that separated them and the balcony that Lissa would be addressing the moroi world from.
"Ready as ever," Lissa grimaced, before moving forwards, through the curtain and standing in front of the microphone and tv cameras that had already been set up. The guardians fanned out around her, gold buttons shining, with Rose stood directly behind Lissa and Dimitri next to Christian.
"Good evening," Lissa said into the microphone, the words booming out to the thousands of people that had come at short notice to hear the queen speak, and the thousands of people that would be watching on tv from all countries around the world. "I am speaking to you today about a serious issue, and it is important that you all listen carefully. What I am about to tell you will shock you, but it is of great importance that you do not panic and that you listen to my instructions."
Lissa paused as she took a deep breath.
"It will be shown on human television this evening, that the strigoi have been discovered."
There was a collective intake of breath from the crowd.
"Humans have discovered the strigoi, how, we are currently unsure of, but we know that in a few hours the whole world will know about their existence. Now, we know very little and I am telling you all that I currently know because you will find out for your selves if you follow the human media, which I know many of you do, and it is very important to me that I am always honest and transparent with my people".
She paused again for her words to sink in.
"My instructions are as follow. You are not to speak with any humans on this matter, you are not to behave any differently with them than you have been so as not to spark distrust. If you have dealings with them, keep dealing. If you do not have contact with them, stay away. It is vitally important that we do not appear any different until the right course of action is determined. There will be an open council in two days time in which we should know more, and I urge anyone who has a view on how we should proceed to speak it there, and nowhere else."
"We are a strong people, a people who have survived much worse. Do not let your fears divide us. Do not let your fears get the better of us. Guardian protection on the outskirts of camp will increase, but do not feel that you need to leave. This is not necessary. Humans do not know about us, there is no reason to believe that they will find out about us. Please, do not panic".
Lissa looked directly into the cameras as she said her last words.
"You must listen to these instructions, and anyone found to have not listened will be dealt with as a traitor to our society. I do not say this lightly, but it is vitally important that we lay low. That is all, I wish you a good night".
After a few seconds of thunderous applause, Lissa slowly walked off the balcony, advisors and royals following her, feeling like the weight of her world would press her into the floor. She was the one who would be held accountable if this went badly, who would be scrutinised in moroi history classes in years to come. This was the defining moment of her reign and she owed it to her family, owed it to the Dragomir's to deal with it well. To ensure the survival of the moroi/dhampir culture.
Sorry for the super long chapter, those who have read other things of mine know how hard it is for me to write shorter chapters, and this one just got away from me!
Thank you for all the incredible support this story has had so far, I was honestly blown away. Please let me know what you thought, I love to read the reviews!
