Chapter 3:

DPOV

I was in my room thinking about the last 24 hours. I never thought it would turn out like this. I had not given much thought to what would happen to the girls once we actually found them. I had a mission to complete and my focus was directed to locating them and bringing them back safely.

It had been my soul purpose too. It gave me something to focus on other than my guilt. It was more active than a normal guarding position at an Academy and for that I was grateful. I think if I had been alone with my thoughts long enough at Court or at an Academy I would have gone insane.

I still remember Guardian Croft giving me the file on Vasilissa. It had been an honor to be assigned to the last Dragomir. I hadn't felt it at the time. I hadn't felt much of anything then. It wasn't often that a Guardian outlived its charge. The guilt I felt was eating me up inside.

I had nearly laughed in his face when he told me I was assigned to the last Dragomir. Why would they give me such an important charge? Don't they know she wouldn't be safe with me. They put too much faith in my skills. Well, my skills had been useless in saving Ivan, because I wasn't there.

And it seemed I would start out that way again, away from my charge. I couldn't miss the irony in my assignment.

But it had intrigued me. I had read the file cover to cover trying to find a reason why the Princess would leave. Was she kidnapped? Was she rebellious? Was she grieve stricken and didn't care about her own life anymore? Was she even alive anymore?

Then Hans gave me another file. Rose's file. I read that one too. It was the complete opposite to Vasilissa's. The file stated that they were best friends and were presumed to have run away together. At first I couldn't understand that they were friends. They seemed so different. But then I was reminded of Ivan and myself. We had been opposites too. We hadn't known each other as long as Rose and Vasilissa, but I understood that bond.

Everyone I talked to believed Rose to have run away and the Princess to have gone with her. But I wonder if that was true. Because for all the transgressions found in her file, I could read one thing very clearly. Rose was dedicated to Vasilissa and I don't think she would endanger her like that. The only way it made sense if Vasilissa would run and Rose had to go with her to protect her.

After meeting them, I think my assessment was right. But what Vasilissa was running from, I still didn't know. And I doubt either girl would tell me.

Now alone in my room, I was able to replay the events of today in my head. I had brought the princess back and in the process became a mentor to my future Guardian partner. Although I do think that could be an advantage. I could train her in the way I see fit and we could already start to form a relationship of trust and familiarity. But I must admit the idea of training her feels a little daunting. And if the looks of pity from my colleagues were any indication, I had my work cut out for me.

I knew from her record and from my brief interaction with Rose that she was quite the little firecracker, I also believed in what I told Kirova, She has a lot of potential and it would be a shame to waste that. She was extremely dedicated to the princess and she understood without question the concept of 'They come first'. She understood sacrifice better than many Guardians twice her age.

Tomorrow I will start training her. I was thinking of ways to test how much she was behind. Did she train at all in those two years on the run? If our altercation in the ally was any indication she had progressed beyond what a 15-year-old novice should be able to do. But who taught her? Not to mention it was mostly raw passion and not much technique. But she did show a certain amount of battle instinct. She knew the moves I was going to make but she was too slow and untrained to be able to prevent them. But I could show her technique. Technique can be taught, instinctively knowing what to do in a fight, cannot.

I decided to call it an early night. Although my lessons with Rose would not start until the afternoon I still had a guarding shift in the morning and it had been a trying day. I showered and got ready for bed. I fell asleep quite quickly with the last thought before I did being of beautiful dark brown eyes.

First thing in the morning I had classes to chaperone. I knew one of them would be a senior combat class Rose would be in. I decided that that was a good opportunity to see how much she was behind. It was her third class of the day and she already looked tired. Although I mostly ignored the never ending gossip at the school I was not oblivious to the fact that the princess and Rose coming back was big news.

Everybody was in a frenzy coming up with theories why they left and I have heard some ridiculous ones. From them being kidnapped into a blood whore camp, to Rose being pregnant and leaving to have the baby. I suspected the reason they left was a lot more sinister seeing as fear was clear in both their eyes when we took them back. I also heard that Rose and Lissa already had an altercation with a junior this morning. Something about an ex-boyfriend. I did not remember the details, nor did I care. But I did hear that Rose had taken the high-ground and was keeping her word to Kirova of staying out of trouble. Barely, but showing restraint. I just hope this girl doesn't push her buttons too much.

Rose walked over to a group of novices and punched a red-haired boy playfully in the arm. I believe it was Novice Ashford. He pretended it hurt a lot.

"Damn Rose, don't hit me too hard. I don't know if I can survive the awesome amount of training you had over the last two years."

He said with a very sarcastic but playful tone. Rose smiled at him confirming to me that they were having fun instead of him mocking her.

"I heard you got your ass handed to you by Guardian Belikov. I mean I don't blame you. Nobody has been able to take him down. The man is a God."

I lifted my eye brow at this. Was that how the people here saw me? Is that how the students saw me? I knew I was one of the better-trained Guardians here. I also knew the level of my own skills was far above the average guardian in general, but to be referred to as a God? It made me seem like I was unapproachable. Not that I had the illusion I was the life of the party, I knew I could be antisocial at times, but still. I was glad I was using my guarding skills to look inconspicuous. I doubt Novice Ashford would have talked so freely if he knew I was there listening.

"I am looking forward to sparring with you, Rose. You may have beaten me two years ago, but things have changed around here. I can't wait to hand you your ass myself. Oh yeah, I can already see it, you beneath me, me straddling you."

Rose laughed and flirted back with him in the same tone he used earlier. She moved closer to him and said quite seductively.

"Oh you would not know what to do with me Mason, and if I ever let you near me in that way we both know I would be the one on top."

Novice Ashford grinned and the boys around laughed at her comment. And just like that Rose was accepted back into the pack. And although I could tell this was a regular thing between them, the bantering and the sexual innuendos, I could not help but notice the slight longing in novice Ashford's eyes that was absent from the other boys.

Don't get me wrong all boys looked at Rose with hungry eyes. Even if she was wearing long sleeves and long pants, which did strike me as odd. It was hot out today and everyone else was in a tank top or t-shirt. Maybe it was to discourage the boys falling all over her. She was not succeeding in this. Her clothes, although covering most of her body, were skin tight and you could easily make out her very seductive form. Rose's body was something every woman wanted, curvy in all the right places. I shook my head at the thought. Although I knew it was undoubtedly true, I really shouldn't be thinking that of a student… of my student.

But the look Ashford gave her was beyond physical attraction, I did not know if that made it better or worse in my eyes. I suddenly started to like the boy a little less.

They started the training and after warm up and stretches the teacher paired them up for sparring. This was what I was waiting for, to see Rose in action. She was paired with one of the boys in the group she was with earlier, novice Castille if I am not mistaken. He was one of the few boys that did not look at her with puppy dog eyes or with blatant lust. I liked him and I figured he must be one of Rose's friends so he probably won't try and humiliate her in her first combat class.

They started circling each other. Novice Castille attacked first, but Rose saw it coming and deflected. I saw her eyes roaming his body for hints of what he was going to do next. Novice Castille was good, but he did have a few tells, and Rose seemed to pick on these pretty well. She saw his moves coming before he made them. But to my surprise, all Rose would do was defend herself and then move back instead of taking over the attack and bringing her opponent down. You cannot win a fight with merely defending. Castille attacked again and this time Rose advanced. I could see she saw an opening. I saw the same thing. One hit and Castille would be down. I saw her eyes and body initiate towards her goal but she stopped and let Castille take over the attack and land her on her back. The fight was over, she lost.

"Nice Eddie, I guess I do have some catching up to do. But next time I'll be ready for you."

She said with as much bravado as she could, her hands on her hips and challenging Castille. But I could see it was forced. She was wearing a mask. I did not understand why she would not take the shot. She could have won this and proven that she was capable but instead she threw the match.

Maybe I was reading too much into this. Maybe she did not want to embarrass her friend or really did not see how she could have taken him down. The opening was subtle. I doubt anyone else had seen it.

What I observed in the following hour was Rose fumbling a few times where she was lacking the proper technique to finish an opponent or defending herself properly, but she did hold her own against the majority of the senior novice class, which was impressive. She even won one match, but instead of owning up to, she said she got a lucky break. But at least now I knew she was not a lost cause. I actually had the confidence that I could train her enough so she could graduate with the others in the summer.

RPOV

My first day was hell. It already started badly this morning with Lissa's ex-boyfriend running into us with his new girlfriend. Although there was nothing between Lissa and Aaron anymore, if there ever was something, little miss doll-face did not share my opinion and made it very clear to Lissa that Aaron was her territory. I almost broke her nose when she started to bitch at Lissa but held it in when Lissa sent a message through the bond that she was ok and not to jeopardize my position for this petty girl in the first hour. I let it go and got to class. I had a feeling we would not get rid of Miss Rinaldi anytime soon.

The first classes were theory classes. Although most teachers did not acknowledge my or Lissa's return much, Stan Alto was a different story. He never liked me, and the two years away did not seem to have changed that. He did get on with his lessons very quickly after humiliating me a little and not getting the typical Rose bravado response which would have no doubt sent me straight into Kirova's office. I was gritting my teeth but I was doing it. But damn, this staying out of trouble was hard.

By the time I was supposed to meet the Russian God, as Mason had described him, I was exhausted just from biting my tongue all day and from people trying to get reactions out of me. I swear the theories people came up with why we left, made me think that if they put as much time into their school work as they did on conspiracy theories and gossip they would all have a flawless record. My favorite was that we simply went out to an off campus party but got arrested by the human police and spent the next two years in prison. I mean that one was just stupid. Why would minors go to jail for two years if they went to an illegal party? Where would Lissa have gotten blood? But it did provide some entertainment value. I would have found it hilarious if the subject of all the gossip was not Lissa and me.

I walked into the gym and saw 'the Russian God' lying on the mats with a book in his hand. The western novel. Yup definitely a cowboy fascination. He barely looked at me and then kept on reading in his book.

"15 laps on the track within 30 minutes. When you get back we will start on some weights."

I looked at him a little annoyed. That's it? I stood there for a little while trying to see if he would say anything else.

"29 minutes," never letting his eyes leave the page from the book. I guess that was all the instructions I was going to get, so I started out on the track to do my laps.

Man, I was a little out of shape, 15 laps in 30 minutes was not easy, I barely made it and when I did I was out of breath.

Guardian Belikov raised his eyebrows at me. He didn't seem very pleased with my accomplishment.

"Did you even go to a gym or kept up some of your training in the last two years?" He asked, a little concerned and annoyed.

He has no idea. Although my usual routine didn't involve much running. Well… sometimes I did chase after my prey.

"A little, I did do the occasional sit-up, certainly when we had pizza. Got to keep this body in shape somehow."

He just shook his head and directed me towards the weights and explained a few of the techniques he wanted me to do.

"Don't you have to show me how to fight? Can't we skip the weight training and get straight down to business?"

The look he gave me told me he didn't appreciate my input.

"First we have to build up your stamina and muscle mass again or you won't last one round against me or Strigoi. Tell me, what good is knowing how to fight without having the body to be able to execute it?"

I guess he did have a point in theory. But my problem with Strigoi was not a lack of stamina. But he could not know that. I reluctantly agreed and got back to the weights. The sooner I am up to his standards, the faster we get to the good parts.

After we finished I took my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I was tired. Kirova did not need to worry about me being at an illegal party tonight. My muscles ached. I really should have worked out more while we were running away. A couple of novice classes and a private training session and my arms and legs were mush. I usually didn't have to worry about my body keeping up. I had a different kind of fuel.

"I'll see you in the morning, Comrade."

He raised an eyebrow at me, but he did have a bit of a smile tucked away underneath his stoic façade. No doubt a reaction to the nickname.

"I'll see you bright and early at 6 tomorrow morning before class, Roza."

I grunted, I loved sleeping and the 8 o'clock classes were already quite early for me. But I did not have a choice. Ahh, the sacrifices I make to become Lissa's guardian. I walked out of the gym quickly and towards my dorm.

The sound of my name with his Russian accent still lingered in my ear. And I got a warm tingly sensation going through me.