Once the girls had been given their timetables, Alberta and I escorted Rose to her first class, a gym session. Before meeting Rose, I would have thought it ridiculous to guard one student so closely, but I now knew that she was slippery, and could escape almost anything. I imagined she would be under close observation for a long time. We reached the gym and as I was not on official duty or teaching, I decided I would run through some simple reps on the weight machine. My body was tired form being awake so long, but I needed to train today. I watched as Rose started talking to some novices, noticing how quickly she was accepted back into the group, joking about her being naked and laughing with them. My gaze became angry when I heard her talking about herself like that, not liking the close reference to some of the women back where I came from.
I set to my workout then, only occasionally looking over when something caught my attention, but I still saw that Rose was getting beaten by everyone in the room. My heart dropped when I realised just how much I would have to teach her, and how much time it would take out of my free time. Once I had completed my reps, I left the gym, heading towards the staff showers, so I could get ready for my next guarding shift.
I was stood at the back of Stan Alto's Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection class when I clocked Rose walk in. I faded out, knowing my body would snap me back to attention should I need it too, but I allowed my thoughts to wonder. Surprisingly, they wondered to Rose, and her dedication to the princess. I still couldn't believe the lengths she went to, and sacrifices she made, to keep the princess safe, and I was sure that if I managed to get her back into shape and teach her new fighting techniques, that she would be one of the best guardians out there. My musings were suddenly interrupted when Stan spoke, addressing Rose. "What's this? No- one told me we had a guest speaker here today? Rose Hathaway. What a privilege! How very generous of you to take time out of your busy schedule and share your knowledge with us!"
I groaned inwardly, recalling how cruel Stan could be to students when he felt like it. I wanted to protect her from him, but I knew that the public embarrassment and realisation of her mistakes might actually help her become a better guardian. I met her eyes briefly when she stood at the front of the class, and I wanted to give her a reassuring look, but I kept my guardian face on.
As Stan progressed with his questioning, I could see Rose getting angrier, and even I flinched when he yelled, his face no more than a few inches away from her. I noticed a glint in the corner of her eyes, before it quickly disappeared and was replaced with a look of pure fury. I couldn't help but be proud that he hadn't managed to break her spirit, and I mentally added that to my list of things she had done that impressed me.
The rest of the class was uneventful, and after guarding, training and doing a ward shift, I dragged myself back to my room. I had been awake for nearly 48 hours now, and whilst guardians were trained to be able to withstand those sorts of conditions, it wasn't pleasant. Sure, I could have fought any strigoi that came at me, but I knew that soon enough my body and mind would begin to fail me if I kept it up. As I was walking, I noticed Rose walking in front of me. Recalling Stan's rather cruel game he played in his class, I quickened my pace to catch her and see if she was ok.
"I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?" She asked me. I didn't call her up on using titles.
"Yes" I replied, unsure where she was taking this.
"And you don't think that was unfair?" She looked at me, her eyes glinting as if working out who's side I was on. I wanted to take hers, Stan had been cruel, but I realised that she needed to realise how far behind in her training she was if I was ever going to craft her into an excellent guardian.
"Was he right? Do you think you were fully prepared to protect Vasilisa?"
"I kept her alive" she mumbled, looking down at the ground.
"How did you do fighting against your classmates today?" I asked her, driving home the fact that she was incredibly unprepared for her final year.
She continued staring at the ground as we walked, and I regretted my harsh tone. She had obviously been through a lot today, and a small part inside me felt sorry for her. "If you can't fight them-" I began in a gentle voice.
"Yeah, yeah I know she snapped. Perhaps being gentle wasn't the best method with her?
"You're strong and fast by nature. You just need to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play any sports while you were gone?"
"Sure" she shrugged. "Now and then."
"You didn't join any teams?" I imagined her as the sort of person who loved team sports. Me, well I preferred running. "Too much work." She continued. "If I'd wanted to practice that much I'd have stayed here". The tone in her voice suggested that this wasn't the truth, and after seeing her dedication to the princess, I knew that she would have done anything to keep herself fit and the best guardian she could be. I imagined that she felt she couldn't leave the princess to exercise, yet I gave her an exacerbated look.
"You'll never be able to really protect the princess if you don't hone your skills" I told her. "You'll always be lacking".
"I'll be able to protect her" she told me fiercely, her eyes glinting with anger and staring into my soul.
"You have no guarantees of being assigned to her, you know- for your field experience or after you graduate". I wanted to shock her, shock her into training hard, in the hope that she would become the best guardian here. I wanted desperately for her to become great, and if I had to be cruel to get that result, then so be it.
"No-one wants to waste the bond" I continued, "but no-ones going to give her an inadequate guardian either. If you want to be with her, then you need to work for it. You have your lessons. You have me. Use us or don't. You're an ideal choice to guard Vasilisa when you both graduate- if you can prove you're worth. I hope you will". I started walking off, hearing Rose say something else, but I continued on. I hoped my words shook her into working hard, yet they had left me with a strange feeling in my chest. I felt frustrated at how she had thrown away her natural talent, frustrated at the arrogant air she was projecting, and frustrated that I couldn't do more to help her situation.
I reached the door of my room and unlocked it, welcoming the familiar sight. My room was bare, some would say it was because I had only been here for a month, but really it was because my life was bare too. After Ivan died, I lost my only real friendship, so now my life just revolved around work. I didn't mind, I had always enjoyed my company, but to some I looked lonely.
I flopped onto my bed, not bothering to change, and set an alarm that would allow me to have a few hours. Unfortunately, I had to be up to tutor Rose after her classes in the afternoon, so it was just a long nap for me.
I fell asleep instantly, and after what seemed like a few seconds, my alarm blared. I sighed, rubbing my eyes with my hands and sat up. I felt even worse than before I had slept. Guardians were supposed to be good at surviving on naps, but it was one skill I could never get to grips with, my body just didn't like napping, and I imagined I would pay for it when I was trying to sleep tonight.
I changed into clean, comfortable clothes and headed towards the gym 15 minutes earlier than scheduled on the off chance that Rose was early. Luckily, I took one of my books as 20 minutes later she still hadn't arrived, and I placed it next to me with a loud sigh, standing up to go and find her. I walked out of the gym and saw her standing with another girl, the princess I identified as I got closer.
"Your late for practice" I called once I got within hearing distance, interrupting whatever conversation they were having. "Princess" I acknowledged with a nod of my head, and then turned around, expecting Rose to follow. We walked in silence towards the gym, until she suddenly stopped, her eyes glazing over as if she was a trance. I waited in silence, expecting this to be some sort of trick getting me to leave her here so she could escape. After a few moments I realised that wasn't the case and panic set in.
"Rose, Rose" I said frantically as I shook her shoulders, hoping this wasn't some sort of stress reaction from everything that had happened. I saw her consciousness return. "Are you alright?" I asked.
"I…yeah. I was…I was with Lisa…" she told me, looking thoroughly shaken. "I was in her head" she clarified.
"Her head?"
"Yeah, its part of the bond". She looked away from me, and I could tell she didn't want to discuss it.
"Is she alright?" I asked, wondering if this meant the princess was in danger.
"Yeah, she's…she's not in danger".
"Can you keep going?" I asked, my guardian mask slipping a little. I didn't like the idea of anything being able to break this tough girl.
"Yeah, I'm fine" she said, shrugging my care away, and we continued to the gym.
"So, reckon we could just miss todays session?" She asked as she walked back into the room after getting changed. I laughed outright at her humour before she asked why I was laughing. My smile dropped slightly, realising she was serious, but I couldn't keep the amused look from my eyes, and I knew from this moment that I would enjoy these training sessions with her.
"I've technically been awake for two days. Why do we have to start this training now? Let me go to bed" she whined. "Its just one hour". I would have told her that apart from my nap, I had been awake for three days now, but I imagined it wouldn't help the situation. "How do you feel right now? After the training you've done so far?" I asked.
"I hurt like hell".
"You'll feel worse tomorrow".
"So?"
"So better to jump in now while you still feel… not as bad" I argued, again leaving out that I would be working her just as hard tomorrow, regardless of how bad she felt.
"What kind of logic is that?" she grumbled, but followed me into the weight room, where I showed her what I wanted her to do, and sat back down to my book.
Once I saw she had finished, I went to show her the cool-down stretches I normally did. "How'd you end up as Lissa's guardian?" she asked me. "You weren't here a few years ago. Were you even trained at this school?"
I was shocked by her outright questioning, unused to having this sort of conversation with people, but found that her forthright nature was refreshing and easy to get on with.
"No, I attended the one in Siberia" I replied, surprised she hadn't noticed that by my accent.
"Whoa. That's got to be the only place worse than Montana" she teased. I had to hold back a chuckle, something I was having to do regularly around her.
"After I graduated I was a guardian for a Zeklos lord. He was killed recently". I felt a fresh wave of pain as I thought of Ivan. "They sent me here because they needed extras on campus. When the princess turned up they assigned me to her, since I'd already be around. Not that it matters until she leaves campus."
"Did this lord die on your watch?" Rose asked me slowly, and I knew she didn't mean offence, she was just looking out for Vasilisa.
"No. He was with his other guardian. I was away" I clarified, my mind once again going over the events and wishing I had just stayed with him instead of going home for my mothers birthday.
"Hey" said Rose, pulling me out of my thoughts and looking at me as if she could see inside my soul. "Did you come up with the plan to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that". I arched my eyebrow, surprised by her choice of conversation.
"You're complimenting me on that?"
"Well it was a hell of a lot better than the last one they tried." Something about her statement worried me.
"Last one?"
"Yeah. In Chicago. With the pack of psi-hounds".
"This was the first time we found you. In Portland" I told her.
"Um, I don't think I imagined psi-hounds. Who else could have sent them? They only answer to Moroi. Maybe no one told you about it." She told me, a challenge in her eye.
"Maybe" I said, packing up the equipment we had used in the gym. I didn't want to annoy her, but I was sure that she had imagined it, and we both left the gym.