Sorry for the delay on this chapter, my wi-fi has been down :(

The weeks passed quickly as did the changing weather, my life being centred around guarding shifts and training Rose. Despite my heavy schedule draining me in the first week, I quickly grew accustomed to it, and began to even wonder what I did with all my spare time before I was training Rose. Our training sessions became more and more fluid and productive, I was spending less time explaining what was to be done, and Rose would even set off running without me needing to tell her to do so. We were becoming accustomed to each other, I was working out the best ways to motivate and push her, and how to reign her in and control her behaviour when needed. It was almost like we were become friends.

She was getting faster and stronger, and I could tell her body was hurting less and was getting used to our intense training. I noticed she was becoming more toned, and was even doing better in group sessions, not winning, but not loosing without a fight. It made me proud to see.

I got out of bed a little later than usual, wanting to stay under the warm covers before bracing the cold outside, but once I saw the time, I forced myself up and into a hot shower. I managed to get to the gym quicker than I had thought, and I even had time to read a few pages of my book before Rose would arrive, probably more than a few judging on past examples of her time keeping.

I put on a Prince album and settled down with my Louis L'Amour book (I'd read it before but then again, I'd read most of me books before), and waiting for Rose to appear. Five minutes later than the time she was expected, she walked into the gym, hair up, wearing tight leggings that showed off her shapely legs, paired with a loose-fitting hoodie that had some university name on it.

"Whoa Dimitri" she said, tossing her bag on the floor. "I realise this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?"

My eyes flicked from my book, acknowledging her presence, but not moving position.

"What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running" I told her, having to hide a smirk from my face.

She began stretching her hamstrings on one of the bars around the room, and I could see her working out the next snarky statement she would unleash, but as she moved onto the next set of stretches, I could see her expression change a little. All whilst reading my book of course.

"Hey" she called. "What's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realise the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving onto something with a little hitting? They're still killing me in group practice".

"Maybe you should hit harder" I told her dryly, matching her earlier snarkiness.

"I'm serious". A little pout appeared on her face.

"Hard to tell the difference". I put my book down, but didn't move. "My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and fight dark creatures, right?"

"Yup."

"So, tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again, and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a strigoi comes at you. What will you do?"

"Depends what store we're in." I worked hard to stop myself rolling my eyes.

"Fine. I'll stab him with a silver stake."

I sat up and crossed my legs.

"Oh?" I said, raising my eyebrows slightly. "Do you have a sliver stake? Do you even know how to use one?"

Perhaps my questioning was a little cruel, but I had learnt that the best way to make Rose understand my methods, or the seriousness of her situation, was hitting her with the brutal truth.

"Okay. I'll cut his head off."

"Ignoring the fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact he may be a foot taller than you?"

She straightened up from her stretches, looking annoyed.

"Fine, I'll set him on fire"

That answer was just silly and she knew it.

"Again, with what?"

"All right, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a strigoi. What do I do?

I was pleased she had given in, a few weeks ago she would have either argued until her voice broke, or she would have just walked off. I was proud to see how much she had come in in just a few weeks.

"You run" I told her, looking her straight in the eye.

She rolled her eyes and huffed in frustration, but didn't say anything, once again showing new restraint. I watched as she completed her stretches in silence, deciding that I would run with her to see how she performed on the track. I had given her a few weeks to get used to the running, and now I wanted to watch her technique and style. That, and I had rather enjoyed our earlier conversation.

We set off out to the track, and I gazed appreciatively at the orange sunset, casting the snowy mountains and everything else in a warm glow that almost made me forget about the cold October wind. I set off at a slow pace for me, but considering my long legs and amount of training I knew it would be a difficult pace for her to maintain.

After around four laps, Rose began to gradually slow her pace, and so I dropped back with her, not wanting her to push herself so hard on these first laps that she couldn't complete the run. I was slightly disappointed that she couldn't keep up with the pace I had started with, but that disappointment was quickly replaced with pride and admiration as she pushed herself to once again match the pace we had started at. I could see grit and determination on her face, and I thought back to the determination she had shown when protecting the princess in Portland.

We ran together, our feet pounding at slightly different times due to our height differences, but the sound was one I found comforting and relaxing, and I found myself enjoying the run. When we had just three more laps to go, I noticed Mason Ashford, another novice, walking past the track towards the gym.

"Good form Rose" he called out, cheering in an over-the-top way.

She smiled and waved, slowing her pace to a more comfortable one.

"You're slowing down" I snapped, feeling cross at the fact she was getting distracted by silly

things when her times were going to be so much better than normal.

I didn't want anything stopping her from achieving a new record today, a record that I hoped would encourage her in her training and push her to become even better.

"Is this why your times aren't getting any faster? You're easily distracted?"

Again, my words were harsh, but I wanted them to make her angry, or embarrassed, feelings that she could channel into her running that would fuel her pace. My methods were accurate, and she pushed herself once more, her pace being even faster than the one we set off at, and she managed to maintain it until the end of the run. I checked my watch as we stopped, checking her time and comparing it to her previous times in my head.

"You shaved two minutes off" I told her, trying to hide the proud feelings to maintain the 'bad-cop' attitude I knew worked so well with her.

We walked back to the gym at a slow pace, Rose focusing on slowing her breathing, and once we began cool-down stretches, she had recovered enough to talk.

"Not bad, huh?" She sang, a radiant smile on her face. "Looks like I could get as far as the Limited before the Strigoi got me at the mall. Not sure how Lissa would do."

"If she was with you, she'd be okay" I said softly, shocked at the words that came out of my mouth.

I didn't often give people praise, yet this has just slipped out of my mouth without thinking. She jerked her head up in surprise, her lips slightly parted and her eyes wide. It was perhaps the first piece of praise I had given her, and I watched her startled expression with amusement and approval, feeling proud of the dedication and hard work this girl was putting in.

All of a sudden, that awed and shocked expression was replaced by one of pure terror, her eyes glazing over, and as quick as that expression appeared, she tore off out of the gym, as if there had been a Strigoi right next to her. Her pace was fast, faster than we had run today, and even I had to push myself to catch her as I followed her out.

"What's wrong!" I called as we ran, but she didn't answer me, and just pushed her legs even faster. I could see one of the moroi dorms appearing, and figured we were going to Princess Vasilisa. I saw a slim blond figure come hurtling out of the doors, and Rose quickly reached her, grabbing her arms and looking her in the eye.

"What's wrong? What happened?" She asked forcefully.

Vasilisa flung her arms around Rose, and buried her head into her chest, tears coming thick and fast. Rose held her, comforting her and reassuring her in a gentle voice, as I stood protectively around them, coiled and ready for attack, and prepared to take on an army if needed. Once the crying had gradually dried up, I gently directed the girls inside and towards Vasilisa's room. I was glad I had studied the directions to it when she had been allocated the room, originally for security, but needed now for privacy.

Her half of the room was noticeably bare, but I noticed a picture taped to the wall of the princess and Rose dressed up as fairies, surrounded by Halloween décor in a student-looking house. The picture made me feel strange emotions. I wished that Rose could have a normal future, a future that the girl in the photo looked like she would have, but instead she would have to face huge amounts of death and risk her life.

My thoughts were interrupted as a dark red stain on the bed caught my eye. There was a fox on the pillow, a fox that had been brutally killed, its throat slit with a knife, causing blood and gore to spread over the bed. I glanced over at Rose and the princess, who had began crying again, and saw a tight expression on Rose's face, an expression that I imagined was hiding nausea and repulsion. As a guardian who had killed strigoi, I was accustomed to gore and death, but despite what the novices would go through in their first few years, they were relatively unprepared for the grisly nature, and I had seen a number of new guardian's throw-up after their first kills. Once again, I was proud of Rose and how he was holding it together for the princess.

Once I had called the necessary people, a team swooped in making me, and Rose, spare parts. The mess was quickly cleaned up and I was ordered by the headmistress to remove Rose, stopping any conversation she was having with the princess. I thought it was a bit cruel as she was providing comfort, but it was not my place to question authority.

"You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?" I asked in an authoritative, yet soothing voice, hoping that she would tell me the truth despite our rocky relationship.

"I don't know anything. It's just some sick joke." She replied, averting my eyes, and I sighed, knowing I wouldn't get anything out of her.

"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?" I pushed, hoping that asking indirect questions would get me answers, and whilst she considered them, she didn't have any answers.

"No. No clue."

"Rose, if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious".

She spun round, anger glaring in her eyes.

"Yeah, it is serious. It's all serious. And you have me doing laps everyday when I should be learning to fight and defend her! If you want to help her, then teach me something! Teach me how to fight. I already know how to run away."

Her harsh words shocked me, but I kept a calm exterior, not wanting to argue with her, and once she had finished, I simply beckoned her to follow me towards the gym.

"Come on. Your late for practice" I called behind me, yet as we walked, I couldn't help thinking about the things she had said.

Had I underestimated this girl? Could she actually take much more training than I was giving her? And I began thinking about ways to give her more combat training whilst keeping up the running, presuming I would have to give up yet more of my free time.

That chapter correlates to chapter 7 in the book, I decided to just do the one chapter because a lot happens between Rose and Dimitri! Please leave a review :)