A month and a half later it was finally time for graduation. At school we had figured out that Ibrahim was a spirit user. I had happened to ask him what he specialized in and he said he didn't. Boy did Lissa blow up. She had found another spirit user. He didn't know anything about spirit. He never tried. He had been working with Lissa and Adrian since they found out. We didn't find any new powers with me. The books about Anna didn't say anything about Shadow-Kissed powers. After a couple of weeks we decided we weren't going to find anything so I just went back to guarding.
Dimitri and I had been closer than ever. When we were in the same room as each other we had to remember who and where we were. If we weren't careful we would end up touching each other unconsciously. Sometimes during training we would end up making out and then catch ourselves. Someone could easily walk into the gym and rat us out.
I was sitting in the room where the Guardians meet. All novices who were graduating today were to report here. The Guardians were sitting on the left side of the room and us on the right. We were getting called in alphabetical order to go up and swear and get our promise marks. Alberta stood in the front having the students swear to her. Kirova stood beside her. Behind them sat Lionel. He was sitting on a stool and had one in front of him so he could do our tattoos. In front of him sat Mark Handler. Robert Harper was swearing to Alberta. I was next in line.
"Rosemarie Hathaway," called Kirova.
I walked up to the stand. "Do you swear that you will always protect Moroi no matter who you are guarding? Do you swear that you will do everything in your power to save them? Do you swear that you will always put Moroi before yourself and other Dhampirs?" asked Alberta.
"I swear that I will always protect Moroi no matter who I am guarding. I swear that I will do everything in my power to save them. I swear that I will always put Moroi before myself and other Dhampirs."
"Congratulations Rosemarie Hathaway. You are now a Moroi Guardian." People applauded.
I walked back to Lionel "How's it going Rose?"
"Good. How are you?"
"I'm good. I guess I'll be seeing you later so you can get your molnija marks."
"Yep."
"Okay. You're done. You can go back and take your seat again."
"Thanks. See yah."
When everyone had their marks Alberta made her speech then said, "Congratulations St. Vladimir's Vampire Academy Graduates!" Everyone cheered.
The room cleared out and everyone left to head toward the gym. We were going to see which Moroi we were going to be guarding. Us newly marked Guardians were sitting in the bleachers. The Moroi were standing in two lines behind Alberta. Some Guardians who were going to be Guardians for the Moroi sat to the right of our group. The rest of them stood to the side of Alberta. Dimitri sat with the guardians in the bleachers. Then it was Lissa's turn to tell which Guardians she got.
"My Guardians who will guard me with their lives are Guardian Hathaway and Guardian Castile."
Royal Moroi got to have two guardians. They didn't have to but it was recommended. Eddie and I stood up and walked to Lissa. We went and sat in the bleachers on the far side of the room with the already chosen Guardians and their Moroi.
Later on it was Christian's turn. "My Guardian who will guard me with his life is Guardian Belikov." They came over and sat by us.
When everyone had been chosen and seated, the Guardians, Alberta, and Kirova walked over to stand in front of us. "Your lives are about to begin. You Moroi will be going off to do jobs and to go off to college. And you Guardians will be going with them. You will guard them and blend in with your surroundings. Good Luck to you all. You may go off to start your lives as adults.
Talking exploded. "We're free!" I said to Lissa.
"I know! Isn't awesome. We can finally leave school. We did it." She gave me a hug.
Our little family exchanged hugs with each other. We were all just so happy that things worked out.
"Okay, I have to go make a visit to Lionel to get seven molnija marks."
"The student surpasses the teacher," said Dimitri.
I left the gym to go back to the Guardians building. Not many people were here this time. Thank goodness. I didn't need an audience. It was bad enough that I had to get the marks. The only ones attending were Lionel and me of course, Alberta, Stan, and Dimitri.
Lionel tsked. "Wow. Nine marks before your nineteen. Impressive."
"She's going to be one of the best," said Alberta. "And she actually has killed more Strigoi than that. She has a molnoka mark. She and Christian killed around half of what attacked the elementary.
"Oh, yah. Can't forget that. See. You're on your way to greatness, Rose. Princess Vasilisa is lucky to have you guarding her."
A few hours later we had all of our stuff packed up and ready to go. We were going to take one of the school's private jets to go to the Royal Court. We said our goodbyes and took off. Of course Dimitri and Christian were coming with us. But they weren't the only ones. Ibrahim and Adrian were coming, too.
On the plane Ibrahim and Adrian sat across from Dimitri. Dimitri sat in front of Lissa and Christian. Eddie and I were sitting across from them. When we were in the air Dimitri said, "Rose, I think we should tell them."
"Tell us what," asked Adrian.
"Tell them?" I asked. Dimitri nodded. "Um, okay guys," I said after a few minutes of silence. Everyone sat there patiently. "Um, Dimitri and I are going out," I said uncomfortingly. The only ones that didn't look shocked were Lissa and Adrian.
"You're, wait, you're going out," asked Christian. I nodded. He turned to Dimitri. He had a soft smile on his face and he nodded, too. "How long? Why are you just now telling us?"
"Well, we couldn't tell you at school. If we did I would have been in big trouble and Dimitri would have gotten fired," I said.
"How long has this been going on?" asked Eddie.
"We have only been dating for a couple of months now, but we have cared for each other since Rose and Lissa came back after they ran away," said Dimitri.
Christian turned to look at Lissa. Seeing she wasn't shocked by this piece of information he said, "Why didn't you tell me? You've known about this haven't you?"
"I didn't figure it out until Dimitri got captured and I saw Rose's reaction in the chapel. She didn't tell me either. I had to put the pieces together."
"Hey everyone knows now at least," I said.
Adrian looked disappointed. He still had that crush on me. I tried to change the subject. "I guess I'm going to see my grandmother. Lucky me," I said sarcastically.
"Queen Tatiana's not that bad," objected Adrian.
"With the last conversation we had, she didn't make a very good impression."
"What happened?" asked Lissa.
"Remember how I told you that she praised me for what I did?" She nodded. "Well, that's not what happened." I took a deep breath. "Ok, now work with me here. Remember, I kept this a secret to protect you and Christian. The queen said that she didn't want you and Christian to be together. She said that she wanted you to marry Adrian." That shocked everyone. "She also said she didn't want a slutty alcoholic like me protecting you. The last Dragomir. And then she accused me of going out with Adrian." I turned to look at Adrian. "That rumor is getting on my nerves. If it's not that then I'm hearing that I'm pregnant with our love child." I made a face, then got back to my story. "She told me to stay away from Adrian and that I couldn't be your guardian."
"What!" exclaimed Lissa. "She can't do that. I can date who ever I want! And you are my guardian! You're not an slutty alcoholic, either!"
"I was just as shocked when she told me that." I said outraged. "She said she heard rumors about me and knows about my past. Last time I got drunk was when I drank them drinks at the spa at the ski resort. And the only reason I got drunk off of those was because I didn't think they were that strong."
"And you're still a virgin. You may have been with a lot of guys in your past but you're not a slut. And not to long ago we were talking about how we were surprised that you would be a senior and a virgin and I lost my virginity before you." I probably had guilt written all over my face. "You're not a virgin are you?" asked Lissa in disbelief.
I shook my head. "I would rather not talk about that with everyone here if you don't mind.
Lissa looked between Dimitri and me. Ibrahim gave me a look that said 'we're going to have a talk'. Christian burst out laughing.
"What's so funny," I asked.
"I just can't believe that you have been a virgin until recently. After all the rumors I've heard about you, and all the guys I have seen you with over the years, it's just hard for me to believe."
I glared at him. "Smartass. I'm pretty sure you didn't lose your virginity either until not to long ago. About a couple of months ago."
"Yah but I'm me and you're you. We both know you are more social than I am. Especially with the opposite gender. And what to do you know about my romantic life?"
I looked at Lissa then back to him again. "Because it's kinda hard to block out Lissa's mind when I'm asleep. With her emotions it's not that hard to figure out."
"Can we get back on the queen subject?" asked Eddie, looking uncomfortable. "Was there anything else she said?"
"Nope. That's about it. Hey Dimitri," I said abruptly. "What's the matter? You look a little upset." He looked like he was ticked off about something but I didn't know what.
"I'm fine." To everyone else I'm sure he did look fine. But I knew him better than that.
"Don't you give me that. Something's the matter with you."
"The queen has no right to control any of you like that. We are our own people. She controls the laws. We can date, marry, and have who ever as our guards. She's getting too big of a head with being queen."
"Want to here something funny? She said that Adrian would never be with a Dhampir and her secret lover is one! He works at the spa. Lissa got him to give me a pedicure." Lissa and I cracked up laughing.
They all looked astonished which made us laugh harder.
"Seriously?!" exclaimed Eddie.
"Seriously," said Lissa. "He's really tall and muscular."
"Oh, and we can't forget. He's a blood whore! When he was giving me a pedicure I saw the bite marks. I couldn't believe it." I started laughing again.
At that everyone had to laugh. Adrian and Ibrahim looked a little uncomfortable considering Tatiana was a close relative, but they still laughed. After that we all had our own little conversations.