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Rose tapped her fingers on the counter mindlessly, lost in thought.

"Rose. Rose. Rose," Christian said loudly, waving his hand in front of her face to snap her out of whatever she was lost in thought about.

"What?" she snapped at him, glaring.

"Hey don't get mad at me Rose. I'm just trying to make sure you were ok," he snapped back glaring right back at her. They stayed like that, glaring at each other from across the table until Rose looked away and sighed.

"Can I ask you something, in total confidence, without having to worry about you telling Lissa or judging me?" She asked seriously, turning look at him straight in the eye.

Last time Christian had seen Rose looking this serious was when he glimpsed her parents talking to her and Dimitri at Lissa's coronation a week ago.

"Well I judged you a long time ago," he joked, but then turned serious, "but of course, this is between you and me."

Rose smiled slightly at his joke, but became genuine when he said the rest, but then it disappeared and she sighed.

"It's something Adrian said to me the day before Lissa's coronation. He said to me next time you're in bed with Belikov, stop a moment and remember that not everyone made out as well as you did. He called himself a victim because I cheated on him with Dimitri and then he said I have abandoned Jill to the royal wolves and made me think about what was going to happen to Eddie, who killed a Moroi because I wasn't there to protect Lissa and Sydney who disobeyed direct orders to help me and is properly in a hell a lot of trouble right this second because of me."

"Rose it wasn't your fault. Firstly sure you shouldn't have cheated on Adrian but that doesn't make him a victim. He's being a drama queen and needs to seriously get over himself because I'm sick of him moping around. It's getting on my nerves. Secondly you haven't dropped and abandoned Jill to the royal wolves. Sure Lissa is seriously mad that her father cheated on her mother but she said she is going to make some effort into helping her and Jill still had you and me. She isn't alone. She has watched the royals at school play games for years, she just had to get used to being a part of the games now and you know Mia is going to help her as well, and she knows more about blending in with the royals then we do. Thirdly what happened to Eddie isn't your fault. The guardians have told Lissa that they believe him and have set him to become Jill's guardian, once he gets off his probationary period his on at the moment. Finally Sydney's a big girl. From what you tell me she's smart and resourceful. She'll be ok and I'm sure she'll give you a call in a couple of months once the heat's died down, just to set your mind at ease."

Rose grinned at him. "Since when did you become helpful?"

He shrugged. "Blame Lissa. She's a bad influence on me."

"If you start hugging and smiling at people I'm going to seriously kick your arse."

"If I do start that, I give you permission."

"Like I need it."

They both laughed then and Christian started to make dinner, knowing Dimitri and Lissa would be back soon, while Rose set out the table.

"Thanks Christian, for listening," Rose said, half an hour later, as they brought the dinner to the table.

"Anytime Rose. I know you would do it for me," he replied.

"Yeah but I would judge you."

Christian held his hand over his heart in mock surprise. "You mean you haven't already. Rose I feel so honoured."

Rose punched him in the arm, as he started laughing and she joined in. They were still laughing when Dimitri and Lissa walked in five minutes later. They looked at each other and shook their heads. It was Rose and Christian, what else could you expect.