Chapter Three
After Rose had decided to accept Kirova's offer to Re-join the Academy and continue her training-on strict terms and conditions- our group split up. Guardian Chase took Princess Vasilisa away to choose her subjects. Alberta and I were told to escort Rose to the Careers counsellor-Which we did. It only took five minutes before Rose had her timetable sorted out and we headed off to her first class, which was "Advanced guardian combat techniques." On our way to the gym I snuck a peak at Rose, who was walking sluggishly behind Alberta and me, studying her timetable like it was a weird science experiment. She had a small frown on her face the whole time and then angrily she shoved the piece of paper into her pocket. I looked away quickly before she caught me staring at her, but I turned my head slightly so I could still see her out of the corner of my eye. She was staring intently at Alberta's head, completely focused on something. Her brows furrowed, she reached up to catch a lock of her hair and twisted it around her finger absentmindedly. She bit her lip and frowned. I took a quick look at the back of Alberta's head and didn't notice anything wrong with it, what on earth was she thinking then? The only thing I noticed about Alberta's hair was she had her hair cut short, which allowed her Molnija marks to show, they symbolised how many strigoi you had killed. Her promise mark was also tattooed their, meaning she would always stay faithful to the moroi and protect them, rather then turn into an evil immortal taking moroi as their victims every night. A lot of female guardians did this and Rose would most likely do it to, when the time comes for her to graduate and be out killing strigoi in the real world.
When we arrived at the gym, the class was amuck. Students talked animatedly in small groups, some standing some sitting. Not many students were doing the set task, which was setting up the equipment ready for training. The instructor had left the room, which wasn't a wise decision on his part. The room went eerily silent as Rose entered the gym, all eyes turned to stare at her. I could feel the tension building in the room as everyone wondered what she would do first. Rose stood there and scanned the staring open-mouthed novices, obviously looking for a familiar face. Most of the students in the class were male, that wouldn't help Rose's concentration one bit, I sighed. Her eyes rested on Mason Ashford, a male novice who could be a bit of a flirt, his jet red hair stuck up everywhere and a mat of freckles covered his pale face. A smile spread across Rose's face and I wondered if she thought he was attractive.
"Hey Mason, wipe the drool of your face. If you're going to think about me naked, do it in your own time." Rose taunted. I could barely contain my disgust. All of the novices thought it was hilarious of course. A few snorts and snickers broke the awed silence. Mason gave Rose a lopsided grin.
"This is my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session." Mason said cockily.
"Oh yeah?" Rose retorted. "Huh. Well, I guess this is a good time to think about me naked, then." I rolled my eyes at Rose's comment. How will she ever learn how to fight properly if she doesn't even have self-respect? "Rose's back" Alberta muttered under her breath and a small smile made it's way onto her face.
"It's always a good time to think about you naked," added someone nearby. Eddie Castile I think his name was.
No wonder Rose acted the way she did. She was surrounded by boys with balls for brains. Not one of the novice's in the room were ready to take on a strigoi out in the real world, they were still way to immature it seemed. I shook my head exasperated, muttering, "Stupid Testosterone filled boys" under my breath in Russian as I walked off to stand guard on the other side of the room. Alberta smiled, she knew a few words in Russian and she would be able to understand what I'd said. Alberta went to stand guard at the gym's entrance and we watched in silence as the class surrounded Rose in one big group and told her about what she'd missed out on during the two years she and the princess were absent. Then they started asking her questions about where had she and Vasilisa gone, how did they escape, did they run into any strigoi? They told her she and Vasilisa had become legends whilst away. Rose laughed at this but didn't tell them where they had run off to or why, which was slightly annoying for me since I to wanted to now exactly why they'd run away. Instead she retorted with lots of taunts like "Wouldn't you like to know." Early on in this façade of gossip hungry teens the guardian watching over the lesson had snuck back into the gym unnoticed by everyone but Alberta and I. So the happy reunion only lasted for a couple more minutes before he came over to the group and scolded Mason for neglecting his duties, about time I thought.
Still grinning Mason barked out orders to everyone, explaining what exercises to start with. I watched Rose carefully, not really all that surprised she didn't know most of them. She stood their awkwardly watching the others exercise until Mason came over. "Come on, Hathaway" he said, taking her arm. "You can be my partner. Let's see what you've been doing to all this time." An hour later, he had his answer.
"Not practising huh?"
"Owe" Rose groaned. Mason extended his hand and helped her up from the mat he'd knocked her down on- about fifty times.
"I hate you" she told him, rubbing a spot on her thigh.
"You'd hate me more if I held back," he pointed out.
"Yeah that's true." She agreed, staggering along as the class put the equipment back.
"You actually did okay."
"What? I just had my ass handed to me."
"Well, of course you did. It's been two years. But hey, you're still walking, that's something." He grinned mockingly.
"Did I mention I hate you?" He flashed her another smile, which quickly faded to one more serious.
"Don't take this the wrong way… I mean, you really are a scrapper, but there's no way you'll be able to make your trails in the spring-"
"They're making me take extra practise sessions," she explained. "I'll be ready." She added after a moments thought.
Would she? I wondered. Catching up on two years training would be near impossible for even someone truly dedicated to do well at school. Rose has no manners, no self-respect and she is completely undedicated to do well, the only thing on her mind is Vasilisa and boys. How could I mentor someone like that and teach her discipline when we were complete opposites? Rose didn't care what people thought of her, she had a badass reputation and she flaunted it. I was nothing like that. I had earned my reputation long ago, through hard work and dedication, she was lacking in both those areas. Alberta snapped me out of my trance by waving her hand in front of my face in order to gain my attention.
"Belikov? What has got you so out of it? Thinking about Rose I presume, she will be quite a handful for you, I imagine."
"I was actually. Yes, you're right, Rose does look like a bit of a handful. I have a lot of work to do it seems." She laughed and nodded her head in agreement.
"Well, we better be on our way, second period is starting."
We walked together to the class we had been assigned to guard, which was lead by Stan Alto. A guardian/teacher who seemed to hate kids, his lessons always amused me. Today he was teaching "Bodyguard theory and personal protection 3" which was required for all seniors. Alberta and I lined the back wall and I noticed Rose sitting at a desk in the middle of the room, tapping her fingers on her desk impatiently, waiting for Guardian Alto to arrive. When he did, he took one look at Rose and snickered, his eyes wide with mock surprise as he circled the room and came to stand beside Rose's desk.
"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 from your busy schedule and share you knowledge with us." If looks could kill Stan would be dead, Rose obviously hated Guardian Alto, it was clearly shown with the look she gave him. I was a bit on edge. Stan was game, making fun of Rose, she could easily lash out at him at any given moment and he was in hitting range. With obviously great self-control Rose refrained from coming up with a snappy retort or punching him in the face all she did was glare at him. With no retort or burst of outrage from Rose, Stan's sneer increased. He gestured for her to stand up-she didn't move.
"Well, come on, come on. Don't sit there! Come up to the front so you can help me lecture the class." Rose sunk further bank into her seat.
"You don't really mean-" Stan's taunting smile dried up.
"I mean exactly what I say, Hathaway go to the front of then class." A thick silence enveloped the room. Stan was a scary instructor, and most of the class were to awed to laugh at Rose's disgrace quite yet. Refusing to crack under the pressure, Rose stood up, chair scraping heavily against the floor; she sauntered up to the front of the room. She turned to face the class and gave them a bold look, tossing her hair over her shoulder, which earned her a few sympathetic smiles from her friends. That's when she looked over at me. Our eyes connected for a few short moments, keeping my face blank and my emotions well hidden from her hungry eyes, I returned her gaze stone faced. I didn't want her to know I felt slightly sympathetic for her. She would have to learn the consequences of her actions. I couldn't make it any easier for her. I wouldn't show I cared by supporting the idea what she had done was right because it was the opposite of that. Rose looked away shyly before Stan spoke cheerfully.
"So, Hathaway." He strolled back up to the front to stand next to Rose. "Enlighten us about your protective techniques."
"My… techniques?" She stammered.
"Of course. Because presumably you must have had some sort of plan the rest of us couldn't understand when you took an underage royal moroi out of the Academy and exposed her to constant strigoi threats!" This is what I mean about Stan's lessons. In one-way or another they were always amusing or a valuable lesson was taught.
"We never ran into any strigoi" Rose replied stiffly.
"Obviously," Stan said with a snicker. "I already figured that out, seeing as you're still alive." Rose's fists were in tight balls, her jaw was clenched and after a moment she bowed her head in shame. Stan started pacing in front of the class. "So what'd you do? How'd you make sure she stayed safe? Did you avoid going out at night?" he asked.
"Sometimes." She answered.
"Sometimes" Stan repeated in a high-pitched voice, making Rose's answer sound incredibly stupid. "Well then, I suppose you slept during the day and stayed on guard during the night."
"Err… no." she replied guiltily. The class watched awed as Stan continued to mentally torture Rose, even I started to think it was going a little to far. Rose needed to learn from her mistakes but not this way. Stan was only adding fuel to the fire, the fire being Rose's self-control. Add to much fuel and you'll have an explosion.
"No? But that's one of the first things mentioned in the chapter on solo guarding. Oh wait, you wouldn't know because you weren't here." Stan mocked her cruelly. Now Stan was starting to piss me off. He didn't want to add fuel to my fire, that's for sure. I'd have him pinned to the floor begging for Rose's forgiveness in seconds.
"I watched the area whenever we went out," Rose said defensively.
"Oh? Well that's something. Did you use Carnegie's quadrant surveillance method or the rotational survey?" Rose didn't say anything. "Ah. I'm guessing you used the Hathaway Glance-Around-When-You-Remember-To method?" I let out a low growl and clenched my fists.
"No!" Rose exclaimed furiously. "That's not true. I watched her. She's still alive, isn't she?" Stan had practically smothered Rose in fuel and now… well she was burning inside, loosing all self-control she was near an explosion and I wasn't about to stop her. Stan slowly walked back up to where Rose was standing and leaned towards her face, so they were only inches apart. I flinched. I wouldn't have been game enough to do that, Rose was furious right now and incredibly dangerous. I braced myself, ready, and waiting to intervene if necessary.
In a dangerously low voice Stan said, "Because you got lucky." Rose's eyes narrowed into slits and she was visibly shaking with anger.
"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there," she shot back. "It's not like we've been taught. It's safer then you guys make it sound."
"Safer? Safer? We are at war with the Strigoi!" Stan yelled. "One of them could walk right up to you and snap your pretty little neck before you even noticed him- and he'd barely break a sweat doing it. You might have more strength then a moroi or human but you are nothing, nothing, compared to a strigoi. They are deadly, and they are powerful. And do you know what makes them more powerful?" I watched Rose as her bottom lip trembled and her eyes watered, looking down away from Stan, she tried to focus on something else. Her eyes rested on me and I kept my face blank, not letting my true feelings show, Alberta and the other guardian did the same.
"Moroi blood." She whispered.
"What was that?" asked Stan loudly. "I didn't catch it." With inhuman speed Rose span around to face him, hands clenched, teeth bared she hissed.
"Moroi blood! Moroi blood makes them stronger." Stan nodded in satisfaction and took a few steps back, wise of him. My fist slammed into the wall in fury. A couple of people in the back row turned to see what was going on and I returned their curious stares with a nail-biting glare. Alberta looked over at me with a questioning look on her face but I just shook my head and turned back to face the front.
"Yes it does. It makes them stronger and harder to destroy. They'll kill and drink from a human or dhampir, but they want moroi blood more then anything else. They seek it. They've turned to the dark side to gain immortality, and they will do anything to keep that immortality. Desperate strigoi have attacked moroi in public. Groups of strigoi have raided Academies just like this one. There are strigoi who have lived for thousands of years and fed off generations of moroi. They're almost impossible to kill. And that is why moroi numbers are dropping. They aren't strong enough- even with the guardians- to protect themselves. Some moroi don't even see the point in running anymore and are simply turning strigoi by choice. And as the moroi disappear…"
"…So do the dhampir's" Rose finished.
"Well," Stan said, licking the spray off of his lips. "It looks like you learned something after all. Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your field experience next semester." With that finishing sentence, Rose was allowed back into her seat. She didn't speak a word to anyone for the rest of the lesson.
Lunchtime sluggishly came around, and I caught sight of Rose walking across campus towards the commons. I soon fell into step beside her, waiting for her to say something first. "I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?" she asked, not bothering with Guardian titles.
"Yes." I answered.
"And you don't think that was unfair?" Yes I thought, but I couldn't let her know that. I couldn't tell her the anger and fury I felt when he tortured her. Stan was right though. Rose definitely wasn't ready to make a strigoi kill.
"Was he right? Do you think you were fully ready to protect Vasilisa?" She looked down at the ground.
"I kept her alive." She mumbled. Rose just couldn't see the point I was trying to make, she would have been killed if they had run into any strigoi. She still thought she had made the right decision about taking the princess away. Well then, it's time for some tough love.
"How did you do fighting against your classmates today?" I asked. The question was mean and almost cruel but Rose needed to realise, what she did was a mistake, and a mistake like that could easily get you killed, her and Vasilisa had been lucky, extremely lucky. Rose didn't answer, not that I expected her to.
"If you can't fight them-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know." She snapped. I slowed my pace to match her pain filled one.
"You're strong and fast by nature. You just have to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play sports while you were gone?" I asked trying to be helpful.
"Sure," she replied shrugging. "Now and then." I sighed.
"Did you join any teams?" I asked.
"To much work. If I'd wanted to practise that much, I'd have stayed here." I gave her an exasperated look.
"You'll never be able to really protect the princess if you don't hone your skills. You'll always be lacking."
"I'll be able to protect her." She said fiercely. You only think you would.
"You'll have no guarantees of being assigned to her, you know- for your field experience or after you graduate." My voice was low and unapologetic. I had to be tough with Rose otherwise she would never learn.
"No one wants to waste the bond- but no one's going to give her an inadequate guardian either. If you want to be with her, then you have 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 your worthy. I hope you will." I said meaningfully.
"Lissa, call her Lissa," She corrected me. Was she even listening to a word I said? Did she even care that I was trying to help her? All she cared about was Vasilisa, what about her own future? Vasilisa wouldn't be in it if she didn't train, but Rose didn't seem to understand that, she thought she would just be handed her diploma and a piece of paper saying she's Vasilisa's guardian, the end. She was sadly mistaken, she would have to work extremely hard to earn that privilege and so far it was nowhere near her reach.
This conversation wasn't getting anywhere- Rose wasn't listening. Fed up with Rose's attitude I walked away without a second glance not bothering to say goodbye. Instead I headed to my room, where I could be alone without any disturbances and eat my lunch in peace. But who was I kidding, I was just trying to get away from Rose, her presence was to powerful and it was hard to ignore her.