DISCLAIMER;; I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE VA CHARACTERS. ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO RICHELLE MEAD..!

DPOV

Once we had gotten Rose and Vasilisa onto one of the Academy's jets, I saw the girls whispering animatedly to each other –most likely thinking up an escape plan- and immediately ordered them to be separated. "Don't let them talk to each other", I said to Damien, "five minutes together, and they'll come up with an escape plan". Rose shot me a haughty look, confirming what I'd said about an escape. Seriously though, they couldn't do much until we landed in Montana anyway. Unless of course they had a way to survive the Rocky Mountains.

I sat up front with the princess. She seemed to be on edge, and she was gripping a bottle of water. I leaned down to grab Rose's records. My shoulder length hair hanging around my face, revealing my six molnija marks and my promise mark –the mark given to guardians who swear to protect their Moroi. I flicked through her records for a lot of the flight, astonished by the amount of detentions and probations the girl had accumulated! Near the end of the flight, I moved to the back of the plane, to where Rosemarie was sitting. As I sat down, she turned toward the window. She didn't seem to be watching anything in particular.
I sat for several moments in thought before I finally spoke. "Were you really going to attack all of us?" She didn't speak, so I tried again. "Doing that… protecting her like that – it was very brave" I paused. "Stupid, but still brave. Why did you even try it?"
She glanced over at me, brushing her hair out of her face. "Because I'm her guardian" she replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, before turning back toward the window. I realised that was all the conversation I was going to get out of her, so I got up and walked back to the front of the jet to the Princess.

When we landed, it was nearly sunset – the beginning of the vampiric day. The girls let us lead them to the Academy with little fuss. Perhaps they thought that by going quietly, we might let them off… Or they realised they had no choice and it was pointless causing a commotion.

We were heading toward the upper schools' quad (the school is divided into lower and upper school – which had Moroi dormitories and academic buildings on one side for easy convenience to feeders, and Dhampir dormitories sat on the opposite side, providing quick and easy access to the gym.

As we walked into the main part of the upper school, Rose broke free of her guardian and ran up to me. "Hey, Comrade," she said.
I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead "You want to talk now?" I asked.
"Are you taking us to Kirova?" she persisted. 'Hmm seems they were right. Quite disrespectful.' "Headmistress Kirova" I corrected her. On my other side, Vasilisa shot Rosemarie – Rose – a look. Probably telling her to watch it or something. "Headmistress. Whatever. She's still a self-righteous old bit–". Her words cut off as we led them through a set of double doors that led into the commons. I heard Rose sigh. She probably thought we were being cruel. There's about a dozen ways to get into Headmistress Kirova's office, but we decided to take them straight through the commons – and it was breakfast time. Novice guardians – Dhampirs – and Moroi were eating together and socializing when we entered, the loud buzz of voices cut off immediately as everyone's attention turned toward us. I cut a sidelong glance to Damien. He was looking at Rose trying to hide his amusement. So this is why he wanted to come this way – a long awaited attempt to get revenge on this novice girl. I inwardly sighed as we walked. 'What has this girl done to provoke this out of professional guardians like Damien?' It seemed like Damien was just trying to have a little fun though.

Our walk through the commons ended, arriving at the Headmistresses' office. Almost every guardian left once Vasilisa and Rosemarie were seated. Only Alberta – the captain of the schools' guardians – and I stayed behind.
The Headmistresses' gaze turned stonily towards the girls, and she opened her mouth to deliver one of the famous 'bitch sessions' as the novices like to call them.

A gentle voice from the back of the room stopped her. "Vasilisa". Victor Dashkov said, rising from his seat with a great deal of effort. Vasilisa sprung out of her chair and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his frail body.
"Uncle" she whispered, sounding on the verge of tears. With a small smile, he gently patted her back. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you safe, Vasilisa" he looked at Rose. "And you too, Rose".
Rose nodded back, she looked shocked at his condition. The Prince's condition must have deteriorated substantially since the girls had left.

Ms Kirova brought Vasilisa back to her seat and began her lecture. Alberta and I stayed against the wall, not really listening to the lecture – after all, we have no inclusion into this argument. Rose seemed to have zoned out too, until the conversation turned toward her.

"You, Miss Hathaway, broke the most sacred promise among our kind: the promise of a guardian to protect a Moroi. It is a great trust. A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the Princess away from here. The strigoi would love to finish off the last of the Dragomirs; you nearly enabled them to do it," she fumed impassively, glaring at Rose. "Rose didn't kidnap me," Vasilisa intervened. "I wanted to go. Don't blame her".
Headmistress Kirova tsked at them both and paced the room. "Miss Dragomir, you could have orchestrated the entire plan for all I know, but it was still her," she glanced at Rose, and back at Vasilisa, "responsibility to make sure you didn't carry it out. If she had done her duty, she would have notified someone. If she had done her duty, she would have kept you safe".

That last statement seemed to have driven Rose over the edge. She snapped. "I did do my duty!" She shouted, jumping up from her chair. I flinched – God she's loud – and looked over at Alberta, waiting for the command to restrain Rose. I imagined walking up to Rose and grabbing her in a 'bear hug' as a means of 'restraining her'. Jesus! What is wrong with me! I'm the one who needs restraint! She's not even hot, Dimitri! Gah! I had no idea where these thoughts were coming from, but they needed to stop. And soon! Alberta met my eyes with a light shake of her head, meaning no restraints were needed. Rose wasn't throwing punches. Yet. "I did keep her safe! I kept her safe when none of you -" she made a sweeping gesture around the room. "- could do it! I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren't going to".

I drew my attention away from Rose, looking at Vasilisa now. She was looking at Rose like she was trying to communicate to her with no signs or talking. How odd. I had noticed Vasilisa doing this many times while I was watching them back in Portland. Hmm… I wonder…

Ms Kirova stared at Rose, her face blank. "Miss Hathaway, forgive me if I fail to see the logic of how taking her out of a heavily guarded, magically secured environment is protecting her. Unless there's something you're not telling us?"
Rose bit her lip.
"I see," said Ms Kirova, a look of triumph starting to appear on the old Moroi's face. Man how I wish I could just walk up to her and give Kirova a kick up thearse for being so mean! Rose is right, she did keep her safe. And if my hunch is right… "Well then, by my estimation, the only reason you left – aside from the novelty of it all, no doubt – was to avoid the consequences of the horrible, destructive stunt you pulled just before your disappearance."
"No that's not–" Kirova cut her off. "And that only makes my decision that much easier. As a Moroi, the Princess must continue on here at the Academy for her own safety. But we have no such obligations for you. You will be sent away as soon as possible."

Even though I knew nothing about Rosemarie Hathaway, I knew that last comment would shut her up."I…what?" She asked in disbelief. 'Oh yeah… 10 points to me!'

Vasilisa stood up. "You can't do that! She's my guardian"

"She is no such thing, particularly since she isn't a guardian at all. She's still a novice." Ms Kirova replied curtly.

"But my parents–" Vasilisa started rummaging for excuses.

"I know what your parents wanted, God rest their souls, but things have changed. Miss Hathaway is expendable. She doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and she will leave.

'Whoa! Did she just say Rose didn't deserve to be a guardian? I've seen what she's like, out of all the novice's in the school, she possibly deserves it most! Maybe I could convince Kirova to let this amazing, destructive, protective and attractive girl stay – Shit! What am I thinking! She's underage! You're just listening to the novices… they think she's attractive, not you!' During my mental war with myself, Rose just stared at the Headmistress. Finally, her shock disappeared and her snark returned. 'I guess if you're gonna go, go down kicking and screaming' "Where are you going to send me? To my mum in Nepal? Did she even know I was gone? Or maybe you'll you'll send me off to my father" Headmistress Kirova's eyes narrowed at the last one. 'Another thing to check off the list – find out about Rose's father' When she spoke next her words were so cold that I didn't even think she could sound that dangerous "or maybe you're going to try to send me off to be a blood whore? Try that, and we'll be gone by the end of the day"
"Miss Hathaway," Kirova hissed. "You are out of line."

I felt this was my turn to intervene. 'God I hope I'm right about this.' I was pretty confident that it was true but nonetheless. "They have a bond" I heard my accent come through more then I expected. It tends to happen when I'm taking a risk. It broke some of the tension between the women, though all eyes fell on me. 'Time to let speculation come to light' I inwardly sighed. I stared at Rose, trying to see into her soul. "Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling, don't you?"

Headmistress Kirova looked surprised, and kept glancing between myself and the girls. "No… that's impossible. It hasn't happened in centuries" Kirova said, still looking between us.

"It's obvious" I said. "I suspected as soon as I started watching them".

Neither Vasilisa nor Rose responded, and Rose averted her eyes away from mine.

"That is a gift" murmured Victor from his corner. "A rare and wonderful thing."
"The best guardians always have that bond," I added "In the stories."

I watched Kirova's outrage return. "Stories that are centuries old," She exclaimed.

"Surely you aren't suggesting we let her stay at the academy after everything she's done?"

'Yes! That's exactly what I'm suggesting!'

"She might be wild & disrespectful, but if she has potential-"

"Wild & disrespectful?" Rose interrupted.

'Dear god, keep Rose quite! Does she not realize I'm trying to help her?'

"Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?" She yelled at me. That struck a nerve. 'maybe she is as her records say…No, no, she's not. Just remember Dimitri, she doesn't even know you. No one does.'

"Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now," Kirova said, looking at Rose. "Her sanctioned guardian."

"You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?" Bam! Another low blow. 'Keep your head Dimitri, she's just trying to look out for the princess, even if it means dissing out on me'.

Kirova threw her hands up & turned to me. "You see? Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and very raw potential in the world can't make up for that. A guardian without discipline is worse than no guardian."

I kept my face blank. "So teach her discipline," I replied calmly. "Classes just started. Put her back in and training again."

"Impossible. She'll be hopelessly behind her peers."

"No I won't," argued Rose. 'God Rose, please shutup! I'm trying to help you!'

"Then give her extra training sessions," I said. We continued like that for a bit. It was like a ping pong match. Everyone's eyes switched between me & Ms Kirova.

"And who's going to put in the extra time?" Demanded Kirova, "You?"

My argument came to an abrupt halt. I definitely didn't expect that. "Well, that's not what I-," I said. It probably wasn't safe for me to be one on one with Rose alone for either of us.

Kirova crossed her arms. "Yes, that's what I thought."

I frowned & my eyes flickered over to the girls. I saw two runaways who broke out of a high security school. One, the last surviving heir to the Dragomir throne and the other, the most impulsive, attractive – 'not attractive! NOT attractive' – woman I'd ever laid eyes on. That made my decision. I had to do whatever I could to get Rose to stay. "Yes," I finally said. "I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones."

"And then what?" Retorted Kirova. "She goes unpunished?"

"Find some other way to punish her," I answered. "Guardian numbers have gone down too much to risk losing another. A girl in particular."

Rose shuddered. She was probably thinking of her 'blood whore' comment before.

Prince Victor spoke from his corner. "I'm inclined to agree with Guardian Belikov. Sending Rose away would be a shame, a waste of talent."

'Yes! This could work!'

Kirova faced the window. When she turned back around, Lissa met her eyes. "Please, ms Kirova. Let Rose stay."

'Wait, is she using compulsion?...No, impossible. Not in front of all these people.'

Kirova sighed. "If Miss Hathaway stays, here's how it'll be." She turned to Rose. "Your continued enrollment at Saint Vladmirs is strictly probationary. Step out of line once and you're gone. You will attend all classes & required trainings for Novices your age. You will also train with Guardian Belikoc in every spare moment you have – Before & after classes. Other than that, you are banned from all social activites, except meals, & you will stay in your dorm. Fail to comply with any of this, & you will be sent…Away."

Rose gave a harsh laugh. "Banned from all social activities? Are you trying to keep us apart?" She nodded towards Lissa. "Afraid we'll run away again?"

"Im taking precautions. As I'm sure you recall, you were never properly punished for destroying school property. You have a lot to make up for." Het thin lips tightened into a straight line. "You are being offered a very generous deal. I suggest you don't let your attitude endanger it."

Rose looked like she was going to argue again, but then she caught my gaze. I tried to convey that I believed in her & she was an idiot to keep fighting with Ms Kirova into a single gaze, and I think she got the message because she exhaled & turned back to the Headmistress.

"Fine, I accept."