Hi! :)

Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favorites! Many of you seemed to think that last chapter was a cliff-hanger but it wasn't. What happens to the mill owner will be clarified but that scene was best left there, wasn't it? :p

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's more of a filler than anything else but it highlights how far Rose and Dimitri have come :)


Rose

"I hate running!" I huffed as I came to a stop beside Dimitri who seemed to be containing his amusement.

At my expense.

I was not amused.

"Quit laughing." I demanded, resting my hands on my hips.

Sadly, Dimitri did not seem intimidated in the least. In fact, the smile that he'd been trying to contain broke through, lighting his features beautifully.

It was almost enough to make me forget my righteous indignation.

"You're no stranger to exercise," Dimitri noted, taking in my sad state of flushed cheeks and sweaty body. Despite the fact that it was evening time and the air was slightly chilly, I felt as though the sun was burning me. "Why is it that you despise running so much?"

I ignored the last part of his question because really, what could I have said? I did not like running, period.

"It may have been alright-" I said, snatching his water bottle from him. "-if you had not set such a fast pace."

Dimitri shrugged, watching as I gulped down water. When I stopped, he retied his laces and started jogging again but at a much slower pace.

Throwing his water bottle to the ground, I resigned myself to one more lap around the track before deciding to call it quits.

"Running builds endurance," Dimitri stated when I caught up with him. "It may save your life one day."

I frowned. "How so?"

Dimitri looked over at me without slowing down. "Someday, Rose, you may find yourself in a situation where you have no choice but to run away from danger. That may be the only way to save your life."

"I don't want to run away from danger," I retorted.

"It's not a question of wanting to or not," Dimitri said, his tone quiet. "Sometimes you have no choice."

I reflected on that before frankly stating, "I don't know if I can do that."

"You must," Dimitri said firmly. "Bravery is not always about staying and fighting the battle, Rose. It's about recognizing that you may have to give up the battle for the sake of winning the war."

I turned his words over in my head. I had to admit, his words made a lot of sense. It was about seeing the bigger picture, something I rarely did. I've always lived in the moment, thinking only about the present. But perhaps future was just as important...

"I didn't know there was a zen master in you, Comrade." I said lightly, not wanting him to know that his words had given me a lot to think about. "Do you give out life lessons often?"

Dimitri's lips turned up slightly. "It's something of a specialty of mine."

"I'll say."

We ran the last lap in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. That was one thing that was quite strange to me: how silence with Dimitri was so soothing. I wasn't good with silence at all but after the sword fight between us and the day spent in the city, something between us seemed to have settled. With that came comfort...and companionship. There was hardly a need to fill silences with words anymore.

"Any news of the mill owner?" Dimitri asked when we returned to Nakshatra after the run.

"He's charged with fraud and willful deceit of public." I answered smugly. "The news will soon be broadcast in the media. We're hopeful that people will come forward and complain about such men."

"Good," Dimitri nodded approvingly then glanced at his watch. "Ivan's due to call any minute. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Not quite wishing to let him go on his way, I casually remarked, "There's still two hours before sunset."

"Yes." Dimitri suppressed a smile and made a show of glancing at his watch again. "What are you thinking?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, refusing to analyze the giddy feeling building within me. "Treva falls is beautiful at this time."

The smile he'd been holding back broke through and I resisted the urge to forbid him from ever holding back his smiles. He was only just warming from the Ice prince he'd been since his arrival two weeks ago and I didn't know how much I could push him.

"Give me fifteen minutes," was all he said when his phone lit up with a call.

"Meet me at the garage," I told him before he left.

Smiling involuntarily, I decided to take a bath when I registered something amiss.

Something that smelled like Chanel.

"I know you're there, Liss." I called, looking around the room. "Come out."

My best friend appeared from the hallway leading to the kitchen.

"How did you know I was there?" she demanded like usual, despite the fact that she should be used to it by now.

"Ninja secrets," I said mysteriously, laughing when she shot me a glare. The poor girl had never figured out that her perfume was strong enough to be detected by those who knew to look for it.

"Is there anything you need?" I asked, wanting to finish my bath in the fifteen minute time frame set by Dimitri.

Lissa smiled slyly at my question. "There's nothing I need, Rose. I simply came over to spend time with my best friend and what do I see?"

I groaned when Lissa giggled and started singing, "Rose is in loooove..."

"Shut up, Liss." I clamped my hand over her mouth to stop her atrocious singing. "You can't carry a tune so please don't attempt it."

Lissa pouted when I released her and stepped back. "But, Rose! You're bonding with your hubby to be!"

Groaning again, I dragged my fingers over my face and prayed for some patience. "Can you please be serious?"

"Not words I ever thought you'd use," Lissa noted innocently. "Dimitri Belikov must be rubbing off on you-"

"Alright, that's enough!" I said, cutting her off with a glare before striding up the stairs, knowing Lissa would follow.

"Okay, I'll stop it-" Lissa said when I walked into my bedroom. "-if you tell me what's going on."

"Nothing," I said, collapsing on my bed with a sigh. "We...we're getting to know each other."

"And?" Lissa prompted, sitting down beside me.

"And-" I hesitated then reached for my phone. "Hang on a second."

I typed a quick message to Dimitri, asking him to meet me after half an hour. The reason I gave him was my need to have a bath but really, I just wanted to talk to Lissa about everything. I'd barely been able to speak to Neal and Lissa after Dimitri's arrival and I needed one of them to listen.

So, as I soaked in my bathtub, I told her everything that had passed between Dimitri and I.

"I'm surprised at how patient he's been with you," Lissa said with a small smile when I finished talking.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lissa shrugged delicately. "We all know how difficult you can be, Rose. In this case, you specifically wanted Dimitri to see that side of you. I'm just surprised that he's taken it so well."

I gaped at her. "Did you not hear me correctly? We've had numerous arguments since his arrival-"

"Of course you were bound to clash, what with your widely different personalities!" Lissa remarked. "You didn't help matters when you blindly accused him of sleeping with Madhri."

I scowled at her. "I may have been hasty to jump into conclusions but Liss, he's no better! The way he spoke to me, such condensation-"

"That was before he got to know you," Lissa insisted. "The way you both have been interacting these days seems friendly enough."

I sighed, leaning back on the tub. Lissa sat on a stool nearby, watching me keenly, letting me draw my own conclusions.

"Fine," I admitted. "He's not so bad once you get to know him."

Not so bad?

I didn't want to admit it to Lissa but I was somewhat impressed by him. The way he'd managed the situation with the owner of the rice mill...suffice to say, he held me back from losing it that day. Of course, I'd heard of his popularity before I met him and I knew that he was someone widely admired for his good governance skills. But that day in the city, I'd seen it first hand. The way he'd gotten the people to leave the scene, the way he'd dealt with- everything, really.

But that was just the icing on the cake. Of course, I admired his honesty, the way he'd handled my unconventional ways and actually seemed to admire my stubborn disposition but what had actually softened me towards him was how much he understood me.

Once we'd decided to work things out between us, Dimitri and I had taken to meeting regularly at dusk to talk. I'd discovered that he was so much like me in so many aspects and seemed to be one of the rare people who actually understood why I did things the way I did. What was more, he seemed to share my beliefs though our approaches were widely different. I just-well, we just fit together, as friends if nothing else.

'Friends' was good.

"Of course, it's not all sunshine and roses from here on," I said out loud, following my train of thought. I ignored Lissa's giggle when I said roses. "Though we're not arguing like before, we still have many things to work out. His coldness, for example-"

"-is a perfect complement to your inferno of a temper." Lissa noted.

I huffed but acknowledged it. "Maybe so but Liss, he's so uptight. Not always but ever so often, he acts like he's untouchable, as though nothing matters. He's so...so aloof."

Lissa laughed suddenly. "I'm sorry! You say problems but all I can see is how exactly opposite he is to you. He complements you, accept that."

I snorted. "He vexes me so and I'm sure he thinks the same about me. We might frustrate each other to death."

Lissa laughed. "I'd love to see that. But you do realize everything you've said is only the fine print. The main conditions have always been that he doesn't restrict your freedom or insult you by having affairs."

"I've not exactly spoken to him about it," I said carefully. "I'm pretty sure he won't reduce me to a trophy wife but how far he's willing to give me a free reign is something to be discussed. As for affairs," I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "I have to ask him about them. If he can promise me that he won't entertain thoughts of second marriages and such, then there's hope for this betrothal."


Dimitri

"Could you drive slower?" I asked Rose cautiously, eyeing the speedometer. "You'll get us both killed, Rose."

Rose shot me a look full of mirth before turning back to the road.

"Why do I bother?" I muttered rhetorically as I leaned back in my seat. We were on the way to Treva waterfalls with a handful of guards traveling in a single black car behind us. Rose had downsized the guard despite Mason's insistence. But what use were guards when the menace was in your car as the driver?

"Chill, Comrade." Rose had left the windows down, the wind whipping her hair behind as a nearly maniacal grin covered her face. She seemed drunk on speed and the image was strangely...exciting. She looked like a wild goddess, a crazy one at that.

It was disconcerting to think that it had been her wildness that had made me wary of her when we first met, her recklessness a cause for concern. But after everything that had happened, I'd be the crazy one if I questioned her beliefs and her devotion to her people. In her own way, Rose was everything a queen should be.

"I suppose I should slow down," Rose said, glancing in the rear view mirror. "Don't want to attract too much attention."

"I'm glad you think so," I said simply.

"Mock me all you want, grandpa." Rose sniffed, "But there's nothing quite like driving at such speed."

"There's also nothing like getting killed in a road accident," I said sarcastically.

Rose shot me a look that was almost proud. "Look at you, bringing out the claws. I'm a bad influence."

I turned away from her to contain a grin.

"I wonder how you'll be ten years from now," Rose said, slowing the car as we encountered traffic. "Ten years of my influence..."

"I shudder to think about that," I eyed the speedometer but there was no danger there. Rose had really slowed down to a normal speed.

There was a small pause.

"So," Rose started hesitantly. "Our engagement..."

I nodded slowly. "Day after tomorrow."

"So soon," Rose murmured, biting her lip.

I tore my eyes away from her to look out of the window. "My mother says it's an auspicious day."

"You need to get back to Russovia soon," Rose said intelligently. She'd figured out why the engagement was pushed up even though none of us had told her. The engagement had actually been scheduled for next week but Ivan had reluctantly confessed that I was needed in Magadha. I had no choice but to attend to my duty.

"You're right," I told Rose. "Abe told me you were okay with this...shift of dates."

Rose nodded once, biting down on her lip again. Was she even aware of what she was doing?

Taking a right turn from the highway, Rose drove down a narrow road which cut through a forest.

"What is it, Rose?" I asked, knowing that she wanted to say something.

Rose met my eyes briefly before asking, "Are you sure about going through with this -betrothal?"

I arched an eyebrow, wondering what exactly was going through her head. "Why do you ask?"

Rose exhaled, eyes fixed firmly on the road even as I turned to watch her. "I don't know. It's just-we're almost strangers, Dimitri. Isn't it natural to have reservations?"

"I suppose it is," I said carefully, trying to understand her mood.

"So you're okay with it?" Rose questioned hesitantly. "You're okay with me?"

"Are you?"

"I asked you first," Rose smirked.

"I didn't say no for various reasons," I said, not answering her question directly. "The main reason being my father. This betrothal was arranged by him and breaking it means breaking a promise given by my father. I couldn't do that, couldn't slight his memory like that."

Rose nodded. "I didn't say no because..."

"Because?"

"It's our duty, isn't it?" Rose asked, looking away from the road to meet my eyes for a brief moment. She said the very sentence running through my mind at that moment. "It's what's best for our countries."

"It's the right thing to do," I agreed, once again struck by our similar sense of duty. We both wanted to do what was best for our country, even if it meant marrying strangers. They come first.

"But what if," Rose hesitated again. "What if we're not good together? What if it becomes impossible to live together, let alone rule?"

I sighed. "Honestly, Rose. I have the same questions. But only time can answer them."

Rose nodded solemnly. "So we're going through with this?"

I smiled involuntarily. "Yes."

Rose's answering smile was beautiful. "Good."


AN: Sooo...filler chapter. But an important one. Hope you guys liked it. The next chapter is the immediate continuation of this one and hopefully will be up within a week :D

Leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter :)