Happy 2017! I meant to update a lot earlier but ran into some problems with my laptop, hence the delay. I hope you all had a great Christmas and an awesome New Year party ;)

As always, thanks for all the love and support :)

Enjoy the chapter. This is, perhaps, the lengthiest one to date :)


Rose

"Hello, Lord Ivashkov."

As expected Adrian Ivashkov shuddered in revulsion. He'd once told me that his title reminded him a little too much of his pompous father and that he preferred to keep things informal as a direct contrast to his father.

I laughed at his reaction, happy to see one of my oldest friends. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Adrian smiled, his emerald eyes widened innocently. "What, did you think I'd miss an opportunity to spend time with my most favorite person in the world?"

I rolled my eyes. "Cheesy."

Adrian ignored my words and instead made a show of looking at me up and down. "May I just say how hot you look tonight?"

Though his words were playful, I felt uncomfortable as I always did when he said anything remotely flirty. So, I played it off with a joke: "When am I not?"

"Never," he said sincerely.

"I take it you're my escort. Let's go then."

"What's the rush?" Adrian asked easily, closing the distance between us.

"There are people waiting for me," I reminded him. "It's my engagement party after all."

Adrian's sunny smile dimmed, as if he'd only just realized the occasion.

"So," he put his hands in his pockets, looking a little uncomfortable. "Dimitri Belikov, huh?"

His tone was dull but I did my best to ignore it.

"Yup," I said, fiddling with one of my rings that bore the royal sigil of the Mazurs. "Dimitri Belikov."

"I didn't think you'd get married so soon," Adrian confessed.

I shrugged. "Neither did I."

There was a odd moment of silence between us as I fidgeted uncomfortably and Adrian seemed to lost in thought.

"Are you happy?" Adrian asked suddenly.

I looked up, wondering how much I could tell him.

As though reading my mind, Adrian grasped my hand. "You can tell me anything, Rose. Despite everything, I'm still your friend."

"It's just a little weird," I confessed with a small laugh.

"I'm sorry, that's my fault." Adrian looked down at my hand in his. "I knew it was a bad idea telling you the truth about my feelings."

My mind flashed back to last summer in the kingdom of Anga, Madhri's country. She'd announced that she was pregnant with Eddie's child and a massive celebration had been organized in her homeland; the occasion graced by dignitaries from many kingdoms over the world. The Russovian representative had been Nathan Ivashkov, with his son Adrian in tow.

I'd run into Adrian a few times before that, since he was Madhri's close friend and she was my, well, sort of sister-in-law. We'd hit it off because despite all his playboy persona, he was genuinely a good person and loved to party like I did.

He'd always been a flirt, especially when I was around. I brushed off his interest, knowing that no good would come from engaging in a romantic relationship before marriage. I was controversial enough as it was.

Adrian had never pursued me seriously though, so his flirting became more of a joke than anything else.

But that summer in Anga, amidst all the dancing and cocktails, Adrian had confessed that he had feelings for me. Having never seen him in that way before, I'd rejected him without a second thought. I'd hurt him, I knew that but the next day, Adrian had begged me to not let it affect our friendship. I'd promised him not to but it was awkward being around him after that.

We'd only salvaged our friendship when Madhri lost her child. Adrian was there to support her and I to support Eddie so we were thrown in together a lot. But even then, it was a little awkward for me to talk to him, not knowing if his feelings were actually serious or if they'd already vanished.

Add to that the fact that he was a great guy, someone who could keep me happy and not force me to change myself. He would make a good life-partner for someone.

And that someone could have been me.

Saying no had been a knee-jerk reaction. But what would have happened if I'd said yes?

As he stood before me now, I wondered if I'd actually made a mistake in rejecting him. Life with Adrian would have been easy.

He wouldn't hurt me the way Dimitri had.

Hell, he'd lay the world at my feet if I asked him to. There's be no accusations of being too childish, no disappointment, no judgement.

There would be no Dimitri.

Well, Dimitri would be there since he was the king of Adrian's country but he wouldn't...he wouldn't be my Dimitri.

He'd just have been a distant, emotionless king.

Would that have been better? I didn't know…

"You're betrothed now," Adrian said, drawing me back to the present. "So hopefully, we can move past this?"

I smiled at his sincerity and nodded before glancing at my watch. "We'd better leave if we want to get there on time."

"As you command," Adrian grinned and offered me his arm. "Let's go."


Dimitri

"Where's Rose?" My mother asked Abe, glancing down the corridor in search of her. "She should have been here by now."

Janine perused her lips at the mention of her daughter but Abe smiled soothingly, "She'll be here, Olena."

I hoped that he was right; that Rose would be here soon. I didn't know if she would show up but she had to.

This party was being held for sole reason of encouraging the two families to get to know each other. Rose would be meeting my relatives for the first time and I didn't want their first impression of her to be tainted in any way.

Not that she would care.

But I did.

Yes, our fight had been nasty but we couldn't let it show. No one could suspect that something was wrong between us but Rose's absence would be a glaring signal that it was.

But she didn't care much for pretension, did she? No, Rose Mazur hated masking her feelings and idea of spending an entire evening by my side, doing exactly that, might dissuade her from showing up.

But she'd do her duty, wouldn't she?

"The party seemed to be going on in full swing even without us," Viktoria remarked, peering into the hall.

The party, for lack of better words, was being held in one of the largest halls of the Palace. A vast majority of our relatives were already inside but Abe, Janine, Viktoria, my mother and I were waiting in the hallway for Rose. When she arrived-if she did- we'd be announced inside together.

For all intents and purposes, this party was for me and Rose. But I felt reluctant to enter the hall- I wanted to be anywhere but here.

I'd much rather be alone with my thoughts.

I needed to think, despite the fact that I seemed to be doing a lot of thinking since that quarrel with Rose.

Sighing as Rose's hurt face swan before my eyes, I walked away from the group to look out of the large bay window.

Regret was not an emotion I was overly familiar with, nor was guilt.

"I thought that, of all people, you would be willing to listen."

I closed my eyes, trying to block out the echoes of her voice.

"I know what I did, damn it! That's what none of you understand. But I had to do it."

I needed to distract myself. Forget about Rose.

"I had a reason for doing so."

A reason

Why had I not allowed her to explain? I'd been so caught up in feeling angry and betrayed that I'd not stopped to think. I thought I knew her so what changed?

Abe's jovial voice cut into my thoughts. "There she is!"

Rose.

She was here.

I turned around immediately, catching sight of Rose striding down the corridor towards us, her hand tucked into Adrian Ivashkov's arm.

How did she know him?

She looked irresistible in that emerald gown which wrapped around her voluptuous form like a glove. It enhanced her beauty and heightened the dangerous allure that always seemed to radiate from her. She looked…she looked like the queen that she was meant to be.

Her dark eyes swept over us as her cherry rep lips turned up in an enchanting smile. Beside her, Ivashkov walked with a large grin, looking supremely delighted. Who wouldn't be, in the company of such beauty? It was understandable…

…but not enjoyable.

No. I fought the sudden impulse to pull him away from her- away from my betrothed.

"It's time for us to enter the hall, Vika." Mama smiled at Rose and walked in with Viktoria.

"We should go too," Janine told Abe but her eyes were on her daughter who wasn't looking at her at all.

Ivashkov's smile dimmed as he and Rose came to a stop in front of me. At this distance, I noticed that Rose's gown seemed to match Ivashkov's eyes.

Was that deliberate?

What was going on between them?

She'd told me time and again that she wouldn't tolerate it if I were to stray. But what about her?

She'd made no such promises.

I knew I was being irrational- I could feel it in the deep recesses of my heart. But the thought of her with Adrian was like a nasty rash I desperately wanted to get rid of.

Did I deserve to feel like this, after the way I'd behaved yesterday?

Without a word, Rose slipped her hand from Ivashkov's and moved to stand next to me. Her sweet perfume washed over me as she lightly gripped my arm, perhaps with a touch of warning. Her eyes met mine fleetingly before she looked back to Adrian who was no longer smiling.

He knew as well as I did that she had to stay by my side and not his.

Abe extended a hand towards Adrian. "Thank you for escorting my daughter, Lord Ivashkov."

Adrian shook his hand briefly. "It was my pleasure, sir."

"Perhaps you'd like to go in now?" Abe gestured to the door.

Adrian shook his head. "No, no. I promised to meet Madhri before the party. You all go on."

Ah, yes. I'd forgotten that he was friends with Rose's cousin-in law, the same woman who's so abashedly tried to get me into her bed. I suppose birds of a feather indeed flock together.

"I hope you both will have no trouble introducing each other to your guests," Janine said, mostly to Rose.

Rose smiled sweetly but I could clearly see that it was fake. "No problem at all, mother."

Abe's eyes darted between Rose and I. He leaned in a little as he spoke, careful not to be heard by Adrian. "I don't know what happened between the two of you and I don't need to. It's your personal matter. Just make sure than you don't even hint at having anything less than a civil relationship with each other."

"Don't worry, Abe." I said, not even surprised that he'd detected the strain between us. "We'll be careful."

With a last scrutinizing glance, he left with Janine.

Adrian's eyes met mine. "Your Grace," he nodded, his eyes reflecting a slight challenge.

I inclined my head, keeping my eyes on his.

This man was my subject and well below me in rank. I could have him arrested for just looking at me like that. Like father, like son I suppose. Nathan Ivashkov, being the head of Ivashkov family, was a constant thorn in my side.

Ivashkovs were one of the four royal families of Russovia. They never have been particularly friendly but the new generation seemed worse than the previous ones.

Making sure my face betrayed nothing, I greeted the man who'd escorted my betrothed to me. "Lord Ivashkov."

Rose looked at me with a frown and I knew that she didn't like my tone. She'd only just stopped calling me "Ice prince", claiming that I could freeze the sun if I wanted to.

I highly doubted it, seeing as how she was the only sun in my universe. She was capable of burning me alive if she wished to.

"I'll see you later," she told Ivashkov, her voice soft.

He spared her a lingering glance before reluctantly leaving, making it clear that he desired her.

Quite clear indeed.

"He likes you," I told Rose, eyeing her carefully. "You're to be his Queen, his superior and he likes you."

Her eyes flashed as she looked at me angrily. Before she could reply, the double doors of the hall were thrown open for us as the herald announced our presence.

When Rose reluctantly tucked her arm into mine, we walked into the hall together amidst applause from the guests.


Rose

The hall was large and tastefully decorated with upbeat music playing in the background. I smiled at the guests, waving at some acquaintances as Dimitri led me over to the low rise platform set up at the side of the hall, directly under an archway that was decorated with garlands of white jasmine. The band occupied the back portion of the platform and our parents stood in the front.

The people parted as Dimitri and I walked over to it, still clapping cheerfully.

I noticed a lot of awe-filled looks directed at Dimitri and I, and could only imagine how good we looked together.

We were both rather gorgeous individuals, even if I say so myself. Dimitri looked especially dashing today in a three-piece charcoal gray suit that was perfectly tailored as usual. He'd even combed his hair and sadly, there were no stray strands framing that handsome face.

This close to him, I could clearly smell that wonderful aftershave of his and feel the electricity that always sparked between us.

Irritation spread through my veins as I looked at his neutral face.

He just had to be perfect, didn't he?

Perfect in everything. Dimitri Belikov, the perfect. Dimitri Belikov, the noble. Dimitri Belikov, the handsome.

Dimitri Belikov, the judgmental.

Dimitri Belikov, the man who was convinced that he was always right.

My betrothed.

My eyes stung at the thought but I quickly controlled myself.

No more tears.

I plastered a large smile when we climbed up the platform, quickly letting go of Dimitri's arm as we stood in the spotlight with everyone cheering for us.

All of a sudden, the lights dimmed and we heard the clearing of a microphone.

Everyone turned around in confusion, searching to see the source of the sound.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said a voice I loved to hell and back. "Welcome! Welcome to Loha."

Neal.

Clad in a polished black suit and his typical bowler hat, my brother stood on the opposite side of the hall, grinning cheekily when the spotlight fell on him. "Surprised?"

I exchanged an amused glance with Dad.

Only Neal would pull something like this. When had he even returned from Gayodha?

"For those of you who don't know me," Neal said into the mike as he strolled over to us, one hand in his pocket and another holding the mike. Casual as you please, like he always was. "I'm Neal Mazur, the Prince of Loha and more importantly, the brother of the bride."

He stopped in the middle of the hall, in the middle of the guests and bowed when they clapped for him.

"For those of you who do know me-" Neal continued, his black suit glinting in the light as he took a step forward. "-which is more than half of you, or so I hope- you'll know there's nothing I love more than my sweet sister. How then, could I miss a get-together party with her future family?"

A collective 'aw' echoed through the hall.

I couldn't stop smiling, my mood lifted by a million. Neal was here and everything would soon be alright.

"This betrothal has brought together two very different countries with two very different cultures," Neal noted, pausing to glance around him. "We're very different people indeed but we've all assembled here today to celebrate our shared identity; to celebrate the unification of our families, of our countries. Today, we have one goal and that is to get to know each other."

Noises of assent filled the hall and Neal smiled, the twinkle in his eye visible even from this distance.

"So, join me in this toast." He picked up a champagne flute that the waiters had been distributing in the hall. Dimitri and I were handed one as well. When everyone had their glasses in their hand, Neal raised his glass into the air: "To a new beginning."

"A new beginning," we echoed, drinking the champagne.

The lights were brightened again as Neal walked up to the podium. I handed my glass to Dad before flinging my arms around Neal.

"That was really sweet." I told him proudly.

"It indeed was," Dad agreed as Olena patted Neal's back.

"You have wonderful children," Olena praised us, looking squarely at my mother.

Did she suspect-?

"You sure know how to make an entrance," Dimitri told Neal, his voice light.

I felt a pang when he spoke and so, I kept my eyes on Neal who looked rather smug.

"Typical drama queen," I teased him, much to everyone's amusement.

"Let's get on with the party, shall we?" Janine said crisply, cutting right through the merriment and gesturing for the band to begin playing. "We have a few song and dance performances lined up to entertain the guests but Rose, Dimitri-you need to mingle."

"Introduce each other to your relatives," Olena said with a warm smile.

"Go on then," Dad added, gesturing to the masses below.

Dimitri and I looked at each other for a second before he extended his arm to me. I sighed and grasped it as lightly as possible as he led us down the stage and into the crowd.

Let the torture begin.


Dimitri

Once we descended from the stage, we were surrounded by well wishers from both countries, occasionally from other countries as well. We'd tried to limit the guest list for the engagement to our families, figuring that the wedding would have to be a large scale event but even then, there were too many people to meet and greet.

Rose, for her part, was ever the gracious host but I could see the strain behind the smile.

As much as I hated it, I knew I was the reason behind it.

I couldn't ignore it any longer.

She was trying to not let it show but I could see how her mouth tightened when she looked at me, her eyes turning hard when they met mine and how she maintained a careful distance between us.

One incident had destroyed all the good days we'd had together.

The blame lay on both of us; Rose for breaking a promise and mine for not listening to her and for jumping to conclusions. I'd acted on my emotions; impulsively passing judgment without considering the facts.

I've always taken pride at being fair and rarely acted impulsively. But something about Rose had always thrown me off course.

It always had, right from the moment I'd met her.

But that was no excuse. I needed to own up to my mistake.

"We need to talk," I told her quietly when the ever talkative Lady Natalie Dashkov left us.

Rose looked up at me contemplatively before sighing. "I know we do but-"

"Aw, look at you two!" a shrill voice crooned, breaking our conversation. My father's sister, Lady Anisha Selzky stood before us, her hands on her cheeks as she looked at the two of us. She'd always had such a flair for dramatics. "You get along so nicely! I can't believe my Dima is getting married!"

She pulled me to her to kiss my cheek while I resisted the urge to step away.

"How are you, my boy?" she asked cheerfully when she released me.

I smiled at her in reply before turning to Rose who looked very amused. "Rose, this is my aunt, Lady Anisha Selzky." Turning to my aunt, I said. "This is Rose Mazur-"

"Oh, yes, yes!" Aunt Anisha cut me off by clapping her hands. "Your betrothed is one pretty thing, Dima. My my, what a beautiful gown that is! How are you, my dear?"

With a large smile, Rose assured my aunt that she was fine. Her smile grew as my aunt continued to talk, occasionally pinching my cheek as she recounted some tale from my childhood.

Yes, I could see why Rose was smiling so much. She must be finding this exceedingly hilarious.

It was a small mercy when my uncle finally dragged her away, apologizing on her behalf.

Rose turned to me with a grin when they'd left. "I had no-"

She trailed off when someone approached us, reminding me again that we'd have no privacy and no time at all to talk to each other in the middle of this circus.

The man who stood before us seemed vaguely familiar but Rose must have known him because she stepped forward to hug him before drawing back and punching his arm.

Laughing blue eyes met mine and I knew who the man was. "Christian."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Christian Ozera said with a small bow, a familiar smirk on his face. "I'm surprised you remember."

"Only one other person has eyes like that," I told him, shaking his hand. "How are you?"

"I'm great!" Christian grinned, looking between Rose and me. "But you may not be, Your Majesty. This one's a handful."

I chuckled when Rose huffed.

"You have no right to talk, mister." Rose retorted with a mock glare at him. "Why did you not come see me sooner?"

"I would have," Christian said with a sigh, looking at Rose pitifully. "But your slave driver of a cousin kept me busy. He sent me to Gayodha, to help Neal's investigation."

The atmosphere grew somber at the mention of Gayodha.

Rose sighed, "Is it done?"

Christian glanced around furtively. "All I can tell you right now is that a team's been stationed there. We're going back after your engagement."

"Did you find anything of significance?" I asked him.

"Yes," Christian said softly. "I'm sure Abe will brief you soon."

I nodded, quelling my curiosity.

Rose smiled with some effort. "I'm sure it was not you who did the work. You've always been lazy, Ozera."

Christian's smirk returned and he said: "I'd love to stay and argue with you, Rose but I'm too busy. Too much work to do. But I had to let you know that I was alive or you'd throw me a funeral in a few days."

"That I would," Rose said, words oozing snark.

Christian looked at me innocently. "What did I tell you? Too much to deal with."

I nodded and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Christian smiled sincerely for the first time that evening. "Congrats, you two. I'll see you around."

I watched him disappear into the crowd before my attention was drawn to the next person who'd come to greet us.

On and on it went, introductions and fake smiles. At one point, Rose grasped my arm briefly, somehow sensing my frustration. I'd never before noticed that she could bring about a sense of calmness with a single touch.

How odd.


Rose

The entire evening was as torturous as I'd expected.

Handling guests was usually tiring but it was worse when you were greeting your future family. One never knew how much to talk in such situations. Especially when one wasn't on perfect terms with one's own betrothed.

I could sense Dimitri getting frustrated as well, perhaps even more than me since he was so anti-social in the first place. On top of everything, our fight hung over our heads like a black cloud.

Perhaps the only ray of sunshine was the fact that I'd glimpsed genuine regret in Dimitri's eyes when he looked at me.

He wanted to talk.

I did too.

The entire situation had escalated beyond belief and I wanted to have our old camaraderie back. But he'd hurt me…

Hadn't I hurt him too?

We greeted our guests in perfect synchronicity, taking over conversation when greeting with our respective relatives and introducing the other. But we'd only managed to cover half the room in the three hours that had passed…

My throat was starting to feel parched and I desperately wanted a cool drink. Deciding that I'd endured more than enough, I leaned over to Dimitri as one of my distant cousins went on about something or the other, and said: "I've had enough. I'm going to get myself a drink."

Dimitri shook his head. "No, I'll get you a drink. You stay with your relatives."

I agreed and he quickly excused himself.

"Rose?" My old aunt Lily peered up at me through misty eyes. "Are you okay? You looked a little tired, my dear."

"It's nothing, Aunt Lily." I tried to look more cheerful. "I'm just thirsty, that's all."

"Well, go and get yourself a drink." she told me strictly. "It's very important to stay hydrated."

"Dimitri has-"

"Go on. The food stall's that way."

Giving in, I quickly took off in the direction Dimitri had gone; smiling and nodding at the guests as I walked but I didn't stop. When I drew closer to the food counters, I heard my name being called out.

Resisting the urge to swear, I turned around to see Viktoria a few paces away. She looked very pretty in her velvet wrap dress, the golden highlights in her hair shining under the light.

"I'd love to stop and chat," I told her without preamble. "But I fear I may collapse from thirst."

Viktoria laughed, linking our hands together. "Come on, then. We can't have the bride collapsing, can we?"

I snorted. "I'm not a bride yet but whatever. Let's go."

As I turned, I caught sight of something that halted me on my tracks. Confused, Viktoria looked to see what I was staring at.

It was Dimitri.

He stood leaning against a pillar, his face lit up with a genuine smile and body held relaxed. He clutched two champagne glasses but seemed to have forgotten them as he laughed heartily at whatever his companion was saying.

I'd only heard him laugh like that once or twice.

Dimitri seemed to be very fond of whoever he was talking to and immediately I hated her, that woman who was making my betrothed laugh like that. Her back was to me so I couldn't see her face. She was tall, clad in a short ice blue gown that seemed to be made of some sort of sheer, shimmery material. Her hand rested on Dimitri's arm as she leaned forward to whisper something to him.

Something that made him smile again.

"Who's that?" I asked Viktoria in a tone I hardly recognized.

"Tasha Ozera." Viktoria replied promptly. "That's Natasha Ozera."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "The same Natasha Ozera who was widely touted to be the next queen of Russovia?"

Viktoria looked at me uneasily.

That was all the answer I needed. Without another word to Viktoria, I strode over to where Natasha Ozera was talking to my betrothed.


AN: Aaaaannnd it's done! Not really, we have two more chapters of this torture :p

Things are well and truly heating up and I'm so excited to hear your feedback! This was the part 1 of the jealously saga so tell me, please, tell me if you liked it!

Okay, I'm a little hyper and seriously resisting the urge to type "Honey, you should see me in a crown" :p :D ;)

Hyper! You can blame my state on one James Moriarty, the napolean of crime! Mr Sex himself :D For those of you who do not watch Sherlock, start watching! And for those who do, you'll know how charming the man is ;) Andrew Scott rocks :D If any of you do watch Sherlock and want to discuss, I'm always here :)