Valya awoke in a pristine interrogation room, her head pressed to the cool metal of the table. She could feel handcuffs gripping her wrists behind the metal slats of the chair. Her shoulders ached. Valya didn't remember what happened after she was captured by the guardians; she was close- so tantalizingly close- to seeing the queen and figuring all of this out. She just had to go and rush into things.
Stupid, Valya thought to herself. Stupid, reckless, thoughtless, stupid. Mom wouldn't do something like this.
Grimacing, Valya lifted her head and sat up, wisps of her ponytail falling into her face. She attempted to blow them away, but that only served to cover her eyes even more. She huffed like a bull and met the gaze of the person who sat opposite her.
"Nice of you to join us," Dimitri Belikov said, his hands clasped in front of him.
Dimitri observed Valya coldly and she did the same. He was like looking at something you normally only ever see in dreams: all of the pieces were there, but they weren't as perfect, no luster or sheen. He'd cut his hair short, a spare few inches of salt and pepper locks poking up like the hair of a chia pet, and there was a large scar that ran across one of his eyebrows and disappeared into his hairline. Valya decided that her mother was right: he was a beast of a man. Dimitri wore a special badge on his shirt. Whatever he did now, he was someone important.
Valya couldn't fathom for even a moment why he, of all people, was her father.
"Hello," she said coolly. "Would you mind taking these cuffs of? They chafe."
"The cuffs stay on," Dimitri replied.
"Are you sure?" Valya asked. She fidgeted in her chair. "Could you at least get me some lotion or something, because I'm dying here."
He glared at her and turned his attention to a piece of paper in front of him. "We have security cameras showing you scaling the wall surrounding the perimeter-"
"-more like jumping over," Valya interjected. "It wasn't too hard to do in the first place."
Dimitri continued. "-bypassing not one, but five security guards-"
"Are they really doing their jobs if an unassuming young girl can give them the slip?" Valya batted her eyelashes.
"-and attempting to enter the throne room," Dimitri finished. "Is that correct?"
Valya shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."
"You aren't even going to defend yourself?" Dimitri asked.
"Why bother? It's true." She looked at him with the most innocent expression she could muster, but thought she probably gave off more of an impression that she was a lunatic rather than a young girl who had gotten lost.
"Why would a novice such as yourself feel the need to break in?" Dimitri asked. He made a few notes on the paper. "You could walk through the front door."
Valya shrugged. "I wanted to practice my parkour."
Dimitri bit the inside of his cheek, presumably to stop himself from chuckling.
"And I'm not a novice," Valya added. "You can write that down in your little case file or whatever."
"Not a novice and no promise mark?" Dimitri made a noise in the back of his throat.
Valya craned her neck to see what he was writing. Her expression twisted. "I'm not a blood whore either!"
"I need to ask you a few questions for our records." Dimitri said, fairly adept at ignoring her at this point. "Name?"
"None of your goddamn business," Valya retorted.
"Age?" He continued.
"Don't you know it's impolite to ask a lady her age?" Valya quipped. Dimitri glared at her again. "Twenty-three, if you're so curious."
"Place of birth?"
"Sunnydale," Valya said without missing a beat. "It's in California, if you were wondering."
Dimitri raised an eyebrow. Valya smiled in return.
"What business do you have here?" he asked.
Valya became quiet for a moment. "I need to speak with the queen."
"Why?" Dimitri sounded almost bored as he continued down his list.
"There's been a murder." Valya didn't meet his eyes. "The queen can find out who. She's the only one."
Dimitri glanced at her for a second before writing another note down on the piece of paper. "And your parents names are...?"
"Rose Belikova," Valya said. She clenched her jaw to stop herself from spilling all of her secrets. The less Court knew, the better.
He looked up from the paper slowly, deliberately, and leveled his glare at Valya. For the first time since the start of the interrogation, she had his attention. She could see a darkness in his eyes that was almost animalistic and downright terrifying. He stook and leaned over the table, his forehead nearly pressing against hers.
"What is your name?" He asked.
Valya steeled herself, matching his ferocity blow for blow. "Valentina Dimitrovna Belikova."
Dimitri's hand went for her throat and he pushed her flush against the back of the chair she was cuffed to. He was strong, but he didn't hold her tight enough to prevent her from breathing. "If you are lying, I will have your head. What is your name?"
"Valentina Dimitrovna Belikova," Valya spat. "I have come to avenge the death of Rose Belikova, my mother."
Valya took in a shaky breath, meeting Dimitri's eyes for the first time. "And your wife."
Dimitri's eyes were like fire: destructive and mesmerizing all at once. She knew in that moment why her mother had decided that Dimitri was her soulmate. He was beautiful, even if he was built for annihilation, just like Valya. She wondered for a second if he had felt her presence miles away in Corinth.
Suddenly, he stood and walked around the table to unlock Valya's handcuffs. She rubbed her wrists in surprise.
"What are you doing?" She asked him.
"I'm taking you to the queen."
An alert was sent out to the members of parliament and one by one, royals were roused from their beds and shuffled into the great hall. A few had bothered to change, but most wore pajamas or sweatpants, a choice few donning a nightgown or stocking cap. It was an odd menagerie.
When everyone was assembled and order was restored, Valya was brought in by two guardians who tugged at her arms. She walked with them willingly despite her instincts screaming at her to run. They shoved her in front a podium, walls of Moroi glaring down at her from all sides. She began to rub her hands together; the restraints they put back on her wrists a bit too tight.
Valya leaned towards the microphone on the podium, an awkward angle when her arms were still restrained. It gave off feedback that reverberated around the hall and she winced. The lights in the hall were bright and the stares of the most important Moroi royals in the world didn't help much either, but Valya was never one that gave much thought to what royals thought of her.
Until now.
"Hello." The queen stood from where she was perched on her throne and addressed the room. "I apologize for calling an emergency council, but Head Guardian Belikov has requested it as a matter of security."
The queen was tall and willowy, with never ending lengths of blonde hair that she had twisted into a braid with green and gold ribbons. She was regal, even in a pair of grey sweatpants and a t-shirt from St Vladimir's, and to her side sat a man that Valya assumed to be her husband.
He was pale, with bright blue eyes that Valya could see even from a distance, and dark brown hair that had so much volume that it nearly stood on end. He looked bored and annoyed as he tapped a pen against the wood of his chair.
"Guardian Belikov," the queen gestured for him to begin.
Dimitri leaned over Valya to speak into the microphone. "I believe, Your Majesty, that it would be better if you hear it from the girl herself."
He retreated to stand watch at the wall and nodded for Valya to begin. She licked her lips.
"One month ago, a woman named Stasla Belikova died in the Ural Mountains near the Kazakh border," Valya began. "She was found dead in the forest during a reconnaissance mission. No weapons, no footprints... not a single sign of a struggle."
Valya clenched her jaw to stop tears from coming to her eyes.
"We knew her as Stasla, an elite fighter of almost mythic proportions. Strigoi run when they hear her name. But you... you knew her by something else." Valya took in an unsteady breath. She glanced at Dimitri. Oddly enough, his presence gave her strength. "Her name was Rose Hathaway."
A gasp rippled across the Moroi assembled in the hall. Suddenly, shouting broke out and the court members began arguing in a raucous flurry of movement.
"The girl is lying!" cried Marie Conta. "Hathaway has been dead for decades!"
The queen looked to her husband, who had stood up in shock, his face going as white as a sheet. They conversed quietly.
"Silence," The queen said. Miraculously, the din quieted. She turned her attention to Valya, who seemed so small in the sea of Moroi. "What is your name?"
Valya bit her lip and leaned towards the mic. "Valentina Dimitrovna Belikova."
The outcry arose again, this time stronger than before, and the queen had trouble quieting them down. All faces in the hall turned to Dimitri Belikov with such ferocity that it created a gust of wind.
"I said silence!" The queen roared. When the hall quieted down once more, she returned her attention to Valya. "What is your parentage, Miss Belikova?"
Valya glanced at Dimitri before answering. "Dimitri Belikov and Rose Hathaway. I am a dhampir."
All that met Valya's ears this time was silence: the entire audience was completely stunned. Members of Court stood from their seats to get a better look at her in a vain attempt to decode who she looked like most: a ghost or a legend.
"It's impossible..." The queen whispered, her hand going to her mouth. Her husband leaned to whisper something in her ear and Valya caught the queen's name.
Lissa.
Valya didn't know how she hadn't realized it before. Her mother had talked endlessly about her best friend from her childhood but never mentioned that she was the queen. Valya supposed that it must have been to keep her memory untarnished. Being a queen did something to a person, but to Rose, Lissa was still a bright young girl gossiping in the halls of St Vladimir's.
"You have to help me," Valya said quickly. She could see Lissa's mind change as her husband spoke to her. "I need to figure out-"
"Thank you for notifying us, Miss Belikova," Lissa interrupted Valya swiftly. Her face was made of armor. "But I'm afraid that trespassing on Court property without being properly vetted is against the law." She nodded to Dimitri. "Return her to her cell. We will begin trial in the morning."
The guardians grabbed Valya by the arms and pulled her away from the podium, but she dug her heels in.
"No!" She cried out. She struggled against the guardians' grip. "You can't do this! She was your best friend!"
Tears began streaming down Valya's face. "She was your best friend and you killed her!"
"Pardon?" Lissa asked. She was taken aback by what the girl said, but more so by what an uncanny resemblance to Rose she bore. It was as if Lissa was 18 again, watching her best friend be dragged off to jail.
"You killed her." Valya sobbed. She'd collapsed on the floor, the guardian holding her by her handcuffs being the only thing to prop her up. "She didn't die by accident; someone set her up."
Lissa caught the eye of the guardian holding Valya. "Remove her restraints, please."
Valya stood, rubbing the spot where the handcuffs had dug into her wrist. She gave the guardian the stink eye when he attempted to guide her back to the podium, choosing instead to walk on her own.
"She-" Valya attempted to get her emotions back under control. "We were on a mission in Russia going off some anonymous intelligence. After we found her, I went through her things and found this."
Valya reached into her jeans pocket and produced the letter bearing the Court seal.
"Someone here knew she was still alive," said Valya. She gulped. "Someone sent her to her death."
"What are the contents of the letter?" Lissa asked. Her knuckles went white on the railing separating the seats of the parliament from the pit below.
Valya unfolded the letter carefully, her gaze switching from Lissa to Dimitri, who was looking at her curiously. "Anna," she began. "Rokin, Ural Mountains. Omarova will find you. Keep the package safe. Stay until April."
She paused and put the letter down. "That's it."
He still loves you.
Dimitri stood stoic on the other side of the room.
"That's all that was there," Valya lied. She put the letter back in her pocket.
I do too.
Lissa hesitated then, after a quick conversation with a parliament member to her left, she said in a booming voice: "Meeting adjourned. Essential personnel, please come to my office."
And like that, the queen left the room. As the door behind her closed, the parliament erupted into a flurry of shouts and arguments. Moroi that Valya had never known before this moment began shouting at her and she stumbled backwards. Dimitri caught her elbow and steadied her.
"What's going on?" Valya asked, confused.
"We must go to Queen Vasilisa's office." He led her towards the door. "Come. You don't want to keep her waiting."
Valya obeyed without a protest. Despite her original misgivings about her father, he seemed to be the only one with a clear head in this entire situation. Court was like a pit of vipers and Valya had been thrown into it without a second glance.
They reached Lissa's office in a few minutes and Dimitri gestured for her to wait as he slipped the door open. Valya thought about running; she could probably figure out how to escape Court and no one knew about Corinth yet, so she'd be able to get away without a trace. A small part of Valya told her to stay and see how things end up. She'd never been able to access her mother's personal life before this and going back to the empty unit that she shared with Rose felt like a walking nightmare.
Voiced behind the door shouted at each other. Valya knocked on the door lightly.
"We're busy," a voice shot back.
Valya flinched and opened the door a crack. "I know, but I have a feeling what you're talking about would make a lot more sense with me there."
A group of royals and guardians looked back at her, shocked. Lissa and her husband were there, as well as a tall Moroi man with elegant hands, a blonde human woman with a silver flower on her cheek, and a guardian with dark blonde hair that had stood behind Lissa in the great hall.
"Valentina," Dimitri said in a warning tone. It struck Valya as uniquely fatherly.
"Valya, actually," she replied. "You'd know that if you guys would let me get a word in edgewise."
"Is this her?" the Moroi man asked. He closed the space between them in two strides and cupped Valya's cheeks. His hands were soft. "My god, Belikov. She looks just like you."
"Get off me." Valya swatted his arms away the same way one would with a fly.
He laughed, his head tilting back to reveal his fangs. "She's definitely Rose's kid. There's no doubt about it." He pointed to Valya, his laughter reaching the point of hysteria. "You're not supposed to exist. There's no way you could exist."
"Adrian," said the blonde woman sharply.
"Sydney," he mimicked her. He turned to Dimitri. "You've gotten yourself into some deep shit, Belikov. Have you made sure she's not some sort of hallucination yet?"
"Adrian, honestly," Lissa said with a shake of her head.
"You can't tell me this doesn't reek of some Strigoi plot to get at you, Liss," Adrian said, his mood turning suddenly. "They could've sent her in thinking you would call a private meeting like this and then you're dead. Just like that, Lissa."
"Rose wouldn't have sent her if it wasn't important," Christian said. "It's not something from Strigoi; look at her! She's clearly a dhampir."
"Rose Hathaway is dead," Adrian shot back. "I would know: I buried her. There's no way she could have had a daughter unless the Strigoi are popping out babies now."
"Oh my god, shut up!" Valya interrupted their argument. "I'm living proof that my mother, Rose Belikova, had a kid. A live, dhampir kid. Maybe you should ask me the questions instead of tearing each other apart? Honestly, you're like teenagers."
"They apologize," Sydney said, side-eyeing the rest of the group. "It's just that-"
"-I'm impossible?" Valya finished. She raised an eyebrow. "So I gathered. If you're done, I'd like to get what I came for."
"And that is?" Lissa asked her.
Valya crossed her arms over her chest. "The head of my mother's murderer."
"Valya," Lissa began in a steady tone. "No one here killed Rose. We loved her."
"Then why would she feel like she had to keep me a secret all those years?" Valya asked. Her chest constricted. "I grew up hearing that Court was dangerous, that if anyone found out who I was, we'd both be killed. Does that sound like a woman who was loved to you?"
"I'm sure Rose had her reasons," Christian said to Lissa.
"Someone here betrayed her," Valya said.
"There's no traitors here!" Lissa shouted. "When she died, a piece of us all died with her. If there was even a chance that she was alive... we would have welcomed her back with open arms. Don't doubt that."
Valya pulled the letter out of her pocket and held it up to Lissa's nose. "The person who sent her this letter sent her to her death. You might have had twenty years to recover from the shock, but I had to burn her to ashes just a few weeks ago. She was real, she lived, and she lived without any of you. She chose me."
Adrian bit his lip. "That's the thing I can't figure out, little dhampir. Where did she live?"
"Sorry?" Valya asked.
"I said," he turned to her with a dangerous look on his face. "Where did she live? She didn't raise you in the forest for two decades and she didn't go live with the Keepers. She loved indoor plumbing too much."
Valya faltered. "I can't say."
Adrian smiled wickedly. "Can't or won't?"
Valya turned to the queen. "I have to leave. I have a team that was looking for the monster that we were hunting, but we came up empty even after mom died. You have to look for the traitor."
Lissa shook her head. "I can't let you go back alone. You're the daughter of our head guardian; you should be put in training."
"I've lived twenty-three years of my life without whatever training your guardians get." Her eyes shifted around the room. "I think I'll be fine on my own."
She began backing up towards the door, but was stopped by someone standing in the way.
"I will take her," came Dimitri's voice. He had been so silent that Valya had forgotten that he was there. "The guardians can work on who sent Rose the letter and I will accompany Valentina back to her team."
"No." Valya drew out the word longer than was necessary. She held her hands up defensively. "I don't need a babysitter; I'm a fully-grown adult. Just give me a way to contact you and I'll be fine."
"You need transportation back to wherever it is that you live, yes?" Dimitri looked Valya up and down.
Valya bit her lip and gave a begrudging, "Yes."
"Court can provide a car and supplies," Lissa said. "Dimitri will go with Valya to...?"
"Canada," Valya said hesitantly. "That's all I'll say for now."
Lissa turned towards the guardian behind her and said to him in a hushed tone. "As in...?"
The guardian shook his head. "No. It must be something different."
Valya was struck with the notion that the guardian hadn't said anything up until this point and after Lissa's quick comment, he resumed his position and became stoic once more. He was around the same age as the rest of the people assembled and had a close-cropped head of blond hair with a beard that matched. It was odd to Valya that the Moroi had ignored him like he was a piece of furniture.
"I can't bring an outsider there," Valya said. "I'll break a ton of protocols."
"I will stay at a safe distance," Dimitri said. His expression softened when he spoke to her. "You will have nothing to worry about."
She pressed her fingernails to the inside of her palm, drawing blood. "Fine."
"Then it is decided." Lissa nodded. "And we can all finally go back to bed. Dimitri, kindly escort Valya to the guest quarters."
"She'll stay with us," Sydney interjected. "You wouldn't want to wake anyone to get Valya a room. She can sleep in Theo's bed."
A round of nods were exchanged throughout the room and Valya thought for an exhausted moment how nice a real bed sounded. Sydney took Valya by the arm and escorted her from the room.
"Goodnight everyone!" Sydney waved. Adrian followed them out.
When they were in the silence of the hallway, Sydney dropped Valya's arm and began walking out of the building.
"I am so glad that is over." Sydney chuckled. "They might have kids of their own, but they're hopeless with someone else's. Trust me: babysitting was always outsourced to the nice girl down the road." She held her hand out for Valya to shake. "I'm Sydney Ivashkov. Pleased to finally meet you."
"Valya Belikova," Valya said, taking Sydney's hand. "Likewise."
"I guess I would be your... aunt?" She rifled in her back pocket for a set of keys.
"Godmother, most likely," Adrian added. He brought up the rear, towering over both of them.
Sydney snorted. "That jokester there is my husband, Adrian."
"You can call me uncle or His Lordship." Adrian flashed a grin. "Whichever is more comfortable."
Valya did a spit take. "I'll stick with Adrian, thanks."
Sydney rolled her eyes as she stuck the key in the lock. The door opened without a sound. "We have a daughter named Sage. She's sleeping right now so try to be quiet."
Even in the dark, the Ivashkov family home was gorgeous. A wood-panelled foyer made way to an open kitchen glittering with granite and steel. She glimpsed a sitting room with overstuffed velvet chaise lounges and the biggest television she'd ever seen in her life. Valya had never encountered a house that was so enormous before. It wasn't even the sheer size of it, normal for royals living in Court but towering compared to the tiny units in Corinth, but the decorations. Everything seemed impeccably pulled together. The house felt like a home.
"It's so big," Valya whispered. She touched the light green paint on one of the walls.
Sydney and Adrian exchanged a look.
"You can stay in our son's room," Sydney said. She led Valya up a set of stairs into a room that was overwhelmingly gray in colour. "He's at St Vladimir's completing his training right now."
Valya ran her hand over the dark grey duvet. The bed was unmade and it didn't seem as if their son stayed at home very often. Training in this world must take a lot longer than at Corinth if they have to be sent away for it.
"It's late," Sydney said. "You should get some sleep. We'll wake you up for breakfast."
Valya nodded slowly. "Breakfast. Right."
Sydney smiled softly. "Sleep well, Valya."
The door closed and Valya was alone in the room of someone who she assumed was her cousin. Her family. It felt stilted and wrong to her that there was anyone outside of Corinth that could claim her as a family member. Unease permeated everything she touched here.
And yet, Valya felt at home talking to Sydney, even if Adrian was skeptical of her. Valya didn't have many female role models, just her mother. Sydney was her aunt. She had an aunt.
Valya collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to crawl underneath the duvet. An image of Dimitri's face floated behind her eyes and before she knew it, she was asleep.