Chapter seventeen: Life story

We arrived at our guest housing and all got settled down, I decided to be play a good housewife and offer everyone something to drink. Coffee and thee was made and put on the coffee table along with some water and orange juice. Everyone sat dawn and looked at us expectantly.

"So what you want to know?"

"Everything DUH!" Viktoria answered. I expected Olena to say something about her choice of words and directness, she simply gave a look towards her youngest daughter and then knotted anyway.

"But you already told how we met and everything."

"Yeah, but then you where grieving and you where telling things trying not to let everybody show how close you two where and everything, so we want to hear the full story now, no holding back." Vikka explained.

"Yeah, I would like to hear the story as well, my daughter."

"Well of course you would."

So I had two choices I could tell them the overly animated detailed smut-full story, so they almost ran screaming and running outside the door by the time the story full and well got to an actual point. Or I could tell them a extremely vague PG 13 rated version. Since I expected Abe to have a strong stomach and would sit out to the end, I decided to go for PG version.

"Dimitri tracked me and Lissa down, got me back to the academy and made sure I could stay, if he became my mentor. Lissa was kidnapped and we saved her. I got injured and he got me to the infirmary. Lissa and Christian got together and then Spokane happened. Then I started seeing ghost during the field experience, I just defended him during one of fake attacked on our fake charges, when Lissa was kidnapped by some of the students. Darkness took over and Dimitri was the only one the calm me down, because he was actually able to fight me. Just when we were going back, I saw mason ghost and sensed a lot of Strigoi. I got to the schools building called out Buria. I was told-"

"Wow, wow wow. You can' t do that. You know, be that vague. I want a story, not the facts."

"Sorry, but with that man over here, facts is all you get." I pointed to Zmey.

"Okay okay. You get the story, if you promise not to threaten anyone with it." The last part directed to Zmey. "And I don't want to hear any 'ieuw, that's my Brother you are talking about.' If you don't want to hear it? Then don't listen."

"Okay"

"So as you know, when I was fifteen I ran away whit our queen, then still a princess. We managed to stay away and hiding for two years, in which we have been in the most ridicules of situations. Two years later we were hiding in Portland, blending in with some local students when one night I spotted a tall ass Russian guardian outside my window, doing a terrible job at being subtle. Comrade?"

"After Ivan died I was asked to help track down the Princess, who was possible with her friend. I was given a file on both of them and I wondered why a dhampir girl, loyal to her best moroi friend, would risk the world going outside the ward without full training or a stake to protect her. According to her file she was reckless and had the worst temper, but always defended her best friend. I just couldn't believe that that girl took the last Dragomir Princess outside the wards just to party it up a bit. After all they apparently did that enough already inside the academy." I laughed hard at that one. I was also a bit moved. He had faith in me before he even met me. "Anyway, we're able to track them down and we planned to draw them out, so we didn't have to cause a scene inside. They walk out and even when they were surrounded she stared attacking me. I block her and she start to attack me again when she suddenly stopped almost mid strike, looks at the princess and then surrenders completely. On our way back I kept watching them and noticed how Rose and the Princess sometime smiled at each other or how Rose expression sometimes chanced without an immediate explanation. So, Thank you Babushka for making me read story's and documentation about shadow kissed bonds. It kind of kept Rose inside the academy."

Wait what?

"You knew?" I asked Yeva. "You knew I was shadow kissed before I even knew myself?"

"I knew Dimitri would need the knowledge, I didn't do anything else." After that we went on whit the story, telling both our sides and magically skipping over the lust charm and Cabin scene. Abe maybe could say he wouldn't do anything, didn't mean I believed him. Sometimes we were interrupted because they had questions about something. I went over my time in Russia fast because, they had been there for the first part and I didn't want to relive the second part. Neither did Dimitri. I described breaking Victor out of prison as 'having to do some not so legal activities that involved the help of my ally's and could hurt their positions and titles if those actions ever came to light.' They apparently understood I was talking about everyone their positions, even Lissa's as queen and didn't ask any questions. I was vague about anything else that could compromise any of my loved ones.

I was interrupted by the door being opened. Lissa and Jill walked in with an exhausted look on their faces.

"Hey Liss, Jill. Bad meeting?"

"Oh you have no idea. Some of those royals seriously need so- Oh hey. You must Dimitri's family. It's so nice to filially meet you in person, both Dimitri and Rose have told me so much about you." Lissa said as she noticed the Belikova woman.

"Euh...You're Majesty...I...It's an honor." Olena began, clearly taken of guard meeting our Queen.

"Oh no, I won't have any of that. Rose is my sister, that makes you my family as well. We don't do statuses our hierarchy in privet." And she went on hugging Olena, who quickly returned the embrace, feeling the sincerity flowing through it.

"So, let me guess. You must be Karoline and Sonya, well Viktoria and Paul I've already met. The little ones must be Zoya and Katja. And of course Yeva." Said Lissa, greeting everyone in person. Yeva was eying Lissa, talking her in and calculating her, then she did something I never saw her do.

She smiled

Yeva Belikova SMILED, like genuinely smiled.

I was still in shock by that, when she stood up from the chair and walked over towards Lissa. She took Lissa's shoulders and looked her in the eyes, then spoke to her.

"My Queen, You will be good and you can bring our world to a new generation if you remember, that the secret of changing, isn't to focus on the changing of the old, but creating of the new."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

"Oh I know you will, Young Queen. People don't forget me that easy."

"Well she got that right." I whispered not so quietly to Dimitri.

"Nice Rose, what where you guys doing." Lissa asked

"Telling my life story, ignoring the first sixteen years."

"Which part are you on."

"Calling out a murderer, getting shot, then dyeing, coming back to life, again, and getting you crown queen." A chorus of 'you got shot' and 'you died' ran through the room. Dimitri and I explained what happened with a bit more details and with that the story kind of ended. For now at least.

Christian wanted to help Olena out in the kitchen, explaining he wanted to learn some home-cooking. Olena was happy enough to teach him a few things. As always dinner was amazingly good and I had to stop myself for not licking my plate of and scraping the last bit out of the pots and pans. I didn't want to let Olena think she didn't made enough. She definitely did, I just loved her food and completely stuffed myself. The evening was calm and we chatted some more. Yeva was talking with my father, it looked like they were talking about a normal subject, then again, you could never know with those two. Lissa and Olena were chatting comfortable, Christian was entertaining the two little girls. Jill, Viktoria and Eddie seemed to like each other and Paul was asleep on his mother's lap. He hadn't left her all evening and I could understand why. He had a great bond with her and I knew If had a bond like that with my mother, and she would have come to see me at the academy? I probably wouldn't have left her side either. I was lying on Dimitri's lap, who was talking with his two oldest sisters. I looked at my 'new' large family and I was perfectly happy.

Here you go

Lots of Love

Born to Love, Protect and Die