Chapter Two! I hope you enjoy it.

Within the next few weeks, the plans for the wedding were made official and invitations were in the mail. Rose had several phone conversations with Dimitri's mother and sisters, and the ones with Viktoria usually revolved around dresses and floral arrangements and cakes, but Rose was genuinely excited to see her.

The anticipation of her nuptials in Siberia made standing through dull Court functions nearly unbearable. She was grateful that, as long as they were at Court, she was part of the usual guarding rotations, so she didn't have to spend all of her time in stuffy royal venues hearing Moroi argue. At about 2 in the "afternoon" she was on ward duty, which basically meant circling the court to make sure there wasn't any suspicious activity near the wards that could result in an attack.

It wasn't particularly laborious, because it was basically just strolling along the perimeter with a walky-talky.

Rose was a good, focused guardian. However, this duty felt less like work and more like a walk in the park on a cool summer night. The only noise she heard was the rustling of leaves from the wind in the trees, and stars glinted and twinkled above her in the Pennsylvania July sky. She let her mind wander. First, to the beauty of the night. She enjoyed the cool wind in the warm air, as well as the scenery on her route. Her thoughts wandered further, to Dimitri. How happy he had been on that night, nearly 4 months ago, when she had agreed to marry him…..

After their 5 days in Baia, they still had 3 days before they had to return to Court and then to Lehigh. They decided to take a weekend trip back to Saint Petersburg before returning.

After dinner at their hotel's restaurant, he took her to Palace Square. She was as mesmerized as he had hoped she'd be, practically twisting her neck to look up at Alexander Column.

"Who's the statue?" She said curiously over the noise- conversations in a million languages and tourists snapping photographs.

"An angel," he replied, wrapping his arm around her waist and tearing his eyes away from her to study the column as well. "An angel that's said to resemble Emperor Alexander I."

She nodded, and the two stood there for a while in comfortable silence, taking in the sights and sounds of the square.

"Roza," Dimitri said in a whispery tone, causing her to look up at him curiously.

"Yes?" She replied, matching his tone, curious as to what he had to say.

"I love you,"

She opened her mouth to reciprocate, but he continued.

"I love you more than anything in the world. I have enjoyed every second I have spent with you and can't imagine going another second without having you in my life. I want to spend the rest of my days with you."

Rose would have made a joke about how sickeningly romantic this was, if it had been happening to anybody else. But this was happening to her. Her Dimitri was saying these things, her Dimitri was getting down on one knee, and removing a baby blue box from the pocket of his duster.

"Roza, will you marry me?"

Rose was, in a word, shocked. While she had already planned to spend the rest of her days with him, marriages were an uncommon occurrence in the damphir world.

She knew what her answer would be. With a breathy "yes," she had made what she would consider the best decision of her life.

Faster than the blink of an eye, he slipped the ring onto her finger. It looked antique, with a small, simple stone and an ornate band.

They did some more exploring in the city that night, their hands never leaving each other's bodies for more than a second and smiles hardly leaving their faces. Rosemarie Hathaway knew she was the happiest girl in Russia.

Rose discovered that she was twirling the engagement ring on her finger while she looked on the happy memory. Dimitri told her that it had belonged to Yeva. A man- a Moroi man- named Micol had given it to her when she was just 18, proposing marriage. She had said yes, but Micol had disappeared before they had gone through with the engagement.

The story had fascinated Rose. It was hard to imagine the ancient, stoic, stern Yeva at age eighteen and in love.

For a time she had wondered if the ring carried some sort of bad luck. Dimitri had had the same concern when Yeva had offered the ring, but his grandmother replied in her usual cryptic manner. "I kept the ring for a reason, Dimka."

With their consent, Lissa even charmed it with spirit. At the time she had joked about it, saying something about it giving them an unfair advantage with this whole marriage thing, but it truly brought her comfort.

Rose jumped, startled by the sound of footsteps on the path behind her. She silently cursed herself and turned to face the person approaching.

She was shocked to see Adrian Ivashkov making his way up the concrete.

"Little damphir," He said in that familiar, teasing tone.

Rose hadn't seen Adrian since Christmastime when he returned from California with Sydney and Jill. The way it had worked out was what Rose would refer to as a surprising plot twist. He had gone to be with Sydney, with whom he was now in a relationship, and ended up enrolling in a business school in Burbank.

"That's what you'll be saying to your kids," she retorted as she embraced him. They had been back on good terms for nearly two years, ever since he had pulled his life together and fallen in love with Sydney.

"Still bitingly witty, I see," He says, placing a hand on my cheek, feigning romance. "And strikingly beautiful."

Rose swatted his hand away, jokingly chastising him. "You have a girlfriend. And I'm engaged."

"That's actually why I'm here, at Court. Jill and Sydney are going with Lissa, so I figured I'd hitch a ride to Russia with them."

The plan was for Lissa to come on the tenth, which was in two weeks, with the rest of the wedding party in tow. Rose and Dimitri would be leaving in just a week and a half.

"Are Jill and Sydney excited about being bridesmaids?"

"Yes. Jill especially. Hey, it's good to see you and all… But why are you out here?"

Rose blushed deeply, exasperated with herself but also slightly amused. "I'm on guardian duty."

TBC

Okay the next chapter they will actually go to Siberia. Sorry for the slow moving plot but another chapter will be up soon and I am open to suggestions.