Christian POV

I turned away from Rose, proud of myself of being able to tell her that I love her. I didn't know how she felt and that was why it was so hard to tell her the truth.

I thought I could have seen love in her eye's when I had told her that I loved her but I could be easily mistaken for something else.

I wish I hadn't walked away from her, I wish I had waited for her reply. I told her I loved her, than I walked away. Great fucking move, Christian. Walk away from her after you said that you love her. Now, she probably doesn't believe that you do love her.

She's going to be pissed in the morning, but until then I'm going to sleep.

--

I heard my alarm go off indicating that it was time to wake up. I got dressed and ready for class. Today was the last day of school for people my age. Tomorrow was the day that all the Dhampir's would get assigned to their charge. Rose would be assigned to a Royal, probably Lissa because of their damn shadow-kissed connection.

I was glad that they were shadow-kissed because otherwise Rose wouldn't be alive and walking. Lissa was the reason Rose was alive so I couldn't hate her. I just couldn't talk to her after everything she's done to us.

Rose had been really hurt when she found out that Adrian had slept with Lissa. Lissa was supposed to be her best friend and she had slept with her boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, it hurt to be cheated on but Rose had been hurt twice as bad as me.

That day that she had been crying was heartbreaking. She had cried for so long and so hard. It hurt to see Rose that way, she was tough. The only reason she had cried in the first place was because of Adrian. I hated him. I was pretty sure he hated me as well but I didn't care. He was the one that hurts everyone around him, not me.

"Christian!" I heard Adrian's voice come from behind me. I didn't want to talk to him and he knew that. He's a stubborn bastard.

"What." I said sharply, I wished he could just go back to court where he belongs. He has no need to be here.

"Can ask you to do something for me?" He said finally coming to stand beside me. You could smell the alcohol in his breath already and a smoke cloud practically followed him everywhere he went.

"Why the hell would I do something for you?" What was going through his head when he decided to come to me for help? He knew I wasn't the type of person to help another; no one had really talked to me before Lissa had come along. Who would've thought she was just like the rest of them.

"You'd want me to help you if Rose hated you." Good point, I guess he actually does have a brain after all. I'm surprised he can remember anything due to all the alcohol he consumes.

I would hate it if Rose hated me. I know it's a weird thing to say since we barely know each other, but I love her anyway. If Rose ever disliked me I'd do anything to change her mind.

I saw Adrian's point. He did love her and despite how much I hated that, it was true. Rose could be a bitch, sarcastic and moody but she was also beautiful and thoughtful. She would never say a bad word against the people she loved.

I was sarcastic too; maybe that was why we had never gotten along before.

"What does this have to this Rose?" Even though I would want Adrian's help if I fucked up things with Rose but I was still reluctant to help him. I didn't want him getting close to Rose.

"I just need to talk to her." He quickly said, anxious to get to Rose I suspected.

"Then talk to her." I shrugged. If he wanted to talk to Rose, he could. I'm not sure that she wanted to talk to him but it seemed that if was really important to him.

"I can't, whenever I see her she walks in the opposite direction. You can't talk to a person who won't talk to you." I was confused; Rose hadn't hated him last night.

"Why won't she speak to you?" It didn't make sense. You can't hate a person for no reason all of the sudden.

"I talked to her in her dreams." Ahhh, I'd forgotten about those. Fuck, what did he say to Rose to piss her off? I thought she would be pissed off about me walking away from her but now I'll be lucky if she talks to anybody.

"What did you say?" I groaned out, afraid of what he had said.

"I told her what I thought." Pfft, right. He probably screamed it in her face like he always does.

I raised an eyebrow up at him. "What did you say?" I repeated. It had to be something really bad for Rose not to talk to him. Usually she voices her opinion.

"It doesn't matter what I said, I just need to talk to her." It didn't make sense for him to come to me for help. She might not talk to me or anyone else for that matter.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because she'll listen to you." He seemed so certain.

"Look you know I hate you. You can talk to Rose all you want, I don't care but I don't see why I'd even consider talking to Rose about you." There was no way I could even say one nice thing about Adrian.

Rose knows how much I hate him and so do I. It's not like she would talk to him just because I tell her she should, she'll make her own decisions.

"Please just- I need you to do this one thing for me." He pleaded. It was weird seeing a royal beg, something I thought I'd never see in my life.

"What do you want?" I said looking away.

"Just talk to her. Tell her I'm sorry and I didn't mean it. She can do whatever she wants. Tell her I love her." What the fuck had he said to her? 'Tell her I'm sorry' what the hell was that about? Ugh, did he really expect me to tell her that he loves her?

"Sure, just-whatever you did- don't do it again." I say as I walk away from him. He doubted that I would tell her, I could see the scepticism on his face.

I didn't know where she was. It could take forever just to find her and tell her what I had to about Adrian. I don't know why he stayed here. He should be at court with the Queen.

He was next in line to become King.

Great, we'll all have an alcoholic-smoking King. Fantastic. The Queen should find someone else to give the throne to after she dies. I just don't want Adrian as our King. If he does become King, he'll be the last King we ever have. Everyone knows he's never going to get married which means he'll never have children. He has no brothers or sisters that could take over when he dies, which means there'll be no King.

His parents could take over if he dies but I doubt that would be for long. Everyone dies eventually.

Where was she? She wasn't eating. I'll go see if she's in her room.

Nope, she wasn't there.

I wish I knew where she was. Why does she have to be so hard to find? I walked back into the lunch area where only Lissa was. I sucked in a sharp breath and sat down quietly on the opposite seats from her so I was forced to look at her.

"Hi, Christian." She whispered, staring at me.

"Hi." Why weren't Eddie and Mia here?

I looked around and noticed that there were no Dhampir's at all in the lunch area. "Where's all the Dhampir's?"

"They're getting their charge today." She was smiling. The bitch thought that she would get Rose as her guardian and they'd be best-friends again.

I got up and went west to where I knew they were having their Graduation.

"Audrey Walter's. . . Jesse Zeklos." Okay at least she didn't get Jesse.

I neared the entrance and saw Rose sitting there with a worried expression.

"Brianna Smith. . . Andrew Kraw." I stood for ages waiting for Rose's name to announce.

It was near the end of the end of the speech.

"Rosemarie Hathaway. . . Christian Ozera." I was stunned. I though she was going to get Lissa because of their bond.

Rose stood up with a shocked expression and made her way over to Alberta, who gave her, her stake. I was still staring at Rose when she turned to me. We both had no idea if this was real or not. She had a bond with Lissa that was the rarest things in Moroi history and they had thrown that away.

"Eddie Castile. . . Vasilissa Drogimir." So Eddie had gotten Lissa not Rose. Eddie was lucky Rose and Lissa weren't best-friends anymore or she would be choking him right now.

"Listen up!" I heard Alberta yell over the commotion that was going on. "The Queen herself has chosen your Moroi for you so respect her wishes." Oh, the Queen had done this. I shouldn't be surprised, she was a bitch.

Rose POV

Alberta's voice kept echoing in my as I walked up and received my silver stake. 'Rosemarie Hathaway…Christian Ozera.' I'd never expected this to happen. Liss and I were always supposed to be together. We were fighting for now but I don't think we will be forever.

I looked at Christian. I was Christian's Guardian now. His Assigned guardian, not at all like the guardian I was to him in the field experience. I would be protecting him for the rest of my life now. I'd always be on watch for Strigoi trying to kill him or turn him.

I'll protect him until my last breath; all guardians would do the same for their Moroi. They come first. Any Moroi is more important than a Dhampir, that's what everyone believed but I thought it was bullshit. The only thing their good for is spending money and being total fuckheads.

I was lucky I got Christian. He was royal but he knew the role of being a Dhampir was important. He knew our life was hard; I would never be able to relax in public areas or take a day off in my life unless he ordered me too.

I don't get why the Moroi were so damn important. They can't even defend themselves. Well, Christian and Tasha could defend themselves but that they were the only Moroi who were able to defend themselves.

I'm glad I got Christian; if any Strigoi attack him we could team up and kill them easily. He was the best fire user in the whole school. Tasha had taught him how to use fire in self defence while he was growing up.

"Listen up!" Alberta yelled and I turned my face away from Christian. "The Queen herself has chosen your Moroi for you so respect her wishes." Ahhh, Queen Bitch had done this. Why was I so surprised?

She didn't know that Lissa and I weren't friends anymore. Christian and I would be even closer now though. I was glad I had been chosen to guard Christian.

He was Royal but he never acted like it. He would never hurt the people he loves and he never acts like he's the best person in the world. He was real. As in he wasn't fake like every other Moroi. He knows what it feels like to be hurt and to loose people.

Both Christian and I had grown up without parents. His parents had been killed. I didn't know my father and my mother was never there for me. So yeah, we both grew up without parents. He had Tasha as a motherly figure, the closest thing I had to

Family had been Lissa.

Christian walked over to me, took my hand and pulled me out of the room. All the other Dhampir's were making their way to their appointed Moroi. I don't know why Christian had come to find me. After last night when he had walked away from me, things got kind of confusing and then Adrian had pulled me into one of his dreams.

I was exhausted from Adrian, I was sick of having to tell him I didn't love him anymore. How could you not know when someone doesn't love you? He can be so dumb sometimes, or all the time really. I was so sick of talking to people I hate.

We kept walking until Christian walked us into his bedroom.

"Does Lissa know?" We were both standing in the middle of the room, facing each other. Christian was a foot taller than me so to look at him I only had to look up an inch.

"I haven't spoken to her all day so I don't know." I had woken up and gone straight to the ceremony without thinking about finding Lissa and talking to her.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Someone else has probably told her already and if they haven't of course I'll tell her." I don't know how she would react knowing that we might never see each other again. I'll always be by Christian's side and only see who he sees most likely.

"You should probably go talk to her now. She's having lunch." I nodded. "Oh, and Adrian told me to tell you, he loves you and he's sorry and that he didn't mean it." He shrugged and I walked out leaving Christian behind me.

He was right. Lissa was having lunch beside Eddie who was already in guardian mode. Mia was on the other side of them with a Dhampir called Adam Young, her guardian.

I looked around the room and saw that the Queen and Adrian were having a discussion. Okay, discussion was an understatement. He was yelling at her, I could tell by the expression on his face that he knew I had been guarded to Christian.

As I drew closer to Eddie and the others, I could hear the conversation Adrian was having with the Queen.

"Has a bond with Lissa and you've just thrown that away because we used to be together. Christian? You've got to be kidding me, he loves her! I'll never see her again!" Adrian hadn't noticed me walk in since his back was facing me now. The Queen looked appalled by his public outburst.

"She is a Dhampir you do not love her. So what if you don't ever see her again? It doesn't matter. She is Christian's guardian now." She pointed to me. Adrian followed her gesture and saw me sitting next to Mia.

He turned back to his Aunt. "You don't know how I feel." Shaking his head at her and walking off.

I looked back at the others hoping that they would act as if they hadn't heard a word that Adrian or the Queen had said.

"Wow. Never thought he'd have the guts to stand up to the Queen." Eddie said with her eyes wide.

"Yeah, I mean he's next in line to the throne you'd think he'd act nicer to her. I get that he loves you and all but wow. That was so unexpected." Mia said unkindly, implying once again that Moroi were more important than any Dhampir.

"Yeah it is unexpected for a royal Moroi to care about a Dhampir isn't it? Since we live our lives protecting you while you think of us as the lowest being's compared to you. Yeah, I couldn't agree more." Damn, my anger had gotten the best of me. Usually I could control, but implying that I was lower than someone else I absolutely loose it when people talk shit about us. We protected them for fuck sakes! They do nothing but sit around all day and get drunk.

"That's not what I meant, I meant that—"

"No. it's okay. Every Moroi thinks that right? That they're better than self-sacrificing Dhampir's. I mean the Moroi must be so important because they do so much, right? They sit on their asses all day while were on guard for danger but I understand what you mean, we do everything to make sure you're safe just to be treated like shit." Anger really was my worst enemy; it always turned me into an ugly beast.

"Rose, settle down. You know she didn't mean it like that and none of us think of Dhampir's that way. You know that." Lissa said. She still had the bandage on which made her look like a complete idiot and if I hadn't known what had happened to her I would have laughed at her.

"Whatever. I really don't care. It's not like I'll ever see you guys again." This was probably true since Christian hated going to the Royal court as much as I did.

That was why Adrian was so angry. We'd never see each other again after graduation. It wasn't as if I was complaining, what he said last night was the stupidest thing you could do. Adrian had gotten Christian to say he was sorry but it was nothing compare to hearing it in person. To be honest it didn't feel like much of an apology if he hadn't told me in person.

"Yes we will won't we? We'll see each other again because you're my guardian! You are aren't you?" Fuck, no one had told her. Now I had to tell the distressed Lissa that I wasn't her guardian. I wish her guardian Eddie had told her.

I looked over to Eddie and he had his face turned away. He must've been afraid of what her reaction would be, but hey I'm not looking forward to telling her either so I can't blame him. Lissa can be scary sometimes.

"Liss, didn't you hear what Adrian was saying to the Queen?" Confusion swept over her features.

"No. I wasn't listening to anything before you started yelling at Mia." How couldn't you have heard? He was screaming at her.

"Hey, I wasn't yelling at her. Anyway, as Adrian said before I'm not your guardian Liss." I whispered the last sentence almost wishing she wouldn't hear it. She had been quiet for a while, processing what I had said.

"Who-whose guardian are you?"

"Christian's." Once I said his name she was furious. She knew she wouldn't see me again, being Christian's guardian and all.

"How could that happen? We have a bond! They can't throw that away for him! I probably got someone who's—"

"Don't worry Liss, you got Eddie. He's a good guardian; he'll protect you as much as I would've. It's not the end of the world." I tried joking at the end of the sentence but her expression was the same.

"Rose, I know I hurt you but I'll never do anything like that again, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry but you have to be my guardian. You've wanted to be my guardian for years and years now. How can they do this!" yeah, I had wanted to be her guardian for years but things have changed, I'll never look at her in the same way-if I ever see her again.

"The Queen personally chose what guardian would go to a Moroi." The Queen's going to wish that she hadn't done this. She was going to get a mouthful from Lissa when she arrives at court.

"She knows we have a bond though, why would she do this? Do you know why—

The ring of the bell stopped her from continuing with the end of the sentence. This bell was to go pack up your clothes and meet your Moroi. I didn't even know where he was, he might be I his room?

I walked slowly, reluctantly, to my bedroom and packed everything I owned, which was only two suitcases full since we rarely got to go shopping when we were at the Academy.

I left my suitcases in my room and went to find Christian. I had been right, he was in his room. He was finished packing and was sitting on his bed, staring around the room.

When I had got there the door was opened. "Hey Christian, umm- I was wondering when we were leaving and where we're going?"

"We'll go whenever you're ready Rose and we're going to Tasha's house in Washington." Tasha. Great, my life was so perfect now, wasn't it? Okay, she's nice and all but she had been in love with Dimitri. The same Dimitri I had loved and then had to kill the other day. Our reunion was most definitely going to be awkward. The worst part was that it wouldn't be a reunion as such because I would be living there for the rest of my life. Perfect.

"I'm ready now." I said slowly, hoping it would be possible for this not to come. I hate awkward situation. Every time there was an awkward situation I wanted to run away and forget whatever happened hadn't happened. There was no chance of that happening with Tasha. Me guarding Christian meant I would be guarding her too. I would risk my life for Christian but for Tasha? I don't want to sound like a bitch but I'd rather live than for her to live.

She said she could defend herself, who am I to take away an opportunity for her to show us? Okay, okay, okay, I'm being a bitch I know that but a lot has happened over the last few days. How could you blame for acting like this?

My boyfriend had cheated on me with my best friend, I had to kill Dimitri after he was turned Strigoi months before and then I was chosen to be Christian's guardian instead of Lissa's. It was the Queen's fault I wasn't with her right now; I fucking hated that stupid bitch.

"Okay well we'll go to your room and them we'll get on the plan okay?" I wanted to run to that plane right now and just fall asleep. I was so tired I could fall asleep standing up. It's like when you have to stand up and you're listening to a really boring speech so you close your eyes, only I would fall asleep now from my lack of sleep due to last night.

Christian got his suitcases and dragged them behind him as we walked to my bedroom.

"Are you okay with this Rose?" He asked me all of a sudden.

"Okay with what?"

"Being my guardian, I know you waited your whole life to be Lissa's and then you got me which must be—"

"Christian! Seriously I'm fine with it. Lissa and I might never be friends again and if I was her guardian it would be like hell. Being your guardian- well I'm glad I got you. You're better than all the other Moroi's, you actually care about people you love, and they don't."

It was silent after that, and we made our way to my bedroom in record time. We both wanted to get out of the school and onto that plane. I couldn't wait until I sat down in the comfortable seats all planes have.

My eyelids were beginning to droop just thinking about sleep. I wanted to go to sleep more than anything in the world right now.

I grabbed my suitcases and we practically ran to the plane. It was only a small plane which held only ten seats. I wondered how Christian got us a plane all to ourselves.

I sat down on the chairs and fell asleep straight away.

--

I woke up to Christian shaking me and talking to me. "What!" I snapped at him, I hated being woken up from a good sleep.

"The plane just landed Rose. I don't know how you could sleep through all that thunder." He nodded his head towards the window where you could see flashes of lightning brightening up the dark sky. I must have been asleep for hours because it was night time now.