Two Original Characters will be introduced here. They're not main characters, but rather from Adrian's past and play a huge role in Adrian's life. Enjoy!

Lissa's eyes were glossed by then. I knew her well enough to know that she wasn't sad, but was extremely frustrated. "I'm not even queen yet and someone's life is already on the line. What if she dies? She's only a child."

Christian was rubbing her back with her thumb. "We don't know what exactly is happening to her yet."

We were stunned, except for Adrian. He was infuriated, but he didn't say anything. He couldn't believe this was happening to Jill, who he could almost think of as a sister.
Dimitri was the first one to speak up. "If I may, Queen Vasilisa?"

That got him an amused smile from her. "Not queen yet. But yes, go on."

"No offense, but whatever feelings we have right now, we have to put it at the back of our heads. We can start listing all the potential suspects first, starting from the most obvious ones, Natasha Ozera, for instance…" Christian gave him a deadly glare, but Dimitri either didn't notice or didn't care "…and move on to the next ones, such as—"

"Non sense," muttered Adrian, as he started making his way towards the door.

"Pardon?"

He stopped walking. "Non sense. Have you been listening? Someone is dying. Not just someone. Jill. The queen's only living family left," he shook his head and continued, "No, not just the queen's relative. Our friend. Someone we all love. She may not even have that much time left. She should be our priority for now."

I met his eyes for the first time, my tone business-like. "I understand what you're trying to say, Lord Ivashkov, but before we put a stop to the person who did this, what's to guarantee that he or she will not do this again? I have a feeling this isn't the last of it," I said.

"So what do your feelings tell you to do, Guardian Hathaway?"

"Not guardian. Yet," I said with a bored tone. "But first thing's first; Lissa, are you going to announce this to the public or keep it a secret? Who else knows about this?"
Everyone was looking at her expectantly by then, since she held the authority. She hesitated for awhile, clearly afraid that she might make the wrong decision.

"Only the doctors and Jill's new guardians know. I've made sure they didn't spread the news until we do. But Rose… Think of the panic this will cause. On the other hand, we can't risk our people's safety just because I'm selfish enough to keep this information away from them. What if this happens to them?"

Adrian threw his hands up in the air in exhaustion. "Did any of you listen to what I just said? We. Don't. Have. Time. Now, I'm going to go to do my job whilst you all continue with your chatting here."

"Where are you going?" said Dimitri.

I didn't have to ask him to know the answer. Jill. Adrian was going to heal Jill.

Adrian gave him a credulous look. "Jill, of course. Where else?" His eyes met Lissa's. "Lissa, are you coming?"

Lissa sighed, "I won't be much use. If I could, I would have helped her once she was sick. I've started taking pills again to numb my magic. I decided that I can't spare any time on any future mental breakdown in order to rule as queen."

Adrian nodded. "Understandable", he said. But inside, he felt a pang of disappointment of 'losing' his only spirit-user friend.

As soon as Adrian left, my attention was divided between keeping an eye for him and paying attention to whatever the hell everyone was talking inside the room. Someone was saying something about coronation, announcement, cure, Natasha Ozera, but I was not able to keep up with it. I felt like Adrian switched roles with me. I used to be the one who would jump into a situation no matter the risk. Instead, he was the one who was doing that.

Suddenly, as if he knew I was thinking of him, he sent me a message through the bond.

Rose.

That startled me, and I concentrated on what he was about to say. Even though he didn't want to communicate with me, this was an exception. He continued, tell Lissa my magic doesn't work. I failed in trying to heal Jill. And that Dimitri or whoever should carry on with the investigation. I remember you telling me in our dream that you know another spirit-user from Russia. Contact her. Or Sonya Karp. Immediately. They might be able to help us. I need to take care of some things. Hopefully it would be done within a few days.

I immediately went back to my own mind. By then, there were already four other people with us in the room. Presumably Jill's doctors. Lissa no longer looked crumpled as she did before. Her professional business-like demeanor returned. I grabbed Lissa by the shoulders to steal her attention. "Lissa, Adrian just talked to me—," I paused to see all the doctors eyeing me suspiciously,"—through the bond, I mean—that he can't heal Jill. We have to find another spirit-user. Sonya will do."

"What do you mean he can't?"

"He can't—as in he's unable to. He tried, but his magic won't work. And he'd be gone for a while now, to deal with something else."

"Deal with something else? In the midst of this? He's the only spirit-user we can reach at the moment," chimed a doctor.

"Have you been listening? He can't use his magic on her. And it's not like he's not helping. He needs to be gone to find something out. To help Jill," I lied. In fact, I had no idea what Adrian had in mind. I just knew that he wouldn't stand there watching Jill die in vain.

"Change of plans, then. I will still be meeting with the other royals to discuss this issue. But Dimitri will fetch Sonya to the Court immediately to heal Jill. Until the royal families and I agree on what to do, I'm afraid there's nothing much we can do about our suspects."

"But we already have a plan! No offense, but the meeting with the royal families will take forever. They will never reach an agreement! They never have," said a Moroi I didn't recognise.
"Like I said, I'm not queen yet. I respect my authorities," she said dismissively. "And you should too," she narrowed her eyes at the doctor. "Everyone dismissed."

Just as I made my way out, Dimitri tentatively touched my arm.

"Rose... I know we don't have time now. But when you do... Will you visit me?" he gave a small smile. "I very much want talk to you. About our earlier conversation."

I couldn't help it; I softened a bit. "Of course. Yeah. I will."

"Alright. I'll see you around."

"Good luck with Sonya, okay?"

"Okay." He touched my cheek for a moment and left.

The next hour was a blur. Like predicted, the royals went nuts upon being informed of Jill's current situation, and there was nothing we could do but wait until they decide how to publicly announce this. It was night time already, and I was beyond exhausted. A fellow guardian noticed how worn out I looked, and told me to get some rest as he predicted that the meeting wouldn't be over for at least the next few hours.

I slept as soon as I collapsed to my bed. I didn't know how much time passed until I was startled and awaken by something—the bond. Adrian.

He was in the middle of a serious conversation with his mother. It appeared that the meeting was over, since if it wasn't, she wouldn't have been talking to him.

"I don't know anything. Ask your father."

"You know he would never tell me anything! That's why I came to you. Mother, please. Someone's life is in the line. You have to tell me everything you know."

She looked conflicted. "Wait here."

About five minutes later, she came back with a thick folder.
"The Dragomirs' file wasn't the only one I stole from the Alchemists. I didn't intend to take this one, at first. It was a last-minute idea. I figured I couldn't steal from them more than once without getting caught. So I ordered my men to take this one too. You're not the only one who wants answers, you know."

He inspected the file. IORDACH, A. was written in the front.

The name didn't ring any bell to me, but it was certainly not the case for Adrian. Upon reading the name, there was a sharp intake of breath from him. An image formed in his mind. A girl clutching a book. Black hair, green eyes. Then he immediately pushed the image aside. I had a feeling he did that a lot upon remembering this Iordach girl.

"Is that—"

"Yes, yes. It's her life—and death—documented in a file."

Who are they talking about?I sure as hell didn't recognize the girl that passed through Adrian's mind.

"Wait. If you steal this one too from the Alchemists, why is it that they were only looking for the Dragomir's files and not this?"

"They can't risk it. It's too dangerous. If people knew this was stolen, it would create too much chaos. I know your dad acts like he doesn't want you to know about what happened, but I have a feeling he doesn't even know what exactly happened to her."

He doubted what she just said, about his father not knowing everything. Nonetheless, it didn't matter to him since he had what he wanted.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," he kissed both of her hands. "And mother… I know you've done more than enough by handing this over to me, but if I don't find the answer I need… In case I need to talk to the source directly… I just figured… Maybe she contacted our family... I mean, she must have, right? It's been six years…"

"No," she stammered, her tone cold and dismissive. "Don't ever think I'm going to help you find Lidiya Iordach—"

Lidiya Iordach? Was she a completely different person than that black-haired girl? Didn't her name start with the letter A?

"—and even if I knew where she was, I wouldn't tell you. Your father made it clear that we are never to acknowledge her anymore. Do you hear me? Never. If you do, I swear to God, Adrian, your father and I will never—"

Adrian ignored her mother's threat. "Is she still in Bulgaria? That much, you can tell me. I heard that her cousin moved to the states two years ago. Did she come too? I know you know. You and father aren't the kind of people who don't keep track of old friends."

She grimaced at the last words. "Lidiya is hardly a friend."

"Is she in America, or is. She. Not?" he demanded.

A long moment passed between them. They seemed to be communicating without words. She finally sighed and swallowed her throat.

"She is."

Okay, that was a rather bizarre introduction to the new original characters, but you'll gradually learn more about them in the next chapters. Review please. Thank you for reading!