"Wake up, baby," Dimitri whispered as he kissed his way down my neck and across my décolletage.
"No! It's too early," I moaned, attempting to bury my head under the pillows.
"Please, ангел? It's your big day today, and I want to start it with a special breakfast."
I had to hand it to my man, if anyone knew the words to get me out of bed, it was him!
"I've got all your favorites!" he promised, capitalizing on my initial interest. I reluctantly opened an eye.
"Please, Roza? I have to share you with everyone else later today – I want this morning to be about us."
"This had better be good!" I growled, grabbing the oversized TShirt he offered, pulling it over my naked form and wandering out into the living room and across to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later I was showered and more awake. Back in our room, I looked at the small supply of clothing available to me.
"Sweats are fine," Dimitri chuckled. "It's just us."
He had a backpack already packed, so I slipped on some gym gear. He left a note for Eddie and Meredith telling them we'd gone out for breakfast and we'd be back at the suite by nine, and then we took off.
"So are you going to tell me where we're going?" I asked coyly.
"Somewhere special," is all Dimitri said, my hand in his as we walked to the trees near guest quarters.
We walked for maybe ten minutes before we arrived. I didn't even see it at first – Dimitri had to force his way through the undergrowth into a natural hollow between a ring of tightly knit trees. You literally wouldn't know it was here unless you were in it. On every side were trees; the immediate perimeter comprised of thick, large trunks. But in the center of the ten-foot space was a crater some four-foot below the rest of the forest floor.
"Ivan found this in his first year here," Dimitri explained without being asked. "When we became closer he showed it to me. When you're in here, it's almost impossible to be seen."
I looked around us. He had a point. The trees and their lower branches completely obscured the tiny clearing and valley between them.
"I don't think anyone's been here since we graduated," Dimitri said with a nostalgic smile.
"You came here a lot?"
"It was our place to hang out," Dimitri explained. "Ivan was very social and confident, but he had dark times, too. This is where we came to talk things through."
"You were close."
"As close as you and Lissa," he confirmed, seating himself amongst the detritus from the trees before pulling me onto his lap. "Although we became friends later than you two. I guess I was his Guardian in a way even before he graduated."
"I wish I'd met him," I muttered as I cuddled against my man. It was stupid of me not to realize it before, but of course St. Basil's would remind Dimitri of his best friend and former charge. I'd never be able to see St. Vladimir's without thinking of Liss - it made sense it would be the same for him here.
"He would have loved you," Dimitri said with a sad grin. "He always used to say I was too serious - that I needed to live a little. Nothing would have made him happier than seeing me find love."
"I'm honored you're sharing your special place with me."
Dimitri gave me a shy smile.
"It was the best way I could think of to introduce you to him," he explained. "I feel close to him here, but so close to you, too. I wanted to bring you here so I could be with you both."
It hadn't been what I'd anticipated, but I was so honored to share this special place with him. With them.
Dimitri opened the backpack, revealing some breakfast rolls with bacon and egg, each enclosed in a paper bag. He'd also scored us juice and, of course, chocolate doughnuts!
"When did you get all this?" I quizzed. He was there when I woke up.
"I slipped out while you were sleeping. I had to fight three students for the doughnuts," he joked, passing one over before I snatched it from his hand.
"I wuv wyo, wyo know that wight?" I told him, my mouth full of choc-glazed perfection.
"Yes Roza, I know that," he chuckled, taking a bite from a breakfast roll and watching me obliterate the first doughnut, then the second.
"So how is today going to run?" I asked, reaching for a breakfast roll to continue my feast.
"About 9.30 am the Novices will be called into the gym, and their Promise mark will be inked. They usually have four or five tattooists working at once as there's about two hundred taking their promise."
"Two hundred?!" I gasped. I knew St. Basil's was larger than St. Vlad's, but not that much bigger. But thinking about the dining hall, and the common room, the numbers made sense. At St. Vladimir's the Moroi outnumbered the Dhampir, but here it was the other way around.
"Yeah. That's why the inking is done first – there's too many to do them one by one the way St. Vlad's does. Once everyone is ready, the Novices join the Moroi in the auditorium. The Moroi graduate first, then the Novices take their promise as a group and graduate one by one, their training scores revealed."
"How are the training scores calculated?" I asked, starting to worry now. Would I even get a score?!
"Well, it's based on your trials as well as observations done by staff over the last month or two before graduation. Because you three have been training privately, I've had to record your progress. Pavel, Kirk and several of your father's Guardians have signed off on it, as well as some of the Guardians you fought at the gym in Baia. There are also reports for the three of you from Stan and your mother, and we've included your reports from your kills. That's what I was signing off on yesterday in Sokolov's office – your training records."
"So what's my training score!?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," he said with a shrug. "Sokolov and the other senior Guardians were going to meet and discuss what you, Eddie and Meredith should be awarded. But it will be high. All three of you have made kills, you've all got excellent reports from your mission, you have Queen's Badges which is unheard of for Novices, and the fights in the gym will count, too – especially the ones against Guardians."
"As long as I'm above the midline and beat Elizaveta I'll be happy."
"You really don't like her, do you?"
"Nope," I said popping the p. "You heard her last night. She's a bitch, and she hates me!"
"Well, she didn't further her own cause," he agreed. "Croft was impressed with your idea. You're right – that could save lives. You came out of that dinner looking like a strategic thinker. She looked like a petulant child."
I smirked, shifting over to lean against my Russian God's side, snuggling under his arm when he lifted it for me.
"So. Tell me more about Ivan," I asked, resting my head on Dimitri's shoulder. "You must be thinking a lot about him being back here?"
Standing in the gym with almost two hundred Novices was daunting. Thankfully I had Eddie and Meredith with me, and we quickly found the bunch of St. Vlad's students, so we huddled together as a group waiting for our names to be called. As Dimitri had foreshadowed, there were five tattooists working simultaneously, so they were getting through the crowd fast.
"You're not wearing that to graduation are you?" Chelsea asked wide-eyed taking in my sweats. "Not with the Queen here!"
"No! Dimitri's family are arriving any minute with our graduation clothes," I replied. "Is Tatiana here?!"
"That's what we heard," Ryan confirmed. "We were crossing the commons to come here, and a heap of Guardians were racing around freaking out because Her Majesty had arrived for graduation!"
"Is that normal?"
"I'm not sure. One of the guys from St. Basil's said she's trying to make every graduation ceremony this year because of what happened at St. Vlad's."
I thought back to Lissa's graduation last week. Her Majesty had been at that one, but it had been at Court, so I hadn't given it any thought. I knew from Ryan that she'd been at the St. Christopher's ceremony yesterday, but somehow it hadn't occurred to me she'd be here today.
Before I had a chance to think about it further, my name was called, and I was directed to a Guardian at one of the inking stations. I sat on the stool in front of him, pulling my hair across so my neck was ready. He started to speak to me abruptly in Russian, but I had no idea what he was saying.
"Is there a problem?" I asked in English as I turned to look at him.
"Not right!" he barked in heavily accented English, turning over his shoulder and shouting something in Russian to another Guardian who was holding the clipboard and calling out names. The second Guardian came over, talking with the tattooist.
"Your name is Novice Rosemarie Hathaway from St. Vladimir's?" he checked.
I nodded. With his accent, it sounded like Rozzmeree, but I knew what he meant.
"And you have ten kills and a zvezda?"
"Yes. Guardian Oskey did my tenth yesterday," I confirmed, pointing over to where the Russian Guardian had just finished doing another Novice's promise mark.
Gesturing for me to stand up, I followed the Guardian with the clipboard over to Guardian Oskey.
"She has ten kills already?" he asked the Guardian tattooist, presumably speaking in English for my benefit.
"Yes. Sokolov said is right. I did tenth yesterday," Guardian Oskey confirmed in broken English.
"I'm sorry," clipboard guy said, turning to face me. "We're unused to giving Promise marks to those who already have kills. Please take a seat."
"Well, there are three others with kills being inked today," I said with a wry smile. "Eddison Castile and Meredith Edwards from St. Vlad's and Artyom Vitsin."
"Yes, I knew about Vitsin. Thank you for letting me know."
I moved my hair aside, and two minutes later I had my promise mark. It was as easy as that! I thought I'd feel different, but I didn't. In our early days of training, Dimitri had told me that the mark wasn't the significant part – it was promise that went with it. Yet I thought I'd feel more receiving the mark that permanently branded me as having devoted my life to serving Moroi.
"All done?" Eddie asked, draping his arm casually around me. I almost shrugged him off before I saw Elizaveta glowering at us where she waited for her name to be called.
"Done," I confirmed with a smile. "You?"
"Done. Just waiting for Meredith."
We stood together for a minute and then Meredith appeared beside us.
"Quick! Let's get back to the suite. We need to change before the ceremony," Meredith said clearly panicked. "If Her Majesty is here, I want to look my best!"
I laughed. We had half an hour – that was plenty of time. But with a final sarcastic wave at Elizaveta, I let Eddie lead me from the gym, waiting until we were out of sight before I shrugged off his arm.
"Do I look alright?" I asked, stepping out of the room I was sharing with Dimitri in guest quarters. Baba, Yeva, Olena, Karolina, Sonya, Viktoria, Paul, and Zoya were there along with Pavel, Kirk, and Chaung. It was basically standing room only in our small suite!
In a nod to my femininity, I'd decided to wear an A-line black skirt, black heels, and a white silky tank top. I was worried whether it was 'right,' but with my limited choices, it would have to do.
Dimitri had warned us the custom at St. Basil's was for Novices to wear normal clothing but in black and white to graduation, so Eddie, Meredith and I had packed accordingly. Eddie was sorted in black pants and a white button up. Meredith was wearing black pants, too, but like me had opted for a more feminine blouse.
"You all look lovely," Olena assured us, making us line up for photos together. Dimitri was wearing his Guardian dress uniform for the ceremony, and I had to admit a stirring in my loins when I saw him all dressed up, hair back, clean shaven and in a starched uniform. He was hot hot hot!
After taking photos of the three and then the four of us, Olena took another few of just Dimitri and I. Even in my heels, I had to tilt my head back as far as I could, and he lean down in order for our lips to meet. I slipped my arms around his neck, and he snaked his around my waist, and for just a moment it was only he and I.
"Beautiful!" Olena declared, looking at the display on the back of her camera.
"It's time," Abe declared, glancing at his watch.
"All Novices rise and repeat after me..." Tatiana intoned, saying the words which would forever bind my peers and me to be Guardians. And I might not have felt it when I was inked, but I felt every bit of my obligation now.
We were seated on the stage facing the audience. We were all lined up, but with the lights on us, I couldn't see Dimitri, Abe or the Belikovas in the audience. However, I smiled knowing they were out there. We were sorted alphabetically, so I wasn't close to anyone I knew, but I blinked my tears away, presenting a hopeful smile to the audience in front of me, smiling as little flashes from cameras popped from all across the audience.
Our promise made, Guardian Sokolov started calling us alphabetically across the stage. It was all St. Basil's graduates until Ryan.
"Novice Ryan Aylesworth from St. Vladimir's Academy," Sokolov called out. Ryan stood and walked across to stand in front of Her Majesty. He'd been right. She was here to see us across the stage! He bowed, and she nodded her head imperiously.
"Congratulations, Guardian Aylesworth. A training score of sixty-nine," Sokolov declared, shaking Ryan's hand then handing him the customary box of stakes – the ultimate declaration that a Novice was now a Guardian.
Sixty-nine wasn't high, but it wasn't that low, either. It was the lowest, so far, but anything in the sixties was ok. At St. Vlad's, at least.
The next few names were all people I didn't know, and I was relieved to hear a St. Basil's score of sixty-six. And then Sokolov called Eddie.
I had a huge grin on my face as I watched one of my oldest friends confidently cross the stage. Like Ryan, he stood in front of our Queen, bowing deferentially before waiting for his score.
"Congratulations, Guardian Castile. A training score of eighty-six." Sokolov shook Eddie's hand and then passed him his stakes.
I was bouncing in my seat in excitement, cheering along with many others. Eighty-six was a phenomenal score, and by far the highest one so far. I couldn't be prouder of him!
I didn't know any of the next few graduates, and then Meredith was called. Like Eddie, she walked across the stage, doing the obligatory curtsey for Her Majesty before standing proudly to hear her fate.
"Congratulations, Guardian Edwards. A training score of eighty-three."
I squealed every bit as loud for Meredith as I had for Eddie, watching her receive her stakes.
It was only a few Novices later when I was called.
"Novice Rosemarie Hathaway from St. Vladimir's Academy."
I walked across the stage, pausing in front of the Queen, doing the anticipated curtsey and turning to face Guardian Sokolov expectantly.
"Congratulations, Guardian Hathaway. This year's top Novice with a training score of ninety-six."
I shook his hand, too stunned to actually take it in. And then I took my stakes, walking back to my seat in a daze. I was vaguely aware of the cheers from the audience and my peers, but it was taking most of my effort to just keep walking.
Back in my seat, I was conscious the cheering for me was longer than for the other candidates. I guess because of being top Novice?
I sat back and schooled my face into an attentive expression, cheering and clapping for those yet to receive their stakes as they had their moment on the stage. Finally, almost at the end, the twins were called. Artyom took his stakes, and a training score of eighty-six; the same as Eddie. I watched him walk back to his seat. Then I was holding my breath as Elizaveta graduated with a score of eighty-one. I was vocal in my clapping and cheering, but mostly because Meredith and I had both beaten her! Of course, I knew as top Novice I had, but I was thrilled Meredith had, too!
Only a few Novices more, and we were done. Guardian Sokolov had a few concluding remarks, and then the ceremony was over, the doors to the rear and side of the auditorium opened so the graduates and their guests could spill out into the shaded Courtyard.
Eddie was the first to get to me, scooping me up and spinning me around in the air jubilantly. He'd just put me down when Meredith joined us, and the three of us hugged as a group.
"I knew you could do it!" Eddie announced triumphantly. "A St. Vlad's student topping the St. Basil's graduation! Ha! You'll be able to get any allocation you want!"
"Congratulations, Rose!" Meredith said with a genuinely happy smile. "You deserve that!"
"You did great, too!" I replied, giving her a high five as we laughed. She knew what I was getting at!
With quick congratulations to the others from St. Vladimir's we walked to the side of the stage, keen to get outside to see our well-wishers.
"Congratulations, Guardian Hathaway." I looked up, and it was Artyom.
I gave him a big smile. "Congratulations Guardian Vitsin," I said, allowing him to give me a small kiss on the cheek. He tried to linger but I quickly pulled away, and he went to repeat the motion with Meredith before shaking Eddie's hand.
"And you also, Guardian Vitsin!" I continued giving Elizaveta a big shit-eating grin. She didn't even pretend to be pleased to see us.
"You don't deserve to be top Novice. It should have been Artyom, and everyone here knows it," she spat spitefully at me.
"Veta! That's not true! Rose has more kills and faced more Strigoi in her trial. Don't insult her achievements," Artyom said in a pained voice.
"You could have done that if you had a rich as hell Daddy buying you every opportunity. He probably paid off Guardian Sokolov to buy her a better score!"
I was pretty sure he hadn't, but now she mentioned it, it was the sort of thing Abe would do!
"I'm sorry you feel that way," I said with as much dignity as I could muster. "Congratulations to you both. If you'll excuse me, there are people waiting to see us."
I stalked off down the stairs and out the side of the auditorium.
"Artyom was happy for you," Meredith commented, leaving out the other half of the equation – that Elizaveta wasn't!
The three of us were laughing, finding our way to the large courtyard where everyone had congregated. Servers were making their way through the crowd with punch and sandwiches, Moroi and Guardian graduates were milling around, talking with their family and friends.
It took me a moment to find Dimitri amongst the crowd, but his height was of assistance. I could see the back of his head, his hair still neatly in a ponytail. The three of pushed our way through the crowd until we were night next to the group.
"Well hello, little Dhampir! Or should that be little Guardian, now? Congratulations!" a familiar voice greeted me.
My eyes widened, and I gasped. There standing with Abe, his Guardians, Dimitri, and his family were Adrian, Lissa, Christian, Celeste, and Tasha.