The last two days had flown past. We were up and ready on Monday for the initial fights, and while at first, they were fun to watch, seeing less skilled graduates duke it out got old pretty fast. Even with four matches going on simultaneously, it took seven iterations to get through the first round!
The atmosphere at the fights was almost party like; Moroi gathering in the bleachers, eating, greeting and chatting with one another. In the early rounds, at least, little attention was given to the new Guardians. They weren't the fighters the Moroi had come to watch. Yet the stands were packed, as Moroi claimed their seats for the more exciting fights yet to come.
True to his word, Dimitri had us practice fighting down the quiet end of the gym with more experienced Guardians who were visiting campus with their Moroi for the fights. Pavel was a great help, sending his Guardians to approach people they knew or had trained with to fight us. Thanks to that, and our training scores, we had a steady supply of fighters to warm up against. We didn't want to go into our fights cold, and we were too used to fighting each other, so it was handy spending time fighting others.
Everyone knew we were some of the last fighters, so while we practiced there was a steady stream of Moroi, and even dhampir, eyeing our form appraisingly. Dimitri had warned us betting was a huge part of the fights, especially in the upper levels, so I suppose it made sense people had their eye on us checking us out in the days leading up to the final fights.
But our days hadn't all been fighting. I got to spend a decent amount of time with Lissa and Christian, too. They'd taken Abe up on his offer of flights back to Court, and a night at his house in Baia. Dimitri had rung Olena to tell her the latest developments and to extend Abe's offer to host the final dinner at his home to spare Olena the effort. Naturally, she declined, insisting that Lissa, Christian, Celeste, and Emil attend the family dinner she'd be preparing on Thursday night, just like we knew she would.
When this information was relayed to an unsurprised Abe, he'd responded by saying he would, of course, supply the raw ingredients. After a ten minute discussion with a reluctant Dimitri, he'd manage to inveigle from him the likely dishes Olena would be making. He then had Pavel place a call to Baia's butcher and greengrocer making arrangements to purchase and deliver ingredients for the same, as well as putting a sizeable credit onto the Belikova's accounts for any 'extras.'
Dimitri said his mother would be embarrassed by Abe's largesse, but I pointed out she'd be cooking for seventeen – it would be expensive, and this way she could provide the sort of meal she'd like to without consideration about how to afford it. Knowing his mother wouldn't want to be caught by surprise, Dimitri texted Karo to explain the arrangement and then turned off his phone before his mother had a chance to dictate a reply!
Tuesday night had held a surprise. Eddie, Meredith, Lissa, Christian, Celeste, Vika, Paul, Dimitri and I had been watching a movie together in our suite when Christian suggested we needed more snacks and asked me to come to the dining hall with him to fetch them. Dimitri had volunteered to go in my place, but Christian had stressed he'd like me to accompany him. It turned out he'd wanted to talk to me about me being his Guardian.
When he asked, I'd explained the concerns I had about guarding Lissa while also being her friend. He asked a few questions about how guarding would work, and who I'd want to pair guard with. I suggested Celeste might be interested in continuing to partner with Dimitri for Lissa, while I was open to working with whoever. I did put forward Eddie's name, and Christian admitted he'd thought about checking if he was interested.
By the time we made it back to the unit with juice, chips, and popcorn, it was decided. Christian and I would put in joint paperwork for allocation. There were no guarantees of course – but since I'd phrase my application in the context of being part of the Ozera/Dragomir guarding team, my chances were pretty good. Guardian Headquarters would want to do everything they could to keep the last Dragomir safe, and I knew I could rely on Dimitri and Lissa to support my request.
Lissa had given Christian a searching look when we came back in, and he'd nodded. Dimitri didn't miss the exchange and gave me a relieved smile before opening his arms up to me as I sat in his embrace cuddled into his side. After all the stress, it was finally decided. For good or bad, Dimitri and I would be living and working together guarding Lissa and Christian!
It was still taking the young Royal couple a while to get used to seeing Dimitri and me 'together.' We were keeping the PDA to a minimum while they were around, but we weren't hiding it, either. It was undoubtedly easier after Tasha left. Her change of attitude had been a little unnerving, even if I did know the reason behind it!
I was warming up on Wednesday afternoon at the side of the gym while Lissa and Christian were beside me watching on from the bleachers when Christian raised the issue.
"So I rang Tasha to tell her that Rose and I are putting in a request for her to be my Guardian. She seemed really happy about it. Said it was a great way for Rose and Dimitri to work and still be together. I thought she'd be upset…"
"I'm sure she was pleased for them," Lissa said brightly. "She's an old friend of Dimitri's – of course, she wants to see him happy!"
"But she was so into him…" Christian said uncertainly. "You remember what she was like. I didn't think she'd change her tune so quickly?"
"She might be a little embarrassed, Christian. I think the kindest thing we can do is pretend she was never interested in anything other than friendship with Dimitri."
"I agree," I added, coming over after doing my leg crunches. "No one wants to be reminded they were interested in someone only to find out they were already with someone else. Unless she raises it, I'd say nothing. That's what Dimitri and I are doing."
"That's really thoughtful of you," Christian said sincerely.
"Not at all," I mumbled, retying my shoelaces, so I didn't have to meet his eye. It was a relief when Dimitri, Meredith, and Eddie arrived.
There'd been three rounds already today. Each fight lasted a maximum of ten minutes; then each competitor got a five-minute recovery break before the next contests started. For each competitor to face all seven fighters in their round took just under two hours all up. Once that was done, the scores were tallied, the Guardians adjudicating talked if they needed to, the graduates progressing to the next round were advised, and then it started all over again. Today there'd been two rounds before lunch, then one after. Now at 3.30 pm, we were just about to start the main event – the final round.
The bleachers were now absolutely packed - this is what everyone wanted to see. Abe had secured excellent seats right in front of what would be the final sparring space and was sitting there in his brightest, most garish suit to date. I swear – sometimes I think he wore those suits just to make a spectacle of himself. Something about the dowdy, formal, oh so proper Royal Moroi having to acknowledge and pay deference to a guy dressed so ridiculously would appeal to his warped sense of humor. I knew this because it appealed to mine!
"One of you will end up outranking the other two, today. Getting to the top round is an honor in itself, so no matter how you do, you're already winners," Dimitri said to Meredith, Eddie and me, channeling his inner coach. "These fights can also be unpredictable. I've heard of people come up two ranks to end up the overall winner – so don't take anything or anyone for granted."
We all nodded. We might pretend we didn't, but in our heart of hearts, we all pictured ourselves as the overall winner.
"After you've placed, people might court you, offering you deals or privileges if you agree to put a request in with them for allocation. I don't want to stand in anyone's way, but I know a lot of the people here either personally or by reputation. If someone makes you an offer you're considering, I'd like you to talk to me about it. More than one Guardian has found themselves in a dodgy situation after agreeing to a joint allocation request without knowing all the facts."
"Not talking about me now, I hope Belikov?" Abe said catching the last of Dimitri's speech as he sauntered over with Pavel.
"I wouldn't dare," Dimitri replied deadpan, causing us all to erupt in laughter – even Abe.
"Belikov's right," Abe said, clapping my Russian God on the shoulder. "I know pretty much everyone here. I can also give you the low down if you're interested in taking up any offers."
So far the only offer anyone had was me from Christian, although Dimitri was planning to have a quiet word with Celeste today sometime to say if she was still interested in moving on from the Academy, Lissa would be needing a second Guardian. If she wasn't interested, Meredith was his second choice. While I'd be on opposite shifts to his guarding partner, we'd still be living together. Since I liked both Meredith and Celeste, I was pleased with them as potentials.
We stood around waiting for the other competitors to arrive. The top six were a guy called Eblan, then Elizaveta, Meredith, Artyom, Eddie and me. Two guys had made it up from the round below, making up the final eight.
It was going to be hard going for the eight of us. Where the earlier fights had been time limited to ten minutes, the fights in the final round were twice as long. I'd be fighting, with only a five-minute break between each match, for almost three hours. It was seriously only now I fully appreciated the fight club Dimitri had organized for us in Baia. Fighting so many every Saturday had been a bitch – but at least I knew I could do that if I needed to, and thanks to Dimitri's preparations, I was prepped to do it. Same for Eddie and Meredith!
Artyom and Elizaveta came to stand with our group, Eblan and the two guys from the round below following. We stood together, shaking hands and exchanging terse pleasantries as the fight orders were posted. We'd each be fighting seven opponents once, two of us fighting a second time to determine who would be the overall winner.
While it was completely random, fight order could play a big part in your overall success. You wanted your easiest opponents early on, so you could finish them off and rest, so you were prepared for the better fighters later.
All up, I was pleased enough with my draw; Eblan, one of the guys from the rank below, Eddie, then Meredith, the other dude from the rank below, Artyom, and finally Elizaveta. Admittedly I'd be facing off against Elizaveta when I was my most tired, but so would she. Meeting the strongest fighter when you were already exhausted was the worst draw possible, and from the unhappy look on Elizaveta's face, she knew it!
"You got a good draw, ангел," Dimitri reassured me, speaking quietly from where he stood behind me. "Concentrate and remember these people are also fighting to win. Don't fall for the obvious maneuvers."
More than anything, I wanted a long hug from my man right then, but since we were still keeping things on the down low, I settled for one from Lissa and then Abe. Eddie came across to wish me well, as did Meredith. I was surprised when Guardian Croft came over from where he was sitting with Sokolov to shake our hands and give us all his best, too.
And before I knew it, I was selecting one of the plastic practice stakes and was in one of the four squares, shaking Eblan's hand, and that of the referee, waiting for the whistle to signal the start of match one. Dimitri's words echoing in my head, I watched Eblan's fight style, cataloging his patterns. I let him go on the offensive, slipping just out of his reach each time he tried to connect. I was waiting for him to overextend slightly - and then I'd staked him, and he was 'dead.' It was over in under three minutes, and I hadn't raised a sweat.
We shook hands with each other, the referee noting the time, points scored and likewise on a running sheet. The crowd roared their approval, but I ignored them, my eyes taking in the other three fights still ongoing. This had been another tip of Dimitri's – to watch the other matches, when I had the opportunity, to check out fighting styles and also injuries. For instance, I saw Elizaveta had drawn one of the graduates from the previous round first up, and as I watched, he managed to give her a nasty kick to her left hip. That had to have done some damage, so it was a point of weakness worth keeping in mind for my own fight with her.
One by one the fights around me concluded, no one making it through to the twenty-minute mark and needing to be stopped. We all took a five-minute break, timed from the end of the last fight – so it was more like a twenty-minute break for Eblan and me - and then we switched opponents and faced off again.
I didn't get a real challenge until my third fight. Eddie. He was the equal second-best graduate for a reason, and after so many weeks training side-by-side he knew my moves. But then I knew his. Training with Dimitri had done wonders for his technique, and he was able to get some nasty hits in, yet so did I. I was surprised, and a little disappointed, when twenty minutes in we were stopped – neither of us able to defeat the other. Thinking about our fight, I think I'd probably had the upper hand, so hopefully, that would be reflected in my score.
I only had a brief break, and then it was time to fight Meredith. Three months ago I'd been a much stronger fighter than her. She was better, now, than she had been then - but so was I. We were fairly evenly matched in terms of speed and strength, but in the end, my endurance was better than hers. So after eleven minutes of fighting, and one risky aerial kick, I managed to get her to the floor and 'staked' her. Three wins and one draw. So far, so good!
Shaking Meredith's hand, and then giving her a friendly hug, we stood side by side and watched the match between Eddie and Artyom. As equal second placed, they both had something to prove. They were right up on the twenty-minute mark when Artyom managed to kick Eddie in the shoulder, momentarily stunning him. It was all it took, and seconds before the twenty-minute deadline, Artyom scored a kill.
Eddie was too well-mannered to do anything other than shake Artyom's hand, but I knew he was seriously disappointed.
Going into fight five I was in comparatively good shape. Thanks to my early kills, I'd had more rest between fights than the others – and every moment of recovery made a difference when the fighting was so intense and basically constant.
In an attempt to keep things fair, we weren't allowed to talk to anyone other than the referees or our opponents. It would be too easy for onlookers to pass on information about the other fights. Careful to make sure I didn't look at anyone, so could not be accused of cheating, from the corner of my eye I could see my father standing in front of the impromptu betting stands. I'd never been into gambling, so had no idea what the numbers on the chalkboards meant, but Abe seemed to be across it all.
Of course, he was. If there were a way to make money of someone else's endeavors, my father would be on to it. But for a moment I wondered if he was voting for or against me winning?
Round four ended, and the bookmakers checked the results, changing the odds on their chalkboards again. At this stage I think it was fifty/fifty; half the attention focussed on the fighting and the other half on the betting!
Round five started with a whistle blow and, for me, ended one and a half minutes later. My opponent was the lower ranked of the two graduates who'd made it up from the round below. So every competitor he'd faced, so far, had been better than him. He was already tired, and I toyed with the idea of completely wearing him out, but that would only benefit the fighters he faced after me. So I played it strategically, 'killing' him as quickly as I could, before settling in to watch the other fights.
Meredith and Eddie were fighting this round, and she made him work for it, but fourteen minutes in, he had her on her back and staked her. He helped her up, and I wondered whether I imagined the cheeky look on her face, and the astounded look on his when she murmured something to him as they shook hands.
I chanced a glance over to where Dimitri was sitting with Vika, Paul, Lissa, Christian, Emil, and Celeste. He had a look of pride on his face as his eyes fleetingly met mine. Five down, two to go. I could do this! The only thing standing between me, and victory, were the Vitsin twins and an, as yet unknown, opponent.
Round six I was facing Artyom. We did the usual handshake and then stood facing one another waiting for the whistle to blow. When it did, I went straight onto the offensive. Artyom was used to me holding back a little, so I wanted to try and get him off kilter from the outset. But despite a momentary surprise, he was ready for me and was able to deflect the worst of my blows.
I knew there was no point trying to use an aerial with Artyom – he practiced a lot with his sister, and she was adept at them – so I decided to use more of the street fighting moves I'd picked up in Baia. There was a nice double kick I used on his upper inner thigh that did some damage and could have been devastating had I aimed just a little higher. And not long after, I got him in the small of the back with another nasty kick. He was going to be in pain later tonight!
That said, he managed to punch me three times in succession on my right shoulder, causing me to pull back and assess the damage. But if he thought that was going to frighten me, he was wrong. If anything it made me more determined to win!
We stepped closer to each other, boxing more than we were sparring. At one stage I jumped and landed with both feet on his foot, causing a filthy word to escape his lips in Russian. Artyom didn't know Abe had been teaching me the more colorful aspects of the language, so he was surprised when I grunted, "That's no way to speak in front of a lady!"
And so it went, back and forth. I was connecting more than he was, but his strength meant his punches did more damage than mine. I managed to give him a nice elbow to the jaw, which might even have been a break. It was hard to say until he'd had some medical attention. His eyes were watering, so I knew it must have really hurt - but he was determined to continue.
When he feinted to my right, I automatically defended my left, only to find out the right had been his destination the whole time. Recognizing the trap at the last minute, I saw the kick coming and could do little but spin so my side took the worst of it. It was a devastating blow, delivered at full power, to my side knocking me to the ground. I looked up winded and saw Artyom drop to his knees beside me. I heard the whistle and looked down to see the practice stake illuminated bright red pressed against my padded breastplate, showing it had been deployed with enough force to register as a kill. Round six was over. And I had lost.