"Ready ladies?" Dimitri asked, peering through the doorway after he'd knocked and I'd called out to come in.

"Sure am," I said smiling at him.

Dimitri slipped into my room, closing the door behind him.

"Janine," he said, nodding his head in her direction before coming to stand in front of me.

"You look beautiful, Roza," he said, leaning down and tenderly kissing me. I was a little surprised he did that in front of my mother, but I suppose it was part of him showing her we were a couple and didn't need her permission.

"Yes, yes," Mom grumbled. "Plenty of time for kissing later. Let's go get my daughter her allocation." She sounded more resigned than pissed off.

"Keep your hair on," I teased, standing on tiptoes to brush my lips against Dimitri's one more time before checking myself in the mirror.

I was wearing my formal Guardian dress uniform for the first time; black pants, white shirt, and black blazer. Our uniforms were usually fairly shapeless and far from figure flattering, but mine looked awesome. Unbeknownst to me, Baba had arranged to have them altered by Miroslava in Baia. She'd already had my measurements from my gown, so over the couple of days we were at St. Basil's doing our trials, she'd tweaked and tailored my everyday and dress uniforms so they were ready when I graduated.

Consequently, my pants were the ideal length and well fitted. My white button up shirt was tailored at the waist yet still fitting perfectly across the bust, so there would be no pulling or gaping. Finally, she'd shortened the jacket ever so slightly, again shaping it at the waist and ensuring the shoulders were a precise fit. The changes, while subtle, made all the difference. Now I was wearing the uniform, whereas before the uniform wore me!

"That dressmaker really knows her stuff," Mom admired, her thoughts headed in the same direction as my own as she looked in the mirror, comparing her shapeless uniform to my tailored one.

"Yep. It's not every girl who gets her black and whites altered by the chief costume maker for the Bolshoi Ballet," I laughed.

Mom rolled her eyes.

"Your father always has had more money than sense."

Dimitri opened the door to my room and stepped out, earning a very surprised look from Chelsea and Ryan who were coming down the corridor. If their looks were anything to go by, they had no idea about Dimitri and me and were surprised to see him coming out of my dorm room. When Mom followed me out, and they appreciated I hadn't been alone behind closed doors with Dimitri, they relaxed again. Well insomuch as any junior Guardian relaxed around my mother.

"Guardian Hathaway," Ryan acknowledged. "Are you coming to see Rose get her allocation?"

Der. No shit, Sherlock.

"Yes, that's right," my mother replied brusquely. "Wouldn't miss it."

Ryan looked too terrified to say anything else, so it was a bit of a relief when Eddie and Meredith joined us.

"Guardian Hathaway," Eddie greeted effortlessly, without fear. "Good to see you again!"

"Thank you, Castile. All the best today. You too, Edwards. You've both done very well, and I hope you get favorable allocations."

Her words set a tense mood as together we descended the stairs and made the short walk across to Guardian Headquarters. It was a big day for all of us.

There was a larger group than I'd expected gathered waiting, but when I saw Blake talking to a group of new Guardians I didn't know, I realized the St. Michael's graduates must be here, too. I heard my name mentioned a few times, and a couple of people were pointing, looking in the same direction at me, but we were called inside before it had a chance to get awkward.

When we got inside, I was amazed. There, standing in a group chatting, were Celeste, Emil, Pavel and a whole heap of Guardians from St. Vlad's including…

"ALBERTA!" I squealed, running over and throwing myself into the graying Guardian's arms. "I didn't know you were going to be here for this!" I wailed, suddenly feeling like I was a little girl again, showing Alberta my treasures, crying when I fell over roller skating, or listening to her patiently explain why I couldn't hit a Moroi over the head with a toy, even if they deserved it.

"Since we didn't have a graduation ceremony, I couldn't miss the allocations – and a lot of the other Guardians felt the same way," she explained, gesturing to the group assembled.

Looking around, I could see a heap of the St. Vladimir's Guardians. I had to admit – it was nice to see them all.

We chatted for a moment, but then it was time to move into the room and get ready for things to start.

"I'll be waiting at the side of the room for you," Dimitri murmured, preparing to follow the large delegation from St. Vladimir's. Looking across, there were a small number of other Guardians assembled, clearly here to see loved ones get their first allocations. Brothers and sisters, for the most part, although I did see a couple of older Guardians who could be uncles or perhaps fathers.

Speaking of fathers, there was mine standing smugly next to Guardian Croft at the front of the room.

"How did he get in here?" I asked in surprise. When Abe said he wanted to see me get my allocation, I thought he meant be in town for it, not in the room! I really should have known better. If anyone was going to get what he wanted, it was Baba.

"Goodness knows, but you'd better go and say hello," my mother replied.

For once, Baba was not dressed outlandishly. In fact, today's ensemble was positively demure – a black suit, white shirt, and a conservative dark green scarf. The only Moroi in the room, he almost blended in amongst the sea of black and white. Almost.

"Baba?! What are you doing here?" I asked as Dimitri and Mom peeled off to stand to the side with the other observers. "This is meant to be for Guardians only?"

"Apparently Mr. Mazur was impressed by all the hard work he observed from the Guardians in training. He's here to offer each Guardian a small token of appreciation," Croft said drolly. I'll give him credit; Croft didn't roll his eyes or smirk once.

"So you couldn't bully your way in here, so you bought your way inside instead?" I laughed in exasperation at my father.

"That's right!" he said proudly without a hint of remorse. "I wasn't missing my girl's big day for anything."

"So what did it cost you?" I asked.

"Less than I thought. A fifty-dollar gift card each."

I looked around the room, mentally doing the math.

"But that's…"

"Worth every penny to see my little girl's big moment," he interrupted, leaning over and kissing my cheek. "Go line up with your friends, kiz."

I hmmphed but did what he said. Mom was right. The man had more money than sense!

Finding Meredith and Eddie in the group of just-graduated Guardians, I went to stand beside them. They were standing close together with a group of other friends from St. Vlad's, and while I couldn't be sure, it looked as though they were occasionally brushing their hands against one another's. If I could, I'd have a quiet word with Eddie later on to get his take on what was going on with Meredith.

"Can I have your attention, please," Croft said from the front. The man didn't need a microphone. If there was one thing Guardians had drilled into them from the day dot, it was the chain of command. And for Guardians, it didn't get any higher than Guardian Hans Croft.

Starting with a quick preamble, Croft then introduced my father to say a few words.

I felt myself shrinking a little, hoping my father wasn't going to single me out in front of my peers. I didn't mind people knowing he was my dad – but that wasn't meant to be what today was about.

Thankfully Baba kept it short and sweet, making general remarks about the dedication we'd all put into our training, and how he was here today to give a small token of appreciation.

That out of the way, Croft started alphabetically, referring to a long list of names on a sheet he was holding. A little like a traditional graduation ceremony, Croft started with the name, then their starting rank and the details of their allocation. The Guardian would then take their white envelope with their allocation particulars, shake Croft's hand and this year shake my father's hand and receive a small white envelope from him as well.

The first couple of names were people I didn't know, so I suppose they must be from St. Michael's or some other academy. My eyes met Eddie's as Croft skipped the part where 'Ashford, Mason' should have been called. We each gave the other a sad look. Gone but not forgotten.

Finally, someone I knew was called forth.

"Ayett, Blake. White, New Moon."

There were titters amongst the crowd. A White, New Moon was the third of the starting ranking levels. While still relatively low, it was a rank not usually received until a year or two out. It suggested a particularly good training score or some other service of merit. Probably the mission, I thought to myself.

"Guardian Ayett, you are allocated to serve at St. Vladimir's Academy."

Blake shook Croft's hand, received his envelope, then shook Baba's hand before crossing to stand on the other side of the room with the other allocated Guardians. He looked pleased enough with the allocation. Amongst the hierarchy of guarding it was low, but not the lowest. The priority was Royal Moroi, then not-royal Moroi, Academy and finally Court.

Croft continued calling out names and allocations. There was a Blue, Quarter Moon allocated to an Ivashkov Lord, and then finally we were approaching the Cs.

Meredith wasn't even trying to hide the fact she was squeezing Eddie's hand when Croft announced, "Castile, Eddison. Red, Quarter Moon. Guardian Castile, you are allocated as secondary Guardian to Lord Christian Ozera."

There were surprised murmurs from the crowd as Eddie shook Croft's hand then Baba's. A Red Moon at graduation was unheard of, but more people seemed to be commenting on Christian getting a Guardian. In fact, since Eddie was a secondary, two! The Ozera's, generally, were well respected enough within Moroi society, but it was no secret that Christian's parents had willingly turned Strigoi. Since then, that branch of the family had been consistently overlooked during allocations, despite their Royal status.

I wracked my brain wondering who the primary might be. Eddie was the third top graduate, after Artyom and me. I couldn't see them bringing Artyom across to guard Christian, so it had to be an established Guardian getting the role.

In spite of everyone's surprise, there was no mistaking Eddie's grin. It had all worked out as they'd hoped, and right about now, Christian would be getting a text telling him 'Guardian Eddison Castile, secondary Guardian' would be reporting in for duty tomorrow morning.

A few more names were called, and I'd taken Eddie's place beside Meredith. This time I squeezed her hand as Croft called out, "Edwards, Meredith. Blue, Full Moon. Guardian Edwards, you are allocated as secondary Guardian to Princess Vasilisa Dragomir."

Ok. I'll admit it. My heart did lurch a little, but I plastered a smile on my face as Meredith shook Croft's hand, receiving the white packet I had hoped for. If I hadn't been made primary Guardian for Liss, I would have accepted secondary. But here we were – Meredith was off to Lehigh with my best friend, and I was off to New Hampshire.

Walking to stand next to Eddie in the group of allocated Guardians, Meredith looked thrilled but stunned. I don't think she'd forseen this. Eddie looked pretty damned happy, too. Maybe I didn't need to ask him about his intentions toward Meredith after all.

I watched the two of them with a heavy heart. It should have been Dimitri and me guarding Lissa and Christian. But that wasn't the way it worked out, and it didn't pay to dwell on things. Hopefully, things would work out for us, too.

More names were called, and then I was up next.

"Hathaway, Rosemarie. Black, New Moon."

The rank wasn't a complete surprise to me. Dimitri had mentioned he was a Black Moon on first allocation, too. Given we had the same training score, and both won the elimination fights, I'd suspected I'd get a high rank. Although I thought he'd been a quarter moon? I'd have to ask.

"Guardian Hathaway, you are allocated to a Queen's Project."

I went forward and shook Croft's hand, smiling although my eyes were glistening slightly. Then I stepped forward, and Baba gave me a long hug, passing me a pink envelope instead of one of the white ones he was handing out to everyone else.

"Congratulations, kiz. I'm so very proud."

If there'd been murmurs for Eddie, there was outright conversation and speculation about my allocation. Other than those in the know, pretty much everyone had expected me to be allocated to Lissa. That it hadn't happened was a surprise. Additionally, no one seemed to know what a 'Queen's Project' was. I couldn't blame them – the details were a bit sketchy to me right now, too!

I went to stand beside Eddie and Meredith, blinking to make sure I wasn't going to cry. Looking across to where Dimitri stood beside my mother and Alberta, he had a calm, unsurprised face, but when his eyes met mine, he gave me a tender, loving smile. Mom, on the other hand, had a white handkerchief out and was dabbing at her eyes. Not usually one to show emotion or a lot of affection, Mom was very obviously affected. Meeting my eyes across the room, she gave me an embarrassed smile as Alberta slipped her arm around her shoulders and whispered something comforting.

I stood and listened as strangers, as well as people I'd known most of my life, received their allocations. There were no real surprises, most getting the sort of allocations I'd expect.

Finally, Croft drew things to a close, asking the St. Vladimir's graduates to stay behind. Once the other newly allocated Guardians departed, Alberta stepped forward to announce that as there had been no St. Vladimir's graduation ceremony, this year, she was taking this opportunity to get photos of the graduating class. Within minutes she had us lined up on tiered boards on the side of the room, a photographer appearing to do the honors.

After the group shot, we were directed to line up alphabetically to have our individual photos taken.

That done, one by one everyone wandered off back to the Guardian dorms. There was going to be another party tonight before official duties started at 7 pm tomorrow. Dimitri and I were hanging around waiting to speak with Guardian Croft.

"Belikov? Why don't you get a photo with Hathaway Junior?" Alberta suggested with a twinkle in her eye. "You know – mentor and student."

He shrugged and looked at me. Might as well – there weren't a lot of photos of us together, and Olena would love a nice one of us in our dress uniforms for the photo wall in Baia.

"We're not student and mentor anymore," I reminded Alberta as Dimitri and I moved into place, me standing on a step in front of him, so our heights weren't so disparate.

"Yes. What a relief that must be," Alberta declared with a smirk, before disappearing to chat with some of the other Guardians loitering around.

Photos finished, we wandered over to Croft who was just wrapping things up with my father, Pavel standing beside him.

"Darling! I've arranged a party tonight at my house in your honor. All the arrangements are made – you just have to show up!"

"Who's invited?" I asked nervously. I had planned to spend my last night at Court with my friends.

"Everyone. Lissa, Christian, Eddie, Meredith, Celeste… Your mother will be there, too, and she's invited some people from St. Vlad's. Come over whenever you're ready after 6.30 am."

"Is Tasha invited?" I asked curiously.

"I don't think I'd be able to keep her away," Abe laughed, giving Pavel an arch look.

The poor man flushed, looking particularly uncomfortable.

"Alright, we'll see you later," I said as the long-suffering Pavel and Abe took their leave.

"Glad that's over," Croft said, gesturing for Dimitri and me to follow him. We crossed the meeting hall and went through a door at the rear of the hall which led into the labyrinthine hallways and passages of Guardian Headquarters. Run down, with worn carpet squares and scuffed walls, this place was all about function with scant regard for aesthetics.

"Come on in," Croft said, opening a door with his name emblazoned on it. "Please take a seat."

For the next half hour, Croft outlined our allocation. What he knew, what he suspected and what he'd be expecting. There were still a lot of unknowns, and the chief message seemed to be that we needed to be adaptable. Then we were signing our Court provided credit cards, getting the keys for a vehicle we'd be picking up in New Hampshire, and given new cell phones and laptops along with an exhaustive list of what we could, and couldn't, tell others about where we were going and what we were doing.

The Guardian Council meeting dates were also provided, Croft explaining we would be reporting in every four weeks on a Friday to the Council and would be flown back to Court for the weekend for this purpose. These meetings would coincide with a meeting with the Alchemists based at Court; Sydney and Tristan.

"Have they arrived yet?" Dimitri asked curiously.

"Yes. They arrived not long ago. In fact, I'm meant to take you over there to meet them after this."

The last of the instructions and signatures in place, Croft stood up and shook Dimitri's hand then mine.

"I don't think it's going to be a tough allocation in terms of danger, but you might have your work cut out getting them to cooperate with you. I understand the ones you will be working alongside are receptive, but those you'll be training might have the prejudices and uncertainty their kind are renowned for. You won't be able to have visitors, but you'll have three weekends in four off, plus the car. Make use of them."

Dimitri gave me a reassuring look as we followed Croft from the room, heading across to the Palace.

"The Alchemists have been given their own residence in the guest section of Court," Hans explained, "as well as offices here in the Palace. They've just met with her Majesty, and I believe they're currently receiving a tour."

The three of us crossed the courtyard, entering the Palace by the Guardians' entrance. Situated on the basement level, while not quite a servant's entrance, the Guardians' entrance allowed Guardians to discreetly enter and exit the Palace at the lower 'operational' level rather than traipsing through the formal areas on the ground floor. Quickly signing in, we took the service stairs to the ground floor, opening a large door to step into the Palace foyer. I was looking around while trying not to be obvious about it. This place was huge!

I knew who was there before I even heard his voice. Dimitri bristling beside me was indication enough.

"Guardians Croft, Belikov and Hathaway. Lovely to see you again! May I present Field Agents Tristan Bellows and Sydney Sage?" Adrian said formally, the picture of elegance and hospitality.

Knowing they might find the touch of a handshake a bit confronting we all nodded, making the required polite words of greeting. But something felt off. Tristan and Sydney seemed nice enough, although perhaps a little overwhelmed by the whole situation. No. It was Adrian who seemed off. He'd apparently been tasked with touring the Alchemists around the Palace and meeting with us - and by the looks of things, he was doing an admirable job.

What was off is that he was missing his usual cavalier attitude and snarky remarks. He was being polite, solicitous and oh my God! Not only was Adrian sober, he was staring at Sydney Sage like a man who'd just found his sole reason for living. And God help the girl, I think she had no idea!