The room next to his aunt's formal parlor had been sealed off decades ago, before Tatiana had even been named queen. Not sealed off as in a locked or barred door—sealed off meaning the locked door had been boarded over and then plastered, so it's existence had been forgotten. As far as he knew, no one at court was aware that there was a secondary entrance—one that, to the best of his knowledge, was still accessible.

He counted off the doorways as he passed them—he hadn't attempted this little trick since he was seven years old. He'd been searching for a place to hide from his father due to one of the man's never ending tirades, and his grandmother had found him running down the hall, trying not to cry. She'd ushered him into the room, pointed out the hiding spot, and left him to discover what was hidden beyond the small, dark hole.

He stopped outside the fourth door, praying he'd remembered correctly. Yes. It was a storage room, full of a centuries worth of useless crap the palace staff thought too valuable to throw away. He shut the door behind him and locked it before turning on the lights. Walking to the far side of the room, he tugged a huge armoire away from the wall, then knelt to run his fingers along the baseboard. As if by magic, a large, rectangle slid back, revealing a small dark hole. He grimaced. It was going to be a tight squeeze. If—God forbid—he got stuck, no one would know where he was. He'd never have attempted this had it not been for the dangerous look Tatiana had shot at his little dhampire. She was planning something, and he needed to know what in order to properly avert it. Angling his long, lean body, he squeezed through the hole, biting his lip as he felt something small run across his cheek. Once he'd managed to get his entire torso through the opening he stood up, heading into the narrow passageway, using his cigarette lighter as a miniscule torch. The passageway wasn't long, only spanning the distance of the two rooms that stood between the storage room and the sealed room. When he reached the end he released a huge sigh, hurrying over to the tiny pinholes he'd discovered so many years before.

"Excellent," said Tatiana. "We'll see that the arrangements are made. You may go now."

Damn it, he'd missed the entire meeting. Lissa was being dismissed. Cursing himself internally, he yanked at a handful of hair, wondering what had been said. As he squinted, peering through the tiny peephole, Lissa bowed and scurried to the door. Tatiana suddenly called out to her.

"Vasilisa? Will you send your friend here to talk to me? The Hathaway girl?"

Adrian stared at his aunt, feeling the first faint traces of anger. Whatever she was about to do was something that just might change their relationship forever. He loved his aunt, but...

"Rose?" Lissa asked. "Why do you—? Yes, of course. I'll get her."

A few minutes later, his Rosebud entered the room, a confused expression on her beautiful face. Tatiana standing with her hands clasped, posture stiff and impatient. Rose bowed, glancing around the room. His aunt stalked over to her, an angry scowl on her face.

"Miss Hathaway," she said sharply, "I'm going to keep this brief. You are going to stop this atrocious affair you're having with my great-nephew. Immediately."

Fuck a duck. This was not good.

"I…What?" Rose sputtered.

"You heard me. I don't know how far things have gone, and honestly, I really don't want to know the details. That's not the point. The point is that it's going to go no farther."

"Um, Your Majesty … there's been some kind of mistake. There's nothing going on between Adrian and me."

He groaned. He'd already tried that. It wasn't going to work. He realized he should have taken the time to listen to Augustine's gossip earlier. Maybe then he'd have some idea how bad this might get. As it was, he was fighting back the urge to burst into the parlor and defend Rose's honor.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" The queen asked.

He saw Rose's expression, and knew what she was thinking. His mind whirled with panic. For once, Rose needed to keep her smart mouth shut, and seal any and all sarcastic comments inside. If she even hinted at what she was thinking, Tatiana will destroy her.

"No, Your Majesty."

"Well, that's a start. There's no point in lying to me. People have seen you together, here and back at your school. I saw you myself in the courtroom. I've heard all the illicit details about what's going on, and it is going to stop right here, right now. Adrian Ivashkov is not going to run off with some cheap dhampir girl, so you might as well rid yourself of that delusion right now."

What the hell? He felt his anger growing with every passing second. How dare Tatiana speak to Rose like that! She may not be a Royal Moroi, but in his opinion, she was worth more than any of the girls he knew.

"I never thought he was going to—seeing as how we're not involved," Rose said. "I mean, we're friends, that's all. He likes me. He's a flirt. And if you want to talk illicit stuff, then…yeah, I'm pretty sure he's got a list of illicit things he'd like to do with me. Lots of illicit things. But we're not doing them. Your Majesty."

He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the expression on his aunts face. Why couldn't she have just left it at 'we're friends'? As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he felt a wave of happiness pushing his anger down. Rose had just said they were friends!

"I know about you," Tatiana said. "All anyone talks about are your recent awards and accolades, but I haven't forgotten that it was you who took Vasilisa away. I also know about the trouble you used to get into—I know about the drinking, about the men. If it was up to me, I'd pack you up and send you off to some blood whore commune. You'd probably fit in well."

Over his dead body. If anyone tried to turn Rose into a blood whore, he'd… Well, elopement sounded pretty damn good to him, it was just a matter of convincing his little dhampire. And getting rid of Belikov, of course.

"But," she continued, "your recent… achievements make sending you away impossible. Everyone believes you have some glorious future ahead of you. Maybe you do. Regardless, if I can't stop you from being a guardian, I can affect whose guardian you are."

Rose bristled. "What are you saying? Are you threatening me?"

"I'm just saying I have a great interest in Vasilisa's future, that's all. And if I have to protect her from corrupting influences, I will. We can find her another guardian. We can find you another Moroi."

"You can't do that!" Rose exclaimed. "I'm not doing anything with Adrian. Really. You can't punish me for something I'm not doing. Your Majesty."

"I don't want to punish you at all, Rose. I just want to make sure we understand each other. Moroi men don't marry dhampir girls. They play with them. Every girl thinks it's going to be different with her—even your mother did with Ibrahim, but she was wrong too."

"With who?" Rose asked. Ibrahim? Why did that sound familiar to him? Who the hell was Ibrahim?

"They're always wrong. And you can try your hardest to change that, but it's a waste of time." She gave Rose a smug smile. "You can use your pretty face and easy body as much as you want, but in the end, you're the one who'll get used. He may say he loves you now, but in the end, he'll get tired of you. Save yourself the grief. I'm doing you a favor."

With that, Tatiana destroyed something in Adrian that she could never repair. Even though he'd denied his feelings, his aunt knew the truth she'd seen it in his eyes a few days ago. He was in love with Rose—and she'd just destroyed any chance he might have had to win her affection. Uttering that one hateful sentence, 'He may say he loves you now, but in the end, he'll get tired of you' reaffirmed every unfair thought Rose had ever had about him—it drove home all the half-truths and rumors, labeling him a heart breaker and a user. For that, he'd never forgive Tatiana.

"But he isn't saying he loves—Look, if you're so certain we can't have a future together, then why are you telling me this? According to you, he's going to throw me away anyway. Your Majesty."

"I like to take care of things before they become messy, that's all. Besides, it's going to make things easier for him and Vasilisa if they aren't dragging around baggage from you."

His head snapped up at that, his pain momentarily shoved on the back burner.

"Him and… Vasilisa? Lissa? What are you talking about?"

"The two of them are an excellent match," she said.

Adrian clenched his fists so tight that his fingernails bit into his palms. She was talking as if they were a pair of dogs, matching up their pedigrees to produce an acceptable litter.

"Despite your bad influence, Vasilisa's grown into a very promising young woman. She has a very serious, very dedicated nature that will cure some of his recklessness. And being together would allow them to continue examining their…unusual magical situation."

"Lissa and Adrian. Together. You can't be serious. Your Majesty." Rose's voice was dangerously close to mocking.

"If they're both here together, I think they'll come around to it. They already have a certain charisma around each other. Plus, both of Adrian's grandmothers came from branches of the Dragomir family. He has more than enough blood to help her carry on the Dragomir line."

Except auntie dearest, you're not considering his feelings. He glared at the wall, wondering how his aunt would react if he told her he'd chose to become a monk, living a life of celibacy and self-denial before he'd marry Lissa. She was like a sister to him, for Christ's sake!

"So does Christian Ozera."

"Christian Ozera?" Tatiana's smile looked like a grimace. "There is no way Vasilisa Dragomir is going to marry him."

"Well, yeah. Not anytime soon. I mean, they're going to go to college and—"

"Not now, not ever," interrupted Tatiana. "The Dragomirs are an ancient and exalted line of royalty. Their last descendent is not going to attach herself to someone like him."

"He's royal," Rose said, her voice dropping. She sounded dangerously close to blowing her stack. "The Ozera line is every bit as important as the Dragomirs and Ivashkovs. He's royal, just like Lissa, like Adrian, and like you."

She snorted. "He is not like us. Yes, the Ozeras are one of the royal houses, and yes, he has several respectable distant cousins. But we aren't talking about them. We're talking about the son of someone who purposely became a Strigoi. Do you know how many times that's happened in my lifetime? Nine. Nine in fifty years. And his parents were two of them."

"Yes—his parents," Rose stated. "Not him."

"It doesn't matter. The Dragomir princess cannot associate with someone like him. That position is simply too prestigious."

"But your nephew is the perfect choice," She said bitterly. "Your Majesty."

"If you're such a smart girl, then you tell me—back at St. Vladimir's, how are they treated? How do your classmates view Christian? How do they view Christian and Vasilisa together?"

"Fine," she said. "They have lots of friends."

"And Christian is fully accepted?"

Rose paused, and that was her undoing.

"You see?" Tatiana exclaimed. "And that's just a microcosm of society. Imagine it on a bigger scale. Imagine how it'll be when she's active in the government and trying to get others to support her. He'll be a liability. She'll make enemies just because of him. Do you really want that to happen to her?"

"It won't happen. You're wrong."

"And you're very young, Miss Hathaway. You're also delaying your flight." She moved toward the door. The guardians across the room were by her side in the blink of an eye. "I have nothing more to say and hope this will be the last time we ever have a discussion like this."

She left the room and a few minutes later, Rose sprinted out the door.

Adrian made his way back through the passageway, his ire growing with every step he took. By the time he reached the storeroom, reality had slipped to the wayside, and sanity was a distant memory. He slammed out of the room, and set off in search of his aunt, the Queen.