To say I was nervous from the moment I opened my eyes that morning was an understatement. I wasn't going on battle nor was I setting out to a Strigoi mission. I wasn't even taking the business economics' exam, no. I was getting married. Well, actually it was only on the day after, but that wasn't important to the matter. First I was terrified something would go wrong, the plane could crash, Strigoi could attack Lissa just before we say I do. It could start snowing for all I know – after all were going to Siberia so, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a blizzard in the middle of August. Secondly I was afraid I would suck at it. Not just the ceremony – because yes my lack of a filter and impulsive mouth had been known for not caring about propriety, no matter the situation – but the whole marriage thing. I had postponed it hoping the 20's would bring me some clarity in adulthood, which proved to be a disappointment since I didn't feel a single even a bit different – Dimitri usually says that it's because I was already very matured for my age, I like that hypothesis so I decided to believe him. I tended to remind myself lately that it was nothing more than a piece of paper, a formality, and that I had already – and in several occasions – been treated as Dimitri's wife. But what can I say, I was out of my element. Of course I knew this fear was irrational and, well… stupid so naturally I didn't let it show. I was the personification of cool and relaxed… on the outside at least.

To say Lissa was excited from the moment from the moment she opened her eyes that morning was a HUGE understatement. By her insistence I had slept in her room while Christian had – quite involuntarily – moved to the guest bedroom. Apparently she took seriously the whole bad luck thing. And Dimitri, poor Dimitri slept alone. Although I actually think he also bought that stuff cause he didn't even seem to argue it. It was always weird for me to come to terms with his superstitious side – something probably cultivated from being raised around Yeva. She woke up at 4, the dam birds were still chiming outside, and I know this because she woke me up as well, obviously, with a grin that could scare anybody that early in the morning. I forced her to take a shower before me, so I jumped out of bed and almost ran to the kitchen – more specifically to the coffee machine.

"So the big day…" I heard a voice coming from the living room as I passed by. I stopped and glanced over to Jack who was sitting on a chair near the door with a very stern look on his face, but I could tell he was hiding a smirk.

"The day before the big day" I corrected. There was a difference okay? Today I could still freak out a little. I made my don't-mess-with-me face continued to the kitchen to price myself with a so deserved cup of coffee.

When I came back to the bedroom Lissa was already out of the shower and putting some last-minute items in her travel bag. I put a cup for her on the nightstand and head over to the corner of the bedroom where my 2 bags were – 2? Yes one small with clothes for tomorrow during the preparations and other stuff I might need and a bigger one for the honeymoon. Dimitri didn't tell me where we were going so I packed clothes for both warm and cold weather. Lissa had forced me to prepare it yesterday afternoon.

I opened the smaller bag and couldn't help but look surprised.

"What are you smiling about?" Lissa asked, approaching from behind me.

I didn't turn my look, my hand slowly reached one of the 5 large sized chocolate bars scattered inside my bag. I realised there was a note and reading it I had a feeling my unknowing smile turned even bigger.

To help you relax.

Love
D

Apparently my nervous state didn't go unnoticed by Dimitri, honestly I doubt anything I do or feel ever goes unnoticed by him, which is scary, but this time I was thankful for the chocolate, it truly was my go-to solution – when Dimitri was unavailable.

I took out my brush in order to, at least, try and tame my hair.

"Well that is pointless…" I heard someone say in a familiar sarcastic tone. I turned to send a snippy look at Christian who stood by the door.

"You don't knock?" I shot at him, putting the brush back in the bag and closing it.

"It is my house… my bedroom even…"

"I could have been naked for all you knew…"

He made an expression of someone who had just eaten cold broccoli "Good point… I'll definitely knock next time, I don't want that imagine scared in my head"

"You wish…"

"Your majesty…" we hear from outside the bedroom door, both me and Christian turning away from our little debate "We've just been informed that the princess, guardian Castille and Mr and Mrs Ivashkov have arrived. They also asked to let you know they intended to re-visit the Court's grounds in the meanwhile"

"Thank you Jack!" she said with a growing urgency to her voice "Rose get in the shower now or we will be late!" I groaned at her bossy and motherly tone. Argh I'm gonna have to brush my hair again I though as I put it in a high bun in order for it not to get wet.

It was the fastest shower ever! I think I broke a record or something. I took a shower, got dressed and was out in the living room ready to go in under 15 min. I was kind of proud of myself. I had just entered the hallway, tightening my bun – again… dam my hair sometimes – when I was startled by a figure entering though the main door. I stopped and smiled, waiting for him to notice my presence. Dimitri finally close the door and turned around, his serious face relaxed once he caught my eyes and, as usual words were unnecessary. Our exchange spoke for itself. He smiled back, silently. From his clothes I realised he had just picked up his shift – we were still on duty today, but we had the wedding day off and the honeymoon, obviously, neither of us wanted Christian or Lissa hanging around during those 5 days – I turned around and picked up the bags from Lissa's feeble hands heading towards the door and putting them down, purposely brushing by Dimitri, touching just slightly. I smirked thinking about our absence of words. He was teasing me…

"Dimitri! Okay so we are all here, we can go! We'll wait for the other on the jet" he closed her eyes like she was going through a mental list "The cake and flowers are already on the refrigerated cargo area, I asked Emma to watch over it. Syndey, Adrian and Jill are already at Court. Sonya and Mikhail will meet us in the Moscow airport and Janine and Abe will meet us in Baia…"

"I think so…you know more than me…" I breathed in both in relieve and pleasure from hearing his voice – knowing he was sleeping a few meters from us but not being able to be with him was just simply mean – he smiled softly at Lissa as she made a playful face.

"Well I am the maid of honour, it's my job"

"You should ask for a raise then" he was in a good mood apparently, he usually was much more severe, maybe it was just the fact that there, in that room we had still not quite entered the real world, he could afford to be playful and relaxed.

"Good idea" she glanced at me, if we still had the bond I would be certain she was saying something snippy she wouldn't dare to say out loud "Okay let's go!"

The six of us left the apartment out to the warm afternoon air, the sun was setting on the horizon but the hot August weather didn't seem to have any intention of dissipating, although the suffocating feeling that was overwhelming during the day was now slowly fading with the absence of sun. We headed to the Private landing strip – another perk from being in a secluded location – were Alexei, Emma and 3 other guardians I honestly couldn't remember the name were waiting for us. Me and Dimitri watched them go up after Lissa and Christian and then we went to put the bags in the cargo bay. All of a sudden I felt two hands on my hips pushing me back.

"This is really unprofessional, especially to you" I whispered, my breath running away from me because of the kisses he had started laying on my exposed shoulder.

"If you think… for a second… that I didn't clear…the perimeter…first….you are disappointing me…" he said pausing in between when his lips came in contact with my skin. The idea of him looking around and assuring we were alone, the fact that he had chosen the access to the bay more reclusive to prying eyes, with the clear objective of catching me all for himself, even if just for a couple of seconds, aroused me profoundly. I got to know a lot of sides of Dimitri over the years. The tutor and mentor, friend, confidant, fiancée, enemy, brother, son, guardian, lover… some more powerful others more frail and rare, but from all the one that probably got me more surprised was his scrupulous but sneaky way to get away with wanton behaviour. He was like a lion before a prey, he knew what he wanted, when he wanted it, and despite his inconspicuous and professional look, a fire was bubbling inside and he would slowly turn things so it would happen as he desired. His kisses were intensifying, still holding me so I couldn't turn around to face him and…he stopped. I found myself without a breath and desperately missing his ministrations, I looked around partially dazed from what had just happened, partially panicking from the thought that someone might have arrived and caught us. But there he stood, about a meter away staring down at me with a mischievous smirk on his face. Dam him, dam him for knowing which buttons to push, dam him for knowing how to tease me so, dam him for making me suffer, well aware that we would only be alone again by the end of tomorrow.

"God dam it Dimitri" I stomped my foot on the ground, like a kid who wasn't have her way, only making his smile widen "You are what? Saving your best moves for the honeymoon?" I asked jokingly not trying to hide the fact that I was probably really flushed – and it wasn't because of the weather.

"Oh definitely…" he answered his expression not flinching.

"I hope it's not something I've already seen…" I tried to look unamused. I think I failed.

"It's not, I guarantee you" I responded with a disbelieving Hum hum. He winked and headed to the stairs.

We were about two steps up when I hear a shrieking voice yelling my name. I turned back instinctively although the possibility of a Strigoi was dubious, especially since they don't usually have battle cries. Instead I saw an overly excited Sydney fast pacing towards me. I got down, again, opening my arms to her approaching embrace. As I hugged her I smiled to what came to my sight. Behind her came Jill with Andrew – her guardian – and Eddie by her side, and next to them – and this made me smile because honestly the picture of it was too endearing not to – Adrian with Declan by the hand.

"Hi Sydney, are you okay?" I asked when she finally broke the hug.

"Hi Belikov, you excited?" she said making me turn away curious about his response. He was heading for the jet's entrance so, as usual with his guardian coolness he just turned around, showed a hint of a smirk and winked at her. Apparently it was all the response she needed cause she seemed even more excited than before "Are we getting this show on the road or what? Are we waiting for someone?"

"No, just you guys…"

"Great, then let's go" she turned to face Declan who was now right behind her and picked him up, carrying him up the stairs onto the plane.

"Well it's like she's the one getting married…" I stated almost to myself but since Adrian was so close I bet he heard me as well, although he didn't acknowledge it.

"You okay little Dhampir?" His use for my old nickname left me with mixt feelings I couldn't very well decipher, but I knew it was water under the bridge and that he meant well.

"Of course, just dreading the next couple of hours, you know I hate flying" I send a smile and a wave over to Jill and Eddie before we started going up the stairs.

"So… Where is the Russian God taking you on honeymoon? An igloo on the north edges of Russia? A shed made from his bare hands in the middle of an unknown forest?"

I felt like he was gonna go on with the weird hypotheses so cut him off at the earliest possibility "I don't know… he said it's a surprise" I said it with a sadder note to my voice than I actually intended. For one side it was cute and romantic that he wanted to surprise me on that, and I trusted him completely. For another my need-to-know personality was screaming with the absence of information on the matter. I wanted to know, desperately. I thought to myself only two more days…

"Well probably you'll end up swimming with sharks or throwing yourselves of cliffs or whatever you guys do for fun" I laughed at the image of me swimming with sharks. That was NOT going to happen definitely.

The next half an hour was spent between greetings, hugs and catching-up conversations and we guardians were able to relax before we went into the security hell that was the Moscow airport, after all, we wouldn't be attacked in the air. Jill and Lissa were chatting happily, they hadn't seen in each other in some time, but I was glad the initial awkwardness that had marked the beginning of their relationship was long gone, I'm not saying they were those kinds of inseparable sisters, but they were friends, and for that I was kind of relieved, because it made all of the other political and royal business a lot simpler. Dimitri was chatting with Eddie and Andrew – who was particular flabbergasted by him and started in awe at everything he said, which wasn't surprising since it happened quite often – Adrian and Christian were chatting about something didn't understand and I was strongly considering taking a well-deserved nap, when Declan decided he wasn't too fond of being in a enclosed space for more than 5 hours straight and so decided to cry like his life depended on it. Sydney spend the rest of the trip trying to calm him down, without a lot of success.

It took us around 10 hours to get to Moscow, where we had to re-fuel, and then we set off to Omsk, unfortunately, since we didn't want to draw unwanted attention to us, we decided to rent some cars and drive to Baia. Landing a royal jet in the near proximities of a remote Dhampir commune would stand out like a fly in milk. By the time we got to Baia Sonya and Mikhail had joined us. I loved how Dimitri confided in Sonya. He talked to me of course – it was hard time at first but eventually he was able to work it out and share what went on in his mind with me – but I was glad there was someone he could talk to who had been in the same situation. Not that they both talked about those times, it was rare, but you could sense the complicity between them. My relationship with Sonya had its ups and downs but I was thankful that she was there for him, in a way I could never be. At the same time Mikhail and I also shared something. The other side of the coin as one might put it. The hunting, the pain and suffering and eventually the restauration of life and love. We shared the witness of making the impossible happen. As much as everything that bounded Dimitri and Sonya it did for us as well. I hadn't seen them since their wedding, but I was glad they were both here.

So our party was getting started. Everyone was cheery and enthusiastic, that was until we got to the cars where basically everyone feel asleep almost instantly – except the guardian, it was 2 a.m. so we had to stay alert. We divided ourselves into 4 cars and a kind of a van (to carry all the stuff we had brought with us), me, Dimitri, Eddie and Jack were all driving. Of course Dimitri took the lead, my knowledge of the Russian roads were somewhat forgotten, although it was kind of hard to follow behind him, I guess he didn't care about the speed limits, that or he was just two excited about returning home for this whole enchilada. My bet goes for the second one.

We arrived in Baia around 6 p.m. that day thanks to Dimitri's fast and furious driving. Everyone was exhausted. Thank god the wedding was the day after tomorrow, so it would give everyone some time to adjust to the schedule and relax a little bit. Me and Dimitri would stay at his mother's house, of course. But everyone else would stay at this cottage about 20 meters from us, thank god I had insisted on the 6 guardian detail, that way I was much more relieved – although never completely as anyone who knew me would tell you.

We had a reception of celebrities from the Belikov family. Olena and the girls were thrilled to have us back with them and to see Dimitri again was always something they revelled on, but I could see their minds were completely blown by having the Queen there. They had put on their best dresses and everything was cleaned and decorated to a prim. I smiled to myself thinking about how the presence of one person, a person I knew so well and that, to me, was as normal as any other, would bring so much happiness to someone.

Since everyone was tired we decided we should call it a night. Olena went to show us the house we had rented, it was a quaint 3 story wood house, large enough for all of them. After we made sure the perimeter was cleared and everything was in order we bid goodnight and I reluctantly left Lissa and Christian to the capable watch of Jack Logan and Alexei.

We returned back to the main house and like she was reading our minds Olena led us to the kitchen were the table was set with the most mouth-watering dishes, assuring us she had left some for the others in their house.

"I'm so happy you are back" she spoke with a deeply carved Russian accent, the longing in her voice was palpable "I'm so happy that you decided to do this here…"

"We wouldn't have it any other way" I said putting my hand over hers.

"Мы рады, наконец, Димитрий успокаивается" Victoria said very quickly and they they all started giggling, even Olena let out a few laughs. Dimitri sent out a half disapproving half amused look to his younger sister. I didn't understand what she had said, especially at the speed in which she had said it, but it was obvious it was about us, probably some funny remark about the wedding. For the first time I notice the absence of Yeva. Dimitri's grandmother would definitely had responded with some pre-made future telling line about how everything is meant to be or some other bullshit, but she was nowhere to be found. She was probably asleep already, although I wouldn't be surprised if she was just hanging in the shadows hearing our conversation.

"We should go to bed, it had been a very long day for us" Dimitri said getting up slowly, leaning down to kiss his mother's forehead "Доброй ночи" he said bidding good night – one of the few expressions I knew.

"Я установил другую спальню для вас Dimitri" I don't know what see said but her tone made it seem like an order, to which Dimitri just nodded.

After saying good night he put his hand on my back letting me lead the way up to the room we had stayed in the last time we were here. As he closed the door behind us I threw myself on the bed and close my eyes. I think I could have slept right then and there. I had that feeling that I could sleep for a thousand years. I made myself raise up in order to strip of my clothes – dam it, it was surprisingly hot, clearly it was surprising for me since I still held on some of my preconceived ideas about Siberia – so once I managed to take of my pants and my tank top without getting up from the bed, I lay back down, sprawling over the sheets. Dimitri approached the bed and stat down in the small space left. I opened my eyes to see him staring down at me with a smile that made my heart skip a beat. Those eyes that made me turn into a love-stricken teenager and go all wobbly inside.

"How about a massage?" I smiled and sat up turning my back to him. His hands on my shoulders made me shiver a little bit. He started to put pressure in all the right spots. It was baffling how those hands, those big, rugged, worn off hands, that could do so much harm with so little effort could be capable of such a caring, delicate task. I bit my lip trying to prevent a soft moan from coming out. Okay more than that massage I needed to feel his body, I pushed myself so that my back was now against his chest – I realised at this point he had taken his shirt off…perfect. I was about to lean my head on his shoulder when he pulled himself away and got up from the bed.

"Yey what gives?" I turned around annoyed and frustrated.

"My mother got my old room set up for me…" his apologetic tone echoed through the room.

"Nooo…" I threw myself face down on the bed. Okay a little over dramatic I know, but I was seriously craving me some Dimitri cuddling "Why?!" okay listen to yourself Rose, you seem like a whining baby.

"Well they are old-fashioned in some things…this is one of them"

"Stay…" I tapped softly on the mattress "They won't know, you'll go in the morning"

"They'll know believe me…" he said sadly.

"You'll probably right, your grandmother would probably wake us up with the fleet singing shame…shame…" I think I pouted just then, yes I most definitely did. He just laughed, his favourite single laugh response that annoyed the crap out of me.

"Think of it this way… two more days and we will be alone for 5 days. No family, no charges, no duty, just you…and me"

"Well actually it's a day and a half…" a small smile peaked from the corner of my mouth.

"That's the spirit" he leaned down and kissed my forehead almost like a Victorian gentlemen would when courting his lover. Just before he closed the door he looked back "Sleep well, I love you Roza"

"Love you too Comrade"

Hello hello, i liked writing this one, we're almost on the big day! are you ready?

(translations)

Мы рады, наконец, Димитрий успокаивается: We are happy Dimitri is finally settling down
Я установил другую спальню для вас Dimitri: I fixed the other bedroom for you Dimitri

So since this fic is almost coming to an end, what do you think i should write next? Any ideas? Let me know...

Chapter 10 is called: A Wedding (obviously right?)

I hope you all like this one. Please review, you know i love hearing from all of you :) ly