DPOV

"Are you going to sleep all day? I didn't raise you to be lazy. And put some clothes on."

I tried to cover myself and Rose with the sheets, but I had no idea where they went. Rose seemed to be waking very slowly, and she looked around as if she didn't know where she was or what was going on. Her hair was in all directions, and it was kind of cute. What made it less cute was my grandmother staring at our naked bodies, expecting us to wake.

I wasn't bothered by a similar disorientation as I quickly got out of bed, picked up my pants and threw the nightgown that was thrown to the side of the bed to Rose.

Once we were dressed, and Rose was awake enough to understand English I introduced my grandmother.

"Roza, this is my grandmother, Yeva. She is the one that put the spell on you."

My grandmother was in Dragon form as was everyone else around here. I was human beside Rose, but I quickly realized as she looked small in my grandmother's presence, she probably wouldn't feel comfortable here. Everyone towered over her.

But none the less she held out her hand towards my grandmother, without fear. I was her grandson, and even I had a healthy amount of fear for my grandmother. Then again Rose didn't really know her, or her reputation.

Surprisingly my grandmother took her hand and held it in her claw for a little while. She wasn't greeting her per se, but more sensing her.

"The spell broke. All my hard work and it is gone."

She released Rose's hand, and Rose looked at me a little panicked.

"I am sorry?"

Her voice was hesitant. It wasn't really her fault anyway. Yeva scoffed.

"Oh child, it isn't your fault. If anything, big ooph over there is to blame, as is your father. I should have never placed the spell on you in the first place. The moment I did, I knew your powers were beyond what the spell could bind, but your father insisted."

She seemed a little relieved my grandmother wasn't mad at her and looked at me funny because my grandmother had called me a big ooph.

"Can you tell me what will happen to me?"

My grandmother sat down on one of the rocks and she thought it over.

"That is up to you. Your days as a human are over. You are powerful and either you learn to control that power and or it will consume you, but the choice is yours."

Well, I didn't really know if that was a choice. But I was glad Yeva thought she could learn to control this.

"Listen to Dimka, he knows a thing or two about being a Dragon, he can guide you, but you will also have to look further. That boy he hangs around with should be able to help you too. But you have to leave your life behind for now. You are a danger to your friend and cannot return to her until you have immersed yourself in battle and fire."

"Babushka what are you saying?"

I knew where my grandmother was going with this, but she couldn't be serious.

"I am saying when you go to war, she will come with you. She will stay in your battalion under your protection and that of the snarky one."

"Babushka, you can't be serious. I am not taking Rose to battle Snow Dragons; they will eat her in one gulp."

She whacked her tail at me, and it hurt surprisingly more when I was human.

"Silly boy, she needs to be there, she will determine the outcome of this war. I have seen it. Her fate and the fate of this war go hand in hand. Either she comes back whole from this war, and we will be victorious, or she will be consumed by her power and the Fire Dragons will fall with her."

"No pressure."

I heard Rose mumble under her breath. She seemed to take this way too calmly.

I was just staring at the both of them, my mouth open and not able to move or speak. How could I send Rose to war? How could I sign her almost certain death warrant, even if it meant it would win us the war?

Rose however was taking this all in stride and was looking more at the practical side of things.

"Okay. But I need Lissa protected. I know she needs to be protected from me too, but that doesn't mean that with me gone, or otherwise engaged, she doesn't need protection."

She was right. Lissa would need protecting and somehow I knew Rose wouldn't take it well if I tried to coaex her back to Lissa and out of this war. And if I wasn't going to guilt Rose into staying behind with Lissa, I might as well be productive.

"I might have an idea for that."

The two women looked at me. One young and hopeful, the other old and calculating.

"I could send Viktoria. She will blend in easily, she has the skills to protect her, and she would love to guard a princess."

I saw Rose thinking about it, and I saw my grandmother nodding in agreement. I had another reason to send Viktoria to Lissa. It meant she wouldn't go to war. I loved my sister, and she was well trained, but I didn't want her near this battle. I didn't want Rose anywhere near this battle either, but it seemed I didn't have a choice in the matter there.

"That is perfect. I am sure those two will hit it off."

She was biting her lip and looking at my grandmother.

"Do you think I can see her, before we start to train and go fight monsters, in case…"

In case she didn't make it back. She wanted a chance to say goodbye to her friend and explain everything to her. I had a much harder time coming to terms than Rose seemed to have accepting her fate so easily.

"I'll send word to Christian. He could take her here."

She nodded.

My grandmother slowly got up from the rock and walked towards the exit of my chambers. She inclined her head to me, and as she walked past me she whispered so only I could hear.

"Now, it is time for your head to take over again. She needs to do this, and you need to let her."

And with those words she left me and Rose alone to discuss her possible and probable death.

I was just looking at Rose. She was standing tall even though her hair was still tousled and her gown had fallen over her one shoulder. She looked so innocent right now, but there was strength and determination coming off her.

"Roza?"

"Don't Comrade. I have made my decision. I need to do this. Your grandmother is right. I need to learn to control this, and I've always worked well under pressure. Besides if I can't control this, I'd rather take out Snow Dragons than take out anyone else."

I didn't know if I was loving her for being so brave and being a warrior, or hated her for it. But I think I had made the decision a while ago. When she first said she wanted to go back to Lissa even if asshole Zeklos might still be a threat to her. I had only been able to give her the tools so she could survive then and I suppose it was all I could do now.

"Fine, but we are training. The few days I spent training you at the cave were nothing. I am not sending you into battle without training, and you have centuries to catch up on compared to your peers. I have a few juniors in my squad that are going through training. You will train with them, and you will train with me an additional few hours a day."

She came over to me with a spring in her step and a sway of her hips. She gently kissed me on my chin.

"Done. But do we have to start right now?"

She had a sly smile on her face, and she was tugging at my waistband. I smiled as I leaned down to kiss her, but groaned when I heard claw steps coming down the hallway.

"Dimka, You won't believe what she has done now... Oh hello? Who are you?"

I sighed deeply. Tasha's voice had way too much disappointment in them when she took in Rose in my bedroom, with nothing but a nightgown, her hair tousled and her hand on my waistband.

"Tasha, this is Rose. Rose, Tasha. She is Christian's aunt and a gifted Dragon in terms of flame."

Tasha, in Dragon form, towered over Rose and she stood a little taller still, to convey to point to Rose that she was bigger.

"You have a human in your chambers here?"

Rose's eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. I loved how she simply stood there, fearless in the presence of an annoyed Dragon.

"I am not human, I am a hybrid. A very unstable one at the moment. General Dimitri was assisting me in learning to control my flame before I incinerate everything and everyone around me. He was just about to show me how I could control my flame during extreme emotional and physical pleasure."

The smirk on her face was wide but I saw the same reflected in Tasha's eyes.

She let flames engulf her and she was now standing in my room, naked. Rose looked her over but didn't seem impressed. I would have to agree. Rose's human curves were much more appealing than Tasha's more lanky figure.

"How rude of me not to meet you in a less frightening form, I must have startled you."

"Oh not at all. I am used to Dimitri's Dragon form, and he is much bigger than you."

Now I knew very little about the opposite sex except what I had seen from my sisters, but even I knew all of these pleasantries were fake. I knew Tasha was interested in me and was trying to assert some kind of dominance over Rose, but that battle was already over. And the fact Rose was standing her ground and meeting Tasha toe to toe in her little game was making me love her more. She simply didn't have fear. Something we would have to work on - fear could be useful sometimes.

"Tasha, why did you come here?"

She turned to me with a bright smile, swaying over to me and completely ignoring Rose.

"Tatiana. She is simply sitting by and doing nothing. I know we need time to prepare for war, but she isn't even allocating the extra time and energy to training people with flame. You need to talk to her."

I sighed. Not this again.

"Tasha, you have been training a few yourself, why don't you just do it?"

She gasped as she crossed her arms over her chest trying to push her breasts up a bit, but really there wasn't much to push up.

"That isn't the point. The point is she should allocate resources and time, and I need things to train them."

I rubbed the skin above my eyebrow. I so didn't have time for this.

"What exactly do you want from me, Tasha? I kind of have my plate full."

She looked back to Rose, looking her up and down and then turning back to me.

"Clearly," she said with a condescending tone. "Just talk to her. You can convince her."

"Fine," I grumbled.

Now get out so I can go for round number three with Rose.

There was an awkward silence when Tasha simply stayed, looking at me expectantly, but I didn't say anything. I just kept looking over her shoulder to Rose. After a few moments, she realized I wasn't going to ask her to stay or ask Rose to leave, so she humphed and left.

I sighed deeply and rubbed that spot above my eyebrow…again. Rose sauntered towards me with her hands on her hips.

"Do I need to be worried about her?"

I smiled.

"Of course not. I know she is interested in me, but I think I made it clear I am not interested in her."

"Well make it clearer. Usually, when you have made things clear, women don't show up naked in your bedroom."

I could detect a hint of jealousy and annoyance. But I found it amusing.

"Roza, being naked means something different to Dragons than to humans. After all, we are pretty much naked all the time while we are Dragon."

I saw she was thinking about that.

"So you weren't checking her out while she was so blatantly trying to draw your attention in front of me?"

"No Roza."

I moved closer to her and practically pressed my body against hers. I slid her nightgown over her shoulders, so she was naked before me. Seeing Dragons naked was a common occurrence, but seeing her like that in front of me, certainly did things to me.

"I didn't imagine running my hands up her legs."

And as I said it, I ran my fingers over the skin on her leg and hip.

"I didn't imagine kissing her flawless skin."

I kissed the skin on the side of her neck, nibbled on the spot where her neck connected to her shoulders and finally I claimed her mouth. I lifted her up and moved to the bed, placing her gently on the furs.

I bend down to whisper in her ear.

"I didn't imagine burying my cock deep inside of her."

She gasped but pressed her groin against me in a clear invitation. I had noticed that despite the fact she was inexperienced, she learned fast and wasn't too sheepish to tell me what she liked and what she wanted. She really was my equal in every way. And soon I was balls deep inside of her again.

I was trying to catch my breath after I had made love for the third time today with my beautiful Rose in my arms.

The sheets were leisurely draped over the two of us as we lay there in silence.

"We should really get up and get dressed. Didn't you say something about rigorous training?"

I laughed, I did. And honestly, the sooner we get started, the better.

She threw the sheets off of her and climbed out of bed. The view from here was amazing, and I had a hard time not dragging her back to bed for round four. But she was right. We needed to get up and train. Also, I could eat.

She walked over to the bowl of water in the corner and used the cloth to clean herself.

"I think I prefer your lake."

I did too. But I suppose it would be a long while before we would see that place again. But I knew that if we could get through this together, if we made it out of this training and this war alive, we would be able to be together and go back to the cave. And this time, I wouldn't let her leave.

I looked in the alcove for some clothes for the both of us. I had some things for myself, but I think I would have to borrow some clothing from my sister for Rose.

As if on cue, Viktoria walked in. Luckily Rose had just put on one of my shirts, that looked more like a dress on her. And at least I had already put on some pants.

She didn't even greet me when she came in; she practically tackled Rose in a hug accompanied by a large squeal.

"Oh my God. I knew it. I knew something was going on between you two. Oh, I am so glad to have you as a sister."

I saw Rose smile over my shoulder but roll her eyes at me at my sister's antics.

"When I last saw you, there wasn't anything going on between your brother and me."

Well, there had been a few awkward moments, some stray thoughts, but last night really had been the official start of our relationship.

"Details."

She said as she waved her hand. She gave Rose some clothes she could put on and turned to me.

"Babushka said you wanted to see me?"

Oh, Babushka. She must have told Viktoria to bring some clothes. I suppose we should discuss Lissa too.

"Yes, I have an official job for you."

Her eyes widened in excitement and a little fear. I knew she had been waiting to get involved in some more military stuff.

"I need you to guard Lissa, Rose's friend. She is a Royal in the human town Rose is from, and usually Rose protects her."

She placed her finger on her chin as she looked up.

"Oh yeah, I think I remember you mentioned her. But why can't Rose protect her?"

She turned towards Rose and cocked her head.

"Because right now I am a danger to her. I need to learn to control my flame, and the only place I can do that is here."

Somehow Viktoria seemed even more confused. And then it hit me. She wouldn't know Rose is a hybrid. Even now that the spell is broken, the smoky smell distinguishing Dragons from humans wasn't as powerful around Rose. And although I could feel power radiating off of her, I doubt anyone who hadn't felt it from her before would be able to detect it.

"Rose is Zmey's daughter. She's a hybrid. She found out yesterday."

She looked at me and then back at Rose and back to me again. Her mouth kept opening wider and wider.

"You're Zmey's daughter? You are sleeping with Zmey's daughter?"

The different questions were directed at each of us.

"That is what you took from that? Not that she is a hybrid, but that she is Zmey's daughter?" I asked her a little peeved.

She simply shrugged.

"Seems the more important of the two. But hey, her being a hybrid solves a lot of problems for you two. Although her being Zmey's daughter probably creates a few as well."

I sighed. Yes, it would. But I had already talked to Ibrahim, and he seemed to understand I loved her even if he didn't agree with me being in her life.

"Who is Zmey? Why do I keep hearing that name?"

Viktoria looked at me and walked away with her hands up in the air in surrender.

"I am not touching that one."

I had to stifle a chuckle.

I grabbed Rose's hand and sat her down on the bed.

"Zmey is what we call Ibrahim. Technically your father's name is Ibrahim the Shrewd or his human name Abe Mazur. But he has gathered another name around these passages, Zmey. He has shady dealings with pretty much everyone here. He is a powerful Dragon, and anyone in their right mind fears him. But I have seen how he feels about you. He loves you, and he sacrificed many things to keep you safe. You don't have to worry about him."

She seemed to mull that over, and then a large smile appeared on her face.

"My father is a mobster. He is a Dragon mobster. Makes a lot of sense really."