We were all silent. No matter how divided Christian and I were, neither of us liked the idea of our girlfriends being poked, prodded or experimented on. I'd experienced first hand just how far Moroi were willing to go 'for the greater good,' and there was no way I was going to stand for my partner or child going through anything like that. The thing is, right now I wasn't entirely sure how to prevent it.
"Why don't you answer that phone?" Christian grumbled, finally saying something. It was buzzing yet again.
Before I could stop her, Rose picked up the phone looking at the caller ID.
"That's forty-eight phone calls since half-past eleven," she said with a growl seeing the missed call number increment beside Tasha's name. "What's that? One every two and a half minutes? Comrade this is getting ridiculous! When is she going to stop?"
I sighed. It was just like it had been with Ivan, if not worse.
"If it's like last time with Ivan it won't. I'll get a new number," I said.
"I'm sure she's fine and just wants to speak with you," Christian said, but his tone lacked conviction.
"Christian, I know it's hard to hear, but you need to understand your aunt is unstable. This whole relationship between she and I is all in her mind." My Roza was soundless where she sat on her bed. I could see this was stressing her and I didn't want her worried. It wasn't safe for her or the baby. "I'm going to go and speak to Alberta. She needs to know that Tasha is not right at the moment. Christian? You've apparently talked to your aunt recently – it might be helpful if you could fill Alberta in about Tasha's current frame of mind."
Lissa gave Christian a supportive look and a nod.
"Christian, do it for her. She's done so much for you, now is the time to help her – even if she doesn't realize she needs it."
His eyes dropped to the floor as he nodded.
"Fine. Let's go," he said tonelessly.
Lissa stood and hugged Christian.
"I'll come find you in your dorm in a little while," she promised.
I kissed Rose on top of her head, frowning as I saw her rub her temples.
"Are you alright, milaya?"
"I'm fine, just a headache," she said, but her eyes didn't quite meet mine.
"Ok. I'll be back up here soon," I told her lovingly.
Last time Tasha lost it, Ivan's love interests became her targets. I was very concerned Tasha would try something against Rose, so I wanted to speak with Alberta as soon as possible. I picked up the two chairs to return to the common room. It looked like Lissa was going to stay and speak with Rose. I don't think Rose was particularly enthusiastic about it, but from her e-mails, and the little she'd said about it since I'd been back, they needed to talk.
"So there's nothing between you and Tasha," Christian said, finally seeming to accept the truth. "She imagined the whole thing."
"I'm afraid so," I replied. "And I need to warn you, last time things got really out of hand. I can look after myself, but if she comes after Rose and my baby, I won't hold back."
"It is your baby, isn't it?" he asked, trying the idea on for size in his mind.
"If you even have to ask that then you don't know Rose at all," I replied sadly.
We were in the corridor to Alberta's office. It was weird to be here and not in uniform, but until I was officially allocated somewhere, I guess I was on unpaid leave. I had savings, so that wasn't the concern – but I needed to get in touch with Court and let them know what had happened and where I was.
I knocked on the frame of Alberta's office doorway.
"Belikov, Lord Ozera. How can I help you?"
I walked in and flopped into one of the chairs facing her desk, Christian following cautiously waited for Alberta to gesture for him to sit.
"Tasha knows I'm back," I said shooting Christian a slightly disgusted look, "And it appears she's not taking it well. I've not spoken to her, yet, but she's been ringing every two or three minutes since I switched my phone on this morning. It's very much like her behavior with my former charge Ivan – and that time she attacked Ivan's new girlfriend. I'm very concerned she might go after Rose, especially as she also knows about the baby and no doubt knows that Rose and I were particularly affectionate when we reunited."
I looked at Christian, and he nodded looking shamefaced.
"Christian has been in touch with his aunt so I thought it might help if he outlined her perspective on things?"
Alberta looked at Christian impassively.
"Can you shed any light on her current state of mind, Lord Ozera?"
"She's not particularly rational," he admitted. "Most of her talk was about Rose tricking Guardian Belikov into believing he'd fathered her baby. She kept saying if Rose weren't in the picture, Guardian Belikov would be free to be with her. If I'm honest, most of what she said was bagging out Rose."
It was as I'd thought. Rather than accept it was my decision to be with someone else she was focusing her vitriol on Rose.
"Anything else?" I probed.
"She was saying how she'd been banned from campus but that she had half a mind to come here and sort things out," Christian admitted.
"There was an incident when your aunt was last here where she attempted to physically attack Rose," Alberta clarified. "She wasn't banned per se, but I did suggest she not come back to campus until graduation."
"Are you sure? That doesn't sound like Tasha."
"Two Guardians and the entire senior Novice class witnessed it Lord Ozera. Your aunt twice had to be physically restrained. There is no doubting the authenticity of the information." Alberta looked at me. "Dimitri? What do you suggest?"
"Honestly? If I could get Rose away from here right now, I would. Tasha frightens me because there's no reasoning with her and there's no knowing what she's likely to do. I think it would be useful if Christian stayed in touch with her and kept us informed if she leaves Minnesota. I'd also like to make sure Rose is accompanied by a Guardian or at least several Novices at all times. Plus an alert at the gates with a photo, so all Guardians know to be on the lookout for Tasha."
Alberta was nodding.
"That sounds prudent. Do you think she's going to try something?"
"I'm willing to bet on it," I said in frustration.
"So I wanted to let you know I've thought about what you said, and I'm staying on my medication but at half dose. It means I can use a little Spirit, but nowhere near the amount I would otherwise," Lissa said tentatively looking at me. "Not using Spirit causes me to get almost as edgy as using too much, so I thought that might be a good compromise? Especially while you're pregnant."
"Thanks. That's very considerate of you," I muttered, concealing about ninety-nine percent of my sarcasm.
"And I've talked to Christian about our romantic time together, and we're going to try and limit it to normal waking hours," she said blushing.
"I'm not sure if you need to worry about it. I haven't been sucked into your head in quite some time. I think maybe being pregnant is somehow stopping it."
She shrugged.
"So how far along are you, now? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"Seventeen weeks, and not yet. I have an appointment in Missoula a few days after my birthday, and we can find out then, but I haven't had a chance to ask Dimitri if he wants to." Lissa looked surprised. "Dimitri had only had a few hours sleep in days, so last night he was out like a light. We woke just before lunch, then we were in the cafeteria and then came here. We've barely had a chance to talk about anything," I confessed.
"So where was he?" she said curiously. "What took him so long to get back?"
"I can't say as it's classified, but I can tell you it's a miracle he made it back to me and I couldn't be prouder of him."
"I never gave you the chance to explain how you two ended up together…" she said tentatively. I knew she wanted to know how long it had been going on.
"It started early on. Almost as soon as we arrived back. Me crushing on him, I mean," I said, seeing Lissa's shocked look. "Dimitri was entirely professional and if anything pretty remote at first – but over time he loosened up a bit and we started to talk more and more during our training sessions. Sometimes he'd look at me, and I'd wonder if maybe he felt something too, but it was always gone before I could tell."
Lissa was looking at me seriously. A quick skim of her mind revealed she was interested and believed me.
"Everything changed the night of the Equinox Dance," I said in almost a whisper. "You know how Victor put a spell on my necklace? Well, it was a lust charm. I didn't attack Dimitri physically – it caused us to want to be together. We were making out, and we were very close to doing it when Dimitri realized what was going on and took the necklace off and flung it out the window. You know the rest of the story but afterward was mortifying. I was so into him, but Dimitri told me it was just a spell and he wasn't into me in that way. It wasn't until a few days later when he killed Natalie, and I was injured that he finally admitted he liked me too, but that we couldn't be together."
"Because of him being a Guardian?" Lissa guessed.
"Yes. Well mostly because of you. We couldn't be in a relationship and guard you. A Guardian's charge has to come first, so we just pretended it had never happened. We went back to training as normal, but even though we weren't physical about things, the emotional side of things didn't stop growing. I was falling more and more in love, and it was the same for him. One morning during training he slipped up and told me he loved me. I was over the freaking moon! Later that day he got the news about his reallocation. He was no longer your Guardian, so nothing was standing in our way. He had to go to Missoula to do his will and sort some things out before he left, so we convinced Alberta it was a mock qualifier, and we spent his last five days here together as a couple."
"And then he left?"
"Yep. On Tuesday, December 6."
"Why didn't you say anything?!" Lissa said looking at me appalled.
"I was sworn to secrecy. I couldn't tell you why I was so upset about Dimitri leaving without telling you what was going on - that we loved each other and that he'd been sent on a suicide mission. I was planning on saying something once you were told about his reallocation, but by then Tasha was here, and you and Christian were convinced she and Dimitri were an item."
"And when you did tell me, I didn't believe you," she finished, looking suitably contrite.
"Pretty much."
"I'm so sorry, Rose! It was just such a surprise to hear you were pregnant and Dhampir can't usually have children together…"
"Yeah I know Lissa," I said wearily.
"I thought you made it up because you were jealous," Lissa blurted out. "Jealous of the time I was spending with Tasha and Christian. I wasn't even sure you were pregnant until I heard they'd modified your training program."
"I wasn't jealous, Lissa. If anything I was relieved to have other people to share the load! I meant what I said the other day. I've supported you, no matter what it cost me, for years and never resented it. Not even when it meant Dimitri and I couldn't be together. I accepted it as just the way things had to be. But I do resent that the first time I needed your support, it wasn't there. Not only didn't you support me, but you also betrayed my confidence, and because of that the whole school found out something you knew I was trying to keep secret. Something that could mean a lifetime of suffering for my child!"
"I'm sorry Rose! I made a mistake!"
"But it wasn't just then, Lissa! You made a mistake every time you made a decision that affected me without bothering to ask me about it! You made a mistake when you expected that every time you needed something I'd do it no matter what it cost me. Doesn't it strike you as odd that we've been back at the Academy seven months, and you had no idea where my dorm room was? You don't think about me beyond how I fit your needs."
"That's not true!" she wailed, starting to cry.
"Isn't it?!" I snapped. "Think about it, Lissa! You said you didn't know me, and you were right. It's been a long time since we were genuinely best friends. I'm sorry this is the way it's ended up. I feel hugely guilty about letting you down. But I've realized I need to be important to someone, too. And now I've found Dimitri's love, and we have a baby on the way, they're always going to come first."
We sat looking at one another, both teary-eyed. It was probably a good thing I heard Dimitri walking down the corridor a moment later. He walked in, immediately sensing the mood in the room.
"Do you two need a moment?" he asked solicitously.
"No we're good," I said getting up from the bed and swaying a little. Dimitri was right there at my elbow.
"Are you alright Roza?" he checked.
"Yep. Just a headache and got up a bit quickly. I'm all right."
"You don't look fine. You look like you're in pain. How bad is your headache?" he demanded in his 'tell me now or else' voice that I secretly kind of loved.
"It's pretty bad. I might take some painkillers."
Dimitri knew for me to consider pain-relief it had to be serious. Dhampirs had a stronger pain tolerance than Moroi or humans, and mine was exceptionally high even for a Dhampir.
"Come on milaya. Let's see Dr. Olendzki. We'll get you checked over, and she can suggest a suitable painkiller."
"I'm fine Comrade. I already know what I can take. She told me a few weeks ago!"
"Roza – you can come to the infirmary with me voluntarily, or I'll pick you up and carry you there," he threatened lovingly.
"I'll walk I'll walk!" I agreed, knowing he'd be only too happy to make good on his threat. "You take such good care of me," I said with a smile.
"Well someone has to!" he said indulgently, leaning down to brush his lips against mine.
Lissa stood and looked at me. I don't want to end things like this.
"We'll talk again soon," I promised her. "Maybe we could have lunch later in the week?" I suggested.
"I'd like that," she said uncertainly. "I'll go so you can get to the infirmary."
She left, and Dimitri and I followed. My head was pounding, and I hated to admit it, but a trip to the clinic might be a good idea. We walked into the familiar smell of antiseptic and stale hospital food. Dr. Olendzki saw us, and her mouth dropped open.
"Guardian Belikov! I had no idea you were back," she gasped in shock.
He gave her a warm smile.
"I got back last night. Rose has had a few shocks and stresses today and is suffering from a severe headache. I'd feel happier if you can examine her and make sure she and the baby are ok."
The doctor ushered us into one of the rooms with proper walls and a door, pulling the curtain across so we were not visible through the door's glass panel.
"I'll get a blanket. Rose, can you get on the bed and lift your dress to expose your stomach please?"
I think she was expecting me to be shy, but I climbed onto the narrow bed and pulled my dress up to under my breasts. Dimitri put one hand on top of my baby bump and rubbed it fondly, looking at me adoringly.
"Rose are you happy for Guardian Belikov to stay during your examination?" Dr. Olendzki queried.
"Absolutely," I told her with a reassuring smile at my man.
Her first check was blood pressure, and I saw her brow furrow with concern. She did a few other tests and then for the first time asked me to go pee in a cup.
"Is everything ok?" I asked her suspiciously while pulling my dress down and waddling across to the room's bathroom.
"I'm just testing for proteins in your urine," she explained, not answering my question.
I did as instructed, careful to make sure I didn't get any pee on the side of the plastic container – a feat harder than it sounded. I put it down on the bench beside the doctor and watched while she dipped a test strip in it.
"Ok… that's good. You have no protein in your urine, but your blood pressure is a lot higher than I'd like, especially given your gestation. Rose, I know how much you hate it, but I'd like you on bed rest for a week. I'll clear you from classes…"
"No fucking way!" I snarled. "Dimitri's finally back, and we have stuff to sort out. There's no way in hell I'm spending a week in here!"
"Dr. Olendzki," Dimitri started, giving me a look and grabbing my hand reassuringly, "How strict does the bed rest need to be? Does she need to be in bed in hospital, or would taking it easy for a week be enough?"
"Walking around and gentle exercise would be fine. I'd like her with someone most of the time to keep an eye on her."
"I may need to go to Court this week for a few days. Would it be safe for her to travel? She'd be with me the whole time, and I promise not to let her get upset…"
Dr. Olendzki looked at the two of us with a kindly expression.
"Guardian Belikov, I think spending the week together would be the best medicine I could prescribe. I'll clear her for travel, but I'll print off her medical history to take with you in case of any problems as well as the name of a colleague at Court I can recommend. I'll also need you to take your blood pressure every four hours, Rose. I'll give you a list of things to look out for and when to seek medical help."
I nodded obediently. If it meant being with my man, I'd play by any rule the doctor set.
"Now Guardian Belikov, I don't have an ultrasound machine here, but I did just get a Doppler device which will allow us to hear baby. Would you like to hear baby's heartbeat?"
Dimitri's face lit up like it was Christmas. He nodded enthusiastically giving Dr. Olendzki and me a huge grin. I lifted my dress, and the doctor put a little gel on the sensor, running it across my tummy. Dimitri sat on the side of my bed holding one of my hands in both of his looking at me in excitement. It was only a moment or so later when a loud woosh woosh woosh sound came through the speaker.
"That's our baby!" Dimitri exclaimed happily.
"It is," I laughed watching as my Comrade sat entranced.
"I'm the luckiest man in the world," he grinned, leaning over and kissing me tenderly, not even trying to hide the unshed tears in his eyes.
We left the infirmary a little while later. The painkillers were starting to take effect, and Dimitri was carrying a sheaf of printouts and instructions as well as an at-home blood pressure monitor. He decided a cuddle and rest was in order before our 5 am meeting with Alberta. For the next hour and a half, we lay side by side on his bed as he told me more about his time away and I filled him in on my discussion with Lissa. We were both feeling happy and relaxed as we headed to Alberta's office.
"Rose. Dimitri," she greeted when we appeared promptly at five. "Come in and take a seat," she said, gesturing to her couch. "Please let me introduce Mr. Ibrahim Mazur," she said a little nervously, indicating the other person in her office. "Rose, Mr. Mazur is here to speak with you."
I gave Dimitri a 'what the hell' look before returning my gaze to Mr. Mazur. He was odd looking, for a Moroi. About five foot nine he was short for a Moroi although he still had the slim build typical of his race. He had an almost golden hue to his skin, dark hair and eyes. He also had the most hideous dress sense which, while obviously expensive, made him look a little like a used car salesman.
"Novice Hathaway," he greeted, holding out his hand to me. "I'm Ibrahim Mazur, but please call me Abe. I sometimes work as a lawyer, and I've been engaged to meet with you about a delicate matter. I'm here at the request of your father."