I'm sure you will guess this scene by the title alone – hope you like it :-)

The fanfiction binge award for this week goes to hbarker who has just managed to read & review the whole story so far in a few days! Champion!

29. The Raven

(Sonya POV)

The seed of excitement had been building all day, and by the time I'd visited Alice for my regular feed I was practically jumping out of my skin. Misha would be home by 7:00am – or eight at the latest. All I had to do was make it through a night of classes then I could go home and start preparing a delicious welcome-home dinner.

The session after lunch played out as usual, except for the fact that half my class failed to show up in the last period. It happened sometimes when the weather cleared and spring fever was in the air, but I did raise an eyebrow when I noticed that even Princess Vasilisa was missing. Skipping a class here or there wouldn't affect the other students too badly, but the princess couldn't afford to take off without guardian supervision. I made a mental note to check on her before heading home and set the remaining students a fun activity as a reward for bothering to turn up at all.

When the bell rang to signal the end of school, I gave it thirty minutes then stopped in at the royal student quarters to check that Vasilisa had made it back to her dorm. The dorm matron had only been on duty for a few hours and hadn't seen the princess since her shift started, but suggested I could try contacting Vasilisa's guardian directly if the matter couldn't wait until curfew. I thanked her and headed back to my apartment, unable to ignore the strange apprehensive feeling that was building in my stomach. As soon as I got home I phoned the guardian office, only to be told that the princess had been feeling unwell after lunch so her guardian had returned her to her room, and when I called administration to double-check, the registrar confirmed that Vasilisa had been marked absent from her last two classes.

So the princess managed to pull a fast one on her guardian – very crafty, I thought.

I understood better than most why Vasilisa might want to get away from it all – I had felt the same way after my own brush with death as a teenager, and that was without having the added pressures of being a royal. I had no intention of dobbing the girl in but I still couldn't let her wander campus unattended. Even if she didn't realise it yet, being the last of a royal line made her a target and I couldn't let her put herself in danger any more than necessary. There were only two hours left till curfew, and I was sure she'd find her way back by then, but I knew how much trouble a teenager could get up to in two hours. I grabbed a cardigan and headed out the door, trying to imagine where a fifteen year old princess and a bunch of her classmates would go to escape their responsibilities.

After checking all the rooms in the Royal Wing, the make-out spot behind the gym and even the memorial gardens by the lake, I spied a couple of students approaching the school buildings from the lower oval. In that moment I realised that the one place I would find Vasilisa was the one place I didn't want to go. I forced myself to look towards the school's southern boundary and shuddered as I saw the gloomy expanse of trees in the distance. I hadn't been back in the woods since I was seventeen – the night my supposed-friends tortured me among the trees and awoke the magic that changed my life forever. Every instinct told me to run back to the safety of my apartment, but I used my breathing techniques to steady myself until I was thinking clearly again. They come first, Mikhail would have said, and in this case 'they' weren't just moroi – they were my students, and among them the last surviving Dragomir princess.

Realising I couldn't turn back now, I gazed at the shadowy tree-line a moment longer then slowly crossed the lower field, my way lit only by the pale silvery light of a half-moon. I hesitated briefly at the edge of the woods, listening to the faint sound of voices drifting out from among the trees, then stepped into the darkness, crunching carefully over the rough ground that was strewn with a slippery layer of sticks and leaf litter. As I walked deeper into the woods, a couple of female voices came across more distinctly and I made my way closer to the sound.

'Didn't the earth move or the planets align or something?' one girl asked tentatively, with a curious note to her voice.

'No,' came the slightly scornful answer, softened by a high tinkling laugh. 'Of course not.'

Was that the princess? I took a few steps forward then changed direction, trying to find a way through the thick brush as I followed the sound of their voices.

'I don't think this stuff is working,' the first girl whinged before her friend cut her off.

'That's because there's barely any alcohol in…'

With only a few feet to go, I gasped as my shoe got stuck under a hidden tree root. I instinctively reached out to stop myself from falling but all I managed to grab onto was thin air, and I landed heavily on my hands and knees feeling slightly winded. The sudden noise must have alerted the girls to my presence, and I froze as I heard a rustle of movement through the trees.

The girl with the higher voice spoke up. 'It's some animal,' she said nervously.

Brushing the dirt from my hands, I tried to rise but found that my stocking was stuck on a fallen branch. I nearly called out for help but there was no way I wanted to add this little incident to my 'Crazy Karp' reputation. As I fought to unsnag myself I heard the other girl take charge.

'Come on,' she ordered efficiently. 'Let's head back.'

Well, I hadn't rescued them, but I had managed to scare them back onto school property, which was essentially just as good. I finally freed myself and got up, retracing my steps back towards well-lit school buildings when the two girls popped out of the tree-line at the same time I did.

'Ladies,' I greeted them casually, pretending that I always took a walk in the woods after school.

Princess Vasilisa froze like a cat in the headlights, her usual grace and poise replaced by an unmistakably guilty expression. Her companion, one Miss Rosemarie Hathaway, made a move to hide something behind her back, but not before I recognised the shape of the bottle and the colour of the label. Peach schnapps.

I smiled grimly at the pair and held out my hand. Knowing she had been sprung, Rose looked down at her feet sheepishly as she handed me the bottle, and both girls followed me without question as I led them back towards the school. As we neared the buildings, I tucked the schnapps bottle under my arm, hiding it beneath my cardigan – the girls had been caught doing the wrong thing and knew there would be consequences for their actions, but there was no reason for anybody else to find out about this.

I planned to deliver the students back to their dorms and let them off with a lunch-time detention, but I needed them to understand they had made a foolish decision.

'You think no one notices when half a class is gone?' I began my lecture as we reached the quad.

'Half a class?' Vasilisa asked, obviously embarrassed.

Teenagers could be clueless sometimes – if they wanted to skip class successfully they really needed to start co-ordinating their days off.

'A few of you apparently chose today to skip. Must be the nice weather. Spring fever,' I clarified, leading them along the gravel pathway, but then I petered off, distracted by a weird fluttering noise off to the right.

'One of your classmates, I imagine,' I murmured to the girls as I turned towards the sound, assuming a moroi air-user was practicing a new trick.

Something had landed on the ground in the middle of the quad, not far from us, and I took a few steps closer to investigate, with Vasilisa and Rose following close behind me. As we drew nearer I gave an involuntary gasp, realising it was a bird. The poor creature was crumpled up on the ground with one broken wing and I could see it struggling to rise. The sight of the dying bird instantly flooded me with panic. I longed to reach and out and relieve its suffering, but I couldn't use my magic in front of the students. I'd already done enough damage the last time I healed Rose, and I couldn't afford for even one more person to find out about my powers. I held my arms out, trying to shield the girls from the scene, while edging back away from the bird, watching in dismay as it shuddered one last time then went still.

'What is that? Is it a crow?' the curiosity in Rosemarie's voice shocked me back into focus. Clearly she was unaffected by the small tragedy that had just taken place in front of us.

'Too big,' I choked out. 'It's a raven.'

'Is it dead?' the princess asked softly, her face pale and her gentle features drawn in a frown.

Her friend was the one to answer. 'Yeah. Definitely dead. Don't touch it,' the dhampir warned.

Yes, it was dead, and I was pretty sure who was behind this senseless act of violence. Victor Dashkov had been baiting me to use my magic for months and this was the final test – just double-checking he had the right woman for his 'job'. But there was no way I could let the students know what was going on.

'It was probably attacked by another bird,' I explained, trying to keep my voice even. 'They fight over territory and resources sometimes.'

I was just preparing to leave when Vasilisa pushed past me and knelt down in front of the bird with a look of compassion on her face. She studied the creature for a moment then reached a hand out toward the raven. I was just about to object when Rosemarie spoke up.

'Liss! It's probably got a disease,' she cried out in disgust, and we both stared on in fascination and horror as the tall moroi extended her slender fingers to gently stroke the raven's wings.

'Liss!' Rose practically shouted, trying to get her friend's attention, before she stopped suddenly. A strange look of peace and sweetness flooded over her face, and my eyes widened in disbelief as I watched both girls' auras light up, shimmering with a pure, golden radiance.

Then the raven moved.

Vasilisa gave a small scream and snatched her hand back as the raven flapped its wings, gradually raising itself from the ground before taking off in a flurry of feathers, leaving all three of us staring dumbly at the sky.

'Oh my God,' the princess looked around at us. 'What just happened?'

'Hell if I know,' Rosemarie retorted, clearly trying to hide her fear.

I'd watched the whole incident in silence, not quite comprehending what I was seeing, but I suddenly snapped into action, striding forward to grab Vasilisa's arm and turning her to face me. The dhampir rushed to protect her friend as if I was a threat, and I registered somewhere in my mind that maybe I did look frightening. My thoughts raced frantically and my breathing came in short, shallow gasps as I realised the gravity of what had just happened. Victor Dashkov's spy had placed an injured bird in my path to see if I would heal it, and instead Vasilisa Dragomir had just brought the same bird back to life. Vasilisa had just revealed her power at the worst possible time. The girls had every reason to be frightened, but it wasn't me they needed to be afraid of.

'Nothing happened, do you hear me? Nothing.' I whispered urgently, my eyes flickering from Vasilisa to Rose and across the courtyard, trying to see where Victor's spy was hiding. 'And you can't tell anyone - anyone - about what you saw.'

Rosemarie stepped closer, wrapping an arm protectively around her friend's waist, and I reached out to grip each of them by the shoulder.

'Both of you. Promise me,' I looked from one girl to the other before fixing my gaze on Vasilisa. 'Promise me you won't ever talk about this again.'

'Okay,' the princess croaked out, leaning into Rose for support.

'And don't ever do it again.' I added harshly, not convinced she understood the seriousness of the situation. 'If you do, they'll find out. They'll try to find you.'

I felt the familiar panic rising and knew I had to get out of there quickly – these girls had enough to worry about without seeing me have a complete meltdown. I turned to Rose one final time, trying to ram to point home.

'You can't let her do it. Not ever again,' I commanded her then hurried back to my apartment, leaving the girls clinging to oneanother as they watched me go.

When I arrived home I slammed the door behind me and locked it as quickly as I could, sinking to the floor and trying to steady my heaving breaths. Mikhail had been searching the Court archives for evidence of other people who shared my magic and I'd stumbled across one right here at The Academy – Princess Vasilisa Dragomir. And now she was in danger, just like I was. I had to tell someone, find a way to keep her safe. I looked over at the clock – it was 5:15am. Thank God Misha would be here soon – he would know what to do.

Having lost the motivation to make a special dinner, I quickly prepped the ingredients for a simple stir-fry before sinking onto the lounge, trying to zone out to the TV to pass the time. Seven o'clock rolled around and Mikhail didn't arrive, then eight o'clock – still no Misha. I looked hopefully at my phone but there were no missed calls, and my hands shook slightly as I dialled his number.

This is Mikhail Tanner's phone. Please leave a message.

'Misha. Are you okay? Where are you? I need you,' I whispered before hanging up.

By nine o'clock I was beside myself with worry. In a last ditch effort to make contact, I grabbed the robe that had helped to make the link between my daydream and Misha's dream only yesterday. I calmed my mind and visualised the Torma garden, willing him to appear. After a few minutes the haze began to form and I ran towards it, searching for my lover. As I stepped into the mist I saw his face – just once. He was lying in a bed with his eyes closed, surrounded by tubes and monitors. He moaned as he tried to roll over, and I heard one single word.

'Sonechka!'

Author's Note:

The raven incident is one of the most iconic scenes in the book and the movie so I've tried to be accurate to the original text.

However… knowing that Sonya was being watched for so long, I wondered if maybe the raven had been put there as a test for her – not for Vasilisa – and Victor Dashkov just got lucky when another spirit user showed up on the scene. Plausible?!

It was fun retelling this chapter using direct dialogue from the book & filling in the blanks (particularly when the girls were in the woods & thought they were being stalked by a wild animal but Sonya had just fallen over & hooked her stocking – this is the dumb sort of thing I would personally do)