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53. Whatever the Future Holds

(Mikhail POV)

A week ago Sonya was a Strigoi but now she sat next to her mother on the couch, talking softly as they both cradled cups of sweet tea on their laps. They were like reflections of one-another; one old, one young, both beautiful in their own way. Every now and then my Sonechka would look up to smile at me, or invite me to join their conversation, but for the most part I sat back and gave them space to reconnect – entertaining myself by looking through an old box of photos that Thomas had dug out for me.

'Can I talk with you, Mikhail?' Sonya's father had been sitting quietly for some time, lost in his own thoughts, but now he rose from his armchair, stooping down to pick up the empty teapot from the coffee table and gesturing for me to follow him over to the kitchen.

Sonya glanced up at me with a foreboding expression, but I shook my head subtly and rolled my eyes. I'm pretty sure I could hold my own against an old man, whatever he wanted to throw at me.

When the kettle was on the boil Thomas Karp turned to me, angling his body away from the women on the couch. 'There are no words to express how grateful I am for what you've done for our girl,' he began.

'I wasn't actually the one who saved her,' I admitted, holding up a hand to fend off the undeserved praise.

'Maybe not,' the old man replied slowly, 'but you didn't get those marks by sitting at a desk waiting for somebody else to find her,' he said, indicating to the scars on my neck. 'I know you tried your hardest to find Sonya. I know it cost you a lot... more than any other man would have been willing to give.'

I frowned to myself, remembering the physical and emotional pain I'd endured over the last few years, before glancing over at the beautiful woman on the couch, her hair gleaming softly under the lamp-light as she leaned over to wrap an arm around her mother. 'But the cost was worth it in the end,' I replied.

'Yes, it was,' the old man agreed, his face softening as he followed my gaze to see the two most important women in his world.

Suddenly his attention snapped back to me and there was a beady look in his eye that made me feel strangely uncomfortable.

'Sonya's had a few flames in her time – silly boys mostly – but there was only ever one who dared to show himself in my home. Some arty fellow from college. Lots of hair. Skinny wrists. You know the type.'

Okay. This was awkward.

'Well, he had some notion that Sonya was troubled and he was the one to help her. Told me he loved her or some nonsense. And I told him never to darken my door again. Sonya resented me for a long time after that for meddling in her private affairs, but I stand by my actions to this day. That man – if you could even call him that – was not worthy of my daughter and I knew he wouldn't make her happy in the long run.' He paused…

'But in this case, Mikhail Tanner… you're not the one I'm worried about. I've got no doubt that you love my daughter, but are you prepared for the reality of life with her once things settle down again? I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Sonya can be flighty and sentimental, brooding, stubborn and lazy. There will be times when you'll have to be patient with her and times when you'll have to put a rocket under her just get her to make a decision. You'll have a lot to deal with if you're serious about taking her on.'

A slow smile spread across my face as I heard the blatantly honest appraisal that only a father could give. 'Mr Karp. You may be right about all of those things, but I have been waiting my whole life to find someone as wonderfully complex as your daughter. From the moment I met laid eyes on Sonya I wanted to know more about her, and not having her in my life these past two years has been the greyest, hollowest existence any man could imagine. Sonya might have her share of troubles to deal with, but I need her as much as she needs me. She's the strongest, bravest person I know and I am willing to face whatever comes for the privilege of being a part of her life.'

The old man looked at me intently then fished in his pocket for something. 'Then you have my blessing,' he said, pressing a small item into my open palm.

Tiny clusters of diamonds and rubies caught the light as I turned the engagement ring over and over in my fingers. Two years, four months and three days ago I'd asked Don to have this ring made up at a jeweller's in Pittsburgh – the night I got attacked and separated from the love of my life. Well, this time I wasn't going to risk the chance of being parted from her again. I had to ask her to marry me – as soon as possible.

I slipped the ring into my pocket and reached out to shake Thomas' hand. He smiled at me knowingly then filled the teapot, carrying it out to the girls on the couch as though nothing had happened.

'Well, I think we should go back to bed, dear,' Thomas told his wife an hour or so later. 'I've got some pruning to do before the sun gets too hot later this morning, and my body won't operate on less than eight hours' sleep.'

'You're probably right,' Mariya smiled across at him tiredly and stood up from the couch before turning to me. 'Sonya will take the loft, of course, Mikhail, so that leaves you with the couch. Just let me grab you a pillow and some sheets.' She moved off towards the linen cupboard under the stairs.

'Mum!' Sonya exclaimed indignantly. 'I'm thirty years old. I think I'm grown-up enough to have a boy stay over in my room by now!'

Mariya burst out laughing, turning to wink at me cheekily, then followed her husband back to bed.

(Sonya POV)

I still couldn't believe it; I was home, my parents had forgiven me and Mikhail was right here in my bedroom, tucked snuggly under the blanket as he watched me move distractedly about the loft. I was tired but way too amped up to sleep so I paced around the room looking at all the simple, familiar things I'd missed so much. Mom had kept a fair bit of my stuff, and as I searched through the chest of drawers next to my bed I found several bags of old clothes that had been there since college – at least I wouldn't be limited to only two outfits now!

Inside the bottom drawer were a few unexpected finds; a neatly folded garment-bag containing the dress Misha bought me for the royal banquet back at St. Vladimir's, and tucked underneath that was a tiny jewellery box that held the silver ring I'd left on Mom's pillow when I was a Strigoi. I slipped it on, twisting the silver band thoughtfully. Maybe I could work on making a healing charm to protect myself from Spirit the way I did for Rose? But not right now – my eyes came to rest on my old suitcase that held decades worth of memories and I dragged it down to the floor, dumping the contents out onto the rug so I could rediscover each treasure.

Misha hung over the edge of the bed with a contented, sleepy expression, pointing out a few items that interested him, and I answered his questions about each one before passing it up for him to see. I didn't notice the time passing but I must have sat there for quite a while because at some point the light in the room began to change as the sky outside became rosy with the soft haze of dawn.

'I love your house, and all this stuff is truly amazing, but I need to stretch my legs,' Mikhail said with a yawn, rising from bed. 'Know somewhere we could go for a walk?' he suggested, running a hand through the messy waves in his hair.

'Great idea,' I said, bouncing up to don a warmer jacket and pull on an old pair of converse gym boots I'd practically lived in when I was a student, while Mikhail hunted for some fresh clothes in his overnight bag.

Twenty minutes later we entered my favourite garden at the bottom of the Torma estate and Misha's eyes lit up when he recognised the location – it was the same rose garden where we'd met that first time we accidentally slipped into a Spirit dream. He looked around in amazement then grabbed my hand and stooped to kiss me, a sweet, tender kiss that made my heart sing. This was what our lives should have been like for the last two and half years. When Mikhail finally pulled back from my lips there was a strange look on his face, somehow hopeful but shy as well, and he had just reached out to tuck a loose lock of hair behind my ear when a jarring noise broke through the morning stillness. Misha's stupid cell phone.

'Sorry,' he whispered, his face contorting with annoyance as he grabbed the phone out of his back pocket and checked the caller ID. 'I'd better take this. It's Dimitri… Hi. Everything okay?' he asked quickly, and there was a brief pause before Misha placed his hand over the phone. 'It's for you,' he said curiously, passing me his cell.

'Dimitri?' I greeted him. 'How are you? How is Rose?'

'I'm fine, thanks, Sonya. And Rose is getting better by the hour. She's had surgery to repair the injuries she sustained in the shooting and the doctors are hopeful she'll be up and about in the next few days.'

'The doctors?' I asked, frowning in confusion. 'Why didn't Vasilisa use her powers to heal Rose? I know she's very capable.'

'Just a minute,' the tone in Dimitri's voice changed slightly and I heard a female voice speaking quietly to him in the background, 'Lissa is right here and she's asking to speak with you. There's so much news to catch you up on but I'd better hand the phone over – I wouldn't want to go against the queen's wishes.'

'The queen?' I squeaked out incredulously.

There was a short pause before a familiar, gentle voice spoke in my ear. Vasilisa Dragomir. 'How are you Sonya? I tried to get through to Mikhail earlier to check you were both alright but he wasn't answering his phone. I'm so glad we managed to get through this time. Where are you? Are you safe?'

'We're both fine, thank you, Your Majesty,' I replied quickly, my mind spinning. Vasilisa was the queen! Rose had succeeded! 'Mikhail's taken me to visit my family on the west coast.'

There was a sigh of relief. 'I'm so glad you guys are okay, but please don't call me Your Majesty. It makes me sound so… condescending. Lissa will be fine!' the young woman implored, and I allowed myself a nervous laugh.

'An ex-Strigoi on first-name terms with the queen. This is surreal,' I giggled.

'That was one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you, actually,' Lissa replied seriously. 'I've just come out of the first Moroi Council meeting since the voting took place. Rose and Dimitri have been cleared of all charges and reinstated as Guardians, and Dimitri has been officially declared a Dhampir. I've already informed the Council of your case and they've agreed to return your Moroi status as soon as you're able to return to Court to provide a statement. There's no reason people should ever refer to you as an ex-Strigoi again.'

I turned to face Mikhail and gripped his arm hastily, nearly falling down in shock and relief. I'd automatically assumed my life would never go back to normal – that I'd be cut off from Moroi society and probably have to take up a job in a human city in order to make ends meet. But from what Lissa was telling me, maybe things were going to work out after all.

'I can't believe it,' I finally managed to choke out. 'This will completely change my life.'

'It's the least you deserve, Sonya,' the queen continued graciously. 'Dimitri told me how much you helped Rose – well, all of us really – over the past few days. Without you we would never have found Jill and I would have lost my bid for the throne. And from what Dimitri and Adrian tell me, you're quite the expert at creating healing charms too.'

'Well, I wouldn't say expert exactly…' I began, feeling embarrassed, 'but if Rose needs another charm I'd be happy to make one for her… or I could teach you how to do it if you'd prefer?'

I hadn't discussed Spirit with Vasilisa since she was a student at St. Vladimir's – before anybody else knew about our secret – and it felt strange talking about our magic so openly now.

'I was hoping you'd say that,' Lissa went on, the excitement building in her voice, 'because I'd actually like to offer you a job.'

DUHHH! That was the 'stupid-gong' going off in my head… Did I just get a personal job offer from the queen?

'Ever since I discovered I was a Spirit user there's so much I've been wanting to learn about my powers,' Lissa explained. 'I've had a team of academics researching the Court archives for any historical information we could find on the topic, but I think what I need now is a… an advisor I guess. Somebody who has personal experience with Spirit that I can talk to – maybe we could even team up with Adrian and find other Spirit users who can help us add to our pool of knowledge? For starters, I need to figure out why my bond with Rose isn't working any more. I've always had her with me to share the burden of Spirit's darkness but now I will have to come up with a way to keep myself... in balance. Sonya, imagine if we could limit the harmful effects of Spirit enough to really use our magic; maybe we could even figure out a way to restore more Strigoi?!' she finally stopped for a breath.

Lissa had so many good ideas and now she had the power to make them happen... And I was invited to join her team. This was amazing. Frightening, but amazing. My voice stuck in my throat as I tried to come up with a reply.

'So what do you think?' she asked hopefully.

Eventually, I managed to respond. 'I'd like to do it, it's just…' How could I turn down a queen's request. Was that even legal? '…I'm just not sure I'm ready to come back to Court right away. I'm still coming to grips with being Moroi again and I think I need some time with my family before I commit to anything long-term…' I looked up at Misha then, and while he didn't know exactly what was going on he sensed my tension and wrapped an arm around me.

'Oh, but I should have said,' Lissa cut me off. 'Take all the time you need. This position can commence whenever you're ready. Just give me a call when you want to get started and I'll get my people to sort out the details regarding your salary and benefits.'

'T-thank you,' I stuttered before hanging up, meeting Mikhail's questioning look with my own stunned expression. 'Well, Vasilisa won the throne, the Council have agreed to restore my Moroi status, and I just got a job,' I explained incredulously, 'as a personal magic advisor to the queen!'

Misha's eyes opened wide and he grabbed me around the waist, hoisting me up and spinning me around. 'Woohoo!' he shouted.

Just then Mom walked into view carrying two pairs of garden shears while Dad followed behind pushing an empty wheelbarrow.

'What's the big news?' she asked, instantly excited.

Mikhail let me slide down to the ground but kept his arms wrapped around me, his chin resting on my hair, as I explained what was going on.

'That's amazing, Sweetheart!' Mom said when I was finished. 'A fresh start is just what you need. And what about you Mikhail? Have you got any news for us too?'

I twisted to look up at my partner, catching the brief flicker of concern that passed over his face.

'I'm not sure what the future holds for me yet… I kind of escaped house-arrest and broke out of Court in order to bring Sonya home, so I'm not certain if I even technically have a job at the moment. I'll have to phone the Captain of the Guard soon and let him know where I am – I can't hide from the consequences of my actions forever, but now I've got Sonya back I can't seem to find the will to let her go.' He kissed the top of my head and I snuggled into the warmth of his arms, feeling more at peace than I had in years.

'Oh, Thomas,' Mom reached over to brush Dad's arm. 'They're so sweet. Do you remember when we used to be like that?'

'Used to be?' my father raised an eyebrow testily before swooping down to kiss his wife on the lips, surprising her into happy silence.

This was the kind of thing I would have dreaded witnessing when I was living at home, but now I found it beautiful. My parents met one-another nearly half a century ago and had been married for over thirty years, yet they still found happiness and contentment in one another. I had that chance now too. I had my whole, amazing life ahead of me.

(Mikhail POV)

The rest of the morning passed comfortably; Sonya took me on a tour of the estate before we were treated to a lavish lunch at the chalet, and then we spent the afternoon helping Thomas and Mariya prepare for their upcoming wedding anniversary. Sonya was assigned the job of making up several large photo albums to share with family and friends at the anniversary party, and I was asked to fill in the guests' names on a tall stack of invitation cards.

Thirty-five years, I mused, as I read over the wording of the invitation one more time, using my best handwriting to print Ms Karin Torma and Guest on the line at the top of the page. Many Dhampirs in the Guardian business were lucky to even make it to thirty-five, nevertheless sustain a relationship for that long. Maybe I would be the first. I sealed the invitation in its corresponding envelope then looked up at Mariya to let her know I was finished. She walked over from the kitchen to check through the piles of stamped and addressed invitations then leant down to murmur something in my ear.

'Make one up for Sonya and yourself, dear,' she instructed. 'Of course, it's a given that you're both invited, but she loves putting mementos in that box of hers and this will be her first party in quite a while, I'd imagine.'

It was a lovely idea. I nodded to Mariya before reaching for a blank invitation. My pen hovered indecisively over the line as I glanced up at the beautiful woman who sat at the other end of the table, absorbed in her work. I smiled to myself and my heart skipped a beat as I penned each letter carefully; Mr and Mrs Mikhail and Sonya Tanner.

After dinner I slipped the wedding invitation and engagement ring into my jacket pocket before asking Sonya to join me outside. Summer was drawing to an end and the night air was cool and crisp as we sat together on the love-seat under the cherry-blossom tree, my arm wrapped around Sonya's shoulders to keep her warm.

'So have you had a good day, Sonechka?' I whispered, planting a small kiss in her hair.

'It couldn't have been better,' she sighed happily, cuddling in against me.

'Actually, I hope…,' I suddenly felt nervous. 'I hope it will get just the tiniest bit better,' I said, looking into her eyes as she tipped her face up and fixed me with a quizzical look. 'I've been meaning to…'

My phone rang. FOR GOD'S SAKE! I couldn't believe I'd left the bloody thing in my jeans. I grabbed the offending object and nearly threw it into the bushes but then I noticed who the caller was. Hans. Best get this out of the way, I guess. It was probably a good idea to find out if I was going to prison or not before asking the love of my life to marry me.

'Yes?' I asked curtly, still annoyed at the interruption.

'Where are you, Tanner?' the gruff voice rumbled in my ear. 'I don't know how you got out, but Don Kardos is feeding me some story that you're with Sonya Karp and I'm finding that very difficult to believe. You've got thirty seconds to explain yourself or I'm firing you.'

I stood up and walked a few feet away from Sonya, frowning out into the darkness.

'It's true, Hans. Rose Hathaway and Dimitri Belikov found Sonya. She was restored – she's Moroi. It was actually Sonya who uncovered the identity of Jill Mastrano, the Dragomir heir. I just had to get her away from Court until I knew it was safe for her to return. We're at her parents' place just outside Seattle. The queen spoke with her this morning and can vouch for everything I'm saying.'

There was a tense silence before the captain spoke again.

'I had a feeling Rosemarie Hathaway would have something to do with this. I swear, that woman is going to give me a mental break-down before I retire. Well, I'll verify what you've told me with the queen, but it still doesn't mean I'm happy about what you've done.'

'I'm sorry, Hans,' I replied, glancing back to the woman who was waiting for me on the swing. 'I'm sorry I let you down again but I had to fulfil my promise to Sonya. I've trained my whole life to protect Moroi and, this time, that Moroi just happened to be my partner. The queen says that her Council are prepared to approve Sonya's Moroi status, so once that's finalised I will be free to return to my post – if you still want me.'

Another silence.

'Want you, perhaps. Need you, definitely,' came the dark reply. 'I've got a royal coronation to organise and it's going to be hell sorting out the logistics without you in the mix.'

'Well, I could ask Sonya if she'd be willing to return to Court sooner…,' I suggested, hoping I could find a way to make this right.

'That's not my problem,' Hans replied grumpily. The queen wants you to attend as a guest of honour. Something about helping her in her hour of need. I said I'd release you from your duties for the coronation ceremony, but she isn't going to get her hands on you after that. I need you on my team.'

'So I've still got my job?' I asked evenly.

'Well, I'm not going to sack you tonight, anyway,' he answered with a sarcastic laugh, then hung up in my ear.

I pocketed the phone – remembering to turn it off this time – and made my way slowly back to the love-seat where Sonya was waiting, a look of concern creasing her beautiful features.

'Is everything okay, Misha?' she asked, reaching a hand up to catch my fingers.

'More than okay,' I told her, heaving an inward sigh of relief, 'but before I fill you in on the details there's something I've been meaning to do for, well, years.'

I reached into my jacket and pulled out the envelope that was hidden in my pocket, pressing it into her hands.

'You've been meaning to invite me to my parents' wedding anniversary?' she asked, vaguely amused.

'Open it,' I urged her quietly, suddenly not sure what to do with my hands.

She frowned slightly then slipped her fingers under the flap and drew out the invitation card, reading it aloud. 'Thomas and Mariya Karp request the presence of Mr and Mrs Mikhail and Sonya Tanner…'

She stopped. The invitation fluttered from her trembling hands and I saw tears glisten in her deep, blue eyes as she watched me kneel before her, taking her left hand in mine.

'I love you, Sonya Karp. You are my passion and my peace. I have loved you since the day I met you. I loved you every moment we were apart, and I promise to love you for the rest of my life – whatever the future holds. Will you marry me, Sonechka?'

I waited, never taking my eyes from her face as the tears trickled down her cheeks and a thousand promises passed between us.

'Yes,' she whispered, looking down as I slid my ring onto her finger, the diamonds and rubies glinting brightly against her soft, pale skin.

I rose to my feet and drew her up to me, my heart bursting with love. Reaching a hand out to caress her cheek, I took a moment to marvel at the miracle in my arms before slowly dropping my lips to kiss my future wife – my reason for being – my one and only Sonechka.

Author's Note:

So I intended this to be the final chapter but then I couldn't say goodbye to Mikhail & Sonya so I've added a bonus epilogue!