Chapter 2: Deception

Dimitri POV

As I followed the Princess out of the Novice dorms and started walking toward the Moroi dorms Guardian Emil approached us. "Forgive me Princess" Guardian Emil stated "Guardian Belikov sorry for the interruption but Guardian Petrov is requesting your presence in her office. I will be taking the rest of your shift. Princess I will show you to your room."

"Thank you Emil, goodnight Princess, I will see you tomorrow" I said.

"Thank you Guardian Belikov"

I walked to Guardian Petrov's office, I am sure it had something to do about Rose. As I walked into the administrative building, I knocked on Petrov's open door.

"Ah, Dimitri, come on in, please close the door behind you. Would you like some coffee?" Alberta said.

"Thank you Guardian Petrov" I said as I closed the door and then headed towards the coffee pot and grab a cup of coffee and sat one of the seats in front of her desk.

"Dimitri, how many times have I told you to call me Alberta?" She stated.

"Sorry" I replied. I was used to being informal with Ivan, but not when at Court or the Academy.

"Anyways, Janine called Rose tonight." Alberta began.

"Yes, the Princess was with Rose tonight when the phone call came in." I replied "So I overheard the conversation that took place and that she is planning on coming here this weekend. I know I only learned of the information yesterday but I have to say I am uncomfortable with Rose being kept in the dark about what is going on."

Alberta took a deep breath "Do you think she has a clue about what is going on?"

"I don't think so, she is so distracted and I am not sure why, I was waiting till tomorrow to see how Rose was in practice, then I planned on having a meeting with you and Rose. She has been very distracted in training, I was able to take her down every time. She usually takes me down at least once plus she had many opening to take me down and she never acted on any of them. And when I went to dinner tonight, I overheard that all her friends were worried about how distracted she has been lately. I told Rose to bring me her paper for Guardian Alto's class so I could read it and then determine if it is affecting her classwork as well and if it is, then we can figure out how bad her distractions are. In the few classes, I have been guarding, I noticed she is drifting off and not paying attention. So my plan was to set up a meeting with you after training to set up a plan on how to proceed." I said as I sighed.

Alberta responded "That sounds like a good idea, we should have some sort of plan to help her because when Janine and Abe arrive at the Academy, I am afraid that she is going to go ballistic. Rose has never been subtle about her feelings."

"True" I stated "plus I am worried how she is going to react to the threats against her. How strong is the information?"

"When I talked with Janine, she said that Abe had strong evidence that there are threats to Rose due to his business dealings. Abe said he was able to keep her identity secret from his enemies until Rose and the Princess ran away and after Spokane, he says there are rumors of strigois wanting revenge on her."

Dimitri took a deep breath and said "I know Mr. Mazur wants to use his own guardians to protect Rose, but I would like to request that Guardian Mathews and I protect Rose. I think since we already know the "lay of the land" so to speak and we would be better equipped to protect her."

"Well Janine and Abe will be here soon, Abe wants to give Rose her own set of guardians, which right now I don't think is a bad idea, we can discuss how to reorganize staff with his chief Guardian Pavel to offer Rose protection. Oh and I have added surveillance cameras to the dhampir dorms as well as the Moroi dorms and guest accommodations, it's the best I can do for now." Alberta said as she shook her head.

"Just a head's up the Princess is going to suggest to Headmistress Kirova a shopping trip for her, Rose, Christian and Lady Ozera." I informed Petrov. "And probably Lord Ivashkov and Novice Castile will probably go as well."

"That might not be a bad idea, after Rose hears everything from her parents , she might need a day off. Abe is bringing extra guardians with him, so we will have plenty to send with them on a shopping trip, however I will send you and Mathews as well."

"Thank you Alberta, I would appreciate it." I said.

Alberta nodded and then began "I am not sure right now what to do with Rose's living situation. I am not sure if we should move her into guest housing so we can accommodate her guards or use one of the rooms that used to be used for the floor matron when there were more female students."

"Well, from what I know of Rose, I think the best idea would to move her to the floor matron's suite on her floor, it will minimize the disruption to her life and I think she feel ostracized if she were in guest quarters." I stated.

"You are probably right. Okay, well when her parents get her on Saturday, the plan is for them to tell her everything, Janine has requested me to be there. But I also suggested that you be allowed to be there as well. You seem to have a calming effect on her. And I have also spoken with Stan and explained that Rose will be under some extreme stress for the next few weeks, and have told him to go easy on her. I have also rostered you to be in the majority of her novice classes as well." Alberta explained.

"Thank you I appreciate that. How about tomorrow we meet with Rose at 5am to discuss her distraction and see if we can figure out a plan, I think we really need to get that straightened out and let her know we are supporting her prior to Saturday." I stated.

"That's a good idea, thanks Dimitri, I'll see you at 5 am tomorrow. Have a good night." Alberta stated.

Goodnight Alberta" I stated.

As I walked back to my room, I thought about how Rose's life was going to change, but I was determined to be there for her. I don't know if it's my place or not, but I want her to have someone she can confide in. I know Rose loves the Princess, but she doesn't like to burden her with her problems. I reached my room, unlocked my door, walked in and closed and locked the door and hung my duster on the back of the door. I got my gym bag ready for tomorrow's session with Rose, I think she will need an outlet for her stress and I think more sparring will help her with that outlet. Once that was done I jumped into the shower and put on a pair of flannel pajamas pants and a t-shirt and crawled into bed and grabbed my latest western and tried to read. But my mind kept wandering to Rose, I didn't like keeping information from her about her life. I wanted to be the person she could come to when she needed someone and be the one to protect her. After denying it for so long, I finally admitted to myself that I am in love with Rose Hathaway.