Heyyyy! Here I am with the first chapter.

TROUBLEVANESSA, thanks for the nice things you said. I guess I'll explain here again what I meant with the bad English so everyone gets what I wanted to say :)

I was mostly implying that my writing and my English was kind of bad when I started my first story, and I can see that as I am currently translating it and I'm kind of cringing at the way I was writing in the beginning. But a lot of people on this platform have been kind enough to me and explained some of the mistakes I was making and I could have not gotten so many stories written without the support I got

Prologue

Dimitri's POV

It's been a long day today and all I want is to cuddle up in bed with Rose and nothing more. Maybe hear her voice. Yes, definitely hear her voice as she tells me what she has done since we last spoke. Oh, and cover her with kisses. She loves it when I do that after I'm away for a long time. I love doing that too. What I hate is being away for so many days and leaving her to deal with everything. Not that the court would be anything hard for her to deal with. She is extraordinary at all this royal thing. The kids – one kid, to be more precise – is what's getting out of hand lately, for both of us. Oh, the tormented seventeens. I'm glad I survived that.

If I think better about it, knowing all the things that must have happened today with Anastasia's birthday planning going on, I don't think there will be any time for talking or kissing. I think I'll find Rose already in bed, sleeping.

But she's not. She's sitting at the dressing table, back turned to me, and from what I'm guessing, she's reading something. That's good. With everything going around and all the problem-solving she needs to do, she barely had the time to enjoy a book.

I'm happy she didn't hear me enter our room, and I get to surprise her. But when I get close enough, I see that it's no book she's holding in her hand. She's holding her mother's music box. That's the indication that something is wrong.

When I touch her shoulder, she flinches and puts the music box on the table.

"You're back," she says, not looking at me, as she's too preoccupied to sneakily try to wipe her tears. But I'm too close not to observe that.

Occupying the rest of the space of the little seat she's sitting on, I put an arm around her middle and pull her in my embrace.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Getting a hold of her chin, I make her look me in the eyes. She has been crying for a while and I can see the remnants of that.

"You don't look fine."

"Then maybe you should look somewhere else."

"Roza… you know you're not getting away with an answer like that."

With a sigh, she rests her head on my chest, and I start playing with her hair.

"It's nothing, really."

"Tell me anyway."

She sighs once more, giving up on resisting.

"Who would have thought that between you and me, you'll be the fun parent, huh?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know… we attended that lunch today and… our daughter kindly told me..." looking up at me, her eyes are once again filled with tears. "To get that stick out of my ass. She told me she wishes she never gets to be like me and… it was horrible, it happened in front of everybody, and I… oh, Dimitri, and when we got home we… I-"

"She did what?"

That's enough. I had enough of her behavior toward Rose. I was completely civil and I respected Rose's wish to not intervene and let her deal with that, but it has gotten to be way too much. This girl has overstepped every possible boundary.

I get up and as I'm heading toward the living room, I call for our insolent teenage daughter.

"ANASTASIA!"

I didn't hear Rose follow me, but I feel her hands holding tight onto mine now, trying to stop me.

"Dimitri, no, don't. I didn't tell you that so that you would-"

"No. I will not allow her to talk to you this way. Not even in private, let alone in public. I know you two have your misunderstandings, and I hoped she will finally come to her senses, but this is too much. Anastasia! Come here! Now!"

Instead of seeing the perfect young copy of Rose, I'm faced with my sleepy son, and I thank the gods that at least he's not making his mother's life hard. Two problematic kids would have been way too much to handle.

"Mama, why are you crying? Is everything alright, papa?"

"Of course not. Your sister-"

"Yeah, I know. I tried to intervene, but she was pretty upset about… you know…"

Of course, I know. But if she was upset about how her mother was threatening her with it, she will only get more upset about it because I'm going to completely take it from her.

"Where is she?"

"You see… I told you she was upset and…"

"Ibrahim. I asked you a simple question. Where is your sister?" from the way he is dodging my question, I'm imagining she is nowhere in the house.

"She's um… at the pond," he lastly mumbles.

The pond. Of course she is there! She argues with her mother and she goes to the one place that she knows her mother doesn't want her to go to. Amazing! One more reason for me to do what I'm about to do.

Looking back at Rose, I see the worry creeping up on her face.

"I'm sorry, mama. I couldn't stop her from going there. And I didn't tell you because I knew it would make you sadder."

"It's alright, dear." She caresses Abe's cheeks. "Go back to sleep now, alright? We'll solve this."

"You'll be alright, mama?"

"Sure, dear. Don't mind me."

"Abe, please stay with your mother until I come back."

"No, Dimitri, please, don't."

"I'm going. She's not getting away with it tonight. Not again."

"Papa? What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? I'm taking you home right at this very moment."

"But-"

"I'm sorry, did I say it was up for discussion?"

"But papa, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends."

I look around and recognize every one of the teenagers around us. And if she's calling these people her friends, I think it is time for her to find better ones. I know that hanging out with them is just a way for her to rebel, but I won't let it transform into something that will hurt her. After all, I've grown up surrounded by Moroi, and the last thing most of them are interested in is being friends with dhampirs. Things might have evolved since Rose took reign of the court, but some people cannot be changed. And considering I know who raised these people, I'm inclined to think it's not friendship they want from my daughter.

"Maybe you should have thought about it before sneaking out when you know so damn well you weren't allowed to. Now come on. Into the car with you." She already opened her mouth. "And I swear that if I hear a single protest from you, Anastasia …"

I follow her inside the car and I am surprised she complied this fast, but I am not going to spoil it. She doesn't seem to be wanting to talk to me, and not wanting to argue with her in here, I keep myself silent too. God knows that if we'd fight, she'd be able to jump out of the car and run. Her mother was the best at this.

When we get back home, Rose is waiting for us, all worried, and I'm guessing she has been making rounds in the living room since I left.

Of course, as Anastasia sees her, she wants to start another drama.

"Of course, it was you! You told him and made sure you were the good guy, didn't you? You made papa-"

I take a hold of her arm and pull her toward me, as she was way too enthusiastic to go in Rose's direction.

And now that I have her attention, I tell her the consequence of her actions.

"You are grounded."

"What? Why? For being there? Oh, come on, papa, you know I-"

Her being there wouldn't bother me that much on a usual day, as I know I've taught her to take care of herself well enough, but now, it has just topped everything she has done these past weeks. Because I didn't tell her, I asked her nicely, for the sake of her mother, to stop going there, at least while I'm not home. Still, there she was, going against my request. If Rose called me the fun parent tonight, things are about to change.

"I think you know very well why you're grounded. And I suggest you get yourself ready to not leave this house for a while. Your room, in fact. Because that is the place you'll be sitting in. And the dining room. These will be the only places you are allowed into. And you aren't allowed to go meet any friend or receive anyone or go to any ball from now on, not until your behavior changes. You can forget about your phone, your laptop, and your riding lessons too. Anything that's fun and that you're enjoying, you're not having it."

"But Uncle Ivan's-"

"You can forget about that too. I told you, all balls are out of the discussion. And if until now the trip to Belgium with your friends for your birthday was in discussion, from this moment on, you're not having that. All you're allowed to do is eat and study."

"You cannot do this to me!"

"Says who? I can and I surely am doing it. And don't you raise your voice at me, young lady. We taught you better than this, Anastasia. Still, I find myself having to tell you that what you did today was disrespectful toward your mother and I will not tolerate such behavior."

"But papa-"

"My decision is final. I will not hear a single complaint from you. Go to your room now. I will think of how long your punishment will be and I'll let you know."

She looks at Rose, who is sitting next to us, speechless. She was the one to usually throw punishments here and there when things got out of hand, but what I did now overtops anything she ever did.

"I hate you! It's all your fault!"

"Anastasia!" I am angrier than ever. I never got like this with the kids, but oh, this girl… "Say that one more time and you will not leave your room until you're fifty years old!"

Instead of pointing her eyes at me, she continues to look at Rose.

"I wish you weren't my mother! Look at what he's done because of you! You're ruining my life!"

"Enough!"

I get in between them and get a hold of her shoulders, to make sure she looks at me this time.

"That's it! I am done with your moods, Anastasia. I will not allow you to speak to your mother like that! You have no idea what she went through to have you, to-"

"Well, I bet she thinks it wasn't worth the trouble of having me! I've turned out to be only a disappointment to her! Maybe you shouldn't have had me, I bet her life would've been better without me!"

"Sweetheart, don't say that, I… I'm sorry, I…"

"This is enough. You have no idea what you're talking about! What your mother-"

"Dimitri…" Rose is next to me now, and wrapping her hand on my upper arm, she looks at me with teary, pleading eyes. "Don't, please."

Seeing I brought so much suffering into her eyes, I melt on spot and forget about my anger. All I know now is that I need to hold Rose in my arms and not let go. I can't stand it when she gets like this.

"We'll talk in the morning." When both our heads are clearer. "Go to your room." Of course, she is defying, sitting there, ogling at me, and not moving a muscle. "Now! Before I do something else I might regret."

"Great! Now I have no one on my side in this house! I bet Abe snitched on me too! I can't fucking stand any of you! This family sucks!"

With that statement, she leaves.

If possible, Rose starts crying even harder, shaking all over as she's clutching onto my shirt when I put my arms around her.

"She hates me. I'm a horrible mother, aren't I? Ibrahim should hate me too. You should hate me too."

"No, my dear. You're not and you know it. You-"

"But I am. I always thought I'm doing the right thing for them, for her, but… maybe she was right. Maybe I shouldn't have been her mother. Maybe she would have been better off without me. Maybe I should've just died that day and-"

I don't know how to cover her mouth faster, to prevent her from finishing that sentence.

"Don't. Don't, ever, ever say this, you hear me?"

"What am I doing wrong?" she sobs against my chest.

"Nothing. Nothing, my dear. It's just that…" I can't even come up with a reason for Anastasia acting like this. "Everything is life or death at that age, don't you remember? And she… you did nothing wrong."

"But it feels like it. It feels like I've never done anything right while raising her. She said… she said she disappointed me. I could never… am I that strict? I always encouraged her and I tried to be by her side and… she still hates me."

"She didn't mean that."

"Of course she did."

"Oh, Roza…" I lift her head and try to wipe her tears, but it's useless. "Let's get cooled down for now, alright? We'll deal with this in the morning. Not everything is lost. But now, let's get you washed up."

Hours later, I'm restless. I know I told Anastasia we'll be talking in the morning, but I was walking around the hallways and I heard a noise from her room, so here I am, knocking on her door. She sends me away. Tough luck. I'm still getting inside, I just wanted to announce my presence.

"Go away."

"We need to talk."

"About what? You already made up your mind about everything. I'm not leaving this place until I'm fifty, so…"

"Anastasia, don't make me make that happen."

"Fine, let's talk then."

"Can I sit here?"

"You always preach for freedom so... do whatever you please." this attitude of hers will not bring her much good.

I sit in front of her on the bed, and I hope that her avoiding my eyes means she's sorry for what she said. Because she should be.

"Your mother fell asleep in tears."

"Is that supposed to impress me? Make me feel bad? Like the worst daughter? Don't worry, she already made me feel like that my entire life."

"Strange. I don't remember that while we raised you."

"Of course, you don't. But she always preferred Abe. He's so perfect, unlike me."

Again, strange. I don't remember Rose ever making any difference between our children. On the other side, I remember Anastasia being jealous of her brother and not being willing to listen to her mother's encouragement to keep on trying. At the first sign of her not being better than him, she would just quit.

"She never punished him for anything!" that's because he doesn't do the stupid things she does, but it would be futile to point that out. "She never lets me have fun!" because her definition of fun would keep Rose worried all the time. "She-"

"You're not making her life any easier either, you know?"

"So it is my fault for everything?"

"I am not here to point fingers and attribute blame. But I expect you to apologize to her for what happened earlier. And I want you to mean it." I get no answer from her. "You're not going to say anything?"

I find myself raising my voice again. Like mother, like daughter. I remember the days Rose got me like this too. But she never managed to keep her mouth shut for too long, and neither our daughter can.

"I am not saying anything. Not to you now, and definitely not to her."

Maybe I should have a calm approach. Arguing with her will only make it worse.

"We love you, Anastasia. Very much. Your mother loves you so much."

"Yeah, and you have a weird way of showing it. Especially her. If she could, she would lock me in a tower!" and she would have good reasons to do it. "You're- well, until today you used to be fun. But now, you're just like her! Even worse."

"Just because your mother is a bit stricter than me in some ways, it doesn't mean she loves you less."

"She doesn't just love me less. She hates me. She hates me because I'm not like her and Abe! She hates me being a dhampir and-" she realizes who she's talking to, and bites her tongue before finishing.

I'm more than surprised to hear these words out of her mouth. I don't know who managed to convince her of this, but we're remedying this right now.

"I wouldn't go that far with the assumptions, Anastasia. You out of all people should know your mother never cared about those kinds of differences. You know how much she has fought to break those prejudices and you're accusing her of just that?"

She sighs, knowing I am right. "But she loves to make my life hell. To embarrass me over my behavior and- and- she is always around! She never lets me breathe!"

"By her being around, doesn't that count as caring for you?"

"Caring my ass! She just wants to make sure I don't make her look bad. Because god forbid she wouldn't have a perfect daughter. But maybe I'm fucking different than that, alright?" Hearing her, language, I cannot help but smile. "Did I say something funny?"

"Not really. But I see so much of your mother in you it's amazing." That stubbornness and that mouth of hers, god… it reminds me of those times when we were young and spent our days fighting like idiots instead of admitting we liked each other.

"I am nothing like her. Not even a bit! She is the epitome of boredom and strictness. We're nothing alike."

"She's not that. She's more responsible now than before, yes. But if you'd know… she was exactly like you when she was young."

"If she were, shouldn't she understand me?"

"She does. You have no idea how well she understands you. But at the same time, she doesn't want you to make the same mistakes she did. Or to suffer as she did. To live some of the things she had to live through. That's why she is like that. She's trying to protect you from unnecessary hurting."

"Like? What did she have to go through that she's now so suffocating?"

"Like… not having her parents by her side when she was your age. Even younger than you. She was just fourteen when she lost them and maybe just because of that she wants to always be there for you two. If that makes her a bad mother, then fine."

With this argument, I seem to have won the fight, as Anastasia is now playing with the edge of her blanket, looking down. But it doesn't make me feel any better. I didn't come here to win. I came here for Rose's peace. For everyone's peace.

"Did you mean what you said earlier about wishing she wasn't your mother? Like… wishing she wasn't here at all? Wishing you were never born? Because you know, your mother and I… we were so happy to have you. You were a child we wanted, Anastasia. You both were. And it never mattered to us if you were dhampir or Moroi."

She still doesn't dare look me in the eyes, and now clutches the material of the blanket in her hands.

"I was angry. And stupid."

"So you didn't mean that."

"Of course I didn't! I just… talk shit sometimes." She sighs and finally looks up. "I didn't know grandma and grandpa died so early and that mama... she doesn't talk much about them. Truth is… I don't know what I'd do if I wouldn't have you guys. Especially when I was fourteen. To be all alone… I mean, do you remember that school trip?"

How could I not? I smile and extend my arms toward her.

"Come here."

She hugs me tight, and I hold her a little tighter.

"I'm sorry papa."

"I don't think I am not the one you have to apologize to."

"I do have to apologize to you too. And to her. I promise I will. And I mean it. I feel like shit for saying all those things."

"Promise me one more thing."

"What?"

"That you'll try to at least understand her the next time something comes up. Put yourself in her shoes for a second and see that she just worries for you. A lot. A hell of a lot. Since you were little… you were a sick child, by dhampir standards. You even almost died once, in her arms. And you keep on doing these things that endanger you. She is scared of losing you, and if that translates into her being a little stricter and boring, is it that bad?"

"No, I guess it's not. I'll try to be better, papa. I love mama, I just… I don't know, I think have a shitty way of showing it."

"I know you have a good heart, Anastasia, but sometimes you say some things that hurt people. And it was more than unfair toward your mother for you to say those words today. And even if we figured things out now, I still want you to know that I am not allowing you to talk to your mother like that, no matter what happened. Not even if you think you were right about it." Even though I didn't understand yet how this last fight started.

"I got you really angry tonight, haven't I? I've never seen you like that. So protective over her."

"I care so much for her. And she has been through enough." Through too much.

"And a moody teenager is not on the list?"

"I wasn't going to say that. You two are always on the list, no matter what. Even if things get difficult at times."

"I'm sorry."

"Good. You should be sorry."

"But papa-"

"The trip is still out of the discussion. And the punishment remains. It may be shorter than I intended, but it remains." She needs to understand that her actions do have consequences.

"Alright. I can live with that. But promise me you won't be throwing me in a moldy room and feeding me old bread. At least let me hang out in the living room from time to time."

We finally laugh a little and I spend some more time with her, telling her about her mother and me, and the rocky road we had to go on. When I leave her room, I'm feeling hopeful the situation will remedy. For good.

But entering our room, I find Rose crying once more.

"My dear…" what was I expecting, for her to be sound asleep?

She cuddles to my chest the second I sit next to her.

"Where were you?"

"Mending things with our daughter."

"I suck at it. I suck at being a parent."

"No, of course not. You're just like any other mother, Roza."

Even though she knows I'm right, my answer doesn't seem convincing enough, as she sighs.

"I wish I wasn't so cautious all the time. What happened to me, huh?"

"For starters, you've seen your share of things in this world. All that death and…" and I'd better not bring all the other stuff that up. "And you became a parent. Every parent worries for their child."

"Even though I take it this far? I mean… she said so many times I never let her have fun. But I used to have fun too. I used to be more like… like her."

"More reckless, if I remember well. And I do, for I was the one to come rescue you." At last, I managed to get a smile from her. "But I wouldn't call it taking it too far. She has been unreasonable plenty of times too. And trust me, you haven't become an old grumpy lady. You've just… grown up. Gotten wiser."

"Oh, Dimitri. If only your words could calm my worries. I'm worried I'm losing her."

"It will be alright. Trust me."

"I hope you're right."

I kiss her cheek and surprisingly, she's smiling again.

"What happened?"

"All this talking about how I used to be reminded me of… Do you remember when we met? And all the times… before we… you know…"

"Before we got boring?" She chuckles this time and I can't be happier to see her like this.

"I meant before we started to like each other, but that works too."

"How could I forget any of that? They're happy moments."

"Liar. I was a pain in the ass."

"That doesn't mean I didn't like it." She kisses me on the lips, and after she pulls away, her fingers remain to play on my cheek. "What is it that you told me that night at the bar?"

"That I could make you a very happy man."

"And indeed you did."

"For different reasons than what I initially planned."

"I don't complain."

"Me neither." She smiles, so wide. "You made me so happy too, Dimitri. I love you so much."

Sooo, how was that for a beginning? I feel like I am defrosting my writing skills, but I am so excited! Of course, the next chapters will unfold somewhere in the past, when they first met, and I am so excited to write all the ways Rose will piss off Dimitri!

I hope you guys have a nice week ahead of you!