RPOV
Flying is different this time. It's longer and unlike last time, I actually managed to hit Spiridon.
We'd gotten onto the plane with the dying sun lowering in the sky. Once the other car stopped Dimitri slid out the door with an umbrella held up ready for Victor. They were already halfway across the tarmac when Ben parked up. A man in a dark suit gets into their vacated car.
"C'mon kid or they'll leave without us." Ben said, throwing open the door. I hastily unbuckled my belt and got out as he was taking bags from the trunk. "Keys in the ignition." He called out to another guy approaching our car.
I made myself keep up with his quick gait.
"Did Dimitri tip your bed over?" He asked with a smile over his shoulder.
"No." I said with as much dignity as possible. "I keep my door locked."
"Just as well. It wouldn't be the first time he's done it."
"Who did he-"
I was cut off as the metal bird came roaring to life and Ben picked up speed. This plane, or jet, was different from the last. The last had been black whereas this one was white with a picture on the side, a gold badge with three blue beasts inside it. Ben suddenly steps aside and throws up a hand, motioning me up the stairs first. I shouted a thank you but I don't think he heard over the roar.
The plane had thick carpets I could feel through my shoes and everything was cream and navy. There was a short corridor with a small kitchen area and a closed door to my immediate left that lead to a small room with two bunks. The main part of the plane was simpler than the last, smaller and narrower. It didn't have a bar or woman in tight clothes, but one small TV and comfortable seats.
Victor was already sitting at the only table on the left side. The right side had a short plush sofa and then closer to the room where the pilot is, are two twin seats facing the TV. Dimitri emerged from the pilot's room making the plane look even smaller with his tallness.
"Warm tonight, musta been a scorcher." Spiridon was saying with a look of longing on his face that oddly I could understand. I missed the sun on my skin, especially just before twilight when the temperature could only be described as lovely, like being under my duvet. He slid Victor's smaller case onto a shelf overhead and flopped down on the sofa. "Probably the last one this the summer."
"Good. I look forward to taking breakfast out on the deck again. Excuse me." Victor said, holding a hand over his mouth to yawn.
The roaring of the plane muted as Ben sealed the door behind me and the pressure to take a seat began. I took a step forward and my gaze collided with Dimitri. Last night came flooding back to me in an abrasive wave (a description taken from the man on the Blue Planet), what I'd done and thought just after he'd opened up to me. He'd told me what makes him vulnerable and I had then gone and done… that.
I couldn't hold his gaze any longer and immediately took a seat beside Spiridon. Ben sat down opposite Victor and we all buckled up.
"What you got there?" Spiridon asked, plucking a leaflet from my hand.
I didn't have time to be annoyed or react because the roaring had come inside and I was pressed backwards as the plane sped forward.
I clutch the seat beneath me, taking some comfort in the sight of Victor doing the same and also resting his head back with closed eyes. Spiridon flipped the leaflets between his fingers and I was on the verge of snatching them back but then all the pressure in the plane went to my stomach as the plane left the ground.
I wished the windows were open, I really did. I wanted to see us fly. Spiridon tossed the leaflet back into my lap.
The plane evened out and a voice bade us 'Good Evening' and tells us how long the journey is going to be and about weather conditions. Ten hours. Ten hours in this metal room and I had put myself beside Spiridon. Yeah, I wasn't spending a minute longer like that. But Dimitri was at the other end. Ben and Victor were at least down here.
I opened the leaflet and re-read it again.
"Sleep well, Ben?" Spiridon casually asked, making a show of reclining back.
I tensed before glancing up but I had no reason to worry because Ben was the picture of ease. "Great actually."
I wondered what Dimitri had said and if it's why he was so composed or maybe he was just powering on his own Guardian way to remain calm. Whatever it had been I had hoped it held strong. Ten hours in a metal room with Spiridon miles above the ground could be like hell.
"Well we'll be flying through most of the night so we should try and stay awake. When we arrive the school will be asleep." Victor intones. His head was still back, eyes closed. For someone who flew so much, you would think he'd be used to it.
"Hmmm, I think I'll put my head down for a few. Didn't sleep too well." Spiridon had said.
"Oh?" Victor prompted in the air of being polite.
Spiridon hums again. "Thought I kept hearing voices. Must have been a banshee or something."
Ben stared at Spiridon's thoughtful expression blankly and to his credit, gave nothing away.
"Perhaps you should stop watching television before bed." Victor replied. "Could someone please make me an espresso?"
Spiridon and Ben stared at each other a beat longer, taking most of my focus whilst a smaller part of me was wondering how to make an espresso and starting to panic.
"Yeah, sure." Spiridon said springing up. "Dimitri, you want one?"
Dimitri, who was sitting alone, nodded. I'd kept my head down and avoided eye contact for a few hours by re-reading leaflets. I knew Dimitri watched me. Not obviously or all the time but I knew he did in his sneaky way.
Maybe he wanted to talk more about his family, about the good moments. I liked hearing about them or maybe he just wanted to talk. Instead, I ignored him because every time I felt his eyes flash in my direction it sent a hot sensation up my arms and neck. I kept picturing the scarlet underwear. Almost felt it on my skin.
I made myself study the leaflets.
Court is the biggest Moroi community in the world. The second was in Old Country (Romania), the old Castle, which was the biggest centuries ago but due to immigration (I asked Ben and he said that was another word for 'moving') to America the New Court is the biggest community to date. Court was originally the home of Moroi royalty and elite but since the dethroning of the last king, the most important inhabitants are some of the Prince and Princesses of the Royal families.
There was a leaflet on the royal treasury and information on tour times, highlighting the main attraction as the King's crown. A short paragraph said he had been wearing it when he died and how it still bore flecks of blood and soot. Underneath in a fancier style read,
'We put faith in a crown and were blind to the fool who wore it.' – Frederick Dragomir.
At the name, I had turned to Ben who had been watching me read and I realised later that he had probably been waiting for me to get this far.
Without opening my mouth he knew and answered my question. "Lissa's grandfather. He was very involved in the Royal Court and he even ran for King with Victor but pulled out at the last moment."
He looked like he wanted to say more but instead, he took a drink of tea.
"Why have they printed what he said?" I asked.
"Because after the Fall he was the one to address us all and proposed the abolishment of the monarchy." Ben answered in a quiet voice that told me we were on a delicate topic.
"The Fall?"
Ben's face, that I'd become accustomed to reading, changed from friendly and kind-hearted as a veil of sadness fell across it. "The Fall was – "
"Due to the nature of this trip." Victor interrupted and I jumped when I looked up to find him standing over us. "I think it best we retain our focus on the present and not on past mistakes. Just for now." He reached down and touched my shoulder. "The Fall is a very black mark in our history and it is a terrible heritage you will own another day."
And then he went back to his seat leaving a strange presence behind him. Like something had been lost and there was no hope in it returning.
Like when Eddie had died.
"This one." Ben said, sounding forcedly chipper and plucking up another leaflet. "Makes Natalie's garden seem teeny in comparison."
The next one showcased the landscapes and garden of Court and although they were beautiful pictures I didn't find myself quite so engrossed with them. The flight wasn't as nice after that. The space became smaller than before and I had to keep fighting the urge to pace, appeasing myself with trips to the bathroom. In the small mirror, I checked that no tell-tale curves were visible on my sweater. That calmed me down a bit…until I got back to my seat and started worrying again.
On my third trip, someone else was waiting to use the restroom.
"Is it like a crime scene in there?" Spiridon asked. He was slouched against the wall like a slug.
"What?"
He straightens up which closed the tiny gap between us. "It's no fun when you don't get it."
"Get what?" I snapped, sidestepping him. He tugged on a strand of my hair and I cringed, hating myself for it.
"Try not to get blood on the leather." He said closing the bathroom door behind him.
It took me a few seconds to add it up and when I did I was torn between kicking in the door and smashing his face into the mirror or disappearing into the bedded room to cry. Instead, I just stood there and collected myself before going back to my seat.
And oh God, Dimitri had moved again. I would pass him before I got back to Ben and if I looked at him he would be sure to ask what was wrong because he just noticed everything and wouldn't let it go. He might not ask me in front of Victor but he would follow me and I couldn't deal with that. So I sailed past him like he was a dull painting.
I sat next to Ben trying to occupy myself with the TV, the leaflets, imagining what Estonia would be like. Wondering would it be like Tucson or Missoula? I had only seen the cities through a car window mainly but they bore the same kind of qualities. I tried to concentrate on those things and ignore both Spiridon and Dimitri which became easier when Spiridon decided to go for a nap.
I couldn't help but wish his bed would catch fire.
Dimitri was reading. Or pretending to read but either way, it meant he didn't sneak looks at me as much. Ben switches the channel over and noise erupts through the cabin from a sea of people wearing the same colours, chanting ineligibly.
Football.
I should have left myself something to read or at least paced myself. The rustle of Dimitri turning a page sparks a memory and I had reached into my rucksack for the book he gave me.
Again, in an obscure kind of way, it was Dimitri helping me out once again. He'd given me the means to help ignore him and everybody else. It didn't take long for the plane and its worries to disappear as I fell into Harry's story. But then Spiridon had sat down beside me. I knew it was an attack, I knew it was coming and I didn't even let myself hope that he would downplay it because the others were there. Nope, the bigger the audience the bigger the humiliation and I was not going to take it. If he was going to embarrass me then I was going to hit him in the only place I knew would hurt.
The effect was quite funny. He collapsed like a stick of uncooked spaghetti. The shock on Dimitri's face was great too, which was also mirrored on Ben's when I curled myself toward him.
"Spiridon, what on earth are you doing?" Victor had asked, igniting a spark of fear in me. I didn't care about Spiridon's retaliation but what Victor thought, that I cared about. I knew he wouldn't strike me and would bet he wouldn't shout but I didn't want him to be… upset with me.
Ben started to laugh. "He's just being a drama queen."
"Completely." Dimitri added.
I tucked my jacket tightly around me and resumed reading, a smirk to rival Spiridon's on my face. The only other exciting things to happen were Ben making everyone grilled cheese sandwiches (one for me and Victor, two for Dimitri, two for Ben, three for Spiridon) and sharing a packet of cookies with me. After that I tried to read more but somewhere around Halloween I ended up falling asleep. I don't remember much of the dream except for vivid oranges and tables laden with food of all alien shapes and sizes.
Then Ben nudged me awake to put on my seatbelt. We were landing in Estonia.
"Ten hours and twenty minutes in an enclosed space, thousands of feet above the ground with Spiridon and only one causality," Ben remarked.
"That you know of." I muttered and under Ben's laugh, I heard someone else chuckling. It was very hard not to look at him then.
I wanted to know if that laughter had reached his eyes but probably not. He wouldn't properly laugh in front of so many people.
And then we landed. I stepped out of the plane and into the startling bright morning. Down on the tarmac, I could see we were following a familiar practice, two cars waiting. I took the steps with the intention of catching up with Ben but then my rucksack was tugged in another direction.
"You're riding with me." Dimitri said steering me toward the car.
There isn't any bigger discussion about this from the others or protests from Ben (traitor) so I guess this was decided when I was asleep.
So now we're sitting beside each other in total silence and it's very uncomfortable. Well, for me anyway. Luckily I can pretend to be preoccupied with looking out the window and wondering why it's so bright outside if it's supposed to be four am….maybe I'd counted wrong. I count it out again but I just come to the same answer. We left at six in the evening and then plus ten for travelling, four o'clock in the morning but it makes no sense. And the question of time isn't the only one burning in my throat.
I never could help it. "Where are the buildings? Tallinn is a city isn't it?"
"Yes, and it's about twenty minutes behind us now."
"Oh."
"It's quite beautiful. Very different to most western cities."
"How so?" I ask, tucking my knees up to rest my chin on them.
"It's a city with a rich history. The ground is mostly cobbled stones and the buildings are unlike American architecture. They are soft colours and shaped different, hard to describe….here." With one hand on the wheel, he takes out his phone and begins typing into it without taking his eyes from the road. Again I find myself tracing his cheekbones down to his jawline until he passes his phone to me.
The pictures are unlike what I'd imagined. Not like any of the short experiences with cities I'd had so far and oddly they reminded me of a place I'd rather forget.
Victor had said the Ozera's estate had an Estonian air.
"What do you think?"
"Pretty." I pass the phone back.
"The people are very friendly and they have some of the best coffee shops and restaurants I have ever been to."
"How many times have you been here?"
"Twice. I worked for the College on a temporary post."
"Really? When?"
"Before I came to work for Victor." He murmurs. I glance up at the mirror and see the car following behind. "I wonder… how things might be if I hadn't left."
"Is that where you were when Karolina called you?" I ask quietly.
He pauses and I can't help but feel paranoid about our previous conversation and if he was going to regret telling me so much.
"Yes and going back to that I believe I was telling you about your protocol. There will be students on campus and a heavy presence of Guardians. You will have your own room and we'd like you to stay there when you are not with us. We will be leaving the school property a few hours later to do something too dangerous to have you accompany us. You can use your phone to contact us in case of emergency."
There's a sinking sensation in my stomach. "I thought Ben was staying with me?"
"It turns out we may need him. The details haven't been finalized yet." There's an edge to his voice and I want to know what's driving it.
"Are he and Spiridon okay now?" I ask, watching him closely but he gives nothing away.
His face is a blank canvas compared to last night. He's in Guardian mode and it made me want to sigh.
"They'll do their job. Personal issues aside."
I consider how antagonising Spiridon is. "Are you sure?"
"Anything less isn't optional." He says flatly. "You compartmentalize. This trip is about Victor and what he needs."
"Right…" They come first.
It was more obvious than ever I was just a spare part they couldn't leave behind. At home, they were their own separate unit but I had things to preoccupy myself with there. But in this new environment, a whole different country… that was hard to get my head around, I was daunted by it. Somehow it was like they were abandoning me.
"Do I…do I have to stay in my room?" I ask wiping my itchy palms on my calves.
"That's what I've been told to advise you but honestly, if you feel comfortable enough to interact with other students then by all means." By all means. Do what you want. In this whole new place where you don't know anyone and the place is surrounded by Guardians who were not Ben or you but sure, by all means. "Just be sure to tell us where you are."
"Other students." I echo and then the words sink in and try to strangle me.
Other people my age. A lot of them… also boys.
"The majority of them will speak fluent English but a few might not."
The more I thought about trying to talk to other people the harder it was to picture. This isn't the first time I wished I was more like Lissa or Natalie. They would know what to do.
"Also, there is always the library." He adds.
"A library?" My worries halt.
"Home to over twenty thousand books and passages." He says with smugness.
Maybe being on my own wouldn't be so bad.
We drive for a few more minutes in silence and I realize the awkwardness has passed, it just leaves me with a small feeling of guilt for purposefully ignoring him.
"Where are you all going?"
"That's not important."
"So tell me."
He makes a small noise in the back of his throat. "If I don't would I be subjected to your violent side?"
I grin. "Would that work?"
"Not at all. It would make driving complicated for a few seconds though."
"Seconds?"
"That's what it would take to restrain you."
I wrinkle my nose. "I think it would take at least a minute."
"I'm either restraining you in seconds or we're crashing. What would you rather?"
"Crash."
He chuckles. "You're pride will get you into trouble, Rose. Speaking of which you need to work on your temper, you can't lash out like that again."
My guard immediately goes up. "He –"
"I know what he said. It was out of line but the good thing about having Spiridon around is he is the ultimate test of self-control. He knows that and he uses it. He finds people's buttons and he pushes them. It gets him what he wants."
I open my mouth and shut it again. How did he expect me to sit back and take what he had said? He had tried to humiliate me in front of them about… about something I didn't even understand fully about my own body yet. I pull my knees in tighter and try to put a lid on the rage simmering within.
"Is that why Victor has him? That's his special skill?"
"Believe it or not." Dimitri says, veering the car around a long bend. The land opens up to the left and meets the blue horizon in the distance. How was it this bright at four in n the morning? I knew five in the morning in America. It was the time Victor's household started to go to bed. In the Ozera manor, it was the start of the workday. "Spiridon is exceedingly charming when he wants to be. A social chameleon."
"What the hell is a chameleon?"
"Temper." He cautions in a murmur and I huff. "It's a reptile, an animal that can change its skin to match its surroundings. What I mean is Spiridon knows how to work with any social situation and that's one advantage Victor likes to have." I'm about to start arguing again that he was just a jackass but something makes me shut my mouth. I chew over my insults and swallow them. "Unfortunately we don't get to experience his charming side too often."
I snort. "Or at all."
Dimitri hums. "Spiridon always has a reason behind his chosen behaviour. Remember that."
I found it hard to believe that Spiridon's reasons went beyond just wanting to piss everyone off or make them feel awful about themselves. There's a word for people like that….what was it…
"What are you thinking about?"
"Lissa showed me Lahemaa on the map in my book. She said the school was in a forest, like her and Natalie's. Hidden like Victor's house."
"The park is a third bigger than that map shows, that's where the school is."
"How far away are we?"
"About ten minutes from the boundary."
Sadistic! The word is sadistic. Spiridon is a sadistic – no sadist! He is a sadist. "How do humans not come across it?"
"Same as how they don't stumble upon Victor's, the Dragomirs. or St. Vladimir's. You remember?"
"The wards make them change direction?"
"Precisely."
I look out the window. "But wouldn't they be able to see it in the distance? It's not like there are a lot of trees."
"Give it five minutes."
Sure enough, within minutes Dimitri is veering the car into a narrow lane. The land we'd been driving through hadn't had as many trees as I would have thought but now that was changing. Inside the car is getting dimer with the prominent source of light being the dashboard as we drive into the thickening woods. With the encroaching darkness, a sense of unease comes with it. It wasn't because it was dark but… I'd heard enough about what had happened at this school to be afraid. I knew enough to piece together a picture in my head. A terrifying picture with bone white angels with blood-red eyes waiting for people to come deeper into the woods. But that's not what happened here… nobody ventured into the woods. The Strigoi had come out and into the school.
"Are you enjoying the book?" Dimitri asks, pulling me away from the anxiety beginning to swirl inside
"Yeah, yeah I am. Thank you for giving it to me."
"You're welcome. What part have you reached?"
"Halloween."
"That's a good part. Are you finding it hard to imagine?"
"Some things… the giant dog and flying on a brush. They have Halloween on some shows I've seen so that makes it a bit easier to understand. At Natalie's party will I get to wear a costume?"
"I'm sure you will."
"What could I be?"
"Anything you want. Natalie will be able to help you choose something."
"Could I be an anti-social person in black?"
"Anything else. That's taken."
"Anything…" I'm about to taper into deeper thought when the car defeats the slope and the road opens up again, and up ahead is a massive gate. A gate flanked by stone walls just as high and as we get closer I could see little black figures stationed across it. Guardians.
Dimitri slows the car to a crawl as we approach and then stops altogether. The unease creeps back over my skin and I look back at the car stopping behind us.
"Keep your hands on your lap." Dimitri orders.
"What –" I make a noise somewhere between a choke and gasp as there's a hard tapping on Dimitri's window.
"Relax." He holds up a calming hand as he does the stupidest thing ever and winds down the glass. I almost take his hand to yank him back as I imagine a bleached white claw reaching through for his throat. Instead, white light shines in.
"State your name and your business." A gruff voice demands.
My eyes adjust and behind the interrogating light is a hard-faced Guardian who looks almost as scary as a Strigoi. My hands are trembling in my lap and I press them against my thighs. Dimitri tells him, in his controlled and completely calm voice, his name, his Guardian position and that he is escorting the Moroi Prince, Lord Victor Dashkov.
Dimitri turns to me. "Rose, pass me the dossier in the glove box." The shift of attention is even more startling when the light shines on my face. "Rose, the glove box."
"Right, sorry."
I reach forward and open the compartment and pull out the only thing in there, a smooth file case, and offer it to him. Dimitri takes it briskly and flips it open. The spotlight moves to illuminate the content.
A movement out of the corner of my eye almost makes me scream. Another Guardian is standing outside my window.
"Here you are." Dimitri says. He holds up two plastic cards that the Guardian takes to investigate himself.
"What are those?" I whisper, taking hold of the door handle as though it will stop the Guardian from ripping it open should he decide to.
"Our I.D's." Dimitri answers and his dark eyes move to mine. "Rose, breathe."
He'd said it so softly and on command I exhale.
Victor had told me it would take a while to get me an I.D. It was a piece I needed to become part of the world on my own. My heart sinks at the prospect of that becoming real so soon. I look out the back window. Other Guardians are surrounding Ben's car too.
Wordlessly the Guardian hands back the two cards after a further few minutes' inspection.
"Cleared!" He calls and a voice from the car behind echoes the same thing back. The Guardian turns back to Dimitri. "We will radio ahead and let the Headmaster know you have arrived. You have come at a very hard time but I hope your stay is pleasant."
"Thank you and we are deeply sorry for your losses here." Dimitri returns.
The Guardian nods and steps back from the car. He signals toward the wall. There's a deep grinding noise and the Gate splits down the middle, turning inward to give us admission.
I tuck my hair behind my ear and peek out my window. The Guardian has melted back into the shadows. The car rolls forward and through the gate.
"Here." Dimitri says, passing me one of the two cards. "You may as well learn who you are."
I take it from him and my stomach lurches. "That's…me." I feel him look at me but I'm too shocked to look away from the plastic card. Beneath its shiny surface is my face… sort of. This girl is thinner and sallow, there's no colour on her cheeks and she looks frightened. Her - my eyes are too wide in such a small face. Over my shoulder, my hair hangs down in a thick rope. "When was this me?"
"When Keith examined you. He took a photo on his phone." There had been so much happening that day that I must not have paid much attention when he took it. I had been too busy trying to remain upright and awake without crying or screaming or passing out. "It's been airbrushed a little."
"Airbrushed?"
"Um, touched up, edited. We removed the purple under your eyes and the signs of scratches on your face so as not to raise suspicion."
To not raise suspicions they'd altered how I looked but I still looked awful. "Do I … is this how I look?"
"Not so much anymore." He says in that same soft voice from before. Then his voice rises back up to its flat level. "But that's not what's important. Because of the attack security has been tightened and it presented an obstacle last minute which required we needed photographic ID to be able to enter the grounds. During this trip, you'll be known as Rose White, Ben's sister."
"Ben's sister."
"Yes, should anyone ask but it's unlikely. It just provides an alibi for why you're accompanying us. You were to be my sister because our features are somewhat similar but the accent provided a problem. "
"Okay."
"And keep that on you at all times."
More questions are ready to fall off my tongue but the copse of trees on the right disappears and standing mighty and proud up ahead is the largest building I've ever seen. It reminded me of the Ozera's house but bigger in every aspect and older. The drive is winding toward it and I knew it was only going to get larger the closer we got. The sky is a gorgeous blue behind it. A lovely backdrop that somehow serves to make me feel sad about the building…maybe because despite how beautiful it all looked, I knew something awful had happened here. The something that contributed to the dead look in the Guardian's eyes and produced the sympathy in Dimitri's voice when he last spoke to him.
"They have beautiful grounds here, naturally. A private lake and gardens but there are limits to where you can go at the moment and I would feel better if you didn't venture too far anyway."
"I won't." And I wouldn't. I didn't want to be alone out here. I didn't really want to be left without him or someone familiar if it could be helped.
The car weaves toward the school and every second we get closer it gets larger.
There's an insistent beeping from the dashboard and Dimitri taps it with his finger.
"Sir?"
"Have you briefed, Rose?" Victor's voice asks.
"Yes."
"Excellent. Headmaster Levandi will greet us at the front and escort us to our quarters."
"Understood."
There's a click and I know Victor's connection has ended.
"Everyone will be in bed right?" I ask, suddenly panicked by the idea of lots of young people staring at me and not knowing what to do or say.
"The students will be. The Headmaster will likely want to speak to Victor alone. I'll see you to your room and find you some food. Are you tired?"
"Not really."
"Try to sleep."
"How long were we on the plane?"
"Just over ten and half hours."
How bright it is still doesn't make any sense.
We take the last remaining curve on the drive and the building eclipses the sun. We turn right and approach what seems to be the front of the building with its wide steps and fountain in the centre of the courtyard. People are waiting on the top steps.
I take a deep breath as the car stops.
"I know this is a lot so soon for you when you just began to settle but it's only for a few days." He says as we unbuckle. His eyes are on the people outside of my window but his fingertips are on my arm. "We are your constants. If you feel overwhelmed you come to me or you come to Ben." He looks at me. "Understood?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go." He hops out of the car and shuts his door.
Calm. Stay calm. I take the handle. I can hear Victor's voice outside. Other voices. Dimitri is here. Ben is here. There's no reason to be afraid. Except that this place was attacked by strigoi weeks ago.
But Dimitri is here.
I pull the latch and slide out into the warm Estonian air. Dimitri is the closest to me, standing by Victor's right side and completely in Guardian mode. Statue still, up straight and with no facial trace of emotion and on Victors' other side Spiridon is his double. Ben is holding the bags a respectful distance back and calculating the area.
I shoulder my own bag and then I notice how many figures in black are around. One of which is standing behind a well-suited man who is grasping Victor's hand.
"…so grateful you've taken this time to visit." He says. His accent is somewhere close to Dimitri's. Victor said someone called Levandi wouldn't be meeting us so I assume the man is him. The school's Headmaster. "It will be so reassuring to the students and their parents to have you here, Lord Dashkov."
"I'm only sorry I haven't been able to come sooner. I hope you don't see that as neglect or lack of empathy on my part but the tragedy was felt at Court my friend and there was much to attend to."
"I heard bits and pieces. We received your flowers, of course, a beautiful tribute at the memorial but come; you have travelled far and must be tired. We can discuss much heavier topics later."
"Thank you. Thank you." Victor says, shaking Mr Levandi's hand again and touching his shoulder.
They begin walking up the steps with Spiridon and Dimitri flanking them, and the other Guardian sticking close. Ben slings one of the bags over his shoulder and gets a better handle on the other three. I walk toward him and offer to help.
"I got it kiddo." He smirks down at me as we climb the steps. "Or should I say, sis?"
"Sis? Oh, oh right. Haha." We're far enough behind the others that he can let the Guardian exterior slip to joke and I can ask questions.
"Ben how do I… how do I talk to other people? I am allowed to right? People like me, my age."
"Of course you are." He says evenly, not breaking a sweat under the weight of all the luggage and I knew for a fact Spiridon packed extra steel toe capped boots. "And just like how you'd talk to me or Lissa or Natalie. With some discretion obviously but yano, talk about things that interest you. Talk about the TV shows you've watched or tell a girl you like her headband or something. I heard Natalie say once that giving a girl a compliment is a girl code for universal friendship or something."
"But if I make a friend I'll never see them again."
"You don't know that and no harm ever came from making a friend."
We reach the top of the stone steps and walk through the grand archway into a beautiful hall. Rich dark woods, sparkling chandeliers and lilies. We follow the group in front through hallways and up more stairs. The place is decorated rich enough to reflect how mighty it looks from the outside but cosily enough to make the many people who live here feel comfortable. It's bizarre then, to think something awful had happened inside such a nice place. I keep looking around for signs of some disturbance but the place is mostly quiet.
Then I have a terrible thought about being led around a corner and seeing huge bloodstains on the floors or seeing the remains of smashed furniture.
We hardly come across anybody bar patrolling Guardians and there are lilies almost everywhere. Not like the lilies in the Ozera house, the ones the Mistress smelled of, lilies of the Valley.
Victor and Mr Lehandi talk as they lead the party but not loud enough for me to be able to hear. We briefly go back outside, under the cover of a stone walkway that surrounds an enclosed courtyard, and I'm reminded of how much I love and miss the sunshine. It's barely warm but it's bright and I know it's making the two Moroi uncomfortable as they keep close to the inside wall.
I wish I could go lie down on the grass.
A Guardian stationed at the end of the hall opens the door for us, nodding in respect to the others and as I get closer I realize that it isn't a man, it's a woman. I'm so surprised I actually pause before the door unable to help it. I'd mistaken her for a man because her short hair is slicked back and shaved at the side but her face is undeniable feminine. She is very pretty and she also looks confused.
"Miss?" She asks.
The others are rounding a corner way ahead in the next hall and Ben has stopped to look back for me.
"Sorry. Thank you." I babble and rush toward Ben.
"What was that about?" He asks breaking into a quick stride once I reach him. I could hear Victor's low voice on the stairs ahead.
"I've never seen a woman Guardian before." We take the first flight of stairs two at a time. Even though he's laden with luggage Ben makes it seem effortless. My lungs start to protest as we hit the second set. "I didn't know there were any but thinking about it…I guess it makes sense." We catch up with the others as they've only just reached the landing and I can hear Levandi explaining these were the guest quarters.
"There aren't too many." Ben utters. "A lot of Dhampir women complete their training and choose not to take Guardianship jobs. Especially in recent years."
"Do a lot of them become Bloodwhores?"
"Jesus Rose." Ben says in a harsh whisper. He glances anxiously at the others but they've paused outside a door Levandi's Guardian is opening. The Headmaster himself is talking avidly to the group and holding their attention, particularly Victors.
"This is your suite, Lord Dashkov." Levandi announces leading the way inside.
Ben turns to me. "Don't be throwing that term around. It's not received well."
"I didn't mean –"
"I know." He shifts the bag on his shoulder and starts walking again but slower. "They take up ordinary jobs and start families. Some do work and live in a community that …uh… operate like that but not all."
"Dimitri's family live in one don't they?"
Now he looks alarmed and I wish I could keep my stupid mouth shut. "Who told you that?"
There was no point in lying. "He did."
"Oh…well, let's not make it a topic of conversation okay? Or Blood Whoring in general."
"But-"
"Why are you two loitering in the hallway?" Victor's voice asks. The look on his face stills my heart and although he doesn't portray it I know Ben's has too. Victor motions to the room behind him. "You are being rude."
"It's my fault." I say quickly, beating Ben to it. "I dropped my bag."
Victor doesn't look satisfied and a horrible guilty sensation sinks into my stomach. "Your room is the one across. Ben, show her in and then join us. Rose, get comfortable and someone will be over soon."
He goes back inside and the door closes with a quiet click.
"I'm sorry." I say to Ben and he looks like the air has gone out of him.
"It's not you." He mutters and crosses to the door opposite. I follow him inside and into a room bigger than Natalie's and mine combined.
Ben drops a couple of bags by an elegant looking couch that's the dominant feature of a small living room, complete with its own grand fireplace. "I'll come back for these." He gets a better grip on the other two bags he's holding and I guess they're Victor's by the more expensive look. "Unpack your things, I'm guessing the bedrooms through there and I'll see you in a bit."
I'd been too busy inspecting the small kitchen to notice the other doors on either side of the fireplace.
"Who else is staying in here?" I ask as he strides to the door.
Ben looks over his shoulder. "Just you." And he leaves.
Just me? In this place that could easily fit all five of us. I could only imagine how big Victor's room is and I'm more than glad to not be sharing anything with Spiridon.
I throw open the door to the bedroom and take in the biggest bed I have ever seen. Yes, I was more than glad Spiridon, Ben, Dimitri and I would not be sleeping in it together, even if there would be more than enough room.
I grin and take a running leap at it.
Ben does come back a short time later for the other's bags and to tell me someone would be bringing me some supper. I venture to ask where exactly he and the other boys would be sleeping and he explains there's a joining room to Victors for them. These rooms were designed for special Moroi guests and so they have accommodation built-in for their Guardians to always be close by.
"Turns out there's something made up for you in the fridge. We've basically lost a day because of the time difference so eat up and get some rest. We'll wake you in a few hours when School starts."
"Time difference?"
"We've lost nineteen hours."
I'm dumbstruck. "What? How?"
Ben stops in the doorway. "We were on the plane ten hours and Estonia is nine hours ahead of us."
I just stare. "How?"
Ben shrugs. "Just how it is."
"But –"
"Rose, I honestly don't know how to explain it. Ask Dimitri or google it or something." And he leaves again.
Wow, I think I'd just experienced Ben's cranky side.
I do Google it and it clears up a lot of the confusion I'd spent the majority of the drive-in although it still seems completely bizarre. Then again being thousands of miles away from where Lissa and Natalie are, and nine hours ahead is bizarre too.
After eating I crawl into the large bed bemused by the idea that when we travel back to America we would be going nine hours backwards…back in time.
The world is weird.
"Rose."
"Urngh."
"Rose, wake up."
I roll over and across the vast bed linen Dimitri is standing by with his arms crossed. I blink and then I jerk upright. "Whatareyoudoing?"
He raises an eyebrow. "Waking you, obviously."
"I can bang some pans together if it will help?" Someone, who sounds horribly like Spiridon, yells from the next room.
Dimitri ignores him. "It's lunch period, time to get up."
"You could have knocked." I snap. How long had he been standing there? And I had been completely out of it. What had I been dreaming about? God, it couldn't have been him, could it?.
"How do you know I didn't?" He says completely monotone. "You need your body clock to adjust so get up."
I keep the covers tightly under my chin. I had gone all day without the bandages and changed into my PJ'S without thinking to put them on. Stupid, stupid mistake. "I will when you get out or are you going to watch me dress?"
My face heats as the words leave my mouth but Dimitri rolls his eyes.
"Of course not." He replies exasperated and walks toward the door to the next room.
"My." Spiridon says, appearing on the threshold with a slice of half-eaten toast in his hand. "We are mighty sparkly in the morning. Sorry, afternoon."
Dimitri pushes past him and closes the door before I can do what I'd only seen Natalie do once and what I'd seen many Guardians do back at the Ozera's, and hold up my middle finger.
That wouldn't go down too well, plus I knew better. I am going to have to remember to lock my door. Grumbling to myself I get out of bed and grab some clothes as well as the bandages from their hiding place and go to the bathroom. I take my time wrapping my chest, opting to endure Dimitri's nagging than risk the alternative. More content and comfortable, despite the tightness, I walk into the living area.
"Hello sunshine." Spiridon grins from the couch.
"What time is it?" I ask Dimitri and join him in the kitchen.
"How rude." Spiridon mutters.
"Half eleven." He says, pouring out some coffee.
"Where's Victor?"
"Greeting the students and staff. They've cancelled next period to hold a special assembly for him to address the attack."
"Cheery business." Spiridon remarks.
"Why aren't you with him?"
"Ben is. We've been given an hour to break to wake you and eat. Speaking of which your fridge has been restocked so make something up quickly."
"Extra sugar for me Belikov." Spiridon says.
Dimitri sighs quietly and puts down the mugs he was about to walk with and dumps another sugar cube into the white coffee.
"After the assembly, the Headmaster is going to give Victor a tour of the grounds and show him the memorial for those who were lost. It'll be a good way for you to look around and get a sense of things."
He takes Spiridon his coffee and I set about making something to eat. Yoghurt and granola are fast and filling. Instead of joining them I eat by the counter, trying to ready myself for what was coming.
I'm in a school. I'm in a school full of people my age and I hadn't allowed myself to really think about it but those people would be hurting so it wasn't like I was meeting them under normal circumstances. If I was meeting anyone. I didn't have to speak to anyone and maybe they wouldn't speak to me. If I was accompanying Victor and the Headmaster then people would surely only want to speak to them. No one would really approach Dimitri, Ben or Spiridon because they were Guardians and would be in Guardian mode. I'd take their approach. Only speak when spoken to. That seemed the safest idea.
"Why are you standing over there? Scared I'm going to get you back for yesterday?" Spiridon says, ignoring whatever Dimitri was in the middle of saying.
I don't even care. I hold my breath and hold up my middle finger.
Spiridon's cocky expression doesn't change and then he throws back his head and laughs. Dimitri shakes his head and takes another drink of coffee but I could swear he smirks behind it.
I turn away to make myself a cup of tea and hide my own.
It's funny how things look different in a different light. I knew we were walking the same corridors and halls but there was a change I couldn't place. I could smell the lilies better now or maybe I just didn't notice earlier.
I expected the first place we'd run into a lot of people to be the courtyard but it's deserted. I don't want to ask the other two because I don't want them to know how nervous I am. Spiridon would only make it worse and Dimitri would be too understanding but then common sense strikes me. They were all already at the assembly Victor was talking at.
"I heard three more left this morning." Spiridon says lowly to Dimitri. They were walking some paces ahead of me as my nosiness is keeping me back to inspect everything.
"It's a mistake. I've never seen such heavy security anywhere but Court." Dimitri replies. I speed up so I'm almost between their elbows. "Can only hope once word spreads of our visit a little faith is restored."
"You know Guardian presence won't stay at this level. It leaves other places at a disadvantage."
"Some of the ones here belong to boarding families. They want to keep them here."
"As long as the wards are kept up to date and monitored then extra Guardians are just surplus. I mean, there are too many to be useful. I talked to a guy to guy whose shift is only four hours long. What a way to make a living."
"Hopefully Levandi takes Ben's points on board."
"Well, he'd be an idiot not to." Spiridon finishes and pulls open a heavy door. I nearly collide with him. "After you, Rocky."
I roll my eyes and step past him into the corridor. I halt and Dimitri bumps my shoulder.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
I regain my composure. "Yeah, sorry." I start walking again. I start walking down a hallway where groups of people my age are standing. Boys and girls. Moroi and Dhampir boys and girls. There's a wall of voices and the majority are coming from a room up ahead that had rows of students sitting in it. Two Moroi women are waving the straggling groups forward and it's obvious we've reached the hall Victor is speaking in.
There's a mix of languages, English and Estonian.
I feel like I'm inside a TV show. Like things are happening around me but not to me. I was really at a school. I was really walking between people who think all this is normal and familiar and not bizarre and wonderful in a scary way.
"Victors bringing you on stage by the way." Spiridon says into my ear and my head snaps toward him, the horror reeling up from my stomach and bleaching my face.
Dimitri pushes his shoulder. "Go and help Ben." Spiridon smirks and strolls away. "He's teasing." I try to keep the sick feeling at bay and try to conjure up anger at the blonde jackass. "Take a seat at the end there. I'll be standing behind you at the door."
I nod and follow his instruction. I slide into the remaining seat on the back row beside a red-haired Dhampir girl. My plan had been to ignore everyone unless they spoke to me, when I couldn't ignore them anymore, but I accidentally make eye contact with her and she smiles shyly. I force my lips to do the same and she turns back to the person on her other side.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
I take it all in. Their dark red uniforms with the same golden crest on each jacket, a shield with three lions, the same symbol that had been on the side of the plane. I'd been worried that being among so many people they would notice an outsider but really no one pays me any attention. A bigger crowd meant it was easier to be invisible. No one would notice if I were or weren't here. I look over my shoulder and Dimitri is exactly where he said it would be, standing stationary by the door.
Well, maybe one person would notice.
There's a hush and I turn back to see Headmaster Levandi taking his place behind a high, slim wooden table. Victor is standing just a few feet behind him, his hands clasped and looking completely at ease. Just behind him is Ben taking the same stance as Dimitri and every other Guardian dotted along the walls. I spy spikey blonde hair in the shadow of one of the pillars nearest the stage steps. I hear the doors shut behind me and Headmaster Levandi clears his throat.
The seats are barely half full.
"I apologize for interrupting your curriculum this evening." Headmaster Levandi begins, his heavy voice carrying through the hall. "I know we have all been trying to find some sense of normality after the heart-breaking and tragic incident we, our school, suffered nearly one month ago. And whilst we try to move on we will never be able to truly forget and nor should we."
He pauses and I have to focus on breathing around the sudden melancholy pressing down in the room. Focus beyond the anxiety clenching around my heart. I remind myself of Dimitri's words. I watch Victor, his familiar face keeping me grounded. So I don't get swept away in the panic about all that is unfamiliar here.
Headmaster Levandi starts again, his voice burdened.
"Remembrance and sorrow are not only something we all share, although we do feel it more deeply, but it is to be known that we are not alone in it. What happened here is felt throughout our community. Just looking around this hall there are so many Guardians that have come to our aid. Have come to help us improve our security, reassure us with their presence and restore confidence in not only our school but for some of us our home. With pride, I introduce to you the person responsible for catalysing that aid and offering to assist us in whatever way was needed, starting with contacting the Guardian Director in Tallinn and who has had his personal expert inward security look over our precautions. Prince Victor Dashkov."
A group of girls sitting a few rows ahead had started crying. Three of them huddle together. A boy across from me on the aisle has his fists clenched on his knees and is staring hard ahead, not seeing anything.
Clapping fills the air as Victor takes Levandi's place. He holds up a hand. "There is really no need for that. I must thank your Headmaster for those kind words and I must assist upon something he mentioned. Community. Our society. They sound like vague terms to encompass a vast amount of people but to us, our people, it stands for so much more especially in this turbulent time. I cannot promise there are no more dark times ahead but I can promise that no one will face them alone should they transpire. We are all one heart. We are all family and like all families, we don't always see each other every day, we don't speak every day but what we do is support one and another when support is needed. No one in this hall is alone. No one at Court, or in a small community is alone. We are family. I am your family. Headmaster Lavendi is your family and together we will help heal one and another. We will remember those who we have lost and we will honour them." Victor's words echo throughout the hall and he lets them stand alone for a few seconds before continuing. "Times like these can make us feel that we are at our weakest but it is at our weakest points that we are forged. In the fire, we harden and stronger we rise. So what you feel now, that pain, that is a terrible blessing because we do feel loss unlike our enemy and because we feel we resolve to resist feeling it again. Our pain will become our strength. I stand here and I am immensely proud of all of you because you are forging and you are carrying on. The enemy cannot take that away. So, whilst your headmaster told you this assembly has been called to honour me that is not the case. I am here to honour you and honour those who fell. You all have and will always have my deepest respect."
Applause follows but not like before when they welcomed him on stage but this time it is slower…sadder. The girl beside me sobs and reaches up to wipe her cheek.
I swallow against the lump in my throat not really understanding entirely why it's there. I didn't know anybody who died here but I knew it was awful and bizarrely I felt like I understood what Victor is trying to say. Not in the way I could put it into words but in the way my chest cinched. I felt it.
Headmaster Levandi retakes his place and begins to speak but I don't hear it. I'm not sure I want to hear anything else that scrambles my emotions. Instead, I count all the Guardians in the hall and including the three I knew. There are thirty altogether and we'd passed some on the way that wasn't heading in the same direction. I understand Dimitri's and Spiridon's conversation a little more now, this school really did have a heavy Guardian presence and from Levandi's speech, it was due to Victor.
Yet I had lived in a world where Guardians beat and killed Dhampirs who stepped out of line and now I was in a room with so many. Weeks ago it would have crippled me with fear but now… now I feel safe. And somehow angry…where were these Guardians for me growing up? Where was Victor or Levandi or Dimitri? Logically I knew they didn't know but… they were all saying or had said the same sort of thing. That we needed to protect each other.
So why the hell were the Ozera's allowed to treat us like they had? Like they still were. Why was my mother back in Arizona in that place and why had no one protected her? Why had no one protected Eddie?
Why hadn't I protected Eddie?
There's a ripple of movement through the rows and I look to the front to see Levandi and Victor leaving the stage. The girl beside me has been brought to tears and her neighbour has put an arm around her.
I can't help it. I touch her arm. "I'm sorry."
She looks back at me and I could swear her hazel eyes bear cracks but she only nods. I get up and move into the stream of people moving toward the doors. In the back of my mind, a voice is expressing surprise to be in a throng of people my age but I don't care right now. I keep my eyes on Dimitri and make my way to him. He doesn't say anything but as we walk out into the corridor, surrounded by sniffing and hushed consoling voices, he put his hand lightly between my shoulders and again I have the feeling of understanding Victor's words. I don't feel alone.
But I still feel angry.
"I don't know about you guys but I am seriously bummed out." Spiridon says under his breath, just loud enough for me and Ben to hear.
The part of the speech I'd ignored was Levandi telling the students the rest of their classes for the day had been cancelled and reading a passage by St. Vladimir.
We are standing in another hall, one with a black and white tiled floor, and waiting for Dimitri, Victor and Headmaster Levandi so we could go on a tour of the school and pay our respects at the memorial.
"I don't mean this how it sounds but I can't wait until we leave." Ben replies. They are standing by the wall like Guardians do. That seemed to be an unwritten rule that when they were stationary they had to press up against a wall or pillar so as to not be out in the open. I suppose it was a way to keep their backs protected.
"I might have to take some anti-depressants before we set off to the site." Spiridon mutters and the smallest of shudders runs through Ben. He disguises it as rolling his shoulders.
Ben sighs. "What's keeping them?"
I wander away toward the large clock standing at the back of the hall. Students pass me and some I stare at unable to help to drink them in. Like the Dhampir girl with purple through her blonde hair or the Moroi girl wearing a sweater that's cropped above her pale stomach, or the group of boys who walk together but don't say a word. Their expressions and posture were equal to the girl in the hall who had been crying.
I just want to know what time it is.
I stare up at the clock and go about trying to puzzle out the time. I still didn't like numbers. The big hand is just past the halfway point, thirty-five that can also read as… twenty-five to. The smaller hand is at one. So it's twenty-five to one. I grin in triumph at having nailed it. I'm about turn away when something niggles at my mind. I look back up at the clock's face.
When Dimitri and Spiridon woke me up it was after eleven and when we left it was after twelve. The assembly was around thirty minutes long, maybe longer…and we had been waiting in this hall for over fifteen minutes. This did not add up.
I admit defeat and take out my phone.
02:47
I look back up at the clock's face.
"It's not broken." A boy's voice says.
I look around and then I have to look up. He's tall for a Moroi but not as tall as Dimitri. He grins down at me and then back up at the clock which gives me more time to try to adjust to the fact someone, a Moroi, a boy, is talking to me which means I have to talk back.
I watch the smirk fade from his lips. "It's a custom to stop the clocks when there's been a death. It's paying respect to the time a soul left the world. A big clock for a big tragedy."
He looks back down at me and I'm nervous but not afraid. He is… there's something interesting about him. Like paintings. "Will they let time move again?"
He looks thoughtful and I find I'm not just looking at him but studying him. "I don't know. Time always moves whether we're ready for it or not. Maybe they'll turn it back on when they're ready to move on."
"Oh." His cologne was tickling my nose or was it cologne? Warm, sweet and spicy, something like cinnamon but not.
"I'm sorry." He says, turning to me. A grin plays on his lips like he's been told a joke "I didn't catch your name."
"You didn't ask."
The amusement lights up his green eyes. I hadn't seen happiness in anyone's face for what felt like days. "I'm asking now or is it a secret?"
I grin. I could make it one if I wanted to. I had that power now. "Rose. My name is Rose."
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
"Am I supposed to know what that means?"
He laughs. "Only if you wanted to be flattered."
"Well, I don't really care about being flattered."
He leans down as if to tell me a secret. "That's not what girls usually tell me."
This boy is strange but I was talking to him, to someone new and it isn't terrible. It's actually fun. "What's your name?"
He watches me for a few seconds and I brace myself for something cheeky to evade the question, some kind of power play, but then he holds out his hand. I give it a distrustful once over before I take it.
"Lord Adrain Ivashkov." He murmurs and presses his lips against my knuckles. The light glints off his bronze hair. "At your service."
I'm so stunned the clock could fall over and I don't think I'd hear it. He straightens up but doesn't release my hand. I think about snatching it back when shadows fall over us.
Dimitri is at my shoulder.
"Adrain! What on earth are you doing here?" Victor exclaims.
Adrian lets go of my hand to clasp Victors. I look to Dimitri for some kind of explanation but he's completely remote, removed, gone and it makes me think the clock could fall over and he wouldn't notice either.
Updated 16/04/2022
original note:
Nobody start pairing characters off and predicting ridiculous love scenarios please or I will fly to your country and rap you on the head with Last Sacrifice.
Dimitri & Rose are endgame. Obviously. What happens a long the way is the fun part.
ALSO MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR XX