The ownership of all characters related to and involving the novels of The Vampire Academy and Bloodlines Series remain the sole property of Richelle Mead, the Penguin Group and any affiliates.

No copyrights have been infringed on maliciously.

A/n: For the love of chocolate and all things Holy…

A Conflict of the Soul

Chapter Twelve

"Good morning, Guardian Belikov. The Princess and Lord Ozera are waiting for you in the main lounge. If you can please sign here for me…and here, so that they can be released, I'll tell them that you're here to collect them."

Nodding at Patrick, a regular lobby monitor at Royal housing who took protocol more seriously than most, I read quickly through the paperwork he handed me over the counter. The release form was standard and issued by Alberta, but lacked the normal detail required when removing Royals during unusual times and was basically left open-ended. Silently thanking her for being uncharacteristically vague, I signed and returned the forms as he picked up the phone to place the call to the lounge.

"Don't worry about calling ahead, Patrick. I'll collect them."

Hesitating, he frowned so deeply his brows almost covered the light grey of his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes; don't trouble yourself. Thank you for your help." Turning towards the lounge before he could argue further, I crossed the brightly lit foyer with long strides. A little after five a.m., there would be more than enough light to see once we were outside, despite the thick cover of cloud. Patchy in places, I didn't think it would last the morning, but for now, it was exactly what was needed.

Finding Lissa and Christian easily enough in the empty lounge, they were standing together at a large bay-window with their backs towards me. Heads bent close together; one pale-blonde, the other jet-black, the pair seemed absorbed in their quiet conversation, but both turned at my entry.

It was Lissa my eyes focused on first, more out of concern than favouritism. Squaring her slender shoulders as she saw me, it was clear that she was determined to put on a brave front, but the brittle strain of the smile she managed failed miserably to convince me.

She was scared, that was obvious by the stiff movements and the tension that marked every muscle of her body, but the fact that she was here now, meant she was more than willing to do something about it. Beside her, Christian tightened his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his lean build, kissing her temple. His movements with her were very careful, but they were inspired by rage, not fear.

He was furious.

No one could blame him for feeling that way. The girl he loved had been put in danger once before by a person she had trusted, and now, when he should have posed no further threat, was doing just that again. Clearly struggling for control, both out of consideration for upsetting Lissa further and his own anger, I could understand that struggle, because I felt no different.

Approaching the pair slowly, they watched me almost warily as I tried to smile reassuringly and asked a question that didn't really need answering. "Good morning. How are you…both of you?"

Trying to shrug nonchalantly, Lissa tucked her head deeper into the crook of Christian's neck and grimaced a little. "I've been better, Dimitri. Can we talk about this here, or is it better to wait until we're outside?"

"Outside, I think, would be better. We're picking up Rose and Eddie, so we can talk about it on the way."

Taking a fortifying breath, Lissa nodded. "Then let's go." Clutching tightly at Christian's hand, she towed him as I lead them out. As instructed, they were dressed in clothing meant to conceal what they wore beneath, so when passing the lobby monitor, his only reaction was to wish us a good morning. Following the pathway to dhampir housing, my eyes tracked the surrounds for any patrolling guardians, but there were none that could be found to ask questions.

Slowing down deliberately once I was certain we wouldn't be stopped or overheard by anyone; I reached out to rub soothingly along Lissa's shoulder blades. Flanked by Christian and I, she looked over at me with eyes that were wide and almost childlike.

"Rose told you everything?" I asked gently, not wanting to rehash something that had already upset her.

"She did."

"Do you have any questions?"

"Just one."

"What's that?" I prompted softly, concerned by the quiver I could hear in her voice.

Bottom lip trembling, the façade Lissa had tried so hard to show suddenly crumbled as tears filled her eyes and began to spill down her cheeks. "How could they let him escape, Dimitri?"

Groaning at the frightened anguish in her voice, Christian hugged her tightly to his side before burying his face against the high, twisted bun of pale strands. It was a question echoed similarly by Rose; only hers had been demanded in outrage, whilst Lissa's was questioned in fear.

Squeezing her shoulder gently, I controlled the rage created not just by the sense of being powerless, but because all I could offer was reassurances, not answers. "I don't know, Lissa. I wish I did. I wish that I could give you an explanation, but I can't. All I can do is apologize, because our system has failed you, and promise that we will protect you, Lissa. Each and every one of us."

Sniffing, Lissa wiped away the tears on her cheek. "The apology isn't yours to make, Dimitri; you've done nothing wrong. And I know you're all going to protect me. That's what scares me the most. What if he hurts you or Christian, or Eddie…or…or Rose to get to me? Like he did before. What if he hurts any of the guardians who will be assigned to me?" Voice catching, Lissa tried to compose herself, but the tears continued to spill over.

"Listen to me," I quietly calmed her. "We know that he's out there somewhere. We know that at some stage he'll try to get to you again because he has no other choice. I know that isn't much to go on, but at least it's enough for us to be aware. Every guardian on the grounds knows this. None of us is going to let our guard down again."

"He's clever, Dimitri. You know that. He's devious and manipulative and he's not going to stop until he...until he…" Trailing off, Lissa couldn't make herself say it, but we all knew what she couldn't say...Until he drains my life to sustain his own.

"Yes, he is. He's manipulated all of us, and I'm sure given another chance, he will do it again, which is why this training is so important. We will protect you, Lissa, I don't have any doubt of that, but when the times comes, and for whatever reason we aren't there, this training will give you the upper hand because Victor will never expect it. Relying solely on defence isn't enough anymore. We have to be better prepared. We have to be smarter than him."

"And you think the training will help? I've never done anything like this before."

"I know that you haven't, but all of us will help you with this. You're far stronger than you know, Lissa. Don't doubt yourself before we've even begun."

Sighing on a shuddering breath, Lissa folded her arms around herself, trapping Christian against her as he rested his chin atop her head. "I don't know, Dimitri. I'm not strong like the others. I can't control earth, or fire, or water, or wind. All I can do is compel, and even that I can't do whilst I'm on the meds. I…I don't think I can do this."

Cupping her shoulder blades, I turned her to face me fully, bending down to look her in the eye. "And that's exactly why you should do it. Also," I reminded her gently. "If you really believed that, you wouldn't be here now, willing to at least try. I understand your fear, but I also think that you've had enough of being a victim. You want to take control, and that's not a bad thing."

Grinning ruefully, Lissa wiped away the last of her tears and eventually nodded. "You're right. Of course, you're right. I am scared, but I'm also not going to cower in the corner anymore." Patting Christian's hand, he released her after a moment. Whispering in her ear, she nodded, smiled and turned her face to kiss the corner of his jaw. "Yes, I'm sure. Don't act like you don't want to do this, Christian Ozera. You were ready to start last night."

"I never said I wasn't, but we're talking about you, not me." He countered, scowling a little.

"I'll be fine. I have the best teachers…Dimitri, Rose, Eddie and Tasha. Don't worry about me."

"Actually, Rose won't be involved with you, and neither will Eddie." Grinning at her frown, I prompted them to continue walking. "Tasha and I will be training you. Rose and Eddie will train Christian."

"Oh." Looking a little disgruntled, Lissa looked at Christian before she shrugged. "Ok."

"Rose didn't tell you?"

"No, but it figures that she wouldn't want to train me." Suddenly grinning, for a moment it chased away the strain. "She knows that we would get on each other's nerves and fight all the time, so this is better."

"So I get Castile and Hathaway?" Grinning widely in anticipation, Christian picked up the pace, almost dragging Lissa in his wake. Shaking her head at his eagerness, she looked towards me over her shoulder with a small frown that puckered her brow.

"Where's Tasha?"

"She's meeting us in the woods around the cabin. That's where Rose and I decided would be the best place to train. It's relatively secluded and covered heavily enough to protect all of you from the sun. If that changes, we'll have to move it somewhere else."

"She's there already? Alone? Is it safe, Dimitri?" Christian questioned sharply, slowing down a little as he suddenly remembered that there should have been another person with us, but in his excitement, had forgotten completely.

"Perfectly safe, Christian. The grounds are secure. Also…going to collect her from housing with a large group will attract the kind of attention that I don't want right now – attention that will create too many questions as to what we're doing. Remember please that it's Guardian Petrov alone, who has given me permission to train you. No one else can know about this or we'll all find ourselves in hot water."

Nodding their understanding, the pair were quiet for a moment before Lissa sighed. "I wish we weren't starting today. I understand the importance of it, but I wish it was any other day."

"What's wrong with today?" Christian asked.

"It's Rose's birthday. I don't want it spoilt by spending the day training."

Snorting, Christian chuckled. "Spoilt? Liss, she's not going to think her day has been ruined by the training. In fact, she's going to love it, especially if she gets to throw me around. I can already see her rubbing her hands together in anticipation. It's the best birthday present I could give her. Hell, I don't know why I asked Aunt Tasha to buy her gift when she goes out after breakfast. It won't top anything she's about to do to me this morning."

"Rose wouldn't do that, Christian." Lissa defended, but she didn't look all that convinced. She knew all to well their personal history. Looking dubious, Christian opened his mouth argue, but the worried expression on Lissa's face made him swallow his words.

"She's going to be tired and grumpy this morning. Not because we're training on her birthday, or even that it's so early on the weekend, but because I kept her awake for most of last night. I just couldn't get my brain to shut-up after she told us about Victor escaping and she was the one it was talking to."

"Rose told you it was okay, remember?" Christian reminded her quietly. "That she wasn't going to get much sleep anyway, so you could talk as much as you wanted. Besides," he comforted, kissing her temple. "It's Saturday. After training, she can make up for all the sleep she should have got last night, which isn't a bad thing, Liss. We don't want her snooping around guest housing before tonight. Which reminds me; have you managed to keep the party out of your head…and hers?"

Grimacing, Lissa glanced up at dhampir housing as we crossed over the last length of pathway. "I think so. Rose hasn't said anything or let on that she might know, but she's been so preoccupied that I can't really be sure. The excuse for getting her to guest housing tonight is dinner with Tasha before she leaves, which she already agreed to last night, so she shouldn't be too suspicious. Can you bring her, Dimitri?" Lissa asked a little fretfully. "At about 6:30pm? Eddie will already be there, because he's helping set up this afternoon, so it's just Rose."

"Of course. I'm off duty at 6pm, so I'll pick her up after I've showered and changed. As a suggestion, it you're both in agreement with it, why don't you go to the gym after training this morning? It will serve two purposes: one, you will both need to begin strength training as soon as possible, and two, it will keep Rose occupied for most of the morning. We spoke about it yesterday, so it won't look suspicious, and she'll more than likely sleep afterwards."

It would also give me an opportunity. We would have precious little time alone today, and the walk to guest housing might be the only time I could give Rose her gift…uninterrupted.

Brightening, Lissa nodded quickly. "Sounds great. She'll definitely be tired after gym." Hesitating a moment at the top of housing's steps, Lissa wiped at her eyes and cheeks to remove any trace of moisture. When she saw us watching her, she shrugged self-consciously. "She knows that I was crying last night, but I don't want her to see that I was crying this morning. It'll make her mad."

Pushing through the front doors a second later, Lissa was as composed as she could be, but we all knew that wouldn't fool Rose for a second. The lobby monitor greeted us politely enough, but showed considerably less interest and almost immediately went back to his book. Finding Rose standing just to the left of the main staircase, Eddie was beside her, with his arm draped over her shoulders. Hugging her tightly to his lanky frame, he seemed to be teasing her about something, but as soon as she saw Lissa, her answering smile disappeared.

Talking to Eddie quietly, she shrugged out from beneath his arm and crossed the gleaming, tiled floor towards her whilst he followed after at a slower pace. Narrowing her eyes shrewdly, Rose quickly assessed Lissa; her attention focused entirely on her.

Smiling brightly and very deliberately, Lissa wrapped Rose in a tight hug before she could take any notice of the slight swelling and redness around her eyes. "Happy Birthday. Do you feel any older?"

"That's what I asked her," Eddie smirked with amusement, but there was a grim edge around his eyes that ruined his enjoyment. He wasn't any happier than the rest of them.

Returning the hug, Rose was very gentle and careful. "It's just another day."

"It's not just another day; it's a special day."

Breaking the hug, Rose pulled away to look up into her face with a critical eye, but kept a light hold on her. Finding exactly what Lissa had been trying to hide, she sighed before scowling at Christian, as though it was his fault she had been allowed to be upset in the first part. "Stop evading, Lissa. You've been crying again, haven't you?"

False smile faltering a little at the bluntness of the accusation, Lissa shook her head and forced the stiff muscles of her face to widen into a smile that was painfully false. "I'm fine, Rose."

"I am the one person you cannot lie to, Vasilisa."

Grimacing at a name so rarely heard from Rose, Lissa seemed to sag with remorse as she closed her eyes. It was strange really. Of the two, it was Rose who was the stronger, both mentally and physically…the one who had protected Lissa since childhood, yet in this case, it was Lissa who was trying to protect Rose. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I kept you up, I'm sorry I'm upsetting you and ruining your birthday, and…"

"Stop it!" Rose interrupted fiercely, but quietly, mindful of the lobby monitor. "Stop apologizing. You didn't ruin anything. This isn't your fault, and you have every right to feel the way you do. Put the blame where it belongs…with Victor Dashkov." Rubbing her hands up and down Lissa's upper arms, Rose gave her a look that defied her to argue, so instead she signed quietly and smiled a little before nodding.

"Listen to Rose, Liss. She's right."

Eyeing Christian strangely as he spoke over Lissa's head, Rose smirked a little. "Are you actually agreeing with me?"

Smirking in return, Christian rested his chin atop Lissa's head. "Yeah, but just for today. It's your birthday, so I thought I would do something nice. Don't expect it to last."

Wincing as Lissa elbowed him lightly in the stomach, Christian did something that surprised everyone. Gently moving Lissa aside, Christian reached out to pull Rose into a hug before wishing her in a mumble and quickly setting her aside. Clearing his throat, Christian watched her warily whilst sinking his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

Mystified, Rose seemed just as surprised as the rest of us by his actions, and for once, was without words as Lissa smiled gently at him and looped her arm through his. Approaching her slowly, Rose shook her head in bemusement before smiling. Clasping her in a gentle hug as Lissa teased Christian and Eddie joined in, I brought her closer, but not as close as I wanted.

I couldn't hold her the way I wanted to…I couldn't kiss her the way I wanted to, not yet, so as much as it irritated me to have to hide what I felt for her, this was what I had to settle for. Wishing her loudly enough for the others to hear and keeping the contact deliberately short, my lips brushed the tip of her ear as I pulled away in a secret kiss whilst whispering. "Happy birthday, my beautiful Roza."

Feeling her subtle nod of acknowledgement, there wasn't anything more to say or do. We would have time later for more.

"So…are we ready for this?" Looking around, Rose's question wasn't met with any objections, and we left housing a few seconds later.

Talking quietly on our way to the cabin, any questions that needed answering were done by the time we left the pathways and stepped into the forest. Once we were secluded by the dense copse, the conversation became louder and more animated. The excitement of the four was only eclipsed by the excitement from Tasha as we found her pacing restlessly outside the cabin.

Beaming when she saw us, the stretching of her facial muscles created a lopsided effect as she approached. "It's about time. I thought I had been stood up." Hugging everyone briefly in greeting, it was Rose who was given the longest hug. Squeezing tightly, Tasha wished her whilst Rose returned the hug with more enthusiasm than I had expected. It seemed as though she had meant what she said when reassuring me that she believed there was nothing more than friendship between us.

Talking a little about her birthday whilst Lissa and Christian shed the layers of clothing concealing their training gear, the conversation eventually turned to Victor. Beginning their warm ups, Lissa and Christian watched closely and began to mirror Rose and Eddie whilst Tasha stayed at my side, talking quietly enough for the others to not hear it.

"I got a call earlier from that contact I told you about yesterday."

Still not happy with her dealing with men who were little more than mercenaries, I also knew that at this point, I had no other choice. We had no other source of information to work with. "And?"

"Apparently Victor was spotted in Caracas, trying to bride his way onto an international flight bound for Serbia."

"Serbia? Your contact is sure of that?"

"That's what he's said, but at this stage, we have no confirmation on anything."

"That makes no sense, Tasha." I argued, keeping my voice low. "He needs Lissa; he's dying. Why would he fly off to Europe when his best hope of survival is sitting in Montana?" Shaking my head, I didn't believe for a second that he wasn't heading for the States. "This sounds like more of his mind-games. He knows that we'll be looking for him, so he's trying to misdirect. To set up a false trail in the hopes that we'll follow that instead of looking for him in our backyard."

"I agree. I don't think he's leaving either, so I've asked them to dig deeper. It might take some time, but they're very good at what they do, so hopefully by midway through next week, we'll have something more reliable to work with." Watching Lissa as she stretched out during her warm up, Tasha's expression was part outrage and sympathy. "Will you tell her?"

"Only if there's any evidence to support it, which right now, we don't have. She needs to train…to be prepared for anything. I don't want to give her hope where there isn't any, Tasha." Watching her just as closely, it didn't take long for them to limber up.

Pairing Christian with Rose and Eddie, Tasha and I separated Lissa from the others and began. Taking her through basic training procedures, we were able to assess her weaknesses and strengths.

Although physically weak and unable to defend or block, Lissa was surprisingly agile; easily able to dodge and evade the mock-attack that she faced from Tasha, though she tired easily whilst trying to keep up. Building her core strength and her stamina was something that would take time, but was vitally important, not only for her physical strength, but also her self-confidence.

Helping with her footwork, I taught her to correctly place her feet so that evading became easier, whilst maintaining her balance in the event that she was able to counter-attack. A fast learner, it didn't Lissa long to grasp the concept, and by the end of the half hour, she was tired, but far more confident than before we had started. Teaching her to correctly cool-down, we focused our attention on Christian's training.

Having finished his own assessment, Christian was now facing off against Eddie. Fairing bar better than I had expected, he was easily evading him whilst managing to land a few body blows that seemed to catch even Eddie by surprise. Watching from the sidelines, Rose seemed attentive enough; offering comments every now and then to the pair, but during our training, I had been watching her as she watched Lissa, and her attention had not been focused on Christian.

I didn't think she regretted her decision to train him instead of Lissa, but it was obviously proving hard for her to distance herself than she thought it would be.

Completing her cool-down, Lissa joined Rose on the sidelines and their arms linked. Talking quietly as Tasha and I flanked them, Lissa laughed and shook her head in exasperated amusement at Christian's broad grin as he finished with Eddie; winning easily. Congratulating him, Eddie took the defeat with good humour and reached for a bottle of water Tasha had provided.

Cleary high from his victory, a sweating, cocky Christian curled her fingers at Rose in invitation. "Come on, Hathaway. Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you're off the hook."

Smirking at him as Lissa shook her head, this time with only exasperation and no amusement; Rose patted her arm to let her go and walked to him, stopping only a foot or two away. "Are you sure? I'm not Eddie. I'm not going to let you win."

Instantly goaded, Christian sniffed and wiped at a bead of sweat rolling down his temple as he shifted his stance to that of a combatant expecting an attack. "Eddie didn't let me win. It was an even contest."

"Hey, if you have to tell yourself that to sleep better at night, who am I to argue?" Positioning herself defensively, Rose grinned at Christian's peeved expression before beckoning him forward. This was what she had been waiting for. I only hoped she remembered that despite the bravado, Christian wasn't going to be any real match for her. "Come on, Ozera…let's see what you've got."

Orientating himself to better defend against the position Rose had taken, eagerness backlit the bright blue of his eyes. "If I set you alight, would you still be as smug?"

Shrugging, Rose cross-stepped him and closed the distance between them so quickly that he had to blink and jump back to avoid being trapped by her against the wide trunk of a fir tree. "Probably, just hotter."

Scoffing at her comment, I reminded him quietly. "Remember this isn't about using your abilities, Christian, but rather your knowledge. No one is setting anyone else on fire today."

Rolling her eyes at my dry remark and raised eyebrow, Rose knew that it was more a warning to her than to him, but she didn't seem interested in listening. Darting quickly to the right, Christian had barely enough time to throw himself away from the tree and block her attack before she launched another. Defending as best as he could, it was clear that he was hopelessly outmatched.

As Christian began to show outward signs of tiring, Rose was relentless as she kept up a frontal assault against him. She wasn't hurting him, but she wasn't letting him off lightly either. She had warned him that she wasn't Eddie, but until now, I didn't think he had believed the onslaught she would launch.

Keeping an eye on them, I also watched Lissa and Tasha. Looking on the verge of jumping in to help her boyfriend, Lissa visibly held herself back, whilst his aunt looked as though she wanted to also join in, but to side with Rose instead of her nephew.

Growing more and more frustrated, Christian's hands clenched repeatedly as he evaded whilst I watched as a flicker of heat shimmered from between his tightly bunched fingers. Seeing the same thing, Rose didn't back off or relent, despite the warning signs, and instead taunted him.

"No fire, Christian. Remember what Dimitri said? You have to beat me without your abilities. Fair and square."

Panting heavily and almost growling, it was clear that Christian didn't think this was a fair fight. Blinded by a haze of rage, it made rational thinking for him impossible. Opening his palms, the shimmer of heat became an actual flame; incandescent with searing heat. Arching a brow, Rose's lip curled back whilst both Tasha and Lissa tried to intervene.

"Christian…"

"Rose…"

Not listening to either of them, I decided it was time to call the session before their tempers got them into trouble or got someone hurt. Putting my body on the line, I stepped between the two combatants and barked. "That's time."

Giving me a churlish look, Rose drew back, but she wasn't happy about being interrupted. I wanted Christian to learn and grow, but not at the expense of losing his confidence. Being humiliated so early on, especially by someone he secretly respected, would be disastrous. Rose was too competitive to understand that on her own, so it was something I would have to talk to her about before we trained again.

"Already?"

Falling back, the tense set of Christian's didn't shoulders relax as he used the sleeve of his t-shirt to dab at the sweat on his brow. He was still battle ready, but there was a hint of relief to the set of those shoulders. He would have known that he stood no chance against Rose, but like her, he was too stubborn to admit it to himself or anyone else. Intervention was the only option.

"We agreed to start slowly, Christian," Tasha reminded him gently, eyeing Rose a little warily. "You and Lissa need to build yourselves up and that takes time. Trust me on this. I wanted everything to happen on my first lesson, but that wasn't possible and all I accomplished was injuring myself. Listen to Dimka; he knows what he's doing."

Nodding reluctantly, Christian slung a mocking glance at Rose. "We'll call it a draw, Hathaway."

Crossing her legs at the ankle and folding her arms over her chest, Rose smiled at Christian with amused disdain. "You're delusional, Ozera."

"Dimitri called it."

"Dimitri saved your ass."

"Oh, enough, you two." Crossing between them, Lissa glared first at Rose, then Christian. "You were meant to be teaching and learning, not baiting each other. Honestly." Linking arms with Rose, her exasperation with the squabbling pair was clear, with neither of them being spared her sympathy. It wasn't always easy for her to choose a side…her best friend, or her boyfriend, but at least their rivalry gave her something other than Victor to think about.

Joining them, Christian looped his arm around Lissa's waist and tugged, whilst Rose tugged the other way; both of them pulling at her to prove who had the stronger hold over her until she laughed and told them to stop. The competitiveness between the two might be strong, but looking out for Lissa's well-being was stronger.

"Let's go to the gym. I want to start working on core strength as soon as possible."

"No, Christian," Lissa protested, whilst covertly winking at him over his shoulder when Rose was distracted by something Tasha said. "Rose is tired and needs to sleep, or she'll fall asleep at dinner tonight." Looking apologetic again, Lissa would have said more to sell it if necessary, but Rose didn't appear suspicious in the slightest.

"I'm fine, Liss. The gym is a good idea; one of Christian's rare one's, actually. Besides, it's Saturday and I don't have training, or patrolling duties, so I can catch up with sleep later. You both need to do this. Especially you."

Looking peeved, Lissa huffed. "Why me, especially? Didn't you think I did a good job?"

Seeing that she had upset her, Rose smiled to reassure her. "No. I think you did really well. For a while there, you were evading Dimitri effortlessness, which is not easy. For someone his size, he can move really quickly, but evading isn't enough. When you're caught, you need the muscle to back up any defence."

Mollified, she flexed out a slender arm and peered down at the undefined musculature. "I'm not sure I'll ever have that kind of muscle, but I might as well try." Craning her neck to look towards Tasha, Lissa's eyes were a little pleading. Will you come with us, Tasha? If anyone is going to understand the difficulties I'll be facing, it's you."

"Sure, but I have errands to run after breakfast, so I can't stay all morning."

"That's okay. We won't get past breakfast without Rose wanting to stop anyway." Pulling her tongue at Rose's smirk, Lissa turned to me. "When are you on duty, Dimitri?"

Glancing at my watch, I grimaced in apology. "In twenty minutes, Lissa, and it runs until 6pm, so I'm afraid that I can't join you in the gym, but you don't really need me there. Both Rose and Eddie are very capable of teaching you the core strengthening techniques they were taught at children, and you've got Tasha as well."

"You're working another 12-hour shift?" Tasha asked, frowning in displeasure. "They're taking advantage of you, Dimka."

"No one is taking advantage of anyone, Tasha, and once permanent replacements arrive tomorrow, the shifts will return to normal. Besides, I'll have all of tomorrow off." And with any luck, I would get to spend most of it with Rose. Waiting for Lissa and Christian to redress, we began our walk back, but at a faster pace than when we had left. The sun was beginning to burn off the cloud in large patches of thinning sky, and the Moroi were very aware of it.

Discussing what they had just learnt, Tasha, Eddie, Lissa and Christian walked a little ahead whilst Rose dropped back. Curious as to what she wanted to say to me that she couldn't say in front of the others, the dangerous look she skewered me with made me less curious and more cautious.

"You called that session early." Rose softly accused, giving me look that defied me to deny it.

Knowing I couldn't, I didn't bother to try. Maybe this was the time to talk to her about going easy on him. The others were paying us no attention. "I did. Christian was tiring and never going to win against you. We need to build his confidence, not undermine it."

"So you were concerned for him, not me? And on my birthday, too." Giving me a sly look, Rose brushed at a low hanging branch.

"You don't need protecting. I understand that you're competitive, Roza, but you have to back down a little with this if it's going to be a success."

"It's Christian; he can handle it." She muttered dismissively.

"Normally, yes, but with you, there's a certain...expectation involved."

"What are you talking about?"

"He respects you…admires you. If you humiliate him, it's going to affect him more than he'll ever let on. So on occasion, you're going to have to let him win. I know that your competitive nature isn't going to like that, but your ego can afford the loss. His can't."

Staring at me as if I had gone mad, I didn't know if it was my suggestion of Christian's admiration or my suggestion that she deliberately lose to him that Rose found the hardest to believe. Not watching where she was going, a branch smacked her in the face before she pulled herself together. "Are you nuts?" she hissed, rubbing at her stinging forehead. "He does not admire me, and I'm sure as hell not losing to him."

"He does, and would losing to him really cost you that much?"

"We fight all the time, and yes!"

Sighing, Rose was becoming agitated and was beginning to draw attention to herself from the others, so I switched tactics by deliberately using her weakness for Lissa against her. It was a dirty move to pull, especially on her birthday, but it was one she would ultimately thank me for. "The choice is yours, Roza, but remember, at the end of the day, this is about them being prepared for anything Victor might do. This is to protect him…and her."

Outraged, the look she gave me was full of spite, because she knew I was right. "Don't think that I don't know what you're doing, Dimitri Belikov…and don't think that I won't punish you for it later." Stomping off, she re-joined the others as we found the path leading to the gym. Irony twisted at my mouth as I thought of her words…it wasn't like she wasn't already punishing me. What was a little more?

Reaching the gym quickly, the Moroi looked for the shade of the building whilst Eddie checked inside for anyone, but as I checked the time, I knew that it was still too early for most. "Well done. Both of you." I praised Lissa and Christian. Today was a very promising start. Don't spend too much time in the gym; it is the weekend, and listen to Rose and Eddie. They know what they're doing."

"Great. Thanks, Dimitri. Now you've given her permission to boss me around some more." Pulling Lissa into the gym with Eddie in tow, Tasha grinned before following them, but as Rose began to let the door close, I stopped her.

"Rose…a word?"

Tapping her fingers against the door, she turned to look at me with the same dangerous look. Crowding her against it, I forced her to crane her neck. "I'll collect you and Eddie at 6:30pm. I don't want you walking around the grounds at twilight by yourselves." I knew it would only be her, and I definitely didn't want it to be her alone on the grounds.

"I think we'll be just fine." She smiled sweetly…too sweetly.

"It's not negotiable, moye serdtse. Get some sleep. I'll see you later." Checking quickly to see that no one was watching, I pressed a swift kiss to her forehead and the faint red mark left by the tree branch and turned on my heel. Not waiting to see what her reaction was, because I knew what it would be, I quickened my pace to housing. Showering, changing and grabbing a few granola bars from the dining-room, I was outdoors and on time for duty.

The first hour of boundary duty passed as slowly as it always did with my mind on other things, but as hour two began and my preoccupied thoughts became no clearer, I saw a familiar figure in the distance. I shouldn't have let him distract me, but it was the perfect time to invite him to the dinner tonight. He would be leaving tomorrow after the service; returning to Court as the replacement guardians came in, so I wanted to spend as much time with him before he left as possible, but it wasn't the only reason.

During the dinner tonight, I was almost certain that Tasha would try again to push at the boundaries I had set up around our friendship. Rose was already mad at me and I didn't need Tasha's misdirected flirting making her any angrier. Kon was a shameless flirt and would keep her occupied.

Approaching him quietly, it was only as I got closer that I noticed he was on his phone. Knowing that whilst on duty he wasn't allowed the interruption of a phone call, I watched him curiously as he laughed softly at whatever the person on the other end of the line said. Not close enough to really hear the gist of the conversation, it was clear by the tone, it was fairly intimate. I should have guessed that he would be involved with someone, but it was unusual for him to not have said anything about it.

He wasn't above bragging.

Which meant one of two things: it was a Moroi, or someone that he wasn't allowed to be anywhere near…someone underage, maybe. His fondness for youth was what had gotten him reassigned to Court in the first place, so he would have to be very careful.

Stepping on a dry branch, the cracking sound alerted Kon to the fact that he wasn't alone. Swivelling quickly on his heel, his dark green eyes widened for a second as he saw me. Stiffening, he spoke quietly into his phone before ending the call. Sliding it into his back pocket, he looked distinctly uneasy as I walked to him, trying to act repentant for eavesdropping, but too curious to pull it off.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You didn't."

"Who was on the phone?"

"Nobody important," he downplayed, looking guiltier by the second.

"Are you sure?" I pressed with a small smile. "You know the rules about answering calls on duty, so it must have been important enough to risk it."

"It was a twenty-second phone call, Dimitri. Let's not blow it out of proportion. What do you need?"

"I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight."

Grinning cunningly, Kon slowly eyed me from head to foot. "I knew it. I knew you couldn't resist me."

"It's for Rose's birthday dinner, Konrad…don't get your hopes up; I haven't lowered my standards yet."

Laughing at my dry sarcasm, rubbed a hand through the pale strands of his hair. "Did the Princess organize it?"

"Yes, with help from Tasha."

"Tasha? Natasha Ozera?" At my nod, the cunning look turned to knowing. "The same Natasha Ozera who's been after your…body guarding skills for years? Oh. I see. You want me as a distraction, because you're not interested and she's persistent? Poor Dimitri. What must it be like to be you?"

"That has nothing to do with it, Kon. You're leaving tomorrow. I don't have any ulterior motive for wanting to spend time with you."

Staring at me sceptically, I knew he didn't believe me, so I decided to bait him a little. "You don't sound all that enthusiastic, Kon. Come to think about it, since you've been here, you haven't really shown interest in anyone. For you, that's unusual, no matter how busy you are. You're not seeing someone at Court, are you?"

Expression souring, Konrad ground his teeth together. "Stop fishing, Belikov. I'll see you tonight."

"That wasn't a no, Kon."

"What time and where?"

"7pm, guest housing."

"Got it."

"Don't be late."

Muttering in Russian where I could shove my time keeping skills, I laughed at his retreating back, enjoying his discomfort more than I should have as I resumed my duties. He was definitely hiding something…or someone.