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: Thank you, as always, for the time you take to read the chapters and to write such wonderful reviews. I'm sorry that I haven't posted updates more regularly. It's not writers block, just laziness.

elephantwalks…you're a honey.

A Conflict of the Soul

Chapter Fifteen

Three months later…

Jogging to a stop on the crest of a hill overlooking the lower campus, I sank to my haunches to rest for a moment, breathing heavily in the hot, humid air.

Blotting at beads of sweat rolling down my temples with the damp shoulder of my t-shirt, I squinted into the brightly setting sun; shading my eyes against it glare as it began to slowly descend below the western mountain range no longer covered by snow.

As far as the eye could see, the winter-deadened Montana landscape had been transformed by the arrival of first spring and then summer. Now late June, the last of the frost sticking to the ground had long since thawed, and in its place was a thick carpeting of grass and wild flowers. Trees and shrubs, stripped bare in the autumn, now sprouted an abundance of bright-green leaves and the plains and prairies that surrounded the academy grounds teemed with life foraging for food or keeping a watchful eye for predators lean from hibernation.

It all reminded me strongly of Siberia. Summers there weren't nearly as warm, and the wildlife was a little more diversified, but there were enough similarities between these two vastly different parts of the world to make me more than a little homesick.

Plucking at a long strand of seeding grass, the faintly bitter aroma rose up as I rolled and crushed it between my fingers. Watching as a grasshopper leapt to perch precariously on the edge of a blade of grass; its chirping joined others hidden in the underbrush, but their calls were drowned out by the sounds of hammers, buzz saws and drills echoing in the distance.

Scanning the horizon to the right, the sports field normally used for track events was being remodelled by contractors into a makeshift amphitheatre. Built around the existing bleachers, lavish, sun-shaded grandstands were being built onto them. Once complete, they would be capable of seating hundreds: students, staff, Royalty, council members, all of them there to watch on Thursday evening as the senior novices ran the literal gauntlet in an attempt to pass their final hurdle to becoming guardians.

Trials.

Within the arena, a series of complex mazes and obstacle courses had already been constructed. Designed to disorientate the novices with not only their complexity but with the dangers they posed, they would also have the additional burden of being paired with a guardian posing as a Moroi to deal with. Instructed to remain helpless and completely dependent on the novice to protect them, other guardians would pose as concealed Strigoi within the obstacle course.

Only once the novice had successfully navigated the course, defeated any who stood in their way and safely delivered their 'Moroi' to the other side, would trials be over. From there on in, it was merely the formality of the graduation ceremony the following day where they would receive their promise mark and officially become guardians.

Now only three days away from potentially fulfilling a lifetime of training and preparation, the novices would be pushed to their physical and mental limits. Although the field-experience had been indefinitely called off after the attack, the training leading up to trials over the last month had followed exactly the same pattern. Surprise attacks could happen at any time, on any day, and with any number of guardians going head to head against a single novice.

Not the slightest bit hesitant to now ruthlessly counter-attack, the hard-earned experience of surviving the attack had given the novices the confidence they had lacked during the field-experience. They were ready; we were all confident of that, but we couldn't allow them to become complacent. We had to keep pushing them...we had to keep them ready for anything, because failure now would be a lesson they might never have the opportunity to learn from later.

For Rose and I, that meant so much more than it did for the others.

Before, when I had helped to prepare others for trials, the process had been important, but never mine to achieve. I had felt no personal involvement, other than pride at their victory or sadness at their failure, but that was different this time around because my own future rested so importantly on the success of someone else…and that future was so close now, that I could almost reach out and touch it.

Of course, that someone else didn't seem to take it nearly as seriously as I did. It was my chest that was knotted with anxiety, not hers. It was my stomach that roiled with nausea, not hers, and whenever I reminded Rose of what was at stake, she would merely smile indulgently, kiss me and say, 'relax, comrade. You're going to give yourself grey hair.'

Grinning at the thought of her, I tossed the grass away and rose, resuming my run. Skirting the construction site, I made for the gym to begin setting up for the first period with the seniors at 7pm. Having resumed our nocturnal schedule a month after the attack, the students, especially the Moroi, were more at ease with the familiarity of it, but there was still a lingering air of unease amongst them. When the senior novices graduated at the end of the week, so too would the senior Moroi, and for most, Friday couldn't come soon enough.

"Dimitri!"

Turning at the sound of my name, I spotted Dustin leaving the admin building; waving me down. Frowning, I changed direction, wondering what he needed. We would both be in the gym in a matter of minutes with Stan, so whatever it was had nothing to do with training. Smiling at me in greeting, he took a bite out of an Idared before tossing one to me. Catching it mid-air, juice ran down the corners of my mouth as I bit into the crisp flesh.

"Thank you," I said around a mouthful. "Did you raid the delivery truck?"

"I did. I'm tired of Emil getting to everything first and leaving the rest of us with the scraps. How was your run?"

"Good, but you could have asked me about it in the gym."

Grinning, he took another bite. "I didn't flag you down just to see your pretty face, son. Alberta is looking for you."

Feeling my stomach drop a little, I kept the anxiety I felt off my face. "Did she say why?"

"No. She just asked me to look for you. She's in her office." Cocking his head curiously, there was something in his expression that kept me on guard. "Is something wrong?"

Taking another bite of the apple, I shook my head, beginning to walk towards the admin block. "No, I don't think so. It's probably about some small detail she wants done before Thursday. Can you and Stan start with the seniors without me?" Nodding, Dustin's craggy, grey eyebrows pulled together over his nose, but he said nothing more as I turned away and quickened my pace; finishing the apple in a few bites.

The flimsy excuse I had given Dustin had been a lie. I was fairly certain I already knew why Alberta wanted to see me. For months now, we had both waited for the official summons from Court, and had received nothing. We both knew better than to think that this meant we had been forgotten about, because we both knew that Hans would serve the summons when it best suited him.

He would wait until we would least expect it before he did, and what better time to do that than during the week leading up to trials?

Knocking on her door less than a minute later, Alberta called out for me to enter. Not looking up from the notes she was hastily scribbling, she simply nodded towards one of the two armchairs on the other side of her desk and pushed an envelope towards me. An identical one, already opened, lay at her side. Sighing fatalistically, I took the seat and ripped it open, already knowing what it would say.

Quickly scanning through the contents, I re-read it carefully once more before folding it closed and tossing it onto the desk in disgust. "Tomorrow?" I questioned incredulously. "They want us at Court on Tuesday when they know that trials are on Thursday?!"

Arching a brow at my growl, Alberta continued to write. "I told you Hans wasn't happy. In fact, I distinctly recall asking you on numerous occasions to reconsider your decision and you wouldn't."

"So this is our punishment? Rattling both of us two days before the most important test of the senior's academic careers?"

"He won't see it as punishment, Dimitri. Merely a convenience for himself."

"Bullshit! He's done this deliberately."

"It's his prerogative."

"We can't go, Alberta," I argued, resting my elbows on my thighs to lean forward. "Not this close to trials. It's absurd. Can't you phone and ask him to reschedule? That's not an unreasonable request given what he knows we have to do in the days leading up to trials. And besides, he'll be here on Thursday anyway. He can just as easily question us at the academy, as he can at Court."

Sighing, Alberta completed her notes and closed the folder. Sitting back in her chair, she watched me with a calm that I knew belied what she was truly feeling. She was just as angry as I was. "I have already. He won't budge. He wants us on the back foot from the minute we land, which is why he's insisting that the hearings be held now, and at Court, where he has the advantage."

Slumping back into my seat in defeat, I scrubbed a hand over my face and swore in Russian.

"That's not the word or language I used, but the sentiment was the same." Alberta replied dryly.

"That was out of line, Alberta. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Dimitri. You're entitled to feel like this is an ambush, because that's exactly what it is."

"I wasn't apologizing for just that, although I shouldn't have said it anyway. What I'm apologizing for is that you're being punished for a decision that I made."

"Thank you, Dimitri, but my summons has nothing to do with you. The council is still searching for a scapegoat, and I'm still suspect number one; that's why I'm going. By the end of tomorrow, I should know if they've finally accepted that the attack can't be blamed on a single person, or if I have to start looking for a new job. At least then all the wondering and worrying will be over." Smiling a little, there wasn't any humour in it, only resentment…and sadness.

Alberta had dedicated her entire life to serving the Moroi and the Council, and now, instead of thanking her for it, they were trying to make her take the blame for something that a flawed system had created. Angry on her behalf and my own, it was only further proof that the decision I had made to live a life that was my own whilst still honouring my duty to the Moroi was the right one.

"The hearings begin at midday. What time are we leaving?" I asked with quiet resignation, not wanting to add to her worries by arguing over something that none of us could change.

"Our flight's scheduled for 7am," Alberta answered, reaching for another file and opening it to the notes within. "If we're lucky, we'll be back by tomorrow evening. If not, we'll stay overnight and fly out early on Wednesday morning."

Frowning, my fingers drummed on the wooden armrest in agitation. Being away from the academy for that length of time worried me for a number of reasons: security, the seniors, the scheduling, safety checks on the obstacle courses and mazes; all of them were valid reasons to be concerned, but I knew that the real reason was because I didn't want to be away from Rose for that long.

Since spending that lazy Sunday afternoon together at the end of March, we hadn't been apart from each other for longer than was absolutely necessary. Still very careful to keep our relationship hidden, we had managed to steal time whenever we could to experiment, learn and teach each other. There wasn't a supply room, broom closet, nook or niche that we hadn't found to use, and as Rose had pointed out, the thrill of knowing that at any moment we might be caught had only heightened the hunger between us.

I knew it had spoilt me; made me greedy for much, much more, and as our relationship thrived, so too did my addiction to Rose. Full-blown and undeniable, there was nothing I could do to fight against it which meant that the withdrawal I would feel at not seeing or hearing or touching her would feel like a physical blow.

"Is everything going well with Rose?" Alberta asked shrewdly, somehow seeming to know where my true reluctance to leave really lay.

Sitting up straighter in the chair, I kept my expression bland. "Yes. She's more than ready for trials. Chomping at the bit actually might be a better description for her at the moment. And there haven't been anymore…episodes," I phrased carefully, knowing that Alberta still wasn't entirely comfortable with acknowledging that Rose had once interacted with the dead. "Since the Princess has remained on regular medication. Everything is on track."

Levelling a disparaging look at me, Alberta closed the file and rested her linked hands on top of it. "You know that's not what I'm asking you, Dimitri."

Since confessing to my feelings for Rose earlier in the year, Alberta and I had come to a kind of tacit agreement to never speak of it. She didn't need to know any more than she already did, and I didn't want her to know any more than she already knew. So far, it had worked well for both of us, so to hear her ask about it now made me cautious to answer.

"I thought you didn't want to know any of the details?"

"I don't." Scowling, Alberta began scribbling again. "The more I know, the less I can truthfully deny. I only ask because Rose seems…different."

"Different how?"

Smiling a little at the intense interest in my question, Alberta didn't look up. "She's more focused than I've ever seen her before. Confident…settled. She's always had a healthy sense of self-belief, but this is different. It's been a nice change to see her so positive and willing to work with others versus wanting to do everything herself. She's never been a team player, but she seems more attuned to others now, which has helped in becoming more aware of just herself." Eyeing me sardonically, Alberta arched a brow. "I suppose I have you to thank for that."

"I think it's more that she's beginning to mature," I corrected, brushing off the reluctant praise. "She is only eighteen, Alberta."

"Yes, she is." Skewering me to my seat, there wasn't censor in her gaze, but it wasn't exactly acceptance either. "I was reading your latest report on the training with Princess and Lord Ozera before you came in." Alberta mused, not so subtly changing the subject. "But I would prefer to hear it from you. How is everything going?"

"Excellently."

Both Lissa and Christian had improved remarkably since the start of their training. Rose, keeping to her promise, had focused her attention on Christian and had, on the rare occasion whilst gritting her teeth and glaring at me, allowed him to defeat her in hand to hand combat without making it look like a setup. Christian's confidence had soared because of it, and although she was hard-pressed to admit it, Rose was very proud of his progress.

Having singled out early that Lissa's greatest asset was her speed and agility, we had created a series of evasion and attacking manoeuvres that built on that, and although she wasn't anywhere near the same level as Christian, it took some effort to be able to catch her now. She easily out-manoeuvred both Eddie and I; it was only really Rose that could catch her, and sometimes I thought it had more to do with the bond than with knowing her as well as she did herself.

Nodding, Alberta scratched out a hand-written paragraph with a frown and began to rewrite it. "Do they feel confident that they can now defend themselves against a Strigoi attack, or any other attack, for that matter?"

Not missing the faint undertone of sarcasm, I didn't react to it. If it truly bothered her, she would have put a stop to the training weeks ago, whether it had proved successful or not. "Of course they don't, Alberta. You know that wasn't why I asked to do this, and you know it's not why they agreed to do this. Has there been any word?"

Knowing what I was talking about, she shook her head. Victor Dashkov was still in the wind, though the search for him had continued to intensify in the months since his escape. The last reported sighting of him had been in Istanbul six weeks ago, but it had turned out to be another dead-end. Tasha – who had returned to Minneapolis in the first week of April – had kept in regular contact, passing along any information her informants had provided, but none of them had panned out.

With every sighting or rumour, I had told Rose, who in turn had told Lissa and the others. Hopeful at first that he would be caught and returned to Tarasov, with every failure, I watched the hope on their faces turn to disappointment; fear to anger. Still convinced my grandmother wasn't telling me everything she knew, I had spoken frequently to my family, but Yeva was still frustratingly cryptic; only repeating the same thing as before without offering any new information.

If she knew that the threat was about Victor, she wasn't saying.

"You're on duty until midnight," Alberta continued, more concerned with issues other than Victor Dashkov. "I'll arrange for Bogdanovic to pick up the rest of your shift so that you have time to pack and get some sleep before we leave. Gregor already knows that I'll be away tomorrow, and why you're going with me. I'm sure by now he's told at least Dustin, which means that most of the guardians will know within the hour. Maybe it's time to start telling them that you've requested a transfer. We kept it quiet until now, but there doesn't seem much point anymore."

So that would explain why Dustin had looked at me so strangely before. He had been waiting for me to talk to him about the reassignment request. "A few of them will be milling around the lounge now, including Emil. If Dustin hasn't managed to spread it around campus yet, you know he'll finish the job. Now is as good a time as any." I agreed.

Smiling at my wry remark, Alberta gathered her paperwork, checked the time and stood. "Let's go and see if you're right."

Standing, I reached for the summons, carelessly folding it before shoving it into the pocket of my running shorts and following after her. The hallway outside her office was empty, but we could both hear voices floating down the corridor.

"I don't want to beat this to death," Alberta said quietly, walking a little slower. "But we need to go over what you're going to say to the council tomorrow. Do you remember the advice I gave you when you made your re-assignment request?"

"Of course." Surprised by Alberta's generosity at the time, especially considering how angry I had made her by not just requesting the transfer, but by confessing to the truth of why I wanted it, the gesture had been appreciated all the same. Alberta knew how the council thought, she knew how Hans thought, and if that meant that I had the edge going in, no matter how slight, I would use it.

"Good. We'll fine-tune it during the flight in tomorrow morning." Walking past reception and into the lounge, the level of noise only briefly dipped as those gathered saw us. Some dispersed immediately as they saw Alberta, but others remain, and as usual, it was Emil who reacted first. As his grief over Maia had faded in the weeks following her death, the natural irreverence of his personality had slowly begun to re-emerge. Nodding now at Alberta, he grinned at me and focused on my bare knees.

"Mmmm…look at those legs."

Snickering, the others took in my sweaty appearance: t-shirt and shorts paired with running shoes. With the arrival of summer's heat, it was how we all dressed to either train or teach, but for Emil, it wasn't merely a wardrobe choice…it was ammunition. Still watching me with a sly expression, he tossed a granola bar my way before taking a bit out of his and mumbling around it. "We missed you at breakfast."

"I doubt that very much. Thanks for this, by the way." Peeling the wrapper, I slowly ate the bar; resting back against an armchair as Emil flopped down into another, ignoring Alberta's scowl as she glanced at her watch. He was already late for duty, but seemed determined to have his say. As he never disappointed, I could already guess what it was about.

"So, there's an interesting rumour going around campus at the moment, Dimitri."

"Isn't there always, Emil?"

"Usually, but this one is about you, which is unusual."

Catching Alberta's eye, she shook her head in resigned exasperation before resuming her discussion with Daniel about taking over the back-end of my shift tonight. Finishing the bar, I threw away the wrapper, dusted my hands, and smiled benignly at him. "Alright, Emil. I'll bite. What's the rumour about?"

"That you're going to Court tomorrow with Alberta…because you've requested a transfer."

Hearing the conversation drop off completely at Emil's answer, I looked around the room as everyone in it suddenly looked at me. With the exception of Alberta, the overall expression from everyone was shock. As I was generally known as someone who didn't rock the boat – and asking for reassignment was definitely rocking – this decision would astonish many of them.

"For once the rumour is true, Emil," I confirmed "I have requested to be transferred."

Sitting straight up in his seat, the humour was wiped from Emil's face in an instance. It looked like he had been expecting me to dismiss it like I normally did every other rumour he repeated. The fact that I didn't had caught him off guard. "Seriously? You're leaving the academy?"

"Nothing's been confirmed yet, Emil. My request has to be approved first. If it is, then yes. I'll be transferred after graduation."

"Why?" Emil uttered, still mystified. "You're the primary guardian of the last Dragomir. Why would you want to give that up?"

"Guarding Princess Vasilisa has been an honour," I began, choosing my words carefully. I had to convince everyone here as much as I did at Court for my reasons to be transferred. If I didn't, they might search for another reason and that would inevitably lead them back to Rose. "But I think that I have more to offer in training others. There are more than enough guardians capable and eagerly willing to protect the Royals and they should be given that opportunity."

"You want to train, after dealing with novices for the last year and a half? You really are a glutton for punishment, Belikov."

"It will be a challenge, Emil."

"What if you're not assigned to that? What if you're assigned somewhere else? Is it really worth the risk?" Daniel asked, walking to stand beside Emil. Still fairly new, he was one of the guardians flown in from Court as a permanent replacement on the same morning that Konrad and the others had flown out.

"That's obviously the Council's decision, Daniel, and yes it's a risk, but I'm willing to chance it."

"Which training centre do you want?"

"Court's."

"Oh," Emil said, nodding knowingly before he stood and folded his arms over his chest. "So that's it. We're not good enough for you anymore. You're setting your sights higher."

"No, that's not it at all, Emil, but just to clarify…you've never been good enough for me."

About to launch an offensive as the others laughed, Alberta interrupted. "Alright. That's enough. You all have places to be and are already late for them." Sliding a hard look at Emil, he wisely kept his mouth shut and slinked out with the rest, but as he passed me, he shot me a look that promised I hadn't heard the last of him.

"That's only a taste of what you can expect from the rest of them."

Turning to Alberta, her irritation with me was clear. "By the time we return from Court, the furore over my request would have blown over," I reasoned, hoping that it would be true. "They're going to be kept too busy this week to give it much thought, Alberta, but if they do, I will try to deal with it as much of it as I can without involving you."

"Hmmm."

Not sounding like she believed me, I walked to the lobby with her but she remained behind to discuss something with monitor; dismissing me almost absently as her attention turned to other things. Already late, I didn't stick around to try and convince her of something that I wasn't entirely certain of myself. Wanting to talk to Rose about tomorrow, there wouldn't be much of an opportunity outside of gym, so I had to make the time count.

Pushing through the doors of the gym a few minutes later, I was only ten minutes late, but Stan and Dustin already had the seniors completing their warm ups. Paired up, they would start with the dummies before moving onto the guardians. Nodding at me as he checked the posture of one of the West twins, Dustin didn't ask any questions, but Stan gave me a look that I now realized I would be seeing a lot of in the coming days.

"If you're looking for Hathaway, she volunteered to bring in the repaired dummy from the workshop." Stan said, walking towards me, knowing already who I was searching for.

"By herself?" Frowning, I turned to walk out the doors I had only just pushed through. Rose was strong and stubborn enough to refuse help, but the specially designed silicone of the dummies was heavy, and the last thing she needed this close to Trials was to injure herself.

"She volunteered," Stan called defensively as I walked out. "And she was the one who damaged the damn thing in the first place!"

Grinning at the memory of last night's training session; Rose had been tasked with teaching the other novices a new technique I had taught her myself. Demonstrating a move to disable, incapacitate and stake at virtually the same time, she had taken it a little too far and had somehow managed to puncture clean through the abdominal cavity of the dummy. When contacted, the manufacturer had been bewildered, swearing that it wasn't meant to be possible, but when he had designed and made it, he hadn't known about Rose Hathaway.

Prepared with a kit sent with the dummies in the event that something like this ever did happen, Gregor had repaired it himself, shaking his head in disgusted disbelief when we had taken it to him. Barking at Rose to remember how expensive they were, and that they should be treated with more respect, she had smiled sweetly and asked if she should treat a Strigoi with the same kind of respect the next time she came face to face with one.

Crossing over the pathway to the small workshop behind the gym, I spotted her now in the distance, cutting across the perfectly manicured lawn to shorten the trip, even though she knew she wasn't allowed on it. Dragging the dummy rather than carrying it, she swiped impatiently at long strands of damp hair escaping her topknot. True to her word, she hadn't cut her hair at the start of summer; though it was something she still threatened me with whenever I made her angry.

Wearing an oversized t-shirt ripped and shortened at the waist, it sagged a little off one shoulder, revealing the strap of her sports-bra. The sight of her skin – tanned a darker colour from stealing as many hours in the sun as she could during the weekends and free periods – made my mouth water. Between the last of her classes and curfew this morning, Rose and I had found enough time to make use of one of our favourite supply closets…one that was at the end of a first floor corridor seldom used. It should have been enough to keep the hunger satisfied, but it was never enough.

I always wanted more of her.

Waiting until she was almost beneath the concealing shadows of a massive Oak planted to the left of the pathway, I curled an arm out and snagged both her and the dummy, hiding us beneath the heavy shade of the tree's low hanging, heavily foliated branches. Blinking in surprise at the suddenness of my movement, Rose tensed to strike; holding a hand out to ward off a surprise attack from a guardian before she realised it was me.

Smiling at me with the type of carnal enjoyment that heated my blood, she lowered her arm slowly. "Hello, Guardian Belikov," she greeted in Russian that was nowhere near perfect, but after three months of practicing, was now very good.

She and the others had picked up quickly on the intricacies of the language; both spoken and written as they were taught the guardian protocols as part of their curriculum. Making the decision at my suggestion, Alberta had broached the idea with the council not long after the attack, and although there were some who had reservations, the overall consensus had been one of agreement. Now, every novice guardian, in all of our academies, would be hose protocols from the very beginning. It was a small change, but one that many felt was a step in the right direction.

"Hello, Miss Hathaway." I murmured back, finding her lips. Our kiss was deep and languorous, but brief. We wouldn't be found unless someone looked for us, but it sill wasn't worth the risk. Pulling away a little as it ended, my fingers however wouldn't listen to common sense and lightly caressed over the plump curve of her breast until I found the hidden nub of her nipple. Rubbing lightly, it puckered beneath the material of her shirt. Twisting gently, Rose arched under my touch and grinned mischievously.

"You're being very reckless."

"Who's going to tell on us?"

"The dummy?" she replied a little breathlessly, nodding down at the repaired mannequin.

"He doesn't seem the kind to gossip. I think we're safe, Roza." Reluctantly releasing her nipple with a final, gentle tug, I leaned the dummy against the tree, inspecting the repairs Gregor had made; running my fingers lightly over the area. Barely discernable, the synthetic covering had dried and bonded well. "Gregor did a good job at repairing the damage you inflicted." Eyeing her warningly, Rose rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you taught me that move. If you didn't want lethal force in my hands, you should have kept it to yourself." She shot back, slapping the torso of the dummy with the back of her hand.

"I do want lethal force in your hands…I just don't want you to use it on defenceless training dummies. Whilst I'm away, please try and remember that."

Still focused on abusing the dummy, Rose scoffed at my reply, but a second later, her brow furrowed and she dropped her hand, turning to frown at me. "What are you talking about? Where are you going?"

Reaching into my pocket, I took out the crumpled summons; shaking it out for her. Taking it without question, Rose opened it fully. Reading, it only took a few seconds before she understood what was happening and the frown became a glare of outrage. "Now?!" She yelled furiously in English, forgetting to lower her voice. "This close to trials?! What the hell is wrong with them?"

"Nothing. This is a very deliberate move on the council's part…on Han's part. He's waited this long for a reason, Roza. He wants Alberta and I on the back foot from the moment we arrive at Court."

"Alberta's going too?"

"Yes. She'll finally find out if she's been cleared of any blame for the attack, or if she'll be blamed for everything."

Curling her lip, Rose kicked at the dummy. "This is such bullshit," she ranted, waving the summons around violently, as angry on my behalf as she was on Alberta's. "Can't she ask them to postpone it? They know how important this week is."

"She has already. He's not budging."

"Son of a bitch," Rose growled, pacing for a bit, before kicking out at the dummy again. "What does Alberta think about all of this?"

"She seems…resigned to it. We've both known for a while that this was coming, Roza."

"Is she nervous?"

"If she is, she isn't showing it. She no happier about this than I am, but she does seem almost relieved that everything will be over soon."

"What time do you fly out tomorrow?"

"7am."

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know. The hearings begin at midday, and there's no telling how long they will take. If we're lucky, we'll be back tomorrow night. If not, early on Wednesday morning."

"And trails are on Thursday." Shaking her head in disgust, Rose lashed out with her foot violently enough to kick the dummy a foot away. Sighing, I went to retrieve it, checking for any damage before resting it against the tree again and raising a brow at my rebellious student.

"Rose…I've asked you already not to abuse the dummies."

"I wish it was Han's I was kicking." She grumbled, swiping out at low-hanging branches in her way." What are you going to say to him when he questions your request for re-assignment?"

"Alberta and I have already discussed that. We'll go over the finer details on the flight in tomorrow morning."

"She's giving you advice?" Rose questioned in surprise. "I thought you said she wasn't happy with you over this."

"She isn't, but doesn't mean that she isn't going to still help me if she can. She knows what it would mean for me if this goes wrong."

"Do you think it could?" She asked quietly, trying to keep her anxiety from me, but I could still see and hear it. "Go wrong, I mean. What if…what if he's doing this now because he wants to reassign you immediately? As punishment? What if he's not even prepared to hear your request out and sends you out of the country? What if you…"

"Stop. Stop, Rose." Hooking an arm around her waist as I saw her working herself into a frenzy, my hands pulled her tightly into my embrace before murmuring against her sweat-dampened scalp. "I don't want you worry about anything other than trials. That is your only focus this week, do you understand me? There is nothing more important."

"But…" She began, arguing against my chest.

"No. No buts. Listen to me, please?" Cupping her jawbone, I tilted her head upward to hold her gaze. "I will deal with whatever happens tomorrow, not you. You will not think about it. You will only concentrate on getting through the rest of the week…you will only think about Thursday."

"Yeah, right, comrade." Mumbling against my t-shirt, Rose wrapped her arms around my waist before sighing quietly. "How are you feeling about all of this?

Grinning against the top of her head, I thought about what Alberta had said about her being more attuned to the feelings of others. She was right. Normally, Rose would have been so caught up in her own emotions she wouldn't have given a second thought to anyone else's, even mine. "Honestly? I'm anxious, but not in a bad way. This was always going to happen, Roza. I knew that from the moment I made the decision to ask for a transfer."

"You're not starting to regret that decision yet?"

Hugging her tightly, I bent to whisper into her ear before kissing the edge of the velvet-soft flesh. "Never."

"What's your schedule like for the rest of the night?" Rose asked, curling tighter into my embrace; choosing, for the moment, to let this go. I knew how worried she was about this. It was a concern that she had been voicing since I had told her, and I didn't want to belittle that concern, but the last thing I wanted was for her to be focused on something that neither of us had any control over.

"My shift was meant to run until morning, but Alberta arranged for a swop at midnight so that I have time to pack and get some sleep. I know that you have classes for most of the night and very little time for anything else, which means from the moment this training session ends, we won't see each other until I get back."

Still for a moment as she absorbed what I was telling her, Rose nodded before smiling up at me with forced optimism. I knew that she wasn't looking forward to it anymore than I was. "It's only for a day or two, right? We've gone for longer without seeing each other before. We'll be fine, comrade."

Grinning at the glumness in her voice, my lips wandered over her temple in a comforting gesture. "You don't sound very convinced of that, moye serdtse."

"I'm not…it sucks."

Not disagreeing with her, the sound of a door closing not far from us cut short our conversation. We couldn't stay here any longer. "We have to go." Nuzzling against her cheekbone, my lips coasted gently along it until they reached her mouth. Keeping the contact light, it soon wasn't enough for either of us. Pressing closer, Rose curled her arms around my neck and clung strongly as I did the same to her waist. Licking at the inside seam of my mouth, the angle shifted as we greedily kissed.

"Will you say hi to Konrad for me?" Rose asked softly, biting down lightly on my bottom lip as the kiss dissolved into a nuzzle.

"Of course." Shaping the contours of her face with my hands, my thumbs rubbed along her cheekbones. "Will you promise me something?"

"Depends on what it is." Rose reasoned, rubbing her cheek against my palm

"Will you promise to stay out of trouble whilst I'm away?"

"That sounds like a reasonable request."

"So you'll try?"

"I said it sounded reasonable, Dimitri, not that I was going to do it. Trouble and I are old friends, you know. We find it hard to stay away from each other."

"Yes, I know, but I'm serious about this." Gripping her upper arms firmly enough to prevent escape but not to leave any marks on her skin, I held her gaze with piercing intensity. "Not this week. Please. When I'm here, I'll do whatever I can to keep you in line, but I need your help when I'm not. This is too important to jeopardise. We're almost at the end now, Roza."

Riveted by both the searing sincerity of what I said and the look of burning intent on my face, Rose slowly nodded, understanding what I was trying to tell her. "Okay. Okay, comrade," she whispered, cupping my face. "I'll be on my best behaviour, I promise. You don't have to worry about me."

Turning to kiss her palm in gratitude, my lips murmured against her warm skin. "I love you."

Smirking, Rose cocked a brow and kissed my chin before reaching for the dummy. "Yeah, yeah…I'm fond of you, too."

Beating her to it, I hefted it over my shoulder and away from her grasp. Giving me a withering look, I grinned whilst brushing aside branches as we left the seclusion of the oak tree. "I'm stronger than you; it has nothing to do with sexism, Roza. Besides, you can't risk any injuries this week, so humour me, please?"

"You know that even if I do injure myself, it would be healed in like a day, right?"

"Yes, but I would prefer that you not have to do any healing at all. You need to keep fit and focused, which reminds me. Whilst I'm away, you need to maintain our routine. I want you running every evening…cross-country, not track, and no skipping out like you did today." Giving her a hard look, she shrugged and grinned as we followed the pathway back to the gym.

"Yes, Dimitri," She responded in Russian; her grin widening at my eyebrow arch.

"I want you eating healthy." I replied in English. "I know that it's unreasonable to expect you to give up sugar, but please tray and stay away from the doughnuts this week. Trying some salad, the odd vegetable thrown in every now and then."

"Yes, Dimitri."

"I want you alert at all times. The attacks this week will be relentless and vicious. We will come at you from all angles, at any time, in any place…the cafeteria, the hallway outside your room, inside your room. Expect the unexpected, Rose."

"Yes, Dimitri."

"I don't want you destroying any more of the dummies, or your class-mates, or any other equipment."

"Yes, Dimitri."

Getting the feeling that she was messing with me, my eyes narrowed as we approached the doors of the gym. "Are you saying yes because you're actually listening to me, or because it's your turn to humour me now?" I muttered in Russian.

"Yes, Dimitri." She replied in English, grinning cheekily as she pushed quickly through the doors and out of my reach.