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: Sorry about the week long delay. Work has been hectic. Enjoy

A Conflict of the Soul

Chapter Twenty

"Dimitri. Dimitri. DIMITRI!"

Swivelling around at the sound of my name being irately yelled, I slowed to a jog mid-stride; turning towards the direction of the call. Finding Rose lagging yards behind me, she bent at the waist to rest her hands on her knees and glowered at me as she tried to catch her breath.

"Where the hell are you running to?! Siberia?!"

Arching a brow at her griping tone, I made my way back to her; mopping sweat from my chin with the sleeve of my t-shirt as I looked around the wild-flower strewn field we were in and checked the time; not the least bit surprised by how far we had run in less than half-an-hour.

The pace I had set for us since meeting in the woods a little before sunset had been nothing short of punishing. Rose was accustomed to being set a certain speed when we ran together; one that could mean saving her life one day, if necessary, but she had never been made to run this brutally and wouldn't understand it, because I hadn't told her yet why I was pushing her this hard.

Dropping to a crouch in front of her; my fingers brushed aside damp strands of hair sticking to her cheek. "I'd have to swim part of the way, Roza."

Glaring blackly, Rose swatted my hand away. "I'm not in the mood, comrade. You've been acting weird since we left the woods. And what's with this running? The only time you've ever made me run like this was when we were attacked and you made me leave to warn Alberta. Life-and-death situation kind of running. That's not what's happening now, so what is going on with you?"

Straightening, Rose put her hands on her hips and continued to glower at me as I contemplated the best way to start a conversation that was going to make her angrier than she already was. I had wanted our run out of the way before I did; hoping it would drain her of the adrenaline that would fuel her rage, but I had overplayed my hand, and she had seen straight through it. Maybe it was for the best, anyway. I didn't want to keep her in the dark any longer; I hated lying to her, even when it was for her own good. We were also far enough outside the immediate boundaries of the academy for anyone to hear her tantrum.

It was time.

Beginning to rise, I found myself at eye-level with Rose's bare midriff. Exposed by the ragged edges of a cut-off t-shirt, the leanly muscled flesh was a tempting sight. All of Rose was a tempting sight…a distraction really. One that I wouldn't normally hesitate to take advantage of, especially as we were so far from anyone who might find us, but right now was the time.

Still, I found myself reaching out; unable to help myself. My fingers had barely grazed the rim of her bellybutton, before it was swatted away again. "You're not going to distract me, Dimitri." Rose warned, hardening her expression, even as her pupils dilated. It always gave me a heady sensation to know that I could affect her as easily as she did me with only a single touch.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now quit stalling and tell me what is going on. You promised that you wouldn't ever keep things from me again. Remember?" Crossing her arms over her chest, Rose hardened her expression. Sighing, I reached down to pluck a wildflower before throwing it carelessly towards the setting sun and rising. She was right. I had, after my disastrous decision to listen to Janine instead of her, promised her that I would never keep things from her again.

"You're right. I did make that promise. And the only reason that I've kept this from you was because I was afraid of your reaction. Not because I was trying to circumvent it, but because of how loud it was going to be. We needed to be outside the immediate campus boundaries to have this conversation."

Wearily suspicious, Rose said nothing as I approached her slowly and fit my hands around the indent of her lean waist; keeping a firm hold on her. It was only lightly restraining and meant more as a touch of comfort than anything else. "I told you almost everything that had happened since returning from Court this morning. What I didn't tell you was that part of my conversation with Hans after I had accepted the assignment to the Queen's Guard, was about you."

Feeling the muscles tense and bunch beneath my fingers, Rose frowned. "About us? About the suspicions surrounding our relationship?"

"No. You specifically."

Mouth twisting, she rolled her eyes before sighing. "Oh, that can't be good."

Squeezing gently, I wanted to reassure her that it wasn't what she thought, but in reality, it was exactly what she thought. The guardian hierarchy constantly underestimating and criticizing her. "He told me that the Council have decided to assign you to Lissa…as her primary guardian."

Hissing out an anxious breath, the tension in her muscles lessoned as joy replaced the stress of whatever blow she had been expecting. Beaming, Rose grasped my wrists with hands that shook a little from the jittery high of triumph and the sight of it made me sick to my stomach. She thought the blow was behind her. She had no idea of what was still coming. "I've got Lissa? Really? That's awesome. Why would you be worried about my reaction to that?"

"Because of where we were."

Grinning a little sheepishly, she thought it was because of the noise she might have made that had created my reluctance to tell her. "Ok, I get that, but you could have just smothered me with a pillow to keep me quiet. It's not like I'm making all that much noise now anyway."

"Noise wasn't the only thing that I was worried about."

"Then what?" Rose asked, still too euphoric to take much notice of my grimness. "Come on, tell me."

"You actually have to graduate first, Roza."

"Oh, please, comrade," she scoffed with an artless laugh, completely unconcerned about even the remotest of possibilities that she wouldn't graduate. "Trials aren't going to be an issue for me, so why would graduation be an issue?" Grinning widely in complete self-assurance, it took her a moment longer to realise that I wasn't as confident.

"What?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes. "What aren't you telling me, Dimitri?"

"The majority of the Council and the more influential Moroi are happy to assign you to Lissa, but there are few that aren't."

"So? Who cares what the minority thinks."

"They might be the minority, but they're still influential, Roza. They still have the power to create problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"They're interfering with Trials…specifically, yours."

Feeling her hands fall away from my wrists, they hung limply at her sides as she blinked and rapidly processed what my words meant for her. Beginning to breathe in short, jerky spurts, angry colour flushed along her cheekbones as the rage I had hoped would be drained by the run, surfaced to replace the excitement and joy. Trembling with resentment at the injustice of the prejudice of others, it burnt away what little control I had managed to teach her.

"How?" She growled, barely coherent.

"In order to prove yourself, they've deliberately set up the obstacle course to be harder for you than for the other seniors. I don't know how; I haven't been allowed in since I saw them working on it earlier in the day, and there isn't a damn thing that Alberta can do to stop it. It's why they wanted her at Court now. To stop from interfering with their modifications. It's why the Court guardians arrived early."

"They're setting me up to fail?!"

It was the same question I had asked Hans yesterday when learning of their plan. The only response I had received from him had been a condescending look that said I was being more than naïve to the realities of our world. I wouldn't do that to her. I would tell her the truth and wait for the fallout. "Yes, they are."

I didn't have long to wait.

"This isn't fair." Rose shrieked in outrage, yanking away from my grip to pace furiously over the field. "How much more do I have to prove, Dimitri? Haven't I already proven enough? Haven't I already survived enough? What more do they want? Me to die before they're satisfied that I'm worthy?"

"You already are. You always have been." I reassured her quietly, my heart aching for the betrayal she must feel.

"Then why the hell are they doing this to me?!"

"Because they can. Because this is our world."

"So what? We're pawns to them? Moved this way and that without giving a damn about us?"

"Rose…"

"What, Dimitri? What can you say? You know it's the truth. We're manipulated, controlled…our lives are not our own. We're expendable to them."

"What they feel or think or say means nothing, moye serdtse. The only one that matters is Lissa, and to her, you are more than worthy. You are not expendable. This is what you've always wanted. You can't let them win now by doubting that…we can't let them win."

"How am I supposed to beat them?" Rose cried out. "I have no idea what's waiting for me, comrade. Anything could be in there."

"You never have known what awaits you, Rose. Not against Natalie, not in Spokane, not during the attack, not in the cave, but you have beaten every odd that you've faced because of who you are." Reaching out to her, I captured her restless hands with my own and pulled her to my chest. Hugging her tightly, I could feel the discrimination of their actions demoralize even the buoyancy of her rage. This was what I had been afraid of, that it would send her spiralling.

"We're almost there, Roza." I reminded her with gentle urgency, hoping that the prompt would keep her from losing sight of what was really important. "We're so close."

Silent for a long moment, I felt her nod against my chest as her ire slowly began to drain away. "You're right; we are and I'm not going to let them take that from us. You're also right about the odds. They have always been stacked against me, and this is just another wall to tear down. I will prove to them that without me, without you…without the dhampir, they would all be dead." Raising her head, the fierce grit suddenly blazing in her eyes lessoned my worry.

I was more than a little surprised by the venom in her voice; it was justified, but still a little unsettling to hear it from her.

"I don't care what I find in that obstacle course tomorrow, comrade." Rose swore. "Because I am going to beat it…I am going to annihilate it. Not because I have anything to prove, but because it's what I do, and who I am." Rising to her toes, she kissed me with a fervour that didn't taste of desperation, but of determination. It was better than despair, and something that I could use.

"I'm so happy to hear that, Roza," I breathed, nuzzling her nose. "I was worried this would derail you."

"Hey, this is me. It's going to take more than a handful of critics to throw me off balance."

"Good."

"Why would Hans tell you all of this? I mean, I should be a little grateful to him for doing it, but it doesn't seem like normal behaviour for him."

"I don't know and neither does Alberta. There has to be some kind of ulterior motive behind it; it makes no sense that it would benefit him in anyway, but I wasn't going to question it more than I needed to at the time. I'm just grateful that he did. It gives us an advantage in knowing what's coming, and even though we don't have a lot of time to use it and train, at least it's something."

"Is this why you've had me running through the woods like a maniac?" Rose questioned, arching a mocking brow.

"Yes. Like you said, you have no idea of what to expect once you're in the course, so I'm trying to prepare you for whatever you find."

"Always prepared, huh, comrade?"

"I try, Roza."

"Ok. So now that I'm able to get my mock Moroi through the course at record speed, what else is there? You've already taught me everything about hand to hand combat, and anything else that I might have missed I've picked up during actual combat. What else is there?"

"I haven't taught you everything, Rose."

Frowning, she pulled a little away from me. "You haven't? What more is there?"

"There is another method of combat that has a more aggressive form of offensive manoeuvres. A more aggressive style of fighting. It's the same style that's taught to guardians training at Court for the Queens Guard. It's what I'll have to undergo once I arrive at Court next week." I would have to act as though I didn't because being taught it outside of Court was forbidden.

"How do you know about it? Who taught you?"

"Galina…do you remember me telling you about Galina?" At her nod, I continued. "In secret, so when you apply it to your own style, you need to remember that it's forbidden outside of Court to know it, and that you can't make it too obvious."

"Why did Galina teach you if it's forbidden?"

"Because she knew that I would be assigned to Ivan, and that he would need me to know it as much as I did."

"Ok. So what does this involve?"

"Killing."

"Can you be a little more specific, comrade? It's not like I haven't killed before, but I won't be facing actual Strigoi in the obstacle course."

"No, you won't, but you're going to treat the guardians as though they are. You learnt during the field experience to view the guardians as Strigoi in order to protect your Moroi, but both sides still held back. It's only natural; they are the teachers, you are the students, but that won't be the case in the obstacle course, especially if those Court guardians are the ones that will be after you and your Moroi. You have to do everything but actually kill them in there, Rose."

"You think the Court guardians are the ones that I'll be facing in there?"

"I can't be certain, but yes, I think so. Those against your assignment will know that there might be slight favouritism amongst the guardians stationed here because of how long they've known you. They've seen you grow up here and have all helped raise you and the other seniors in part, so they'll want that element eliminated. If I'm right about this, it also means that I won't be allowed into the obstacle course until you're finished. I'll have to wait on the outside for you."

I didn't know what was going to be worse: watching her or waiting for her.

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing. We don't want to give them any more reasons to suspect us, and if we have to face off in the course, I don't know that you wouldn't pull your punches in order to give me an unfair advantage."

"You think that I would cheat?"

"No, but I've rubbed off on you. You're borderline corrupted, comrade."

"That line is usually a little blurry where you're concerned, Roza."

"I know. It makes me realise how lucky I am that you love me."

"Always," I promised, kissing her for a long moment as the sun continued to set around us. We would have enough light for only another half an hour, so we had to make use of it. I had to see for myself that she could beat me when I was my most dangerous. Only then would I begin to relax. My belief in her was as strong as ever, but I couldn't ignore the warnings of both Yeva and Rhonda. Complacency would lead to ruin for both of us.

Handing her one of the two a dummy stakes I had clipped onto the waistband of my shorts, we begun to lightly spar as a way of warming up muscles not stretched by the running. Rose knew most of my opening manoeuvres and stealthily countered each of them until I was sure she was ready for the kind of combat training she had never experienced before.

Outmanoeuvring her with a serious of rapid strikes and parries, I pinned her time and time again. To her credit, Rose kept her composure, even as the exertion began to tire her. She wasn't happy with my methods or the violence of them, but with every new move I made against her, she learnt from it and began to both mimic and anticipate them; almost outwitting me by the seventh move I made against her.

Not wanting her to become complacent, because the Court guardians wouldn't give do her any favours, I flipped her onto her back with a sweeping motion that I had never shown her before. Knocking the wind out of her a little, I quickly pinned her to the grass; checking that I hadn't injured her before smiling down at her outraged glare.

"What the hell was that?" She demanded huffily, pushing and shoving at my shoulders to no avail.

"Something that you can expect to find from those waiting for you in the obstacle course tomorrow."

"Why have you never taught it to me before?"

"Because it was forbidden, remember? Also, it's never been relevant until now."

Eyes narrowing dangerously, Rose cocked her head to the side and viewed me with suspicion. "When I beat you in the field experience…did you let me win?"

"No, of course not. For the purposes of what's been needed, you've won fair and square."

"That's bullshit! You just kicked my ass."

"Because this is what's expected of you now."

"Fuck."

"Language, Roza."

"You want me to swear in another language? Fine." Spitting out explicit expletives in Russian, I silenced her the best way I could; enjoying it more than I should have as she continued to struggle beneath me. Biting my lip with enough force to get my attention, Rose glowered as I lifted my head and kissed her nose in apology.

"No. No more diversions, comrade. You're going to show me everything that you know and haven't taught me yet. I meant it."

"I thought I was doing just that, Rose."

"I already know how to kiss. Now let me up." She growled, deliberately choosing to be obtuse. Sighing, I pulled her to her feet and we resumed once again. Learning far faster, this time I was slower with the manoeuvres; teaching her through the action versus only showing her. Subtly telegraphing, she matched me move for move, strike for strike as the sun set and the full moon rose above us.

Finding it more and more difficult to counter her own moves, Rose sneakily pulled the same move on me and sent me slamming to the floor. Standing over me, she put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Any other moves to teach me, comrade?"

Sitting up, I raised my legs and rested my arms on my knees. "No, Roza. There isn't anything else that I can teach you." And there wasn't. I wasn't entirely certain that this would be enough to get her through. The only thing she could now rely on was combining what she already knew with own her skill, sheer guts and determination.

Reaching out, I gently pulled her towards me and sat her on my lap. There was something else that I wanted to show her before we returned. "I've got something for you in my pocket."

Arching a brow, she grinned and looked down at my lap. "Really? Will I like it?"

Laughing, I tickled her. "Yes. Left pocket."

Reaching into it, she rummaged around before I caught her hand and guided her to the stake Emil had picked up for me from Missoula earlier. Finding it still in its protective leather guard, Rose looked at my curiously. "A stake?"

"You're very quick, Roza."

Lightly punching my stomach in retaliation, I grinned as she opened the pouch. Pulling out the gleaming, silver stake, she hefted it once or twice; tested and accustoming herself to its weight. "Why are you giving it to me now? Won't I receive one at the graduation ceremony?"

If she graduated. There might not be a ceremony for her, and if that was the case, I wanted her to have one, because she would never officially receive another. The thought created enough tension in my body to clench every muscle in my tightly. "You will. But this is your spare." I explained lightly, not wanting to dwell on darker thoughts, though there were still other things that needed to be discussed. "There's an inscription engraved below the rubber guard. It's in Cyrillic, but you can read it now."

Smiling excitedly, Rose pulled off the guard and turned the stake to catch the silvery light of the moon; reading it silently before repeating it in English. "I pity the Strigoi who are foolish enough to face this stake." Pursing her lips, Rose leaned down to kiss me. "Thank you, comrade. It's awesome."

"You're welcome, Roza. I want you to keep it close to you."

"Of course." Frowning at the tone of my voice, she asked. "Why wouldn't I?" When I didn't answer, she sighed and slid the stake back into its guard before placing it on my stomach. "There's still more, isn't there?"

"Do you remember on the night of your birthday – after I gave you the medallion – I told you it was because Yeva had a premonition? That keeping it on you would create a link between the two of you?"

"Yeah, I remember. What's that got to do with anything?"

"Whilst I was killing time, waiting to see Hans last night, I went to see Rhonda."

Pulling a face, Rose's derision was obvious. "The con artist?"

Ignoring her snide answer, I shifted her weight slightly on my lap. "She gave me exactly the same reading as when we were at Court earlier in the year for Victor's Trial. The same warning. That I would lose what I cherished the most, so to treasure it. That's you. And the only way I can think of that might mean losing you…is you not graduating. I gave you that stake because I'm afraid you might never receive another."

"So what...you think that I'm going to fail Trials?"

"Yes."

Quiet for a long moment, Rose looked vaguely disappointed at the voicing of my fears. "You know, if I wasn't so certain of your belief in me, comrade, I'd be seriously pissed that you have so little faith in my abilities."

"I don't. I never have," I swore fervently. "But this ties in directly with Yeva's warning. How can I not take it seriously?"

Clasping my face, Rose pulled me closer and stared intently into my eyes, more focused than I had ever seen her before. I couldn't have looked away even if I wanted to. "You listen to me, Dimitri Belikov. I know that you believe in all that crap, and that's your choice, but I don't. I understand your fears, but I'm not going to give them any power. I am not going to fail tomorrow, no matter what they do in that obstacle course. You are not going to lose me through failing Trials, because I am going to own them."

Laughing weakly, I buried my face in her neck and tried to absorb her optimism. "Promise me?"

"I promise. And when I do, you can go back to both Yeva and Rhonda and tell them they're complete and utter frauds."

"I don't think I'll be saying that to my grandmother, Roza."

"I'll do it." She volunteered brightly.

"That's not a good idea either."

"Oh, come on. How scary can she be?"

"You honestly have no idea."

Squeezing me tightly, Rose massaged at the tension in my shoulders whilst I raised my head to look at her. "Can I apologize?"

"For what? Being scared of your grandmother? There's no shame in admitting that, comrade." Grinning at my expression, she kissed me whilst softly laughing. "Go on."

"I need to apologize for not telling you all of this earlier."

"It's okay. I understand why you didn't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'm glad we've got that settled. Are you tired?"

Giving me a saucy look, Rose wiggled her eyebrows. "For what? Sex is good cardio, you know?"

Ducking my head to kiss along her clavicle, I smiled against it. "Not sex. We still have a lot more training to get through before morning."

Blowing out a heavy breath, Rose nodded and climbed off my lap; holding out a hand to pull me up. "Okay. We'll have time for that later, anyway. Lots and lots of time. Let's get going…oh, and no more of that insane running, please?"

"Deal."

Jogging across the field, we wended our way through the woods until we found the footpaths that would lead back to the upper campus. "You know," Rose began quietly, talking almost to more to herself than to me. "During Trials, it's all about getting our Moroi to the other side, but for me, it's going to be all about another Moroi waiting for me at the finish line."

"Lissa?"

"Yeah. I have so many things motivating me to get to the other side; so many things that I want, but she's always been the one constant in my life, and now, more than ever before, she's right there. So close, I can almost touch her, comrade." Smiling elatedly, she reached out. Joining our hands, we jogged together; bound together by what we both wanted more than ever, and for the first time since hearing Rhonda's prediction, I began to believe that together, we could beat the cards.