Rose
I felt the bomb drop through the bond. Sonya was busy explaining what was going on and Emily, Jill's Mother, was filling in the blanks here and there. I was glad Sonya did most of the talking. Lissa was just staring at them. Her thoughts were going a mile a minute, but on the outside she was just staring, with her mouth open. It wasn't very flattering to be honest. I was so busy looking at Lissa I hadn't noticed someone grabbing me from behind.
I was dragged into the next room, a parlor, or sun room, or whatever. I turned around and I saw my parents standing there. I was surprised. I had texted a lot of people. Adrian, Lissa and Hans, but I hadn't contacted my parents. Why were they even here? and why were they together in one room, staring at me. It was disconcerting.
Adrian was moving from the parlor-sun-sitting room towards the main reception room when he passed me he winked. "I know how much the old man loves drama, and I had a feeling you were bringing drama."
Oh, he had no idea.
My mother snapped her fingers in front of my face to get my attention. Like I am some dog!
"What?" I snapped.
"You thought we wouldn't find out? Why didn't you call me?" My estranged father bellowed at me.
I took a step back, a little overwhelmed by their reaction. "I know you like intrigue, old man, but I didn't even know who Jill was or if she even wanted to come to Court. I can handle a few schemes of my own, I'll have you know."
This seemed to confuse my parents. Their identical looks were very funny. If I had a camera I would have snapped a picture. It could be our new Christmas card. 'First Christmas we are all together, Rose leaving her parents stunned!'.
"You think I care about some illegitimate child?" Abe practically yelled. My mother actually looked thoughtful as she interrupted him. "You do, You find this whole thing fascinating and are already calculating how you can get your finger into that pie."
My father was momentarily speechless by my mother. "Yes, you are right. But that is not the point here!"
This was the weirdest conversation ever. It seemed now my parents were arguing with each other instead of yelling at me. I had a weird sensation that if I had grown up with my parents that this would have been a frequent occurrence. Eventually they remembered they were mad at me.
"The point is!" My father sternly told my mother to make her quiet down. "Is that you went on a suicide mission! Twelve Strigoi for just you and Belikov? That is crazy and I will deal with the council members who didn't give you back-up, but you should have called me... called us. I could have helped. Instead you risked your life because those assholes ordered you to, trying to get rid of you."
Oh so that is what it was about.
"Eleven."
This seemed to confuse them even more. "What?"
"There were eleven Strigoi, not twelve."
"Still not the point!" Oh my father was pissed.
I threw my hands in the air. "There wasn't time. Dimitri and I debated every option and no matter how we worked it out, striking them at that moment was the best case scenario. Just not for us. And we made it out alive. Besides, we had back-up. Mikhail and Mia came back to help us and Sonya was surprisingly helpful too."
My mother squinted her eyes at me. Where my father was outspoken in his rage, my mother seemed to be quietly seething. Funny, I would have thought it was the other way around.
"And when you accepted the mission, were they there with you?" She asked.
I looked down towards my shoes. "No."
My mother threw her hands in the air. "You could have died!" Okay, so no more quiet seething then.
"I can die everyday, Mom. I am a guardian. Hell, I have died."
"That is different."
"How?"
My mother raised her finger at me and was about to lay it into me how different it was. but nothing came out. She frowned, dropped her hand and nudged Abe. "Tell her how different it is."
I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot, waiting for whatever bullshit my father would come up with. "It is different because... because...the council wanted to get rid of you and Dimitri." My father seemed pleased he had come up with something. And it was true. Usually only the Strigoi wanted us dead.
My mother nodded, concurring with my father.
"And if we had refused we would have deserted."
Abe waved his hand, dismissing the point. "I could have fixed that."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Is this what it felt like dealing with me? Because poor Dimitri and poor Alberta and poor every teacher who ever taught me.
"We are alive and we have more important things to deal with, like saving our world from conservative freaks that want to enslave us all, so can we just put a pin in this?"
My parents seemed to agree as they moved to the main reception area where the others were gathering. When my mother walked past me she had the nerve to comment. "Well, now you are just being dramatic, Rosemarie."
Dimitri
Rose joined us again together with her parents. I didn't know they were here as well. We were debating how best to introduce Jill. Well, Christian, Tasha and Sonya were debating. Lissa was very quiet and Jill seemed afraid to say anything. Adrian was trying to console her, but the nervous energy around the child was evident.
"I think I preferred it when I didn't have parents in my life." Rose said as she moved next to me.
I chuckled as I pulled her closer and placed a small kiss on her head. It had been instinctual, a way to comfort her, but I had a few eyes on me as I did so. Mainly Rose's parents. Yeah, I think I preferred it too when she didn't have parents in her life.
Although Tasha's eyes landed on us too and the complete and utter devastation in her eyes as she took in the affectionate gesture was hard to witness. I guess Rose was right, Tasha still carried a torch for me.
"Does she have to be in the room? I mean isn't it enough that she exists?" Emily, Jill's mother asked.
Abe was quick to squash that idea. "She has to be there. At least now. She has to be presented for people to believe she really is a Dragomir. And people will ask for a DNA test."
Emily sat down again, on the verge of tears. This is exactly what she wanted to protect her child from. The scrutiny, the probing, but it was necessary, at least at first. Once Lissa had her quorum Jill didn't have to stay at Court, as a matter of fact, taking her far away from Court would be very wise.
Rose moved next to Lissa, she didn't say anything, she really didn't have to, she could feel Lissa through the bond. I imagine this wasn't easy for Lissa either. So Rose just laid her hand on her friend's hand and gave it a good squeeze.
"Maybe just walk in next to Vasilissa when she gives her speech. Create your own entrance, a unified front." Abe suggested.
"You do have a flair for the dramatic, old man. of course that is what you would suggest." Rose commented a bit agitated.
Abe shrugged but didn't deny it.
Lissa stood up abruptly. "I have to practice my speech." and she left the room, Rose following her.
There was an awkward silence in the room. Rose's parents were glaring at me, Tasha was glaring at the door Rose and Lissa had walked through, Emily was still quietly sobbing, Jill seemed lost and Mia, Mikhail and Sonya were just standing around, not sure what to do.
"Why don't I take Mia and talk to Guardian Croft. We still have to debrief our mission and I will get some Court guardians assigned to Jill."
Mia seemed thrilled that I had included her in the invitation. She may like drama, but this was just awkward.
"I will join you Guardian Belikov." Janine said. "You can fill me in on the details of your mission on the way there."
The way she said it sent shivers down my spine. Abe grabbed her arm and whispered something in her ear but I couldn't make out what. They argued a bit back and forth but eventually Janine agreed to whatever Abe had said and moved towards me.
Now I was glad I had included Mia.
"So, it must have been like old times, working together with Rose on this mission." Janine started saying as we moved through Court. The sun was setting and slowly Court came to life.
"A lot has happened since those days at the Academy, but yes, fighting together with Rose was familiar."
"Right, right...familiar."
I heard Mia giggle a little but she tried to cover it up.
"And about those Academy days." Janine started again. "You two spend a lot of time together there... training."
I sighed, stopped and turned towards Janine. "Is there something you want to ask me, Guardian Hathaway?"
I didn't have time for this bull-shit. We had bigger things to worry about so she might as well come out and say it and save us all a lot of time.
"Rose has indeed been through a lot, and somehow you always seem to be at the center of that pain."
I had the decency to look a little bit ashamed.
"I wonder if there is a reason for that."
I wasn't about to back down. I knew I would get hell from Rose's parents, but I needed them to understand I loved their daughter. I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Is that really the question you want to ask me?" Janine seemed to appreciate my directness.
"No, No, I wanted to ask you if you violated my daughter when she was at the Academy, but Abe specifically asked me to keep that kind of questions for when he is there too and has a legion of Guardians at his disposal at a far-away location where no one can hear you scream."
I swallowed a little bit. From anyone else that would be an empty threat. But not from Abe. But I could show no fear now.
"What could you or Abe do that I haven't already been through? Torture? Fear? Hell? I love Rose and I have loved her since we were at the Academy. And I won't apologize for that."
Janine was a little taken aback, but there seemed to be a little bit of respect for me creeping its way onto her face.
"If even death couldn't keep us apart, what do you think you can do?"
Mia whistled, either indicating she thought I was bold, or maybe insane. But Janine nodded and we started moving again.
Rose
Lissa was practicing her speech for the third time. It was a good speech and she could do it flawlessly, so I didn't understand why she had to practice it again.
When she was finished she asked if she could do it one more time.
"No! ...I mean, I don't think that is necessary."
"I have to do something Rose. I can't just..."
"Talk to your sister?"
That got me a foul look from Lissa. "She is not my sister. Not really."
I sighed deeply. Lissa could be so dramatic sometimes. I got up and took her hands in mine.
"I am your sister. Not blood, but I am your sister, so no, blood doesn't make her your sister. And I know you guys don't really ... get along. But she is overwhelmed. She didn't know about her biological father until yesterday. She is freaked out, but is still willing to come here because it is the right thing to do. You can at least acknowledge her. You can at least treat her like an ally."
Lissa was thoughtful for a moment but nodded. She hadn't really considered what this meant for Jill.
"An ally huh?"
I nodded. "That is good enough for now. Now go and win that election, become Queen and save our world from destroying itself."
Lissa laughed. "Your mother is right, you are being dramatic."
Sonya, Tasha and Emily took Jill upstairs to get her ready. Lissa had given them free reign over her closet to see if they could find something for her to wear. The rest of us were still discussing logistics, although we were mostly just venting about the system and stupid customs at this point.
"So are you stupid, or are you a liar?"
Adrian had moved closer to me, extricating himself from a discussion about proper decorum concerning dress length for this occasion. Abe was debating that a knee length would work fine here, you wanted people to notice Jill, whereas Lissa was clearly against the idea and suggested tea length, because we were kicking the hornet's nest enough.
"Excuse me?" I asked Adrian. I knew I wasn't his favorite person since we broke up, but I didn't think he would resort to calling me names.
"I saw you and cradle robber are back together, so I ask again. Are you stupid or are you a liar. Because I clearly remember you saying not two weeks ago that you and Dimitri were never going to happen."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I so didn't need Adrian blindsiding me with this.
"It is a little more complicated than that."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Sure, I bet. How long did it take for him to realize he was being an idiot and how long after that did you jump back into his arms. a day, an hour, a freaking minute?"
I turned towards Adrian, we had been side by side until now, pretending to care about what dress made what statement in the election.
"Are you angry with me? For being with Dimitri? Which I'll have you know took us a while and it wasn't easy."
He threw his hands in the air. "Of course I am angry. Angry, for ever making me believe I had a shot, for stringing me along and for being in complete denial over your feelings for Belikov and I am angry with Belikov for the same reasons."
His anger dissipated a bit once he considered his words. "Except the 'making me believe I had a shot' thing.
I laughed and he thankfully laughed with me. I understood he might be a little bitter. And he wasn't wrong.
"I am just glad you broke up with me before you left. I would have never forgiven you if you had hooked up with Dimitri before you and I were done."
"I would never have-" He stopped me when he raised his hand in my face. That was a good way to get me angry.
"Yes, you would have. Because you and Belikov are inevitable. It's like you are in each other's orbits, you can't escape each other even if you tried."
"And we have tried." I joked. I had pushed him away almost as many times as he had pushed me away. But I don't think Adrian needed to hear about our struggles here.
"Adrian? Are we okay?"
He was silent for a long time. I knew he was bitter and I could understand that. But I still cared about him, I still wanted him in my life. I knew that made me selfish, but I needed to know I hadn't meant to hurt him.
"I don't know, Rose. As much as I want to blame Belikov for our break-up, I know he wasn't the reason. But you getting back together with him two weeks later isn't helping squash that voice that says it is his fault. I think I need time."
I understood. I had really treated Adrian like crap, haven't I. I used him and his feelings for me. I hadn't meant to, but I did.
"I am sorry, Adrian. I really am."
"So am I."
He leaned back against the doorframe and took his flask out. I saw he had a pack of cigarettes in there too. I frowned. I knew I had no right to judge Adrian, but he had been doing fine for months when we were dating. Was I the only thing holding him back from returning to his vices?
"How did you know Dimitri and I were back together?" I didn't think we were that obvious.
Adrian just snorted before he walked away, the flask from his pocket against his lips. Right, spirit user. I swear I am going to invent an anti aura charm one of these days.