When Yuri and I finished talking, Christian was nowhere to be seen. I checked the feeder area, but he wasn't there anymore. Lissa was also missing. Something told me that they were looking for some time alone, but Eddie and I were supposed to be officially on duty for field experience as soon as breakfast was over. I scanned the cafeteria for Eddie and found him sitting alone.

"Have you seen Christian?" I asked him.

Eddie replied, "He and Lissa went off somewhere to be alone before it was time to be guarded."

I looked at my watch. Breakfast would end in 5 minutes. If they weren't in the building, I didn't think we'd make it in time.

I tuned into the bond. They were in the chapel attic. My brain wanted to get the hell out of there before I was privy to any clothing removal, but I also knew what my responsibilities were. Lissa and Christian would need to get to class in less than 15 minutes, too. "Eddie," I told him, "Follow me."

As we walked, I kept an eye on their conversation, hoping to shut out the bond completely if I saw anything unbutton or unzip. At this point, Lissa had started to learn how to block me out, but that didn't mean she would always remember to do so.

Christian and Lissa were sitting on the floor, his back pressed against the wall while she was sitting between his legs, his arms wrapped loosely around her neck. "Liss," he said, "the attack on campus really shook me up. I was so worried about you until Rose came along and told me you were fine. I know you don't want to, but I really want you to go through the fighting training with me - especially since you specialized in a magic that hasn't really given any offensive powers."

"Do you really think it's necessary, though, Christian? I mean, I'll have guardians with me nearly every minute. And thanks to the bond, I'll have Rose with me every minute - even when she's not with me," said Lissa.

"That's just it, though. Until we get to the 'making little Dragomirs' - and I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to be a father, but, I'm willing to practice the baby-making anytime you want -, you are your entire royal family line. What we saw in Spokane just proves that the Strigoi want you - more than anyone else. I don't want to let that happen," said Christian. Lissa turned to look at him. "Lissa," he continued, "I love you. More than anything in this entire world. Please, let me keep you safe by learning how to fight."

Lissa smiled, "You've never used the 'L' word before. Does this really mean that much to you?"

"Yes," said Christian, as he leaned in to give her a small kiss, "but I'd love you, regardless."

"I love you too, Christian," she said. She was just beginning to get to the point where she could start to see auras without really trying, and she could see his. It was practically glowing a brilliant bright pink. She continued, "so if it really means that much to you, I'll do it. I know this might sound strange, but what would you say is the feeling you're feeling more than anything else right now?"

"It's love," he said.

"So, love is pink ..." she said. Her mind went to who she had seen pink on ... Dimitri!

I pulled back from the bond. I could doubt what I thought his feelings were in the past. I could question his motives for wanting to be with me in the first place. But auras don't lie. It didn't mean that he felt like that all of the time, and it didn't mean that my feelings were there with his, though. My mind was full of more questions than answers.

Eddie and I had just arrived at the chapel doors. "You better wait here," I told him, as I headed up to the attic by myself. No point in revealing the location of their love nest to Eddie. I headed up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"It's Rose," I heard Lissa telling Christian. I'm not sure how she would've known it was me through the door or if it was just a lucky guess.

Lissa opened the door, standing in the doorway. Christian was still sitting against the wall. "It's almost time for classes," I said, "Eddie is downstairs."

-=o0&0o=-

I was allowed a ten-minute break to check my email each day of my field experience while Christian was in with the feeders after breakfast. I was expecting my training plans for Sunday from Dimitri to arrive in my email as it had before. I opened it up to find I finally got the updated times.

-=o0&0o=-

From: Belikov, Dimitri
To: Hathaway, Rosemarie
CC: Petrov, Alberta
Date: March 24, 2010 5:39 AM
Subject: Sunday's Training Schedule

Rose,

Here is a training schedule for this Sunday before your father arrives. For the remaining Sunday of your field experience, the schedule will be the same as it was on March 11 and 12.

5:00 PM - Running - Meet at Track
5:30 PM - Weight-lifting (upper body and legs) - Gym
6:30 PM - Weapons training - Gym
9:00 PM - Sparring - Elementary Moroi dorm south courtyard
10:30 PM - Technique and Strategy - Academic Building, room 246

If you have time, we will plan to have more running later on in the evening. I am scheduled for gate duty from 10:00 to 11:00, so Guardian Bondar will be conducting your technique and strategy session. I'm aware that your father will probably arrive before your session with Guardian Bondar is over, but this should minimize the overlap. We will also be skipping Martial Arts so that you can have more time with him in the afternoon.

Guardian Dimitri R. Belikov
Blood Master Level 7
St. Vladimir's Academy

-=o0&0o=-

"Rose!" Yuri called to me as Christian and I walked toward his Culinary Science class on Friday afternoon. It was a relief to see a school guardian not wearing all-black after a full school-week of being attacked by them over and over again.

"Christian has to get to class," I said, "but if you can tag along, we can talk. What's up?" I was keeping an eye out for other guardians that might not be coming for a simple conversation.

"You asked me who the transfer was for," he said.

"And?"

He gave a meaningful glance towards Christian. "Earshot," he said.

I frowned. "I won't be able to be alone until Sunday."

"Hey, Mr. Ozera, you got a sheet of paper and a pen I could use?" Yuri asked.

Christian stopped and opened his backpack to pull out a sheet of paper and a pen, then handed both to Yuri. "Don't spend it all in one place," he replied.

Yuri scribbled something out quickly, then folded the paper and handed it to me, saying, "He still doesn't know about it, either, but the request was dated three days after the attack on campus, as an addendum to the original transfer request the day before that."

I unfolded it. I could barely read his sloppy scrawled cursive writing. It looked like:

Nerezhe Qwine

"I have no idea who this is," I told him, sounding it out: "Nair-ez-hey Quine?"

Yuri gave me an frustrated look. "Let me see that," He said, taking the paper and writing on it again. He folded it and handed it back to me.

When I looked again, there were capital letters in printing with arrows next to several parts of the name. 'A' pointed to the letters I had thought were a lowercase 'e'. 'T' pointed to what I had thought was a lowercase 'r'. 'O' pointed to what I had thought was a 'Q'. 'Z' pointed to what I had thought was a lowercase 'w'. 'E' pointed to what I had thought was a lowercase 'i'. 'R' pointed to what I had thought was a lowercase 'n'.

...

Natasha Ozera.

...

Natasha Ozera. Tasha had gotten a permanent residence at Court and put in transfer paperwork to request Dimitri to be her guardian once he arrived there at the end of May.

And Dimitri didn't know it.

Well, if he was just wanting to use someone for sex, I'm pretty sure they'd both be down for that. For some reason that I couldn't quite put my finger on, though, that didn't set well with me.

-=o0&0o=-

Dimitri's Point of View

(the rest of this chapter)

"Princess, could I have a word with you?" I called, as I spotted Vasilisa Dragomir exiting her creative writing class on Friday afternoon. As I would've expected, Novice Castile was walking behind, guarding her. I had changed out of my black 'Strigoi' attack clothing a few minutes beforehand so that I could have the conversation I was about to. I had also checked schedules to confirm that Christian - and therefore, Rose - was on the other side of campus, so that I could talk to the princess alone.

"Guardian Belikov," she said, eyes wide with surprise, "what is it?"

I said, "Before we begin, I understand that you have the capability to block Rose from the bond. Could I ask you to do that now?" Her surprised look turned to puzzled. "I'll explain as soon as you have done so."

"I can for a little while, but it takes a lot of effort," she offered, "I'll do it now, but let's make it quick."

"It's about Rose's necklace," I said, lowering my voice, "I don't think it is a healing charm."

"I know it's weak," she said, smiling, "but Adrian's healing powers are really very limited. I think they'll get stronger with practice."

"It's not that," I said.

Then the princess asked, "Then why would you think it's not a healing charm?"

"When I was injured last week, Rose slipped it on me while I was unconscious and tucked it inside my shirt," I said, "When I came to, wearing the necklace, all I could think about were two trains of thought: romantic feelings for Adrian and some very confusing, strange thoughts about myself." I continued, making my voice almost a whisper so I could be sure that Castile wouldn't overhear, "How all of my previous feelings about myself were mistaken and how I was inappropriately taking advantage - of myself! When I handed the necklace back to Rose, all of those thoughts went away."

"Are you sure?" she asked, "That's not the craziest story I've ever heard, but it's not entirely rational, either."

"Yes, I'm sure. I managed to get her to take off the necklace on Sunday for a little while and asked her about her feelings, then had her pick it back up and asked her again. She said pretty much the same feelings about Adrian and me as what I experienced."

"Rose has been under compulsion before enough that she would know better! She wouldn't keep wearing that with those kinds of feelings. Why would she put the necklace back on, if she knew?"

"I think he used some other compulsion - outside of the necklace - to make her think she wasn't being compelled. When I tried to convince her about it, she said that she had initially thought it was compulsion, but then Adrian had assured her he would never do that, and then she was just convinced he wouldn't. Her eyes glazed over a little when she told me that, too."

"Why didn't you just ask her not to wear it anymore?"

"She also told me that he suggested she should keep it on as much as possible or she wouldn't get the benefit out of it. She seemed pretty adamant that she should put it back on again."

"Not to call you a liar, but this is a pretty serious accusation, Guardian Belikov. And we're talking about a friend of mine. Do you have any proof?"

"What if someone were to hand you the necklace? Would you be able to confirm it - or even take the charm off of it?"

"If you can get Rose to give the necklace to me, I can confirm what you're saying - or deny it, if you're wrong. But if it really is a compulsion charm and I remove the spirit energy from the necklace, Adrian could just put it right back on again the next time he saw her. We'd need to find a way to get it away from her for long enough to get his other compulsion off of her."

I thought for a moment, then I got an idea. "I think I can make that happen," I said, "Do you have a way through the bond to get a message to Rose?"

"Yes," she said.

I asked, "Can you ask her to wear a tank top to our weapons training session on Sunday morning?"

"Why is that?" she asked.

"She still can't hear this, right?"

"Not yet," she said.

"I need to be able to see the chain of the necklace to get it away from her."

-=o0&0o=-

Rose and I were conducting our weapons training differently today. I sat down at a table in the corner of the room, slipped my hooded sweatshirt off so that I was down to my tank, and slipped on my gloves, motioning for Rose to sit across from me.

"Okay, Rose," I said, "focus will be especially important today." I unrolled the bundle of knives and swords that I had brought with me. "You've shown me that you are ready to move beyond dulled practice knives and practice swords, so today, these are sharpened. As important as it is for you to know how to use one to cut or kill, it's equally important to know how to avoid killing or injuring yourself, your charge, or your guarding partner - or another Moroi who might be endangering your charge that you'd need to defend against without killing."

I continued, "Today, we will be working on our hand-to-hand combat with these sharpened implements. The goal will be to protect yourself with the sharp knife, using the defensive techniques we have already learned, without cutting me. I asked Vasilisa to ask you to wear a tank top since we'll both be working with sharpened knives. As you can see, I've done the same. Getting a clear view of where your opponent's arms and neck are should make it easier to determine how to avoid them with your weapon."

"Damn, Comrade," Rose said, with a suggestive smirk, running her eyes down my chest, "here I was just hoping you'd wanted to get a clear view of me in a tank top. You can't possibly know how much I enjoy seeing you in one."

"Roza," I joked, pointing to my face and giving her a smile, "my eyes are up here."

This flirtatious streak of hers had gotten more blatant every time we were alone. Part of me felt a little thrill at the way her beautiful eyes lit with desire as I could practically feel her gaze on my skin, but as much as I loved her playful side and desperately wanted to have her flirting (and more) with me, I couldn't have her doing this while we were training today - especially if there was even a remote possibility someone else could see us. And while her amorous attention was pleasant, as long as the necklace was still on, that attention was borne out of pure lust, and I could never trust that the necklace wouldn't make her regret any actions that came of that attention later.

"There you go again, taking all of the fun out of it," she replied, but became serious as she asked, "Where should we start?"

I went through some of the techniques to avoid stabbing or cutting yourself, then we picked up the knives and had Rose try to copy a few moves. She seemed to have them down and a lot of them were fairly rudimentary things that physical coordination and a normal sense of self-preservation might already cause you to do. Next, we moved on to how to avoid using the blade on someone else during hand-to-hand combat. These moves were much trickier. She had always been a quick study, so I had a pretty good idea that she could handle this, but in truth, most novices never got to this level and I really wasn't sure she was ready, but I needed to be able to use the sharpened knife on her today.

After having her work some of these moves by herself, it was time for the hand-to-hand. "We'll start out easy and at half-speed. Once I'm comfortable that you have each of the techniques down, we'll go to full speed with them, one at a time. If you manage to do well for the first few assaults, we'll pick up some more complicated things."

I was nervous. This could easily land either of us in the med clinic if something went wrong with one of the more complicated moves.

But this was Roza. 

If any of the novices could master this, it was her. And I needed to get us to full speed with the difficult techniques for what I needed to do.

Rose's skill in battle training never disappointed, and today was no exception. She was able to very quickly pick up the easiest of the techniques and performed them flawlessly, even at full speed. The more difficult moves would be the area that she would have trouble achieving, so I went through each of the simpler moves multiple times. I stressed to her that if she had difficulty with one of the more advanced methods when moving at full speed that she could always move to a simpler one or ask me to stop.

One of the techniques was to roll the blade of a knife within your hand when your knife was close to your target's skin but out of their view, so that the person could feel the metal but that the blade would be pointing away. It was a good way to intimidate without risking any actual harm, but it was hard to master, especially for someone who didn't have very long or dexterous fingers. Thankfully, I had both of those, but Rose's hands were quite small compared to my own. It was exactly this move that I would need, but it was also exactly this move that I was most afraid she could injure either of us with.

We tried the rolling knife move very slowly the first time through. We got in position so that Rose had the knife up against my collarbone, preparing to roll the knife against her palm. I could feel her knuckles moving as she rotated it, something that shouldn't be noticeable if she was doing the move correctly. The blade grazed my skin, leaving a small nick, as I told her, "Stop," and pulled my body away to turn towards her. "Roza, even slow, you've just cut me." I showed her the small cut she had left on my clavicle.

I could hear the hiss through her teeth as she realized she had hurt me. "This is exactly what I was afraid of, Dimitri," she said, "I don't mind the idea of killing Strigoi, but hurting live people ..." her voice trailed off.

"It's a minor cut," I told her, "Sit down at the table for a minute and let's work on your hold and fingering technique for the knife roll. Once you get a feel for that, we can try the hand-to-hand again." After she turned to sit, I reached for my phone and glanced at the time: ten minutes after seven o'clock. It would be cutting it close to get this done, but better to be towards the end of the training so that she didn't have time to come up with a different solution.

Rose was having more difficulty with the roll than I anticipated and the minutes began to tick by faster. At seven twenty-five, I wasn't sure she was ready, but I knew that I was running out of time. It had to be today and our training would end in five minutes. Even if Rose had executed the move perfectly on the first try, I knew that I would only get one shot at this, both because I couldn't spend an abnormal amount of time on the move I'd be doing and because it had to look like an accident. If I didn't get it perfectly right on the first try, I'd have to come up with another plan.

But this was Roza. 

I had to do it right.

We tried doing the move in slow-motion again. To my relief, she was more awkward than she ought to be, and though I couldn't feel her knuckles this time, it was obvious that hand was doing something that should've been unnoticeable, but she finally had it to a point where I was comfortable she wasn't going to slice open an artery if we moved to full speed.

"It's time to move on to full speed," I told her, "but we're running out of time for today and I know that you need to get breakfast. I'll demonstrate the move at full-speed on you, then you'll get a chance to try it next session."

Here. This was my chance. I got into fighting stance, facing Rose with my knife in hand. We went through the actions that would lead to getting into position for the move, my parrying and thrusting and her feinting, back and forth. Then, finally, I got her where I needed her to be, I locked my arm around her neck. I got my blade in position, just beside the chain of the necklace, blade up to her neck along her jugular vein, silently thanking God for my extra height that her blade had to be lower on me, followed immediately by praying that this would work. As I rolled the blade so that the sharpest part was pointing away from Rose, I threaded the sharp edge through the chain of her necklace. "There," I said, pressing the dull side of the knife up against Rose's neck, "Does it feel like you have a blade against your throat?"

"Yes," she breathed. It almost seemed like there was fear in her tone. I still had the knife up to her neck.

"Are you okay, Roza?" I asked. I couldn't let my guard down or forget my task, but I didn't want her to fear me.

She was breathing harder than she should've been for being locked in place for this long. "It's part of the job, Comrade," she half-whispered.

I took a deep breath. "Just remember, this is only training and I know what I'm doing. The blade is already facing away from you. So now, if I push the knife in a little," to illustrate, I pushed the knife in a little and I heard her gasp slightly, "it will feel like I'm going to cut you, but it won't cut." Here it comes, I thought. I pulled the knife away quickly, looping my thumb over the chain to make sure it sliced through, blade severing the chain of the necklace cleanly. The necklace fell to the ground, broken.

"Roza," I said, feigning surprise, "I'm so sorry! I must've caught the blade on your necklace when I pulled it away." I leaned down to pick it up. "This was completely my fault. Let me get the chain repaired for you."

Rose looked dazed, as if the fear of that blade upon her neck was still affecting her. "Yeah," she said, "Okay." I put it in my pocket.

"Are you okay?" I asked her again, "You look pale." If it hadn't been a public place, I would've put my arm around her and held her, but instead I had taken her hand in both of mine for just a moment, squeezed it gently, then released it.

"I'm fine now," she said, already looking much less shaken, "I don't know what came over me. If there was ever anyone I would trust, it's you. With the way we feel about each other, I'm sure you'd never hurt me." She smiled.

"I wouldn't," I said, glancing around to make sure the gym was empty before adding, "Because I love you, Roza."

"You know that I love you, too - right, Dimitri?" she asked.

"I do now," I smiled.

-=o0&0o=-

Author's Notes:

Yes! It's such a relief to finally have that necklace off, for good! Romitri's through the worst of it now, but there are still some bumps and twists along the way, including the visit from Zmey and questions about that pending guardian transfer for Dimitri coming.

And I'd like to offer another special thanks to my beta reader, CherryHathawayBelikova!

P.S. For anyone curious, I did a quick Google search a few chapters back of aura colors to pull all of the colors I put in - green for jealousy and peace, pink for love, red for anger and passion (I know this contradicts the purple Adrian saw in Indigo Spell, so I made it attraction instead of passion), orange for restraint or control, and yellow for happiness.

Here's my question of the week:

Have you ever cut yourself or someone else while working with a sharp blade (like Rose did to Dimitri in this chapter)?

I'm actually a pretty accident-prone person. Sharp objects and I don't go well together.  I've cut friends, I've cut family members, and I've even cut myself so badly that I've left scars. As a young kid, I actually sent a friend to the emergency room because I tore through the webbing between his thumb and the rest of his hand with a piece of broken glass (sorry A.J., wherever you are).  On at least three occasions within the past year, in fact, I've actually cut the tip of my fingernail off while slicing vegetables making dinner!