The Diadem (VA fanfic)

Chapter Three

Rose looked at herself in the full body mirror of Arthur's room at Court. All she could think was that she didn't look like herself. She was indeed in a bit of a costume, Arthur had insisted after all. Better safe than sorry, besides you don't want the royals to recognize on your way to her majesty's office, he had said and Rose grudgingly admitted that he was right. Which was why she currently found herself staring at a reflection of herself that looked a lot more similar to her nine year old self rather than her actual seventeen years. She twiddled the silver ring on her finger, a Badica family heirloom that she had infused with spirit. Rose felt a twinge of anticipation settle in her stomach, she knew what was about to happen was going to change everything. She could feel it.

"Stop fiddling with your ring nervously. If you make it today's habit, you'll accidently pull it off and your cover will be blown too soon. Don't forget, you're Rosemarie Mazur for the day," Arthur called from the kitchen and Rose was startled. How did he even know... Damn those guardian instincts, Rose thought before letting go of the ring. One more check never hurt anyone....

She removed the ring and looked at her normal appearance in the mirror: Her signature long glossy dark brown locks and lashes that framed deep brown eyes. A flawless tan complexion, very atypical of any moroi or Badica, an angular nose, chin and cheekbones. She was wearing what she liked to think of as her dhampir guardian getup. She was dressed in leather from head to toe in leather pants, boots, jacket and shirt. She rather liked the way the material hugged her ample hourglass curves. Sighing longingly, she slipped the ring back on her middle finger. Her figure immediately slimmed down and while her curves were still not lacking and very impressive compared to any other moroi, they weren't as evident as they usually were without the spirit charm of the ring. The demure, frilly, long and flowy white dress also did nothing to emphasize them. Her hair was auburn brown and went down to her mid waist instead of the usual hip length and her face seemed more childish with hazel eyes surrounded by unneeded glasses with a translucent frame.

"Ready to go Rose?" Arthur asked as he approached his charge in full on guardian getup. Rose breathed in and exhaled out deeply. "Ready as I'll ever be Art, ready as I'll ever be."

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Dimitri had made the long journey all the way to the Pennsylvania Royal Court, his former home for a grueling year as a stoic, royal guard when everyone thought he was young, inexperienced and usable as a scapegoat. He didn't let that last long but he had still lived through it. While moroi could be extremely disrespectful to dhampir, dhampir could be equally as nasty to their own kind.

He had almost missed to jet that he had to catch since the train on the way to Novosibirsk had been delayed but he was glad that he made it despite feeling the judgemental and admiring eyes of everyone on him as he travelled inside the palace and finally arrive in front of the throne room. The guardian on duty nodded to me, he knew who Dimitri was from his queen's guardian days, and announced the Russian's presence.

"Guardian Dimitri Belikov!"

"Enter," Tatiana called from the inside and the doors were opened, her fleet of guardian's poised for attack before relaxing significantly when they saw it was their former teammate.

"Your majesty," Dimitri said bowing his head.

"No need for such formalities Dimitri, come sit. You are my great nephew and an Ivashkov in your own right after all. And if that wasn't enough, I recognize you as the best guardian of your generation. You've joined the ranks of Croft, Hathaway and Schoenberg," Tatiana declared formally before gesturing for her flotilla of guardian's to give them privacy. "Confidentiality is key, I trust you with my life but I cannot put the life of my dearest visitor at risk. Guard us from outside, Guardian Belikov is enough protection for me in here."