Beyond cruel didn't begin to cover it when it came to sending the pair straight to class. Alberta and I tailed, or led rather, Rose to the guidance counsellor then to her first period combat class. We said nothing and acted as if this were a normal day. The class' reaction showed it was anything but. Rose was a legend and she was back, she was about to take control. She scanned the class and found Mason Ashford, "hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face." God that was a way to take control. "If you're going to think about me naked, do it on your own time." Oh that was an intro if ever there was one. She was back, already in flirty and a tease mode.
"This is my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session." Good god. Why was he encouraging her?
"Oh yeah? Huh. Well, I guess this a good time to think about me naked, then."
"It's always a good time to think about you naked," was added by Edison Castile. Again, why were they encouraging her? I simply walked away shaking my head, muttering "thanks for that mental image. It's going to be a long year," in Russian.
I had to quickly meet with Alberta outside the gym to quickly discuss shifts. She didn't waste time getting straight to the point. And it was going to make my day hell. "I want you tailing her Belikov. She will come up with a way back out if she feels the need. She's your student, your responsibility. Any action of hers will be seen as an action of yours. She needs a guardian more than the Princess right now."
"Understood." I nodded. Oh good god.
"Now get back in there. I'll readjust the roster and call you in after training tonight. Oh, one thing; never give up on her. You fought to keep her, don't lose hope in her." With that she walked of and I reentered the gym. Only to find Ashford and Castile whipping her butt. I knew then what my first step would be with her, endurance and general fitness. She needed her muscle mass built back up. Big time. Two hours a day with her wasn't going to cut it, but I wasn't about to volunteer more hours until I could trust she was going to stay. She needed to be the one to demand them from me. Right now she needed the fitness, and a reality check.
That came in Alto's class, second period. I knew the guy hated Rose's guts, and that the feeling was mutual. And shared by most of the students. The guy- there was no way I was ever going to call him a man despite being older than me- was known for singling students out, once or twice was the normal case. Rose, however, was a recurrent favourite of his to, quite frankly, abuse. He didn't waste a second pulling her to the front at the start of class. And it was Kirova all over again and then some; he had the audacity to sink as low as name calling and slandering- her mother included when he said "the Hathaway Glance-Around-When-You-Remember-To Method." When it came to Moroi blood powering the Strigoi her eyes homed in on me. She was holding back tears, oh Rose. So strong, so, so resilient. Sure she needed to be taken down a couple of pegs but that sort of public humiliation was not the way to do it, not when she obviously wanted to run again- he may very well have caused her to snap, motivated her to find a way out of here.
Her third period class drove home her need to rebuild muscle mass. She needed to be nothing but muscle.
I fell into step with her after fourth period. I wanted to know how effective Stan's bitch-and-humiliate Rose rant had been.
"I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?"
"Yes." Including you being on the verge of tears.
"And you don't think that was unfair?"
In all reality, yes. But it wasn't the point right now, whether or not it had worked was. "Was he right? Do you think you were fully prepared to protect Vasilisa?"
She looked away from me again, the fifth time since the plane. What the hell did I ever do to her to earn that from her? "I kept her alive," was mumbled.
The next question was mean of me, but I was soon learning she learnt faster when pressed, and pissed. Pissed but not humiliated and degraded or devalued. "How did you do fighting against your classmates today?" She didn't respond and didn't need to. "If you can't fight them-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she snapped at me.
Again, unenjoyable facing her wrath. And I would have to face it often with the way I clearly needed to teach her. I slowed my stride and tried another angle, took a more investigative approach. "You're strong and fast by nature. You just need to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play any sports while you were gone?" I doubted it, simply because of her poor performance in class. That and she'd likely been focused on simply surviving and staying hidden. I let my exasperation show at her "I'd have stayed" response. She was determined to protect her friend, understood the personal side beyond her years but was lacking motivation to keep her body up to the required levels. Something told me she had spent the last two years protecting Lissa's mind, her psychological state. I eventually got around to saying "you're an ideal choice... If you can prove worthy. I hope you will." And I truly hoped she did. All my speech earned me was a correction to call the Princess 'Lissa'. I simply walked away. That young woman's brain had a different way of working, she had her own logic. I was going to have to adjust to, and learn, the way her mind worked.
As I kept a discreet eye on Rose I mused over how this year would play out. Could I truly adjust Rose's attitude, change her behaviour pattern? How was I going to physically prepare her for field experience, for trials, for graduation, and for her first kill?
Afternoon training time came, and she didn't show. What was she thinking? She couldn't possibly be that lacking in motivation. Could she? Time to find out. I was right. She had been given cause to snap, to try escaping. I retrieved her from her whispered conversation with the Princess. Then got the fright of my life when she froze. I let some of my worry and concern to come through in my voice, eyes and actions. She eventually came to and I learned that she could be 'sucked into' the Princess' head thanks to the bond. So, I had to learn how her brain worked ('Rose logic'), how to avoid her wrath ('Rose wrath') and how to adjust to their bond. Oh, this year was going to be long and tough.
