Chapter 3:
The Headmistress sent Rose and the princess out of the room to receive their schedules. That left me, Victor, Alberta, and the Headmistress alone. Victor parted ways as Alberta walked along side of me. Alberta was the leader of all guardians at the Academy. We did what she told us to do.
I was contemplating the idea that maybe keeping Rose here was a bad idea. But not in the ways Headmistress had thought of. Keeping Rose here might be bad on her benefit.
She would never be caught up with the rest of her peers. But something told me she would be the best of their class. Despite the wrong doings she committed before she fled the school with the princess. The bond between the two made them inseparable as well. Which was the main reason why I had intended to keep Rose here.
Alberta and I waited outside the guidance counselor’s office. Soon Rose stalked out holding a folded piece of paper that was no doubt her schedule. And by the look on her face she didn't look pleased with it. Alberta and I escorted her to the gym, where all the novices her age had their first period class. We walked ahead of Rose. Guarding her in a highly protected school seemed absurd. Rose had nowhere to go even if she did manage to slip away from us. Alberta and I were both silent, not saying a word to each other. Guardian status.
As we entered the gym the humm of the students died down as all eyes turned to glance behind us, where Rose stood. She held her ground as she looked throughout the class, clearly scanning for a friendly face.
She smiled at a red hair boy; by the shade of the red curls I guessed he was an Ashford. "Hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face. If you're going to think about me naked, do it on your own time."
The class held back laughter as Mason gave Rose a lazy smile. "This is my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session."
Rose's playful smile brightened. "Oh yeah? Huh. Well I guess this is a good time to think about me naked then."
"It's always a good time to think about you naked," added some guy in the back, Eddie Castile I think.
I shook my head as I walked away from the novices muttering in Russian, God help us. I stood against the far wall in guardian position like I had in the Headmistress's office earlier. Rose and the other novices laughed as they socialized. One of the guardians noticed this and walked over to scowl at Mason. He shrugged it off with a grin as he started the session.
Rose and Mason were talking, but I couldn't hear them. Part of being a guardian for one of the schools is you pay attention to the surroundings other than the conversations in the room. Something that would distract us and if there ever were a Strigoi attack here; everyone would be dead in this room because of the distraction. Not that Strigoi could ever get in this school, it's secured with magic and guards alike.
Next class to guard was Guardian Alto's class. Though I never liked how he treated his students he was a very good guardian when it came to fighting. I watched as the novices piled in the room, Rose was amongst them. Figures they would put her in the same classes that I guarded.
It was like the school was afraid that she’d plan some super elaborate plan to escape again and they depended on me to know of her whereabouts and be able to stop her. Not that I couldn’t, I did stop out run her last night. So she wouldn’t get far.
I could see from the back of the room Guardian Alto's eyes widen as he saw Rose take her seat. He clearly hadn't been expecting her, even though he should have gotten an email that said she was now in his class. He circled the room before walking to Rose’s desk, and glared down at her.
"What's this? No one told me we had a guest speaker here today. Rose Hathaway. What a privilege! How very generous of you to take the time out of your busy schedule to share your knowledge with us." He spoke loudly enough to grab the whole class's attention. Including mine.
Rose's face turned bright red, which made Guardian Alto's sneer increase. He made a hand maneuver that indicated her to stand up.
"Well, come on, come on. Don't sit there! Come up to the front so you can help me lecture the class."
Rose hesitated and sunk back down in her seat. "You don't really mean---"
Guardian Alto cut her off as his smile dried up into a straight line. "I mean exactly what I say, Hathaway. Go to the front of the class."
The room was heavy in silence as all eyes were on Rose. She didn't back down as she strode up to the front of the small class room facing the class. She tossed her long dark hair over her shoulders as she stared them down. Her eyes gazed over to the back of the room. Her expression changed slightly, showing she never expected an audience this large in such a small room.
I watched her carefully, curious as in what she was going to do. Stan strolled back up to the front of the classroom to stand next to Rose.
"So, Hathaway. Enlighten us about your protective techniques." This got my attention. I too had wondered how she managed to stay alive, let alone keep the princess alive without full training.
"My...techniques?"
"Of course. Because presumably you must have had some sort of plan the rest of us couldn't understand when you took an underage Moroi royal out of the Academy and exposed her to constant Strigoi threats."
Rose's body stiffened. "We never ran into any Strigoi."
"Obviously. I already figured that out, seeing as how you're still alive." Guardian Alto said with a sneer.
That was true if she had faced any Strigoi she would have been dead. Along with the princess. Vasilisa was the last Dragomir in the Moroi world. She was valuable to us; we never lost an entire royal blood line before. And the Strigoi would be more than happy to finish off the last remaining Dragomir.
When Rose didn't respond Guardian Alto paced the front of the class room. "So what'd you do? How'd you make sure she stayed safe? Did you avoid going out at night?"
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes." Guardian Alto mocked making Rose's answer sound stupid which was really mean of him to do. "Well then, I suppose you slept during the day and stayed on guard at night."
"Er...no."
"No? But that's one of the first things mentioned in the chapter on solo guarding. Oh wait, you wouldn't know that because you weren't here."
Rose shifted uncomfortably. "I watched the area whenever we went out."
"Oh? Well that's something. Did you use Carnegie's Quadrant Surveillance Method or the Rotational Survey?"
By Rose's silence it told me she had no idea what he was talking about. Those were the most basic Methods when it came to checking the area, although Rose had missed out on learning those two years ago.
"Ah. I'm guessing you used the Hathaway-Glance-Around-When-You-Remember-To Method." Guardian Alto was really working up a sweat to chew Rose out. It made me furious with him at the moment.
"No!" Rose shouted. Her sudden outburst made me jump. "That's not true. I watched her. She's still alive, isn't she?"
Guardian Alto turned around on his heels and strode up to Rose, so that their noses were inches apart. "Because you got lucky."
"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there. It's not like what we've been taught. It's safer than you guys make it sound." Rose shot back.
I had to give her credit for standing up for herself in a classroom filled with this many people. Most students back down to Guardian Alto's outbursts. But Rose was strong willed and wouldn't allow him to get to her. Something I liked seeing.
"Safer? Safer? We are at war with the Strigoi! One of them could walk right up to you and snap your pretty little neck before you even noticed him--and he'd barely break a sweat doing it. You might have more speed and strength than a Moroi or a human, but you are nothing, nothing, compared to a Strigoi. They are deadly, and they are powerful. And do you know what makes them more powerful?"
Rose glanced towards the back where the rest of the guardians and I stood. Her eyes met mine; they were filled with hurt, and sorrow that vanished all too quickly as she continued to stare at me and whisper: "Moroi blood."
"What was that? I didn't catch it." Guardian Alto spoke loudly. Which was really a poor move on his part; he enjoyed watching his students suffer. He seemed to feed off of their embarrassment.
Rose broke the stare between us as she spun around to yell in Guardian Alto's face. "Moroi blood! Moroi blood makes them stronger."
He nodded, "Yes. It does. It makes them stronger and harder to destroy. They'll kill and drink from a human or dhampir, but they want Moroi blood more than anything else. They seek it. They've turned to the dark side to gain immortality, and they want to do whatever they can to keep that immortality. Desperate Strigoi have attacked Moroi in public. Groups of Strigoi have raided academies exactly like this one. There are Strigoi who have lived for thousands of years and fed off generations of Moroi. They're almost impossible to kill. And that is why Moroi numbers are dropping. They aren't strong enough--even with guardians--to protect themselves. Some Moroi don't even see the point of running anymore and are simply turning Strigoi by choice. And as the Moroi disappear..."
"...so do the dhampirs." Rose finished.
"Well, it looks like you learned something after all. Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your field experience next semester."
After taking her seat, Rose was quiet during the rest of class; Guardian Alto seemed to forget her as he lectured the class on new Methods.
Afterwards I spotted Rose walking in the direction to the cafeteria. I fell into step with her. She gave me a sidelong glance. "I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?" Her usage of not using titles for both Guardians and the Headmistress indicated that she really didn't bother with them. Which I didn't mind, I used them only out of respect.
"Yes."
"And you don't think that was unfair?"
"Was he right? Do you think you were fully prepared to protect Vasilisa?"
She looked down at the ground as I stared her down. "I kept her alive." She barley mumbled.
"How did you do fighting against your classmates today?"
I knew the answer; I had seen it for myself. I just wanted her to answer it herself. Her silence told me she was upset with my question.
Being her mentor meant I would have to give her life lessons. And this was one of those times to do it. "If you can't fight them--"
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Rose snapped at me.
I slowed my long stride to her small pain-filled one. "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 was hoping that changing the subject will get her mind off of the earlier events with her peers and teachers.
"Sure." She shrugged. "Now and then."
"You didn't join any teams?"
"Too much work. If I'd wanted to practice that much I'd have stayed here."
I gave her an exasperated look. "You'll never be able to really protect the princess if you don't hone your skills. You'll always be lacking."
"I'll be able to protect her." She said fiercely.
The determination in her eyes said so but the uncertainty in her voice from Stan’s class told me she wasn’t a hundred percent sure she’ll be able to protect her Moroi. I knew she’d be able to kill a Strigoi, and a thousand after that. It was just a matter of getting her to that stage.
"You have no guarantees of being assigned to her, you know--for your field experience or after you graduate. No one wants to waste the bond--but no one's going to give her an inadequate guardian either. If you want to be with her, then you need to work for it. You have your lessons. You have me. Use us or don't. You're an ideal choice to guard Vasilisa when you both graduate--if you can prove you're worthy. I hope you will." I knew she would, although I didn't tell her, she would let it get to her head.
"Lissa, call her Lissa." she corrected.
Unbelievable after everything I’ve just told her, that’s what was most important to her. It showed her true nature. One that was straightforward and demanding. Something that could come of use in her training.
I walked away, leaving her to go her own way. Just by the first day with her I could already tell we would have a lot of work to do.
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