Wonder showed on Tatiana’s face, and she muttered something in a language I didn’t understand. She hadn’t been born in the United States but had chosen to hold her Court here. She spoke with no accent, but, as they did for Dimitri, moments of surprise apparently brought out her native tongue. Within seconds, she put her stately mask back on.
“Hmm. Interesting,” she said. Talk about an understatement.
“It could be very useful,” said Priscilla. “Vasilisa and Adrian can’t be the only two out there with it. If we could find others, so much could be learned. The healing itself is a gift, let alone anything else they can conjure. Just think what we could do with it.”
Lissa turned optimistic. For a while, she’d been going out of her way to find others like her. Adrian had been the only one she’d discovered, and that had been through sheer luck. If the queen and Moroi council put their resources into it, there was no telling what they might find. Yet something about Priscilla’s words troubled Lissa.
“Begging your pardon, Princess Voda . . . I’m not sure we should be so eager to use my—or others’—healing powers as much as you might want to.”
“Why not?” asked Tatiana. “From what I understand, you can heal almost anything.”
“I can . . .” said Lissa slowly. “And I want to. I wish I could help everybody, but I can’t. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ll definitely help some people. But I know we’d run into other people like Victor, who want to abuse it. And after a while . . . I mean, how do you choose? Who gets to live? Part of life is that . . . well, some people have to die. My powers aren’t a prescription you can get filled as needed, and honestly, I’m afraid they would only be used for, uh, certain kinds of people. Just like the guardians are.”
A slight tension built in the room. What Lissa had insinuated was rarely ever mentioned in public.
“What are you talking about?” asked Tatiana with narrowed eyes. I could tell she already knew.
Lissa was scared to say her next words, but she did it anyway. “Everyone knows that there’s a certain, um, method to how guardians are distributed. Only the elite get them. Royals. Rich people. People in power.”
A chill fell over the room. Tatiana’s mouth settled into a straight line. She didn’t speak for several moments, and I had a feeling everyone else was holding their breath. I certainly was. “You don’t think our royals deserve special protection?” she asked finally. “You don’t think you do—the last of the Dragomirs?”
“I think keeping our leaders safe is important, yeah. But I also think we need to stop sometimes and look at what we’re doing. It could be time to reconsider the way we’ve always done things.”
Lissa sounded so wise and so self-assured. I was proud of her. Watching Priscilla Voda, I could see that she was proud too. She’d liked Lissa from the beginning. But I could also tell that Priscilla was nervous. She answered to the queen and knew that Lissa was swimming in dangerous waters.
Tatiana sipped her tea. I think it was an excuse to gather her thoughts. “I understand,” she said, “that you’re also in favor of Moroi fighting with the guardians and attacking Strigoi?”
Another dangerous topic, one Lissa pushed forward into. “I think if there are Moroi who want to, they shouldn’t be denied the chance.” Jill suddenly popped into my head.
“Moroi lives are precious,” said the queen. “They shouldn’t be risked.”
“Dhampir lives are precious too,” Lissa countered. “If they fight with Moroi, it could save everybody. And again, if Moroi are willing, why deny them? They deserve to know how to defend themselves. And people like Tasha Ozera have developed ways of fighting with magic.”
The mention of Christian’s aunt brought a frown to the queen’s face. Tasha had been attacked by Strigoi when younger and had spent the rest of her life learning to fight back. “Tasha Ozera . . . she’s a troublemaker. She’s starting to gather a lot of other troublemakers.”
“She’s trying to introduce new ideas.” I noticed then that Lissa wasn’t afraid any longer. She was confident in her beliefs and wanted them expressed. “Throughout history, people with new ideas—who think differently and try to change things—have always been called troublemakers. But seriously? Do you want the truth?”
A wry look crossed Tatiana’s face, almost a smile. “Always.”
“We need change. I mean, our traditions are important. We shouldn’t give up on those. But sometimes, I think we’re misguided.”
“Misguided?”
“As time’s gone on, we’ve gone along with other changes. We’ve evolved. Computers. Electricity. Technology in general. We all agree those make our lives better. Why can’t we be the same in the way we act? Why are we still clinging to the past when there are better ways to do things?”
Lissa was breathless, worked up and excited. Her cheeks felt warm, and her heart raced. All of us were watching Tatiana, searching for any clue in that stony face.
“You’re very interesting to talk to,” she finally said. She made interesting sound like a dirty word. “But I have things I must do now.” She stood up, and everyone hastily followed suit, even Adrian. “I won’t be joining you for dinner, but you and your companions will have everything you need. I’ll see you tomorrow at the trial. No matter how radical and naively idealistic your ideas are, I’m glad you’ll be there to complete his sentencing. His imprisonment, at least, is something we can all agree on.”
Tatiana swept out, two guardians immediately following. Priscilla followed too, leaving Lissa and Adrian alone.
“Well done, cousin. Aren’t many people who can throw the old lady off-balance like that.”
“She didn’t seem very off-balance.”
“Oh, she was. Believe me. Most of the people she deals with every day wouldn’t talk to her like that, let alone someone your age.” He stood up and extended a hand to Lissa. “Come on. I’ll show you around this place. Take your mind off things.”
“I’ve been here before,” she said. “When I was younger.”
“Yeah, well, the things we get to see when we’re young are different than the things we get to see when we’re older. Did you know there’s a twenty-four-hour bar in here? We’ll get you a drink.”
“I don’t want a drink.”
“You will before this trip’s over.”
I left Lissa’s head and returned to my room. The meeting with the queen was over, and Lissa didn’t need my unseen support. Besides, I really didn’t want to hang out with Adrian right now. Sitting up, I discovered I felt surprisingly alert. Being in her head had kind of been like taking a nap.
I decided to do a little exploring of my own. I’d never been to the Royal Court. It really was supposed to be like a mini-town, and I wondered what other things there were to see, aside from the bar that Adrian probably lived in while visiting.
I headed downstairs, figuring I’d have to go outside. As far as I knew, this building only held guestrooms. It was kind of like the palace’s hotel. When I got to the entryway, however, I saw Christian and Eddie standing and talking with someone I couldn’t see. Eddie, ever vigilant, saw me and grinned.
“Hey, Rose. Look who we found.”
As I approached, Christian stepped aside, revealing the mystery person. I came to a halt, and she grinned at me.
“Hi, Rose.”
A moment later, I felt a smile slowly creep over my face. “Hello, Mia.”
TWELVE
IF YOU’D ASKED ME six months ago, I would have said there was no way I’d be happy to run into Mia Rinaldi at the Royal Court. She was a year younger than me and had held a grudge against Lissa since freshman year—a grudge so big that Mia had gone to great extremes to make life miserable for us. She’d done a good job. Jesse and Ralf’s rumors about me had been a result of her efforts.
But then Mia had gone with us to Spokane and been captured by the Strigoi. And, just like for Christian and Eddie, that had changed everything. She’d seen the same horrors the rest of us had
. In fact, she was the only one of my friends who had witnessed Mason’s death and me killing Strigoi. She had even saved my life then by using her water magic to temporarily drown one of the Strigoi. In the great Moroi argument about whether or not they should learn to fight with the guardians, she was firmly on the fighting side.
I hadn’t seen Mia in almost a month, ever since Mason’s funeral. In studying her, I felt like it’d been a year. I had always thought Mia looked like a doll. She was short compared to most Moroi and had young, round-cheeked features. The fact that she’d always curled her hair in perfect ringlets had sort of reinforced that image. But today, she hadn’t gone to nearly that much trouble. Her golden blond hair was pulled into a ponytail, its only curl coming from a slight, natural waviness. She wore no makeup, and her face showed signs of having been outdoors a lot. Her skin looked chapped from the wind, and she had a very, very faint tan—almost unheard of for Moroi, with their aversion to sunlight. For the first time ever, she actually looked her age.
She laughed at my shock. “Come on, it hasn’t been that long. You look like you don’t even recognize me.”
“I almost don’t.” We hugged, and again, it was hard to believe that she’d once plotted ways to ruin my life. Or that I’d broken her nose. “What are you doing here?”
She beckoned us out the door. “We were just about to leave. I’ll explain everything.”
We went to a neighboring building. It wasn’t like a mall or anything, but it did have a few businesses that the Moroi who worked and visited here needed—a handful of restaurants, some small stores, and offices that offered all sorts of services. There was also a coffee shop, and that was where Mia led us.
A coffee shop seems like an ordinary thing, but I rarely got to go to them. Sitting in a public place (or semi-public) with friends, not worrying about school . . . it was great. It reminded me of when Lissa and I had been on our own, when our entire lives hadn’t been contained within a school and its rules.
“My dad works here now,” she told us. “And so now I live here.”
Moroi children rarely lived with their parents. They were sent off to places like St. Vladimir’s, where they could grow up safely. “What about school?” I asked.
“There aren’t many kids here, but there are some. Most of them are rich and have personal tutors. My dad pulled some strings and set it up so that I can go to them for different subjects. So I’m still studying the same things, just in a different way. It’s actually pretty cool. Less teacher time—but more homework.”
“You’ve been doing more than that,” said Eddie. “Unless your classes are outside.” He’d noticed the same things I had, and in looking at her hands as they held her latte, I could now see calluses.
She wiggled her fingers. “I made friends with some of the guardians here. They’ve been showing me a few things.”
“That’s risky,” said Christian, though he sounded like he approved. “Since there’s still a debate about Moroi fighting.”
“You mean about Moroi fighting with magic,” she corrected. “That’s what’s controversial. No one’s really talking about Moroi fighting hand-to-hand.”
“Well, they are,” I said. “It’s just been overshadowed by the magic controversy.”
“It’s not illegal,” she said primly. “And until it is, I’m going to keep doing it. You think with all the events and meetings that go on around here that anyone even notices what someone like me does?” Mia’s family, in addition to being non-royal, was also pretty lower class—not that there was anything wrong with that, but she had to feel the effects of that around here.
Still, I found her whole situation cheering. Mia seemed happier and more open than she had during the entire time I’d known her. She seemed . . . free. Christian spoke my thoughts before I could.
“You’ve changed,” he said.
“We’ve all changed,” she corrected. “Especially you, Rose. I can’t quite explain it.”
“I don’t think there’s any way the five of us couldn’t have changed,” Christian pointed out. A moment later he corrected himself. “Four of us.”
We all fell silent, thoughts of Mason weighing us down. Being with Christian, Eddie, and Mia stirred up that grief I always tried to hide, and I could see from their faces that they continually fought the same battle.
Conversation eventually turned toward all of us catching up on what had happened here and at the Academy. Yet I kept thinking about how Mia had said that I had changed more than the others. All I could think about was how out of control I’d felt lately, how half the time my actions and feelings didn’t seem like my own. Sitting there, it almost seemed like Mia was controlled by all of her positive traits now—and I was controlled by my negative ones. Conversations with Adrian replayed through my head, reminding me about how I supposedly had such a dark, dark aura.
Maybe thinking about him summoned him, but he and Lissa eventually joined us. Their bar was probably in the same building, I realized. I’d been blocking her out and not paying much attention. Adrian hadn’t completely gotten her drunk, thankfully, but she’d agreed to two drinks. I could feel a slight buzz through the bond and had to carefully shield it out.
She was as surprised as we’d been to see Mia but gave her a warm welcome and wanted to catch up. I’d heard most of this already, so I just listened and drank my chai. No coffee for me. Most guardians drank it the way Moroi drank blood, but I wouldn’t touch the stuff.
“How’d your thing with the queen go?” Christian asked Lissa at one point.
“Not so bad,” she said. “I mean, not great either. But she didn’t yell at me or humiliate me, so that’s a start.”
“Stop being modest,” said Adrian, putting his arm around her. “Princess Dragomir totally stood her ground. You should have seen it.” Lissa laughed.
“I don’t suppose she mentioned why she decided to let us come to the trial?” Christian asked stiffly. He didn’t look very happy about the bonding that was taking place here—or about Adrian’s arm.
Lissa’s laughter faded, but she was still smiling. “Adrian did it.”
“What?” Christian and I asked together.
Adrian, looking very pleased with himself, stayed quiet for a change and let Lissa do the talking. “He convinced her that we needed to be here. He apparently harassed her until she gave in.”
“It’s called ‘persuasion,’ not ‘harassment,’” Adrian said. Lissa laughed again.
My own words about the queen came back to haunt me. Who’s she? Just another Ivashkov. There are a ton of them. There were indeed. I eyed Adrian.
“How closely are you guys related?” The answer popped into my head from Lissa’s. “She’s your aunt.”
“Great-aunt. And I’m her favorite great nephew. Well, I’m her only great nephew, but that’s not important. I’d still be her favorite,” he said.
“Unbelievable,” said Christian.
“I’ll second that,” I said.
“None of you appreciate me. Why is it so hard to believe that I could make a real contribution in these dark times?” Adrian stood up. He was trying to sound outraged, but the smirk on his face indicated that he still found all of this pretty funny. “My cigarettes and I are going outside. At least they show me respect.”
As soon as he left, Christian asked Lissa, “Were you getting drunk with him?”
“I’m not drunk. I only had two drinks,” she said. “Since when did you get all conservative?”
“Since Adrian became a bad influence.”
“Come on! He helped us get here. No one else was able to do it. He didn’t have to, but he did. And you and Rose are sitting there, still acting like he’s the most evil person on the planet.” That wasn’t exactly true. I was mostly sitting there like I had been hit in the head, still too dumbstruck to react.
“Yeah, and I’m sure he did it out of the kindness of his heart,” muttered Christian.
“Why else would he do it?”
“Oh, gee, I wonder.”
Lissa’s eyes widened. “You think he did it for me? You think there’s something going on with us?”
“You guys drink together, practice magic together, and go to elitist events together. What would you think?”
Mia and Eddie looked like they wanted to be somewhere else. I was starting to share the feeling.
Anger burned through Lissa, hitting me like a wave of heat. She was utterly outraged. Her fury didn’t even have that much to do with Adrian, really. She was more upset at the thought of Christian not trusting her. And as for him, I needed no psychic powers to understand how he was feeling. He wasn’t jealous simply because she was hanging out with Adrian. Christian was still jealous that Adrian had the kind of influence to pull this off for her. It was just like what Jesse and Ralf had described, about how the right connections could open the right doors—connections that Christian didn’t have.
I kneed Christian’s leg, hoping he’d get the hint that he really should stop talking before things got worse. Lissa’s anger was intensifying, muddled with embarrassment as she began to doubt herself and wonder if she had been getting too close to Adrian. The whole thing was ridiculous.
“Christian, for the love of God. If Adrian did this for anyone, it was because of me and his crazy obsession. He bragged awhile ago that he could do it, and I didn’t believe it.” I turned to Lissa. I needed to get her calm and diffuse those dark feelings that could cause so much trouble for her when they ran out of control. “Liss, you might not be wasted exactly, but you need to chill out for an hour before having this conversation. You’re going to say something as stupid as Christian, and I’ll be the one who has to deal with the mess—like always.”
I’d gotten worked up and expected someone to tell me how bitchy I sounded. Instead, Lissa relaxed and offered Christian a smile. “Yeah, we should definitely talk about this later. A lot’s kind of happened today.”
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