Rumor Has It

I watched as his lips puckered and his head tilt to the side. Whatever he was thinking had to be deep or critical. I was hoping for the former, but Dimitri never followed through with my wishes. If he did, his lips would be on mine already and we wouldn’t be in the middle of the forest; we’d be in either one of our rooms or somewhere else away from the academy. Of course, I was out of my mind for even thinking—

“I love you.”

--that. I mean he is my mentor after all. He constantly told me—and himself—that we shouldn’t be together.

Wait a minute. What’d he say?

I blinked my eyes back into focus only to see pain gradually write itself onto his face. I frowned and reached up to caress his cheek. A ghost of a smile appeared. For the slightest second, I was surprised, but I quickly relaxed.

“I love you,” he repeated.

My breath hitched. He had really said it. I stayed silent.

“Rose?”

“Uh.” I stuttered. Great. I ruined the perfect moment, as usual. I shook my head quickly before looking back into his eyes. “I love you, too.”

Any traces of fear and concern were erased. He beamed, much like his nephew did when something fascinated with something. Ever since his family had arrived, he was happier than I’d ever seen him. He was more open than ever. It made me ecstatic. All worries of messing up the moment washed away from my mind.

Just as his lips brushed mine, there was a faint bell ringing. I cursed under my breath. Why was there always something that interrupted my Dimitri time?

He took a step back. “You should probably get to class.”

I stepped away from the tree and looked in the direction of the buildings. Just my luck; they were nearby. I carefully began leaving the forest, leaving Dimitri and my feelings for him behind me. Just like I’d have to do once I graduated.

I really wished that I could have a life of my own rather than the one I was brainwashed to have.

…

Life sucks.

I honestly thought that I’d be antagonized enough when Lissa and I returned from our extended vacation a few months before. Everyone came up with stories as to why we had run away in the first place. The one that I seemed to remember best was Lissa being pregnant and leaving to get an abortion. Just the thought of that was absolutely insane.

Blood whore rumors about me even surfaced. I’d nearly lost my mind over that. It was the only rumor that had gotten under my skin. I think I was reaching my breaking point again. I wasn’t physically antagonized like I had been with the blood whore rumor, but the variations of the one I heard about my relationship with Dimitri was emotionally antagonizing. I love Dimitri and to hear the vulgar, incorrect statements out of others’ mouths strikes me like lightning. I’ve been so tempted to ask Jesse and Ralf just what the hell they were thinking when they started the rumors, but they’ve, smartly, stayed away from me and in areas where there were too many witnesses for their possible murders.

The two had gone to new lows though.

Somehow, someway they managed to get a picture of Dimitri and me hugging. If there had been no rumors, more than likely my classmates would think that the mentor-student relationship had become a friendship or something. Since there are rumors, I’ve heard many things. The impossible, senseless pregnancy rumor died down. The new ones ranged from frolicking in the forest and old guard cabins to planning a getaway. They’ve gone insane. Irrevocably insane.

So, I sheltered myself in my dorm. Tears could fall freely. It was less likely for someone to hear my sobs. I didn’t have to face anyone. I didn’t have to feel guilty when seeing one of the Belikovs or my mother walk around the campus. I blocked out Lissa in the bond. I just kept to myself.

I woke up from my slumber to find a note next to my head.

I sighed, watching the paper weightless flutter before sliding off the pillow and onto the mattress. Slowly, I sat up, doing my best—and failing—not to yawn. I was simply exhausted.

I picked up the note, instantly recognizing the handwriting. I smiled to myself.

Rose,

Meet me in the gym when you wake up, whenever that may be. I am a patient person.

Love,

D.

Short and sweet. I just wished I knew when and how exactly he left the note. I didn’t want to keep him waiting for hours just because I’ve been moping, no matter how patient he said he was. I quickly got out of bed, changed, and head to the gym.

I entered the gym, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. What was so important that I couldn’t relax in my bed? Not a whole lot came to my mind that could be.

And then I found myself face first on the floor, arms behind my back. Damn.

A husky whisper sounded in my ear. “What have I told you about checking your surroundings?” The Russian accent was thicker than usual. More tempting than ever.

I turned my head on its side so that my words didn’t come out muffled. “I never expected to be attacked.”

“Another lesson: Always expect the unexpected.”

I groaned. I was about to make a retort when someone else took the words right out of my mouth. “Will you stop sounding like a fortune cookie?”

Dimitri released his hold on me and whatever weight of his I felt on me disappeared. I slowly pushed myself up and rubbed my wrists. They were a shade of pink from the grip he had on them.

“It’s nice to see you, Viktoria,” he breathed.

I glanced between the two, dumbfounded. I thought his sister was at St. Basil’s.

Viktoria smirked. She had been leaning against one of the doors to a store room, examining her nails nonchalantly. “I’d say the same to you, big brother, but I prefer not to see you flirting. It’s an awful sight.” She glanced over to me. “However you deal with it, Rose, I’ll never know.”

I pondered her statement for a second, and then laughed. “I’ve grown accustomed to it. I guess that happens when you’re stuck with him for a few hours nearly every day for nearly six months.”

“Rough. I’d go insane listening to a personified piece of paper that fell out of a cookie.”

I scratched the back of my head, laughing lightly. I wasn’t completely sure if she had said what she meant, but I had to forgive her. After all, English was her second language. I’d probably make less sense if I was trying to have a conversation in Russian.

“How about I just leave so that you two can talk about me?” Dimitri suggested.

“Come on, comrade!” I rolled my eyes. “Have a personality for once. You should at least be happy your sister’s here…for reasons unknown,” I added mysteriously. “Speaking of unknown reasons, what was with the note on my pillow?”

“I wanted to introduce you to my sister,” he said slowly.

“Mission accomplished,” I stated. I wasn’t complaining at all. It seemed that I’d get along with his sister easily.

“Hold up,” Viktoria stated. Her expression was calculating. “Dimka, you left her a note?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Why?”

“I thought I just—Rose already met Mother, Grandmother, and Paul. She’d eventually—hopefully,” he said irritably, more than likely thinking about how I’d been hiding in my room to deal with everything, “meet you soon anyway. Why not get it out of the way? It will save her the trauma later.”

I could have sworn my eye was twitching. Dimitri made a joke? Odd.

“Oh, you know I’m your favorite sister,” Viktoria mused. “You may like Sonya and Karolina, but you have to admit that they get on your nerves from time to time.”

“And you don’t?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Of course not!” she exclaimed, putting her hand over her heart. She was now standing a few feet away from her brother. “Why I’m the most lovable of us all. You may be the only son, but Paul seems to have taken your place as the favorite male in the family.”

Before I could blink, Dimitri had Viktoria in some type of headlock. Playfully of course. It was extremely entertaining to see the both of them laughing about absolutely nothing.

My heart fluttered seeing him so happy.

The two broke up their spar when Alberta came in and asked to have a word with him. He said that he could and excused himself from the gym.

Viktoria let out a yawn. I had a feeling that the time difference was getting to her.

I frowned. “I’d understand if you need to head back to your room. The time is completely different here.”

She shook her head, yawning again. “No, no. I need to get used to these Montana times.”

“Why?”

“Dimitri didn’t tell you?” She looked offended.

“He hasn’t told me much of anything since the rest of your family arrived. I’ve let him spend time with them all instead.”

“I’ll give him a piece of my mind later then.” She smiled half-heartedly. “So, to explain this all…” She trailed off for a moment, thinking. “My mother figured that I needed to spend more time with my brother before the princess graduates. Being the youngest and all, I’ve rarely spent time with him. Mother really doesn’t want me to be deprived of my sibling bonding time.”

“What about your sisters then?”

Viktoria shrugged carelessly. “I see them nearly every day. I know them like the back of my hand because of that. I also can’t take all of the pregnancy hormones and the baby crying when I’m home for breaks. I think transferring here is worth it though. I’ll get to see my brother more often. And I’ll get to see why he talks about you all the time in letters and phone calls.”

“So is that what Paul was talking about?” At her confused expression, I elaborated, “That your grandmother saw us? Dimitri and me, I mean. He talks about me.” I was pleased with that fact. “Paul said that you told him that Dimitri and I would end up married or something like that and then he mentioned Yeva seeing something.”

She blinked. “Paul has quite the imagination. I have no idea why he’d think I’d say that about you two.” There was a twinkle in her eye that had me giggling. Her mock-innocence faded then. “I don’t know how to explain Yeva’s sight. It’s complicated. Maybe you should ask her?”

“Doesn’t she only speak Russian?” I scratched the back of my neck. My mind flickered to the time in Spokane. But that was all it was: A flicker.

Viktoria was laughing now. “No, of course not. Yeva only pretends to be monolingual. It’s kind of her idea of a joke.”

“What kind of joke is it?” I scoffed.

“Cruel,” she said bluntly. “You should go along with it for at least another day or so to humor her.”

“Why not?”

The doors opened and in walked Dimitri. He was wearing his guardian mask.

Curiosity got the best of me. “What did Alberta want?”

“Guardian business,” he replied stiffly.

In my peripheral vision, Viktoria made a face while quoting him. I did my best to stifle a laugh. Still, my curiosity was burning, so I continued to press the matter. “What kind of guardian business?”

“If they wanted you to be informed, Guardian Petrov wouldn’t have pulled me aside to discuss the matter with me.”

I had no chance of getting him to tell me what was going on. So, I did what was logical: I stomped my foot in protest and groaned.

This got a laugh from Viktoria. “He does this to you too?”

“Unfortunately,” I grumbled.

“It’s not that I don’t want—” he began, but was interrupted by his sister.

“It’s highly irritating. Not trusting his own sister with news. Not trusting you with it.” She shook her head in mock-shame. “And to think, I was going to tell him he was my favorite.”

Dimitri rolled his eyes. “I think you two are over exaggerating this.”

A thought occurred to me. “Does it involve me?”

“Well—”

“Tell me what it is if it does involve me. Or Lissa.”

“Rose…” He hesitated.

“It does, doesn’t it?” I glanced over to see Viktoria enjoying her brother under pressure and close to losing control. I have to admit that that’s how I felt.

“It does.” He looked agitated, but still defeated.

“Then what is it?”

“Victor Dashkov’s trial.”

“I—What?”